Selling Fees

[silkwormflorals]

It's getting to the point where the only one making any money is ebay.  One must have to sell things at unaffordable prices to buyers just to make a profit after being hit with exorbitant selling fees.  And why we're having to pay selling fees on shipping and buyer tax along with the price of the product doesn't seem fair. In order for me to make any profit on let's say a pair of earrings, I have to sell them for a minimum of $5.00 plus shipping.  Not everyone is willing to pay $10.00 for a pair of earrings and I'm left sucking wind.  Need to start looking around for other selling markets that don't gouge their sellers.

[mantle1951]

Remember you make money when you buy not when you sell. If you buy low enough 15% ebay fees are low enough to make a nice profit.

[klhmdg]

Fees are all spelled out.

Fees are on total purchase, as with all purchases on all venues.

Good luck finding another place with less fees and more buyers!

[jerseyboymusic]

Thanks for starting a new thread on this... better take down your 740 listings.

Honestly, clothes and accessories are so saturated on here, and thrift stores in my area sell all this stuff for cheap, that it is hard to make money on it

[m60driver]

Yes, for lower priced items the fees these days can take away most of the profits.  But it is not Ebay that is cutting into margins as much as USPS.  Ebay fees have not changed much but since they apply also to taxes and postage they can, rather quickly, cut deeply into margins.  Add in the minimum PL fee of 2%, well you get the idea.  Don't feel too bad, you could be selling books like myself and incur even higher Ebay fees.  I am about to toss into the dumpster about 50 books that are no longer viable to sell on Ebay, or at a garage sale.

[fbusoni]

---

@silkwormflorals wrote:

It's getting to the point where the only one making any money is ebay.  One must have to sell things at unaffordable prices to buyers just to make a profit after being hit with exorbitant selling fees.  And why we're having to pay selling fees on shipping and buyer tax along with the price of the product doesn't seem fair. In order for me to make any profit on let's say a pair of earrings, I have to sell them for a minimum of $5.00 plus shipping.  Not everyone is willing to pay $10.00 for a pair of earrings and I'm left sucking wind.  Need to start looking around for other selling markets that don't gouge their sellers.

---

I don't know anything about earrings, other than the fact that they are mass produced and not at all hard to come by.  Perhaps selling earrings -- and jewelry more generally -- is not a good category to be involved in?

I started out on eBay selling records.  In 1999 up through about 2010, LPs were sort of a novelty and I did well for a number of years.  Then the category became saturated, so I diversified.  

I looked at your listings.  You appear to sell mostly jewelry and clothing.  I suspect the competition must be very intense.

Have you thought about selling in an unrelated category?

Also, I would take a look at FB marketplace.   I sell there and have established a reputation sufficiently solid that people from across the country will send me payment on Venmo or Zelle, allowing me to bypass FB fees, in exchange for my promise to ship same day or next day -- a promise that I always keep, of course.  Because I pay no fees I can offer a competitive price.

[fbusoni]

---

@m60driver wrote:

 I am about to toss into the dumpster about 50 books that are no longer viable to sell on Ebay, or at a garage sale.

---

I feel your pain.  I have about 3,000 LPs, most in mint or mint minus condition, that I cannot give away.  Beethoven, Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Chopin, Puccini, Verdi, Telemann -- the list is endless.  

I've started donating them to a local thrift shop which in exchange gives me a percentage off my purchases there, which in turn I'm able to sell on eBay. 

[toysaver]

  "One must have to sell things at unaffordable prices to buyers just to make a profit"

Shhhh shhhh... the secret is the seller has to buy inventory at ridiculously low prices to make a profit.  That doesn't happen instantly.  You have to invest time.   It can take years of legwork to master your inventory.   If you want to make a decent living you have to put in the 40 hours a week.  There is nothing entitled about selling on eBay.  

[chevymontecarlo88]

---

@fbusoni wrote:

---

Have you thought about selling in an unrelated category?

Also, I would take a look at FB marketplace.   I sell there and have established a reputation sufficiently solid that people from across the country will send me payment on Venmo or Zelle, allowing me to bypass FB fees, in exchange for my promise to ship same day or next day -- a promise that I always keep, of course.  Because I pay no fees I can offer a competitive price.

---

☝️Good advice above. FB Marketplace can be one of the best ways to network your items without any fees. (or at least minimal fees)

[tobaccocardyahoo]

You are responsible for choosing what you offer for sale on Ebay.

Anything which is too inexpensive could be a mistake.

Anything where the shipping is equal to or greater than the sell price could be a mistake.

The fees are not exorbitant but many items will not be profitable if you have to pay the fees. You should sell them somewhere else, like a yard sale or a flea market.

When you look around for other markets you will find that those which get enough traffic to make sales have fees which are close to Ebay. And there are not many of those.

Not all items should be sold online.

Not all sellers can make enough selling online to equal a minimum wage job.

[luckythewinner]

It's getting to the point where the only one making any money is ebay.  One must have to sell things at unaffordable prices to buyers just to make a profit after being hit with exorbitant selling fees. 

My selling fees in 2013 on a $5 sale with $5 shipping with PayPal were $1.59 or 32% of the selling price. 

My selling fees today on that sale are $1.73 or 35% of the selling price.

If 14 cents per sale makes the venue exorbitant for me, then IMHO the issue is not the fees, but rather the fact that my inventory is not a good fit for any venue with fees.