So when do I start making more than my seller fees?

[dww25921]

It's been a rough last couple of months.  I've been paying out more than I'm taking in.  This can't be normal.  This time last year I was doing much better.  Where are all the buyers?  

[sweetpieces4you]

Tough market you are in to make money. Fake money and iron on patches aren't exactly high demand items at least not for me. Not trying to knock your inventory but that might be extra inventory with something else or other items added as a main inventory. At least try to add something else to get more people looking. Just a thought is all. TC

[vanman1029]

Don't feel bad, I've been selling here for 19 years and it's gone from bad to worse. First time ever I couldn't pay my monthly store fees. It's time to move on.

[scottgfs]

Started with eBays Promoted Listings!

[myescape]

Your prices should be set high enough to cover all your costs(including all fees)+desired profit.If you can not source  product that you can do that with and still sale you will never get ahead

[emerald40]

Take a critical look at your listings.  Are they items that buyers would be purchasing at this time of year to give as gifts?

[slippinjimmy]

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@dww25921 wrote:

It's been a rough last couple of months.  I've been paying out more than I'm taking in.  This can't be normal.  This time last year I was doing much better.  Where are all the buyers?  

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Dump all your sub $5 listings and/or raise your prices if you continue offering free shipping. You will never make any money selling things for $1.49 with free shipping even if you can ship with just a single stamp.

If you get rid of those listings then you probably don't need a Store which is costing you even more money.

[ripcityresell]

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@dww25921 wrote:

It's been a rough last couple of months.  I've been paying out more than I'm taking in.  This can't be normal.  This time last year I was doing much better.  Where are all the buyers?  

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You should have made more than your seller fee on your first sale.

[pauyo_43]

Actually, I would downgrade from the store level you're at. With only 64 listings, that's an extra cost. See if you can up some listings though, or try to list 1 or 2 each day. That can help with visibility.

Good Luck!

[inhawaii]

My "unofficial" way of figuring out seller fees.

3 weeks of sales out of the month i get to keep.

1 week of sales out of the month goes to seller fees.

[cs497kcpope]

Between Ebay's fee's and Shipping cost, it's a dog eat dog business! I find it very hard to come out ahead also! If you price your items to high you are not going to sell them, and if you are to low well your losing money!! 😞  I do know what you mean!

[baantiques · Accepted solution]

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@dww25921 wrote:

It's been a rough last couple of months.  I've been paying out more than I'm taking in.  This can't be normal.  This time last year I was doing much better.  Where are all the buyers?  

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Seems like Ebay is putting more emphasis on NEW listings.

I've started putting a lot of new listings into my Shopify store.  From there I send them over to Ebay. But my aim is to have 5-6x the number of listings on Shopify that I do in my Ebay store. That way, if they don;t sell in 30 days, I can end them and replace them with fresh listings, and by the time I've gotten around to the beginning again, enough timne will have passed that Ebay will treat them as new.

So far it seems to be working out, but the mrs likened Ebay to an abusive boyfriend, so it's only a matter of time before Ebay punches me in the face again for no reason.

[dhbookds]

How much did you expect to make?  Not being snarky.........but you have 64 items mostly between $1.49 and $5........Hopefully you are using the mini payment paypal account so you don't have to pay as much to them, but a store, paypal fees, fvf, and shipping, even a stamp have to come out of that $1.49......

Sit down and do the math. Figure out what you would make with a 30% sell thru on your basic items( and that's a stretch)..... As the other poster says, I think you'll find you need to increase the individual sale price to make anything more than a few bucks overall.  Don't know if bigger lots would work or not........

[southern*sweet*tea]

When will you start making more than your seller fees? When you stop selling things for $1.49 with "free" shipping.

You should include in your item price the following:

Acquisition cost of the item

Ebay fees

Paypal fees

Postage cost since you ship "free"

Supplies - ink, paper, envelopes, etc.

Your time

Your PROFIT  (yes, contrary to popular belief, Ebay sellers ARE allowed to make a profit )

and any other overhead you may have

Add up all of the above. That is what you price your item at. If that cost is so high as to be uncompetitive, then you either have to lower your costs or find something else to sell that is more profitable.

[ebbyisme]

What everyone said is correct. There is little money to be made at those prices.... and this is NOT trying to give you hope of making money with those items.....

....but lack of sales, even at that price point, could be your atrocious titles.... NO one will search "Some team out west" or "some where out west" and I would imagine "New York Iron on Patches" may be so generic you will get swamped by other listings. Your "3 New York iron on patches" listing will get very few buyers will be searching for "3 New York Iron on patches" and you didn't show up (for me) when I searched "New York iron on patches" or "New York Mets patches". Your "Ohio Patch" listing excludes the word "State" so I imagine anyone wanting your product who searches for "Ohio State Iron on patch" wouldn't find it....

The weird structure of your titles immediately makes me think "Overseas seller" and some would hit the back button, or pass over it, even if they found your listing.