What are your average costs as seller (including ebay fees, PayPal fees and postage)?

[bvkoski]

Mine are 31% of total sales.
That seems pretty high, but I guess I can't complain when ebay provides worldwide exposure and traffic for sales.
I also use ebay's mailing system. I have a mailing scale that makes it MUCH easier and less expensive (ebay gives discounts) to weigh, measure and label your items to then just drop off at the post office instead of going through the whole line-up-and-weight and the USPS counter.

[mam98031]

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@nuclearomen wrote:

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@chapeau-noir wrote:

@nuclearomega  If you are seller and can't get a $40 printer and printing labels then you shouldn't be selling - it's that simple really. 

These broad brush statements don't make sense - how a person decides to ship doesn't determine if they "should" be a seller or not.

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it's not brush statement, it's business, standard operation equipment. Now adays you don't need a PC, you can do a lot right from smart phone, but still need a printer. 

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There are lots of sellers on Ebay that don't have printers.  Successful sellers.  I have a close friend that does this.  I personally think she is crazy, but it works for her and she takes great care of her customers.

[nuclearomen]

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@chapeau-noir wrote:

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@nuclearomen wrote:

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@chapeau-noir wrote:

@nuclearomega  If you are seller and can't get a $40 printer and printing labels then you shouldn't be selling - it's that simple really. 

These broad brush statements don't make sense - how a person decides to ship doesn't determine if they "should" be a seller or not.

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it's not brush statement, it's business, standard operation equipment. Now adays you don't need a PC, you can do a lot right from smart phone, but still need a printer. 

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So that individual I purchase hats from who does it the 'old fashioned way' shouldn't be in business?  She certainly makes plenty of money.  It's business to decide which operations you need and which you don't.

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it's not limited to printing postage, the need for a printer is extended into other needs of standard business operations and record keeping... and that is "old fashioned" to have hard copies of all your sales transactions, supply purchases, POS receipts, tax information... I do both, hard copies + quick books. When you go to your accountant and they ask to see your books what does one say - they can show you their ebay/paypal account... i know if I walked into my accounts office like that they would laugh me out there or charge me 10 fold the normal. Weather someone makes plenty of money isn't the point. This is just common sense to me, what others do or how they run their business really doesn't matter to me, only what I do and have been told to do by my accountant and partners. Of course I'm sure there are plenty of people who don't take ebay as business but the irs does and the Marketplace Facilitator agrees with me. 

[mam98031]

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@nuclearomen wrote:

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@chapeau-noir wrote:

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@nuclearomen wrote:

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@chapeau-noir wrote:

@nuclearomega  If you are seller and can't get a $40 printer and printing labels then you shouldn't be selling - it's that simple really. 

These broad brush statements don't make sense - how a person decides to ship doesn't determine if they "should" be a seller or not.

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it's not brush statement, it's business, standard operation equipment. Now adays you don't need a PC, you can do a lot right from smart phone, but still need a printer. 

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So that individual I purchase hats from who does it the 'old fashioned way' shouldn't be in business?  She certainly makes plenty of money.  It's business to decide which operations you need and which you don't.

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it's not limited to printing postage, the need for a printer is extended into other needs of standard business operations and record keeping... and that is "old fashioned" to have hard copies of all your sales transactions, supply purchases, POS receipts, tax information... I do both, hard copies + quick books. When you go to your accountant and they ask to see your books what does one say - they can show you their ebay/paypal account... i know if I walked into my accounts office like that they would laugh me out there or charge me 10 fold the normal. Weather someone makes plenty of money isn't the point. This is just common sense to me, what others do or how they run their business really doesn't matter to me, only what I do and have been told to do by my accountant and partners. Of course I'm sure there are plenty of people who don't take ebay as business but the irs does and the Marketplace Facilitator agrees with me. 

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Not everyone does their own bookkeeping.  I can speak for my friend that I referred to earlier and she does report her income and she does take her business seriously.  Because she chooses to do that in a way that is different than you or I doesn't mean she is wrong or any less responsible.

What does being a "marketplace facilitator" have to do with this subject?  Who are you talking about, Ebay?  Ebay doesn't get involved in how, what, when or how much a seller reports to IRS.

[joesoucie22012]

Today my average cost Is 0 as I have sold nothing. Yesterday my average cost was 0 as I did not sell a blooming thing. 

[uncseniorsportsfan]

Like Lucky I'm a bottom line seller - my pre-tax profit averaged 33-36% for the past five years.

I calculate fees differently.   

My eBay fees for 2018 were 18.9% of sales only (includes 4 months of store subscription and FVF on shipping) - paypal fees 3.9%.  For the first half of 2019 my ebay fees have dropped to 16.1% - no store subscriptions in 2019, but 12% FVF on books.

I calculate net shipping expense  - I don't offer free shipping.  Shipping expense = all postage including return labels + shipping supplies including mailers, bubble wrap, ink, paper - shipping paid by buyers.  In 2018 - net shipping expense was 3.1% of sales.   

For 2018 -  Cost of goods sold    36.9% 

                     Ebay & Payapal fees   22.8%

                     Shipping Expense          3.1%

                     Misc. Expenses              1.5%                        Total     64.3%                     Profit     35.7% 

Going forward my cost of goods sold should be 18-24% since I'm no longer doing consignments.  

[trendymodernhome]

I disagree with them... I used Stamps.com for over a year... They give you some free postage up front but refunds took forever (their platform it's easy to f-up postage, you have to download their software (no mobile phone seller options) and when I would compare their rates verses Paypal.. they get the same discount but Ebay still charges you a fee on postage. They were truly just 1 more "cog" (log in - account - password) in the wheel of selling on Ebay.

[bigdeals.etc]

Ebay fees, postage, PayPal fees add up to about a maximum 25% of my gross sales. Almost all of my items are at most 1 lb in weight and are small enough to not be dimensional postage.

My other huge cost is cost of goods. That's another number that all sellers should be aware of. But you didn't ask for that number 🙂

[dasarock]

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@bigdeals.etc wrote:

Ebay fees, postage, PayPal fees add up to about a maximum 25% of my gross sales. Almost all of my items are at most 1 lb in weight and are small enough to not be dimensional postage.

My other huge cost is cost of goods. That's another number that all sellers should be aware of. But you didn't ask for that number 🙂

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agree fees & postage should be 25% of gross or less.  mine last year and this have averaged about 21% - and then add in cost of returns & claims. and then the cost of inventory and keep everything under 50% of gross because still have federal taxes and such

[southern*sweet*tea]

Well, according to Ebay's stats (Ebay fees, Paypal fees and shipping) it's 23%. Since I don't do "free shipping", that figure is a bit misleading.  Shipping is an expense that's paid by the buyer, not by me.

12% FVF (books) + 3% or so Paypal + $22/mo store fee

It helps a lot that my COGS is practically zero and I get the majority of my shipping supplies "free" with my store subscription.

[chapeau-noir]

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@bigdeals.etc wrote:

Ebay fees, postage, PayPal fees add up to about a maximum 25% of my gross sales. Almost all of my items are at most 1 lb in weight and are small enough to not be dimensional postage.

My other huge cost is cost of goods. That's another number that all sellers should be aware of. But you didn't ask for that number 🙂

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COGs are a make or break for me - I live in an expensive area and sell in a competitive category.  I would say for me that it's a determinant factor and what I struggle with the most.

[chapeau-noir]

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@mam98031 wrote:

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@nuclearomen wrote:

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@chapeau-noir wrote:

---

@nuclearomen wrote:

---

@chapeau-noir wrote:

@nuclearomega  If you are seller and can't get a $40 printer and printing labels then you shouldn't be selling - it's that simple really. 

These broad brush statements don't make sense - how a person decides to ship doesn't determine if they "should" be a seller or not.

---

it's not brush statement, it's business, standard operation equipment. Now adays you don't need a PC, you can do a lot right from smart phone, but still need a printer. 

---

So that individual I purchase hats from who does it the 'old fashioned way' shouldn't be in business?  She certainly makes plenty of money.  It's business to decide which operations you need and which you don't.

---

it's not limited to printing postage, the need for a printer is extended into other needs of standard business operations and record keeping... and that is "old fashioned" to have hard copies of all your sales transactions, supply purchases, POS receipts, tax information... I do both, hard copies + quick books. When you go to your accountant and they ask to see your books what does one say - they can show you their ebay/paypal account... i know if I walked into my accounts office like that they would laugh me out there or charge me 10 fold the normal. Weather someone makes plenty of money isn't the point. This is just common sense to me, what others do or how they run their business really doesn't matter to me, only what I do and have been told to do by my accountant and partners. Of course I'm sure there are plenty of people who don't take ebay as business but the irs does and the Marketplace Facilitator agrees with me. 

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Not everyone does their own bookkeeping.  I can speak for my friend that I referred to earlier and she does report her income and she does take her business seriously.  Because she chooses to do that in a way that is different than you or I doesn't mean she is wrong or any less responsible.

What does being a "marketplace facilitator" have to do with this subject?  Who are you talking about, Ebay?  Ebay doesn't get involved in how, what, when or how much a seller reports to IRS.

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I don't understand the last, either.  IAC, I have all the bells and whistles but I know people who don't who could sell the socks off me - somehow I don't think the secret lies there - in fact, after 20 years in this biz I KNOW it doesn't.

[johnrj1226]

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@Anonymous wrote:
We pay $10.10 for Priority, including signature release - Ebay's price for a package we just sold is $10.85.

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Need more info like - ship from zip and the to same  zip code/zone? same identical weight,  same Priority mail service (reg Priority,, Regional or flat rate or Priority Express, - clarify.

If you paid $10.10 for Priority w/ sign. rel. via some other service, why would you pay eBays price of 75 cents or 7.4%  more on an item you just sold?  Clarify as I'm missing something.