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Sittin' on the Dock of eBay
If you don't know what you are doing as you strive to become a
seller on eBay, you could be wasting your time or fooling
yourself into thinking that you have found a way to make a
fortune. What is it you should know about eBay and the cost of
doing business on eBay? This can best be summed up with two
things - many kinds of eBay fees and PayPal fees. I bring this
to your attention so that you go into an eBay relationship with
your eyes wide open.
It would be like having a garage sale at your home and not
factoring in the cost of placing an ad in the newspaper and
paying your kids to watch and help sell the items. Sometimes you
can go to all of the work of having a garage sale, and it can be
a bust after you deduct the cost of having the sale. The same
goes for auctioning items on eBay. After you pay the eBay fees,
sometimes there isn't much left. So you ask yourself as you look
at the quarter, two dimes, and a nickel in the palm of your
hand, "Was this really worth it?" Could be "yes"; could be "no."
The old phrase, "...nickel and dime you to death," comes to mind
when I think about the eBay insertion fees, the eBay seller
fees, and the PayPal (also owned by eBay) fees. One of the keys
to being successful on eBay is to get the most from your listing
and minimize the fees that you pay for listing your item. A
person needs to do research to come up with a price that will
allow for a reasonable profit after the "cost of doing business"
is subtracted from the selling price. Taking an eBay class would
help beginners with making the most out of their listings where
the following costs are explained.
Insertion Fees - This is the price that you are charged for
listing an item on eBay. When you list an item, the fee is
automatically charged to your seller's account. These fees are
not refundable. The basic insertion fees follow a sliding scale.
For example, if an item is listed for $1.00 to $9.99 the
insertion fee is $0.35, and an item listed for $50.00 to $199.99
cost $2.40 in insertion fees. However, there are many other
things that can be done to enhance a listing. They all have a
cost factor. The first picture is free, but additional pictures
are $0.15 each. To supersize a picture it would be $0.75. What
if you want a border, subtitle, bold, gallery, 10 day auction,
and gift services? Yes, you can do that, but each has a cost
factor from $.0.50 to $3.00. It can certainly add up if you are
not careful.
Buy It Now - This is the feature that a buyer clicks if he or
she wants to buy an item immediately. They are prompted to use
PayPal and to pay for the item. To protect the seller the item
does remain available to other buyers until the payment is
completed. A buyer who is the first to send the PayPal payment
through gets the item. This feature can be used with any of the
other selling formats. However, the "Buy It Now" disappears once
a bid is placed (if it is an auction item). Of course, there is
a cost for this feature which ranges from $0.05 to $0.25.
Reserve Fees - As a protection to the seller, a reserve price
may be initiated so that you don't sell the item below a certain
price. A seller reserves the right not to sell below that
designated price, and the seller uses this option to motivate
buyers to bid. A potential buyer may be discouraged if the
starting price is too high, but a low starting price could
backfire if a reserve is not preset. There is a fee for this, of
course. The good news is that the reserve fee is refunded if the
item is successfully sold. The bad news is that the fee is not
refunded if the item doesn't sell. Kind of like a double whammy,
in my opinion.
Final Value Fees - When your item is sold, eBay charges a Final
Value Fee. Even if the sale is not completed the fee will be
applied. However, you can request a full credit if the buyer did
not buy the item or backs out of the deal. Depending on whether
the sale was from a regular auction, a store inventory, or eBay
motor vehicles the costs may vary on the final value fee .
Pay Pal Fees - Signing up for PayPal is quick and easy. It is a
real advantage for sellers because you are able to receive
payments very quickly. There is no monthly fees or set up fees.
The other good news is that the transaction fees are less than
most merchant fees for taking a credit card. The other positives
are that there is fraud protection., and Paypal is all available
in 38 countries.
As you can see there are many ways that eBay makes money from
the fee structures in place, but they are in business to make
money. One rationale that is touted as the party line in the
eBay schools is that it would be much more to sell items if a
person opened a store instead of using the Internet. We are
reminded that there would be rent, utilities, and many other
things a store owner would need. Their contention is that it has
to be worth something.
Just think about how many times someone has complained about
wanting to get rid of some items stored in the garage? And how
many times has someone else said, "Why don't you sell it on
eBay?" It is such a widely known entity and has such a worldwide
Internet presence that you just about have to do it. Knowing up
front about the various fees and the best way to list your item
could help you be successful. You need to plan carefully and
work wisely so that you are not "sittin' on the dock of eBay,
wastin' time."
Copyright usage: No permission is needed to reproduce an
unedited copy of this article as long the About The Author tag
is left in tact and hot links included. Comments or questions
can be sent to Barb@sbmag.org
About the author:
Barbara Snyder, M.A. Ed. is a retired California Distinguished
School Principal & Coordinator For Human Resources. She has a
master's degree in Curriculum and Instruction. She holds
elementary education, secondary, community college &
administrative credentials. She is currently the publisher of
http://EducationResourcesNetwork.com, co-publisher of Strictly
Business Magazine, http://www.sbmag.org and Student Teacher
Supervisor at Chapman University.