Auction Power Guide

I sold 3 items on ebay so far and I was wondering when I would have to start paying some kind of fee because it says the first 50 items are free and i haven’t had to pay any fees yet. I’m kinda confused with the whole fees thing so of anybody could help that would be great. Thank you!

The promotion for listing the first 50 items for free applies to the insertion fee only. There will still be fees associated with your first sales (specifically called "final value fees", these fees are a percentage of your sales price and are billed after the item sells on your invoice). The specific terms and conditions for the promotion you referred to are found on this page (scroll down to where it says "free insertion fees": http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/insertion-fee.html#free .

Like most bills, eBay fees are billed on a monthly cycle, and are due at the end of this period each month. You can view your current account information by going to the "Seller Account" page. Go to my.ebay.com and then hover on the tab "Account" found just above the main "active selling" portion of the page. Then, scroll down to "seller account" and click there. That will lead you to your account status showing any fees, balance, and payments. You can also access any invoices on the right by selecting the proper month and clicking "go".

I would like to sell clothing and hair extensions. However, given that Ebay charges a lot of fees (including insertion fees), I want to know how successful others on here have been with selling on Ebay.

And do you have any advice for a newbie seller like me.

I have 10 years worth of ebay advice.

Anything that you want to know, feel free to message me.

What is the cheapest way but yet the most profitable way to go on ebay? doing auctions or just running a store. I have bought some things off ebay and have my paypal account but have never checked out the costs to get setup or how much time it takes. I’d love to hear from sellers on ebay to tell me what they think.

The basic eBay store subscription costs $15.99 a month. One advantage of an eBay store is the insertion fees for store inventory range from $0.05 to $0.10 for a one month listing. You can list multiple quantities of the same item for a single insertion fee. When you compare that with $0.20 to $4.80 for a single standard auction listing, it is a bargain.

The insertion fees may be cheaper, but the final value fee (FVF) charged when an item is sold from an eBay store is significantly higher. The fee is almost double the final value fee of a standard auction. For example, the FVF for a $100 item selling in an eBay store is $7.75. For an auction, the FVF is $3.75. This difference in FVF needs to be factored in when deciding whether to list an item as a store listing or as an auction listing.

The main disadvantage of using an eBay store is the store inventory only appears in the main search results when there are 30 or fewer auctions and fixed-price listings found. This means if you are trying to sell a very popular item in an eBay store, it will not will not be included in the standard search results. This makes it very difficult for buyers to find store items.

An eBay store works best if you have multiple quantities of the same item. The best strategy is to list one unit as an auction and list the rest in the store. When buyers see the auction listing, they may check the other items that are listed for sale by the seller. This list will include items from the seller’s eBay store. Buyers may chose to buy the unit out of your store instead of waiting for the auction to end.

Good Luck,
Bill
Visit http://www.newlifeauctions.com for more eBay tips.

Ive never sell anything on eBay only bought,I need to know if I really have to pay $1 a day for each item I have listed and all the fees. Thanks

I’ve not familiar with having to pay $1 a day. In my experience the cost to sell on ebay varies on how you list your item. Normally when you list an item, you are charged an ‘insertion fee’ based on the starting price you choose. This includes one free picture and the listing runs for 7 days. If you choose any ‘upgrades’, for instance using more pictures, there are additional ‘upgrading fees’. You are able to see your fees and any upgrade fees on the listing form before you submit your listing. If your item does not sell, you do not have to pay the normal insertion fee. However, presently ebay is offering 50 _free_ insertion fees a month. This sounds like a good deal BUT, if your item sells, you are charged a 9.0% ‘final value fee’ on that amount _plus_ now your shipping costs are adding to the ‘final value fee’! As you might know, shipping is usually pretty expensive so now this adds quite a bit more to the ‘final value fee’ of each item!

Also, ebay owns Paypal and you are forced to use Paypal to receive payment. So in addition to paying ‘final value fees including shipping costs’ to ebay, you have to pay fees on the same amount to Paypal also – kinda like double jeopardy!

I’ve sold on ebay for over 10 years but when I started having to pay fees to ebay and paypal on my shipping costs, I quit….

I would recommend starting with Craigslist.com which is local and completely free, plus you can relist your item(s) as often as needed and there is no shipping involved. Hopefully there is one in your city. There are a lot of spammers on Craigslist that just want you to reply to get your email address to hustle. I avoid that by ‘hiding’ my email and using my telephone number only. Ironically, ebay recently bought a local and free site very much like Craigslist. It’s ‘eBay Classifieds’… as ‘Nashville eBay Classifieds’. It is easier to use than Craigslist but not as well known yet. Another suggestion is to check Yahoo Groups in your city for free _online_ yard or garage sale classified sites. I have four in my area.

Selling Tip: If you do use ebay, they often suggests sellers begin their starting price at 99¢ to encourage bidding. I see that as a definite way to lose money, particularly if only one person happens to bid on your item. So set your starting price at the least amount that you are willing to accept for your item and be aware that ebay and Paypal fees will run over 10%.

Hope this helps…