Question for ebayers

Been awhile since I sold anything on ebay. Do you make any money after paying all the fees?

For example If I sold a reel for $100. What would it cost in the end if someone purchased it?

You'd loose between $3 and $7,depending on an Ebay's specials on listing fees and Paypal fees.I sold some motorcycle parts on Ebay recently.I grossed $150 and spent $25 paying ebay and paypal fees.Didn't make any money,but I had more in the parts than they were worth.

ben2go said:

You'd loose between $3 and $7,depending on an Ebay's specials on listing fees and Paypal fees.I sold some motorcycle parts on Ebay recently.I grossed $150 and spent $25 paying ebay and paypal fees.Didn't make any money,but I had more in the parts than they were worth.

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Crooks! :BS:

i agree

I don't sell just buy so I can't answer your exact question. But what has happened is that lots of sellers have some pretty stiff shipping and handling fees which they use to cover ebay costs as well as shipping. I've bought quite a few things for $2 with a $10 shipping/handling fee. Doesn't matter to me in the end as long as elsewhere it would cost several times more than $12 - otherwise it's not worth the auction hassle.

To me, selling on E-Bay is for something you are trying to get rid of. It will be tough trying to make a profit at it consistantly. I had a website selling flashlights a few years ago and would wonder how they sell the exact same product so cheap. If I lowered my price to match them I would have to sell too many to make a profit it would not be worth it. I closed it down because I was spending too much time handling sales and not making enough profit to quit my day job. If you make 15 cent on every flashlight, how many do you have to sell to make a living? If I raised my prices they would go to E-Bay instead.

KMixson said:

To me, selling on E-Bay is for something you are trying to get rid of.

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Exactly my thoughts on ebay. If its something you're just trying to get out of the way and want to get a few bucks back, ebay is all good. If you want to actually make money, then not so much a good idea. The only people that seem to do decent are the ones with the time and knowledge to get great deals on collectibles or antiques at a garage sale or flee market and know their real value, and then put them on ebay.

I can rarely turn a profit on ebay and a lot of things i put on there don't sell,even with a low starting bid of $.99.

I have been seeing more and more guys asking to add 3% to price of the auction to cover paypal fees and also say that the buyer will pay shipping. so you should be able to get the price you want.
Wayne

I have have sold and still do for that matter on eBay as part of my business. Unfortunately the days of using eBay as a platform to run or supliment a business or make money is long gone. You may already know this but if you don't, large companies liek Sears, Bosch, Delta, and distributors for many sporting goods manufactures have taken over that venue for eCommerce sales. It is very hard to make a profit when facing those odds.

One thing positive that eBay did (and it's the only thing I can think of), is if your shipping / handling cost is way out of line as compared to other like items that have sold, they will call your hand on it. This too can be frustrating as I sold a item and preset the shipping to 18.50. The shipping actually cost me 18.75 however, eBay was all over me for sevearl days over that matter, saying that it was not in line with shipping cost of other recently sold like items.
I have had the same experience that ben2go mentions and, don't forget, you still have to fork over funds to list that no sell on eBay. I am becoming more in agreement with those like KMixson

To each his own, but you may want to consider Craigslist.org, Kijii.com. Amazon.com and even the "Penny Saver" paper or Trading Post if there is one in your locale.
Not too long ago one of my friends who did business on eBay referred to eBay as " evil Bay"; I wonder if he isn't pretty close to right on that issue.

It looks like Ebay is only using paypal now. I would only bid if I could send a money order so now my ebay days are done.
I did like buying old reels on there.
WFFF

willfishforfood said:

It looks like Ebay is only using paypal now. I would only bid if I could send a money order so now my ebay days are done.
I did like buying old reels on there.
WFFF

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OK.Tell me what you want of ebay.I'll buy it,double the price,and you can send me a money order for it. :mrgreen:
Just kidding.I wouldn't do that.
I'll have to say that Paypal has saved me money.I bought a very expensive racing shock for one of my motorcycles.A month later it never showed up.I filed a claim with Paypal and won.I got back every penny and the guys Ebay and Paypal account was frozen until it was confirmed that his recent sells obligations were either full filled or refunds were given.

I only buy if I have the money in my pocket. But having anyone linked to my bank or chargecard just doesn't sit well with me. That's just me.
WFFF

You could open a separate bank account strictly for Paypal and when you want to buy something using Paypal you could transfer some money into it. No money in it (bank minimum) until you want to use Paypal.

Ive sold a few items on ebay. Most of it was garage sale stuff I just wanted to get something out of it before throwing away. Ive got a box full of stuff to put on there but never got around to it. We have a huge flee market near by, we take garage sale stuff to sale every few years. Most of my junk needs a bigger crowd to find the right buyer. We broke even on shipping cost. Lost on one and gained on anouther.