Ebay question: have you ever...

[TheLittleRoo]

I didn't think this sounded right. It isn't.

Listing fee starts at $0.15 ($0.01-0.99), then $0.35 ($1.00-9.99) then $0.55 ($10.00-$24.99).

Final Value Fee is $8.75% of the first $25.00, then 3.5% beyond that up to $1,000. That's a lot lower than what you said.

I just checked my last auction. All fees combined came to 14.48%, a lot less than 24%.

You must not be selling clothes. For fixed price listings the first $50 is 12%, and then 8.75% on the amount over $50. Listing fees I know vary, the $0.50 was a placeholder more than carved in stone. PP is still about 2.8 plus about $0.40 for the transaction fee, and it's charged on the shipping fee too.

I did the math for my sales of designer jeans, and I was getting around 24%. I only dabble on ebay, and don't have a business license. I pay sales tax of 5% on my purchases, and it is part of my cost basis. I'd wager a lot of other dabblers like me don't get an exemption on tax either. Even when you find something at a thrift store, you're paying sales tax without an exemption code.

 

[disneysteve]

You must not be selling clothes. For fixed price listings the first $50 is 12%, and then 8.75% on the amount over $50.

I only dabble on ebay, and don't have a business license.

My apologies. I was referencing auction fees, not fixed price sales. Why not save yourself a bunch of money and put the items on as auctions? Even if you pay a bit more for the insertion fee, you'd save more money on the final value fee.

As for a business license, it didn't cost anything to get one (I don't know if that's still true) and it saves me from paying sales tax on items being purchased for resale. Definitely worth having even if you don't use it regularly.

 

[DMRick]

I'm with you Steve. It's a big part of our income, and pays for our vacations and extras. I still love eBay, and my profit margin, even on small things is still enough that I'm happy with my net income. I think you and I treat as a business, and you know there are a lot of deductions that go along with a business.

Since you mentioned the sales tax, it's important to know that if you are selling on eBay to different states, it's best just pay it, and when you fill out your Schedule A, put that down as a deduction (under taxes paid). It's too much work, not paying it, doing the paper work and keeping track of what state I sold it to, and then paying the sales tax in the end, if I don't sell it in NY. In reality, you are only suppose to NOT pay sales tax, if you are selling within your state, and with eBay I could be selling it anywhere (the whole idea, as you prob know, is that your state wants to buy the item, and sell it for more, and give them more salestax. Salestax for me, is never an expense, since I charge sales tax on eBay and forward it on. In NYS, it's a large fine, if you don't pay the sales tax, and then don't sell the item within the state...unless you then pay it on your schedule A.
One great change Steve, that you may not know about, is you get a percent back from eBay if you are a power seller (and now you can become one with quantity of sales, not just amount) and have good DSR's. I've been getting between 15% and 20% off of my eBay bill each month. That is a real bonus that I love.

To the OP..the best thing to do, as you just start, is to check out your local mission stores. I get my best items there to resell..sometimes new in the box. It may take you awhile to figure out what sells good, and it does take time, but I do a lot of completed searching for items I have seen. I have also brought along my computer to garage sales and log on (we have a lot of free wifi in our area..outside libraries, police stations, many coffee shops) and look up items to see how they are doing on eBay. If they are doing good, I'll go back to the garage sale and bargain for the item.

You really can't include sales tax among your ebay expenses. If you are selling an item that you originally bought for personal use and are now reselling, sales tax shouldn't count as an ebay fee. If you are doing business on ebay and buying items specifically for resale, you should have a business license and be exempt from paying sales tax. I've been selling on ebay for 11 years and got my business license ages ago. When I purchase items for resale, I just tell the merchant and they give me a form to sign with my tax ID.

If you are buying for resale and paying sales tax, you aren't doing it properly.

Has ebay changed? As someone who has been actively selling since 1997, I would certainly agree that it has. Can you still make money? Absolutely. Ebay is bigger and more popular than ever, especially now with the economy struggling, people are turning to ebay and craigslist to find bargains. I hadn't sold for a while and just started listing again 2 weeks ago. Between ebay and half.com, I've already taken in over $217. Quite a few of the items I've sold were things I either got for free or personal items that we no longer wanted, so my cost basis was zero. The items that I bought for resale have all sold at a profit.

Is it a lot of work? If you don't do it regularly, it can be. If you can set up one space in your house for ebay tasks, however, and keep everything you need together, it makes it much quicker and easier.

 

[nunzia]

I also hunt the thrift shops and garage sales..about three days a week (mainly during lunch hour), and Saturdays. I've sold for 11 years and still do well enough to certainly make it worth while. I rarely buy anything at a retail store with the thought of reselling as I am too cheap to take a 'risk' on something not being worth it. The thing that alot of people don't get is that you really need to learn about the type of things you focus on selling. I probably pass up alot of things that would sale, but I focus on things I have some knowledge about as well as things that are easy to ship. I don't want to replay the great Elvira standee debacle again! I also have learned to keep my mouth shut about Ebay..so many people want you to sell 'just a few things' for them. The fees have gone up some, I only use fixed price if the auction failed, but since I rarely spend more than a dollar or two on any one item (usually more like 25-50 cents) I still do just fine, and treat it as my second part time job.

 

[missj1975]

I also have learned to keep my mouth shut about Ebay..so many people want you to sell 'just a few things' for them.

I so agree with you. I do very well on ebay and have learned not to talk about it because now everyone I know, including people I barely know, want me to sell for them. I did that a couple of times for some friends and it just isn't fun doing all the work and giving all the profits to my friends because I just didn't feel right charging my friends and of course they never offered either. lesson learned. Now if someone asks I just say ebay is pretty easy and they can figure it out themselves with ebay's help feature.

I also don't mention ebay anymore because everyone then grills me on what I sell. I have spent a lot of time and research figuring out what to sell and don't feel like giving out what I consider trade secrets or helping out future competition. Is that rude? Maybe but I do consider my ebay store a business to make money, not to help everyone else make money.

Anyway, to the OP, yes it is possible to make money off of eBay. eBay isn't going downhill for everyone.

 

[cndij]

This is exactly what happened to my DSIL. And now she does quite well on Craigs List.

She has sold alot to people in different states who apparently *searched* and found her listings. She doesn't like paypal so takes money orders or waits until the check clears before shipping. No listing fees or taxes and has paid for all her Christmas shopping with her profits!

This is a real opportunity for scams on Craig's List. I hope she knows to be EXTREMELY careful. What has happened is that money orders or "cashiers checks" can turn out to be forged and sometimes you don't find out until much later when you get a charge back from your bank. This is exactly why I refuse to sell on Craig's list outside of my home area. There is a whole section on Craigs List about what to look out for when someone contacts you from a distance.

 

[disneysteve]

This is a real opportunity for scams on Craig's List. I hope she knows to be EXTREMELY careful. What has happened is that money orders or "cashiers checks" can turn out to be forged and sometimes you don't find out until much later when you get a charge back from your bank.

I agree. I would advise everyone not to accept personal checks or money orders or cashier checks with the possible exception of US Post Office money orders, and they may be forging them now too. On ebay, I only accept Paypal. For any in-person transactions, I would do cash only.

 

[mafibisha]

I agree. I would advise everyone not to accept personal checks or money orders or cashier checks with the possible exception of US Post Office money orders, and they may be forging them now too. On ebay, I only accept Paypal. For any in-person transactions, I would do cash only.

This is totally true, which is why she only takes USPS money orders. (I just called to check because I was worried and I didn't even know the USPS had such a thing !)

And definitely, ONLY CASH on in-person transactions. She has that in BOLD type on her listings.

She just told me she's made over $2,500 this year alone. Not bad for stuff laying around the house!

 

[Cruise]

My apologies. I was referencing auction fees, not fixed price sales. Why not save yourself a bunch of money and put the items on as auctions? Even if you pay a bit more for the insertion fee, you'd save more money on the final value fee.

I can't speak for TheLittleRoo, but I got really sick of doing things auction-style because you invariably have to go hunting down your high bidder for payment. It's just not worth the hassle. With the fixed price sales, you can opt for the "require immediate payment." I knew that the day the auction ended, I had payment and I could take the item to the post office that day or the next. I wasn't waiting around for 3 to 5 days wondering if I was or wasn't going to get paid, if I'd have to relist the item, if I'd have to file a non-paying bidder complaint, etc. And now that sellers can't leave negative feedback for buyers, there's no way of knowing if your buyer is one of "those" bidders.

I stopped selling on ebay when I figured out that I was getting screwed over on the fees because I chose to go with what I considered a simplier way of doing things.

 

[disneysteve]

I stopped selling on ebay when I figured out that I was getting screwed over on the fees because I chose to go with what I considered a simplier way of doing things.

What did you switch to instead? I am not aware of anything that has the success rate or international audience of ebay at a lower cost.

 

[hambirg]

I try not to buy just for resale unless it's an item I'm sure there's a market for. I'm also getting fed up with ebay's new changes & fees but there's no other way to "clean the house" so to speak.


Craigslist hasn't done a thing for me. We had a couple replies & I answered with our phone number so we could meet so they could see the item & didn't hear back. It's also hard to list there, I think, as I can't figure out how to "relist" without typing the whole thing over & over again. Is there a link to be able to relist an item that hasn't sold?

FYI. . .I just save the ad in Word or Works. Then all I have to do is copy and paste. But wth that being said, I haven't had much luck on Craigslist.

 

[drcbpearce]

Is it a lot of work? If you don't do it regularly, it can be. If you can set up one space in your house for ebay tasks, however, and keep everything you need together, it makes it much quicker and easier.[/QUOTE]


Ok, now you've really got me thinking, what do I 'need' besides a camera and my computer? Do I need a designated office space? Or can I just do it at my computer desk? Like I've said before I"m totally clueless about this and I really appreciate all of the advice and info from everyone.

Especially the bit about money orders. I would never take a personal check from someone I didn't know, but I hadn't even thought of the money order thing. I've heard on the news every now and again, the whole foreign car sale/money order scam, but it wasn't really at the forefront of my mind, so thank you for that!

All of the info on PayPal and fees and all of that, I can find that on ebay? sorry for all the questions, I've been running this past week and haven't had much time to take a breath. I"m sitting here staring at these things I bought to list and wondering when I"m going to get them on.

thanks for all of your help, gang!

 

[rentayenta]

I bought something with the intention of selling it. It sold and I felt SO guilty for selling it for so much over retail (it was a hard to get item). I ended up eating the shipping to appease some of my guilt and vowed not to do it again. I know how totally silly this sounds and DH still laughs at my lack of capitalistic quality.

 

[earthfaries]

I bought a pair of mens Tommy Hilfiger jeans at the thrift shop and sold them for $36.00 on ebay!

It seems certain name brand mens jeans and childrens clothes go well. Some don't though , I would just check it out on ebay. Look up various items, sizes and brands and see if they are selling.

 

[Calliaz]

I've bought items on clearance at Target before for resale. I don't usually do clothes because it seems like the margin is so low. Most have been for electronics or toys. I scored big time on some digital turntables I bought on Target clearance. I also pre-ordered 5 Tickle Me Elmos TMX? the year they came out and made good money. For a small-time seller, things that are hard-to-find seem to be the best choice.

 

[disneysteve]

Ok, now you've really got me thinking, what do I 'need' besides a camera and my computer? Do I need a designated office space? Or can I just do it at my computer desk?

If you are just selling an item here and there, you don't need anything. If you start to do it regularly with any volume, it does help to have a designated space. It gets real easy to misplace an order or mix-up what is going to who or which items have been paid and which haven't. The other thing I'd call a "need" is a good scale. Since you can print postage at home, you need an accurate scale. Mine goes up to 6 lbs which is plenty for the type of stuff I sell. You can get one for $10 or about $25 if you want an actual postal scale.

 

[Cruise]

What did you switch to instead? I am not aware of anything that has the success rate or international audience of ebay at a lower cost.

I'm not using anything else now. I'm donating the items to overseas troops through anysoldier.com. These are new, unopened items that are regularly requested.

I'd frankly rather give stuff away to someone who might appreciate it than bother with the hassle that is ebay anymore.

 

[drcbpearce]

I'm not using anything else now. I'm donating the items to overseas troops through anysoldier.com. These are new, unopened items that are regularly requested.

I'd frankly rather give stuff away to someone who might appreciate it than bother with the hassle that is ebay anymore.

What a great idea! I'm going to checkout that website!

 

[drcbpearce]

If you are just selling an item here and there, you don't need anything. If you start to do it regularly with any volume, it does help to have a designated space. It gets real easy to misplace an order or mix-up what is going to who or which items have been paid and which haven't. The other thing I'd call a "need" is a good scale. Since you can print postage at home, you need an accurate scale. Mine goes up to 6 lbs which is plenty for the type of stuff I sell. You can get one for $10 or about $25 if you want an actual postal scale.

Thanks for the tips! I was afraid I'd need to rent office space!