What Does It cost to Sell On eBay?

[FinanceDude]

I have used craigslist, but I think I haven't gotten the value I wanted out of it.

But, I heard the commissions to sell on eBay can be high??

Can anyone shed light on this?

[justin]

Figure 5% if it is something expensive ($100's). 10% if it is something cheap (<$10).

If you're taking paypal w/ credit cards, that is. They usually charge around 3% for the CC fee, plus a small fixed amount.

[travelover]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FinanceDude I have used craigslist, but I think I haven't gotten the value I wanted out of it.

Isn't Craigslist free? I consider that great value!

Seriously, though, what was your gripe about Craigslist?

[Andre1969]

I'm guessing Craigslist might not generate as much traffic as eBay, but that's just speculation. I've also heard that there's a lot of fraud that seems to go on with Craigslist. Although eBay isn't exactly angelic in that regard either, I guess.

That being said, I sold a few pairs of old combat boots on eBay, but that was last year. I can't remember what the commision was, but around 10% sounds right.

[CCdaCE]

From the horses ass mouth, here's their fee listing.
eBay.com Fees

Basically, it's 20 cents if you start your listing at 99 cents. When it goes up to whatever and sells... then their "final value fee" is based on the final price.

$0.01 - $25.00
5.25% of the closing value
$25.01 - $1,000.00
5.25% of the initial $25.00 ($1.31), plus 3.25% of the remaining closing value balance ($25.01 to $1,000.00)
Equal to or Over $1000.01
5.25% of the initial $25.00 ($1.31), plus 3.25% of the initial $25.01 - $1,000.00 ($31.69), plus 1.50% of the remaining closing value balance ($1000.01 - closing value)

Then they nickel and dime charge you based on how many photos you want and/or if you want to set a reserve (min. final price you're willing to accept), and a whole host of other things

I sold something for $45-ish, the fee came to $2-something after all the fees. I don't recall how bad Paypal hoses you.

-CC

[Brat]

My DH has used E-Bay and Craig's list.

To sell something on E-Bay it needs to be easily shipped and you need to be able to discuss it in detail. My DH takes lots of photos then provides a link to an album feature provided by our ISP. There is A LOT OF TIME involved.

If your market is local Craig's list is better but the effort is comparable. Craig's list sales for shipped items increased significantly when Pay-Pal and shipping cost info was included. We live on an island so that impacts the use of Craig's list.

[donheff]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andre1969 I'm guessing Craigslist might not generate as much traffic as eBay, but that's just speculation.

You need to be careful with the "eyeballs" advantage on eBay. A lot of people say that the competition drives the overall prices down. When I was with the Government one of my IT systems was GSAAuctions.gov sort of a "GBay" for Federal surplus property. I tested the eBay option by posting a couple of dozen identical items on eBay and GSAAuctions. We clearly marked the eBay auctions as government excess being sold BY the government, not by a third party. Not all items sold on eBay, all sold on our site. EVERY item we sold did far better on our site and several sold for over twice the amount garnered on eBay. I assume the "trust" factor and customer's knowledgeable about reselling government surplus led to the higher prices on our internal site despite the increased eyeballs on eBay. We concluded that we could probably move to eBay and maintain our price levels by making it our official site but we didn't see anything that indicated that the general eBay audience would drive our prices up. With the commissions (eBay didn't offer good deals) it was cost effective to run our own system.

[FinanceDude]

Quote:

Originally Posted by travelover Isn't Craigslist free? I consider that great value! Seriously, though, what was your gripe about Craigslist?

Criagslist if rife with unrealistic "bargain" hunters. When I sold my van on there, I got MANY calls offering me $7000 for a 3 year old one-owner Town and Country in pristine condition with 48,000 miles............

I've had better luck getting my price at RUMMAGE SALES...........

[Nords]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brat If your market is local Craig's list is better but the effort is comparable.

Same here, but local newspapers charge whatever they want for ads that are uninformative, bloated (with, uhm, advertising), & expensive. Craigslist is the best price around.

My biggest frustration with eBay is the users who state "Shipping to U.S. only!!!!!" and then argue with me about the number of stars on the U.S. flag. There are others who claim that UPS won't ship to Hawaii so their hands are tied.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brat Craig's list sales for shipped items increased significantly when Pay-Pal and shipping cost info was included.

I don't see an easy way to search Craigslist nationally for items (other than clicking on one metropolitan link after another)-- does anyone know how to do that?

I've sold Craigslist items to buyers as far as Pennsylvania, and even with the shipping cost/hassle we ended up with more money than waiting for a local buyer.

FinanceDude, for a guy who used to sell cars you sure seem to have a thin skin about ignorant customers. Craigslist gives you all the value that you pay for, and we don't take any potential buyers seriously until they make it to our driveway. I was particularly amused by a buyer who called from four blocks away and still couldn't find our house... guess he got sidetracked by a better deal.

[FinanceDude]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nords FinanceDude, for a guy who used to sell cars you sure seem to have a thin skin about ignorant customers. Craigslist gives you all the value that you pay for, and we don't take any potential buyers seriously until they make it to our driveway. I was particularly amused by a buyer who called from four blocks away and still couldn't find our house... guess he got sidetracked by a better deal.

I had one advantage back then, I got to kick them out...........