I know this is an older thread, But I wanted to add to it, in case someone still is interested.
I do consignment currently for a few people.
With eBays new "what you earned" its easy to see what you are getting with one click.
I simply make a spreadsheet on "google sheets" that they can view to see what they earn per item, with a clickable link to their ebay item to see when it sold.
Its quite simple on how I do it, it ensures minimal problems.
I charge 50% of profit.
I tell them this covers, Boxes, tape, packing slips, packing materials, customer service (questions), pictures, storage of the item, and taxes I have to pay for selling the item. (ebay takes the sales tax, This isn't what I'm talking about)
You could of course negotiate a different pricing bracket, such as any item over a certain amount, you only take "x" amount of profit. As taking 50% of a $200 profit item may not seem fair to the customer.
Most of mine do not have high dollar profit items which is why I do 50%.
Some things I ask them about their items,
1. If a return is requested, what do you want to do?
2. Do you have a minimum on any of your items?
For the return requests,
(If an item is cheap enough or I have not a lot in it, most of the time it is easiest to just refund without having the item sent as it costs more to have it sent back and I'll never make my money back), But I leave this up to them as they will be the one covering any and all costs associated with receiving the item back.
I also do not pay until 1 of two things happen.
Positive Feedback is Received or 30 days after delivery date has passed.
Since eBay does their own payouts and not paypal, 30 days is the limit to opening a dispute versus 180 with paypal.
Positive feedback indicates the buyer is happen an unlikely to open a dispute.
To keep yourself safe, you could simply offer 30 days payment after delivery date of item.
You can easily keep track of this using your spreadsheet.
I do not pay them until this happens, I then mark the payment on the spreadsheet, which also shows a current balance owed on it.
Items are of course always on hand, you are storing them. This doesn't work otherwise.
They could sell, lose, damage the item.
Also unless you are knowledgeable on certain items like Handbags, shoes, I wouldn't accept things like shoes, handbags, things like that as they could be counterfeit, and that doesn't work out well if they are. eBay does have the authenticate program however, it can be more headache IF the buyer is certain its real and it turns out not to be.
Lastly if they aren't happy with your pricing, you could make them an offer for all items. But let them know up front you'll need to look up each item to see what it should sell for and it would obviously be less than that, BUT they would get all the money at once right then. It may take some time to look up each item, but I'd suggest looking up what each item sells for (sold listings) and then offering them about 50% less than that price. This covers fluctuations and errors you may have missed in your calculations. Them getting all the money at once, no hassle, no waiting for them may be the better option. You can then take your time with it. This works better with several items or lots, as more money being exchanged is enticing.
I hope this helps someone.
