selling for others - how much to charge

[kmg191]

Surely this topic has been covered but a quick search didn't turn up much for me.  Here's my situation.

I have been buying and selling for the past 18 years with the past 5+ as an ebay store. 3 of those years I have been selling for a friend at a 30% commission on the sale price.  Sometimes, with all the fees etc, it hardly seems worth it.  Now, some other people are interested in me selling for them.  Im not opposed to adding  more "clients" but I feel like I need a better fee rate than just a flat 30%.  Was actually considering raising it to 40%.  As you are all surely aware, the process of listing, managing and shipping items is time consuming.  I want to make it worthwhile for us both and be charge a reasonable, fair rate for my service.  Appreciate any insight.  

[sam9876]

30% plus all expenses.

[lex-talon]

Selling for others is not something I recommend at all. Have those people open their own Ebay account.

[kmg191]

what do you mean EXPENSES?

[kmg191]

Why not?  Whats the problem with doing that?  I haven't had any problems in the 3 years I've done it.  It's certainly not illegal or an ebay violation.  My friend works full time and has two young children.  She doesn't have time to learn ebay and manage sales etc.  

[divwido]

Boxes, tape, fees.

I charge 35% plus fees for everyone but my mom.  She gets 25% and sometimes free fees.

[maridon7280]

expenses: eBay, PayPal, postage, packaging, mileage...

30% total cost of item plus all expenses.  That will be over 40% in the end, but shows them its not all you.

[tofu107]

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@kmg191wrote:

Why not?  Whats the problem with doing that?  I haven't had any problems in the 3 years I've done it.  It's certainly not illegal or an ebay violation.  My friend works full time and has two young children.  She doesn't have time to learn ebay and manage sales etc.  

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buyers could have unreasonable expectations,if you charge 30 % plus expenses,Ebay takes 10% and Paypal takes 4%,then your buyer is getting 56%.

there could be charge back,returns,,how do you deal with returns?

some are grateful for whatever they can get,but some need more to pay their bills.

you just have to find out yourself and decide if it is worth it.

40% is kind of high,say you sold for $1k,they only get $600,you get $400,that sounds like an oink oink pig,UNLESS THE ITEM IS A PIECE OF TRASH AND THEY ARE GLAD IT IS SOLD AND THEY NETTED $600 

[sam9876]

"what do you mean EXPENSES?"

eBay fees

PayPal fees

Shipping cost

Boxes

Tape

Mileage

[sockmonkeydave]

@kmg191

lol   Monkey Time.

My brother in law had some old fishing lures.  ( used )

He thought he had a gold mine, because ebay had them listed at super high prices.

I show him unused in box old lures are worth money.  ( some of them )

Then I tell him about the fees, and returns, and things that can go wrong.

Sorry bro, used fishing lures ( that smell like fish ) ain't gonna work.

And the box is worth more than the lure.

Selling for others, you take all the risk.

[luckythewinner]

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@kmg191wrote:
 I have been selling for a friend at a 30% commission on the sale price. Sometimes, with all the fees etc, it hardly seems worth it.  
{snip}
Appreciate any insight.  

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• Only you know how much time and effort you are expending.
• Only you know how many sales you are getting for all that time and effort.
• Only you know what that hourly rate works out to.
• Only you know what hourly rate would be "worth it".

In other words, only you have the information you need to make that decision.

The only insight I have is that IMHO your determination of what your time and effort is "worth" should not even consider how much your friend will be left with after you take your cut.

Sound harsh? consider this example.

If you are working 100 hours to generate $1000 and you value your time at $10 per hour, the only way for you to get your $10 per hour is for you to everything and your friend to get nothing.

So in this example, I would argue the question is not "how much" you should charge - but whether you should be doing it at all.

[retrose1]

I sell on consignment for a few and charge a flat 50% and I pay the fees.

I used to offer 50% OR 35% and they pay the fees but once they saw that often the ebay fees are more than 15% they would switch over to the flat 50%.

And make sure that you show them the potential selling price of the items they have and ALWAYS make sure that you have the items in your pocession at all times.  You do not wanting the owners to renig if it doesn't get the price they fantasized they would get.

Make sure that EVERYTHING is is writing and they sign it.  And discuss who is responsible if something goes wrong/scam.

[slippinjimmy]

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@kmg191wrote:

Why not?  Whats the problem with doing that?  I haven't had any problems in the 3 years I've done it.  It's certainly not illegal or an ebay violation.  My friend works full time and has two young children.  She doesn't have time to learn ebay and manage sales etc.  

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There is nothing wrong at all as long as you put a few minutes thought into who you are dealing with, what type of products and how much you charge (all things you seem to have done or are doing).

[tev4all]

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@kmg191wrote:

Surely this topic has been covered but a quick search didn't turn up much for me.  Here's my situation.

I have been buying and selling for the past 18 years with the past 5+ as an ebay store. 3 of those years I have been selling for a friend at a 30% commission on the sale price.  Sometimes, with all the fees etc, it hardly seems worth it.  Now, some other people are interested in me selling for them.  Im not opposed to adding  more "clients" but I feel like I need a better fee rate than just a flat 30%.  Was actually considering raising it to 40%.  As you are all surely aware, the process of listing, managing and shipping items is time consuming.  I want to make it worthwhile for us both and be charge a reasonable, fair rate for my service.  Appreciate any insight.  

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30% of total saleprice+s/h, plus expenses is reasonable,  if the consigned item is sold successfuly and consignee is willing to wait 181 days for their share of the sale.  Have a contract/consignee agreement to protect both parties.

 I would rather purchase the item directly from the consignee/friend and assuming the risk of problems with a transaction than have a consignee/friend upset and lost.  

[slippinjimmy]

I don't do any consignment sales at the moment but in the past I charged a flat 50% for items with a selling price under $100 (I cover all fees). For items over $100, 50% of the first $100 and then 25% on any amount over $100.

Also, no items under $25, no items requiring more than simple packing, no items requiring extensive research and no items that I felt would not sell fairly quickly and easily.

MOST IMPORTANT: no "questionable" (in eBay eyes) items and no scam bait (phones, game consoles, high video cards etc.)