A Penny Saved is a Penny Earned

A Penny Saved is a Penny Earned -
Benjamin Franklin

Friday, March 18, 2016

Selling on E-Bay

E-Bay has been a popular selling site for a number of years and it's still a great place to both buy and sell, but be informed before you start.

Before listing an item, take a look at fees associated with the sale to see if it is worth your time. Here's where it gets confusing.

E-Bay Fees
Insertion Fee - You pay this when you list an item. These are flat fees depending upon the category. Note: if you choose to relist automatically, you will pay the fee again when it's relisted. According to some of the forums (I couldn't find anything specifically on the E-Bay site) you can list 50 items per month without paying an insertion fee. Also the fee will not be waived for a second category if listed in more than one area.
Final Value Fee - You don't pay this if your item doesn't sell, but if it sells, your fee will be based on the sale price of the item.
Other Fees - You may choose additions, such as bold, and upgraded advertising. You will pay for this whether the item sells or not as it's associated with actually placing the advertisement not the sale.

How Fees Work

Pay Pal -
Pay Pal charges will be deducted once you make a sale. This is .30c per sale plus 2.9% of the sales price.

My advice is to set up an account and list something of low value to see how it works for you, before jumping in with more expensive items.

Before listing an item do a search for a similar item and click on the advanced button (top right hand corner) check the sold listing box and search. It will give you an idea of what your item is selling for so that you can list it at an appropriate price.

Beware of unscrupulous buyers. Buyers who live in the Ukraine have a reputation for purchasing items such as I-Pads and then filing a report with E-Bay saying they didn't receive the item (it happened to a friend of mine). There doesn't appear to be any way to track shipping to this country so it might be advisable to stay clear as E-Bay will refund their money unless you can prove it was received. You can read of one seller's experience here.