Worth Selling items under 5.00?

[kalyoth]

So - I had multiple listings up recently for 0.99. One sold & after the ebay taxes were collected, I was left with 0.01. Apparently they collect fees even if 100% of the collected shipping cost is used to purchase postage on ebay. This being the case, is it even worth trying to sell below 5.00 anymore?

[divwido]

No.   I sold a couple things starting at 99 cents and ending up paying more in fees than I received.  Once you add in the shipping cost to your 12.99% it just makes no sense. 

I repriced a lot and about a dozen of those items ending up at Goodwill instead-which actually saved me money.

[momdadsstash]

Under $5 is doable but you sold for 99 cents. Obviously, that's not.

[soh.maryl]

(1) eBay's Final Value Fee on sales is calculated on the item price, the shipping cost and the state sales tax, if applicable.  Fees are explained in several places.

(2) There are quite a few experienced eBay sellers who strongly recommend not selling anything priced at less than $20.  

[m60driver]

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@kalyoth wrote:

 is it even worth trying to sell below 5.00 anymore?

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Only if you are shameless like me and willing to sell something to make $1 rather than throwing something into the garbage or recycle.  But even a shameless soul like myself would never list an item for 99¢.  My lowest shame number is $3.99, and that is only for a postcard that I can put into an envelope with a single stamp.

[divwido]

.99 cents was an attempt to 'clear out some junk'.  Tried, failed, never again. 

[onefootflipper]

You HAVE to figure in ebay's commission on shipping costs into your shipping costs. That is why I charge $4.59 for media mail or lighter first class and don't try to charge exact. 

I won't personally make any listing for less than $1.99. Base transaction fee is already a huge factor at that price point. Even if you don't lose anything on shipping you still only have about 50 cents leftover from that 99 cent order after fees (I am assuming you spend only 7 cents on packing materials). That means you would need to be able to list, sell, pull, pack and ship 30 of those an hour just to get to $15 an hour before any taxes or cost of goods sold. Even my $1.99 trading cards which net right at $1.51 and can list, pull pack and ship extremely fast are still salary limited due to the labor involved with all those tiny orders. 

[coolections]

I would throw all 99 cent items in the trash. The $5 items are possible but only if they use an envelope to mail such items.

[southern*sweet*tea]

I try to keep most of my stuff at a minimum price of $10.

For a $5 item:

$5 item plus $3.95 shipping

Item cost = zero so everything is money in my pocket.  The lot the item came for was paid for long, long ago by a single sale, two at the most

$5 + $3.95 + 7% tax =  $9.58

FVF = $1.24 + $0.30 = $1.54

Actual shipping = $3.75 (can be $3.50 or $4, somewhere in that general area)

Money left over = $4.26  (assuming my math is right)

Better than throwing it away.  You can only do this if you pay little or nothing for what  you're selling.

99 cent start auctions are a fool's game  unless you have something scarce and in HIGH demand or you have faithful followers who make multiple purchases.

[caseypl]

It's honestly not even really worth my time to sell anything under $14. I ship via USPS first class package, so the rate tends to be around $4. The only beneficial thing is that I have a thermal label printer and can usually walk and place these in a blue box or get them picked up for free. It's really just a small added boost to existing higher priced stuff. 

[714ricki]

At that low value, you need to double check the numbers to see where the break even line stands & go from there. Is your goal to clear the item at what ever price or the goal to clear the item  & break even/profit?

Hang in there & good luck!

[12345jamesstamps]

Yes. Feedback. And repeat buyers who will return to sell what you sell. I only do auctions at that price and 

not buy it now.  I hope that some will buy more than one at that price also.

You can now see repeat buyers of last 2 years in your feedback section. I want repeat buyers and those that buy in volume.

Sometimes you never know what it is worth until you put it on auction.

Had a stamp at .99 and it went for $600.00 as an example. One man's trash is another man's treasure.

[calgal19572014]

Between Ebay fees and having to claim our sales on tax returns now it's not worth my time to sell anything under $15.00-$20.00 depending on the item. The other reason being most buyers don't want to spend as much on shipping as the item cost. If I can't ship First Class or Flat Rate then it needs to be a decent collectible that someone is willing to pay the money & shipping for. 

[onefootflipper]

I think a lot of it also depends on who you are and what ebay is to you. Ebay is a full time business for me that I do ALL DAY EVERY DAY. It isn't like a $5 sale is going to be my only sale that day and going to cause me to have to work and get something to the post office on a day I wasn't going to do it otherwise, all after working an 8 hour shift at the widget factory. I don't think I have had a day with less than 10 sales in a year. Most are 30-50.

My low dollar items are also items that I tend to source a whole lot of similar items in bulk at very low prices, and tend to list incredibly fast. I can sell $1.99 trading cards at a profit because I can list and file away about 120 of them an hour and I can pack 40-50 of them an hour.  I could not sell all different trinket-widgets that all needed different packing methods at $1.49 margin. I just like to make sure my ebay ends up being worth at least $20 an hour. I am disabled (right leg amputee) and don't have a college degree, $20 an hour is a fortune compared to the $11 an hour Wal-Mart greeter job I could otherwise get that would force me into terrible health insurance instead of the actually great marketplace plan in my state.

[katzrul15]

@kalyoth 

Only if something that typically Buyers purchase multiples of at 1 time.

We sell very little at under $20 total (price + shipping) unless close out or we obtained for next to nothing/free.

Time is money.  Needs to be factored in as well.  Good luck!