is selling on ebay worth it?

[TinkrLiz]

In planning my trip to WDW in a couple of weeks I was going through my tote of Disney clothes and decided I'm not going to wear them. I only wear all my Disney Tshirts and jeans when I go to Disney so they're still in excellent condition but I'm in the same clothes every trip which is making all of my pictures look the same. I'm thinking of selling them all on ebay since they're still in great condition. I haven't sold anything on ebay in quite some time and I've heard there are a lot of added fees for the sellers now. Is it still worth it to sell on ebay ? I could sell things as outfits or lots, as much as I could stuff into a pay one price priority box but I can't imagine getting more than $10 per outfit or lot of tshirts even though they're in excellent condition since they have been worn on two trips. So those of you who sell on ebay would it be worth it with the fees to still sell items that would go for such a low bid?

Thanks for your help

 

[horseshowmom]

I hadn't sold anything in quite awhile until just recently. I had some tickets that I sold and several pairs of brand name new shoes that I had gotten on clearance at Macy's. I'll have to say that I was pretty shocked at how much of a cut ebay took. I'm not sure whether it's worth it or not.

If you do what you said about selling it in lots, maybe you would do better (with the understanding that everything would be packed very snugly - crammed! - into a priority mailer box. That could help!

Good luck!

ETA: Take a look at closed auctions and see what your type of things are going for. (Although in my case, my shoes didn't go for anywhere near what some had gone for recently - just my luck. )

 

[Ava]

I think it's worth it, even though eBay takes a hefty chunk in fees. The way I look at it is, any amount of money I get is money I didn't have before. I will sometimes try to sell items on craigslist first, but craigslist has it's own set of hassles - mainly flakey people who don't follow through on the purchases.

eBay is also running a promo now through Jan 7th for free listing fees. So you don't pay any fees unless your item sells. This definitely makes it worth it to me.

 

[daisyduck123]

I just did that...wouldn't do it again.

I had 8 kid's WDW/Disney tshirts. Like you, they were only worn on WDW trips & look new (I wash inside-out & always hang dry). I listed at $14.99 for all, & they didn't sell.

I listed once more, dropped the price, and they just sold yesterday for $9.99.
I should've just given them to a friend. Didn't think of that earlier & it's too late now.

 

[leslie826]

I just sold my first item - a lot of maternity clothes. It sold for $71, but after underpricing the shipping by $3, paypal taking their $4 fee, and ebay taking their $7 fee...I didn't take in as much as I originally thought. But it was still money I didn't have before.

 

[MissAndrea]

I think it depends on a variety of factors. Are you hoping to make a few bucks on it? Then yes, list it because like a pp said, it's more than what you had before. If you just want to get them out of the house, then maybe donate to a friend or Salvation Army. I would take a look at ebay first because you never know, you might have some very unique hard to find shirt that is soght after. I dunno...but it could happen! You never ever know what will sell well on ebay. I'm getting rid of a bunch of stuff right now actually. I sold an old phone that I got 2 years ago for $80. Just listed a phone that DH isn't using anymore and they are selling used for $200-$400!!! He used his for almost 2 years. He had no idea that people would pay that much for an old phone and was just going to throw it in a drawer to use as a spare. Glad I looked it up because that puppy is on ebay now!
Anyway, ebays fees are high and they suck. But not only can craigslist be a pain, some things are better suited for ebay because of how many more people will see it. Out of the 8 or so random things I've sold on there these last few weeks, we've already made $400. Not too shabby! So OP, look at completed listings, see if people are buying Disney shirts and then use your own judgement.

 

[Ava]

I just sold my first item - a lot of maternity clothes. It sold for $71, but after underpricing the shipping by $3, paypal taking their $4 fee, and ebay taking their $7 fee...I didn't take in as much as I originally thought. But it was still money I didn't have before.

I would recommend using Priority Mail Flat Rate shipping whenever possible, so you won't underprice the shipping. If you can't use Flat Rate or think it's too expensive for what you are selling, use a kitchen scale to weigh your packages so you know the exact weight & use eBay's "Calculated Shipping" feature. I always round the weight up to the next pound too, just to be safe.

 

[MissAndrea]

I love the flat rate boxes! I just shipped something today with it. Because there's no weighing or measuring boxes, it was super easy to print the shipping label from ebay, it automatically deducted the fee from paypal, I scheduled a pick up from the USPS and never left the house! I know if you have a scale you can do the same thing but I don't have one so flat rate makes it easy!

 

[TinkrLiz]

Thank you everyone for your opinions I'm going to list a few using the priority pay one price boxes and see how they do. If they sell I'll list the rest when I get back from Disney since I'll still fall within the timeframe of the free listing if it doesn't sell.