Selling on eBay - How to Do This as Cheaply as Possible

savemore on 01/07/2017 - 14:53

Hi OzBargainer's,

I currently do a lot of buying on eBay and have only sold 1-2 items before (concert tickets) and would like to know how to avoid the ridiculous fees that are charged by eBay. I know that from time to time eBay will offer No Insertion Fees or list 10 items free, but I'm sure that these are not truly free. Can anyone suggest how to list items on eBay for the lowest possible amount of fees, or can point me to a tutorial that explains clearly how to calculate the final fees, so that you know exactly how much you are up for when you go to list an item.

Thanks in anticipation.

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Comments

  • ninetyNineCents on 01/07/2017 - 15:14

    From a user perspective insertion and listing fees are basically the same. They are fees just for putting an item up for sale and fees for when you sell the item.

    The real problem is Ebay also take a very big cut around 10% give or take for selling and its just luck if they give you a few no final sale fees.

  • Lichen6420 on 01/07/2017 - 16:31
    +1

    Ebay's 10% is reasonable for the large market exposure and chance to sell Australia wide.

    Want to sell for free use gumtree and local pickup only.

    • ItsMeAgro on 01/07/2017 - 17:11
      +1

      reasonable

      They had fees closer to 2% a few years back, and still made millions. Their "per-item" costs are almost zero, so most of that 2% was pure profit.

      It's just straight-up greed, enabled by the natural monopoly of being the biggest online auction site for years. Hopefully competition will fix it eventually.

      So is over 10% in fees reasonable? Not remotely.

      Still worth it for some kinds of items? Yes, sometimes the larger exposure to buyers will beat what you can get on gumtree or facebook selling groups.

      • Lichen6420 on 01/07/2017 - 17:26
        +1

        lol… when did they have 2% fees?

        It's one of those things, if you don't want to pay the price then vote with your feet and use another auction site with massive exposure and brand recognition. Oh wait… it doesn't exist

        • ItsMeAgro on 01/07/2017 - 17:34
          -1

          when did they have 2% fees?

          For the first decade or so they were in business

        • Ughhh on 01/07/2017 - 17:54
          -1

          @ItsMeAgro:

          A decade ago is not a few years back! Lol

      • Ughhh on 01/07/2017 - 17:52
        +1

        10% is reasonable given the market. Quick sales is free, but it's a ghost town. Gumtrees only good for pick up. Try selling to cash converters, they'll give you 1/3 of your asking price.

      • whooah1979 on 01/07/2017 - 18:48

        They had fees closer to 2%

        ebay's fvf starts from 9.9% + gst. it then gets cheaper depending on the store package. then even cheaper depending on the tier. so the fvf for an anchor store for items listed in tier one is 4.8%. bigger sellers may agreements that where their fvf may be even less than that.

  • Ughhh on 01/07/2017 - 16:48
    -1

    I suggest you read up on the eBay and paypals T&c's on their final listing fees so you don't get surprised. It's about 10% from memory, so just calculate 10% of how much you're listing it for..(10% of 100 is 10)

  • Sage on 01/07/2017 - 18:33

    The insertion fee doesn't apply. It's only if you sell more than 50 items in a month, and even then there are ways to increase the cap.

    It's mainly the final value fee.
    For the last couple of items I've sold, the final value fee is 9.8999% on both the item and the postage. Plus 2.672% transaction fee from Paypal.

    The eBay site says from July 1st this year they've increased the fees to accommodate GST. Now it's 10.9%, not counting the Paypal fee making it 13.572%.
    It really can kill your profit margin, especially when you also have to spend money on postage labels and packing materials.

    I don't think there's any way around the fees.

    • whooah1979 on 01/07/2017 - 18:50

      It's only if you sell more than 50 items in a month

      http://pages.ebay.com.au/help/sell/fees.html#insertion

      Standard fees
      (no Store Package)
      Up to 40 auction-style or fixed price

      • Zachary on 02/07/2017 - 18:33

        I thought it only applies when you attempt to sell in different categories…

        • whooah1979 on 02/07/2017 - 18:46

          40 listings is per username. Create ten usernames and get 400 listings per month.

  • doweyy on 01/07/2017 - 18:36

    I'm not sure why but I get constantly targeted for 10 free final value fee listings so I just list when I get those, if not I just sell on gumtree cause the drop in final amount is more than if I pay the eBay and PayPal fees.

  • scrimshaw on 01/07/2017 - 18:37
    +1

    would like to know how to avoid the ridiculous fees that are charged by eBay

    I now only sell on eBay when they offer me no final value fee emails. I've received like 3 emails this past few months..

    If you sell on eBay, make sure you go into your Account Preferences and tick the boxes that give you special discounts and coupons… if not you will never receive Special offers.

    When you have things to sell, be sure to list them according to the terms and conditions set out by the Special Offer.

  • Slippery Otter on 01/07/2017 - 20:54

    I use this tool:

    http://finalfeecalc.com/

    It's usually off by couple of cents.

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