To these kinds of posts we always get you should have known the rules, eBay charges what everyone else does.....
But the real point here, at least for me, is that eBay is hurting my margins Unless you have pricing power, you can't just raise prices. I sell by auction ( no reserves with low starting prices) because my business model is the quick flip. I buy to resell with the hopes of generating a 25-35% profit. This has become extremely difficult on eBay. I know my markets and I know the range an item will sell for. Those ranges can be quit a bit.
A recent example shows how hard selling has become. I sold an item for $411 that I paid $300 for about 36% revenue above my purchase price. The total value of the transaction was $455. My fees were $56 and I cleared $52 or 15%.
People say the fee is only 12.5%. The fact is the fees is charged against the value of the total transaction, which is always greater than the revenue producing portion of the sale. Since you never know in advance what state it will sell in and the tax rate or final shipping if you use a calculator fees are variable and hard to predict.
Based against revenue my fees usually 14% or more of my selling price.
