I Will Never Sell On eBay Again

[jingram058]

Just sold 7 items of vintage on eBay. Total with shipping, $421. After fees, $337. Spent $55 out of pocket to mail everything out. Now we're down to $282 of net profit. One guy had the nerve to tell me I was unreasonable for charging $10 for Priority Mail, which actually cost $19. This for an item from 1897 that I bought in the 1990s for well over $100 that he snagged from me for $67. On the other hand, one item from 1904 that I think I paid $8 for sold for $167. But since I haven't sold on eBay since 2017, I am a "new seller", even though I have been on eBay since 1998. I have to wait until the items arrive (tracking) in order to receive payments. So all of this...fees, waiting to receive payments, is a total pain. I won't sell on eBay ever again. You guys that sell on eBay, I don't know how or why you do so.

[MikeGarcia]

..At my local post office they do not charge $19 to mail a $67 card ? ? ?

[edhans]

+1 to all. I've been ebay-free for sixteen years now, and have loved every minute of it. I rarely even search there any more.

[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

To be fair, you do have the option to make sure that none of your shipping costs come out of your own pocket, and it's on you to figure out the numbers. That would have freed up some of the money. For me, buyer always incurs the cost of the shipping, and I don't hide it by factoring it into a larger BIN price. If it costs me some sales, oh well.

[rand1com]

Originally Posted by jingram058

Just sold 7 items of vintage on eBay. Total with shipping, $421. After fees, $337. Spent $55 out of pocket to mail everything out. Now we're down to $282 of net profit. One guy had the nerve to tell me I was unreasonable for charging $10 for Priority Mail, which actually cost $19. This for an item from 1897 that I bought in the 1990s for well over $100 that he snagged from me for $67. On the other hand, one item from 1904 that I think I paid $8 for sold for $167. But since I haven't sold on eBay since 2017, I am a "new seller", even though I have been on eBay since 1998. I have to wait until the items arrive (tracking) in order to receive payments. So all of this...fees, waiting to receive payments, is a total pain. I won't sell on eBay ever again. You guys that sell on eBay, I don't know how or why you do so.

It is a business model just like any other business. The fees, shipping costs, etc. have to be factored into the business. Try to open a store front that has a 12.35% OH that reaches millions of potential buyers. Good Luck!

Bottom line is Ebay is the best marketplace to reach a wide variety of buyers at a reasonable level. Certainly, it can be a headache at times but unless you do a lot of shows, it is the best place to sell.

It has been mentioned on here before as well but after a sale price surpasses $2500, the fee drops to .0235% for any amount above that threshold. So, on expensive items the net fees can be much less than the standard 12.35%.

Auction houses charge the seller 20% on say items expected to bring $500 or less. Yes, they do the work to describe and list the item and start the auction at 40% of the perceived value but with no guarantee of a return amount.

At least on Ebay, if you want $100 for an item, you can price it so that you get the $100 or keep your item. Just list it at a BIN of $120 and the $20 will cover all your costs as long as you charge the buyer the actual shipping costs and you net the $100 you wanted. True, it may sit for years and never sell but if that is the case, you probably have it way overpriced for the market.

[LEHR]

Originally Posted by rand1com

Auction houses charge the seller 20% on say items expected to bring $500 or less. Yes, they do the work to describe and list the item and start the auction at 40% of the perceived value but with no guarantee of a return amount.

I have never paid a sellers fee on a consignment to an auction house, even on lower dollar items. There is so much competition now I believe that's basically a thing of the past for most AH's, especially if you deal with one or two all the time.

[scgaynor]

If you don't have a following already it is going to be very hit and miss. Items are easily missed if people are not already looking at your offerings. Especially if you are selling anything other than cards.

I get the numbers that I do because about 70% of my buyers are repeat customers. I have about 6000 people on me email list. But that is built up over 25+ years of selling on ebay.

If you were to start putting items on ebay on a regular basis, you would see better prices within 6 months as you develop a following.

[Northviewcats]

Originally Posted by scgaynor

If you don't have a following already it is going to be very hit and miss. Items are easily missed if people are not already looking at your offerings. Especially if you are selling anything other than cards.

I get the numbers that I do because about 70% of my buyers are repeat customers. I have about 6000 people on me email list. But that is built up over 25+ years of selling on ebay.

If you were to start putting items on ebay on a regular basis, you would see better prices within 6 months as you develop a following.

I agree. I am up to 500 watchers in my eBay store, and like Scott 70% of my sales are repeat customers. The key is to keep listing new items and refresh the old listings (I wish I was better at this). The fees don't bother me. I think that when you figure the cost to set up a booth at a show it is probably a wash, and you don't have to lug around your inventory.

[D. Bergin]

Originally Posted by MikeGarcia

..At my local post office they do not charge $19 to mail a $67 card ? ? ?

I'm guessing it was a bulkier piece of memorabilia, and not a card.

My biggest black mark in my Ebay feedback was a guy from years ago who left me like 10 neutrals in a row for charging him like 30 bucks to ship to ship 10+ lots of 120+ boxing magazines to him.

Then years later, that same guy sent me a nasty, obscenity laden message when he discovered I had blocked him on Ebay, and I had an item that featured one of his relatives on it, and he wasn't able to bid on it.

You get all types on the Bay. It's just a matter of whether you want to put up with the bad for the good.

[rand1com]

Originally Posted by LEHR

I have never paid a sellers fee on a consignment to an auction house, even on lower dollar items. There is so much competition now I believe that's basically a thing of the past for most AH's, especially if you deal with one or two all the time.

If you have an established relationship over the years with an auction house or two and they know you have had really good items that have been consigned, they may well give you a zero seller commission on lesser valued items hoping to get the better items down the road.

However, a new consignor has zero chance of getting a zero seller commission on a few $500 items.

I have a friend who consigned a $10,000 collection to a major auction house as his first consignment and I told him he could get zero but the best they would do was 10%. He certainly could have found another major house that would have done zero if he shopped around with a collection of this value, but he did not. He just settled against my advise.

My original reference was to the type items this seller sold on Ebay. The vast majority of the major auction houses would not take those items even with a 20% seller premium. They have too much of the more valuable stuff to fill their catalog with $100 items. They might lot up a bunch of them into a single lot but no way they do zero commission.

[Touch'EmAll]

eBay has finally pushed up their fees so it closely matches the buyers premium at most auction houses. This is it, they can't push up fees anymore or risk a big drop off in decent listings, which I am sure they don't want if they are even remotely smart. Basically, you now get to keep 80 %. Sigh.

[icurnmedic]

Originally Posted by Touch'EmAll

eBay has finally pushed up their fees so it closely matches the buyers premium at most auction houses. This is it, they can't push up fees anymore or risk a big drop off in decent listings, which I am sure they don't want if they are even remotely smart. Basically, you now get to keep 80 %. Sigh.

Use to be when you factor in PayPal fees it was close to 20% depending on item prices. It is a ripoff but is what it is

[D. Bergin]

Originally Posted by icurnmedic

Use to be when you factor in PayPal fees it was close to 20% depending on item prices. It is a ripoff but is what it is

No, not really. Ebay raised their fees proportionally when they took over the payment processing from Paypal.....Then they started taking Final value fees on top of merchant processing fees out of the Shipping charges and Sales Tax / Vat Tax collection.

[BobbyStrawberry]

Yeah, eBay really, really sucks now. It's mostly museum listings and junk now.

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by BobbyStrawberry

Yeah, eBay really, really sucks now. It's mostly museum listings and junk now.

Still better than COMC.

I am guessing most of eBay sucking is from when everyone thought they might get a 1099 since many on there are actually running a business they called a hobby. I would love to hear how the audits turned out from those that got them.

[G1911]

I don't really get the objections so far.

1) eBay must have fees. They don't seem to be out of line; aside from collecting final value on sales tax.

2) The seller sets the shipping, not eBay. Undercharging for shipping is clearly not their fault.

3) I'm not clear why a new seller would object to having to follow through before payment.

4) The sales taxes and 1099's, whether one is for or against, is not eBay's choice and they have no choice at all.


I think a better criticism is that eBay employees at fairly senior levels have mailed death threats, stalked, and placed GPS tracking devices on the vehicles of some criticizing the platform. But that's just my opinion.

[hcv123]

Originally Posted by LEHR

I have never paid a sellers fee on a consignment to an auction house, even on lower dollar items. There is so much competition now I believe that's basically a thing of the past for most AH's, especially if you deal with one or two all the time.

You may not "pay" anything additional as a seller, but only receive 80% of what the auction house collects. I posit that the overwhelming majority of cases, a buyer is not paying 20% over "market". They back out the 20% buyers premium (and sometimes tax & shipping) to land at their final bid. Ultimately netting you in your "favored" status 80% of market value.

[jingram058]

Originally Posted by G1911

I don't really get the objections so far.

1) eBay must have fees. They don't seem to be out of line; aside from collecting final value on sales tax.

2) The seller sets the shipping, not eBay. Undercharging for shipping is clearly not their fault.

3) I'm not clear why a new seller would object to having to follow through before payment.

4) The sales taxes and 1099's, whether one is for or against, is not eBay's choice and they have no choice at all.


I think a better criticism is that eBay employees at fairly senior levels have mailed death threats, stalked, and placed GPS tracking devices on the vehicles of some criticizing the platform. But that's just my opinion.

$421 sales, $337 after sales - eBay's fees are too high.

Can't get paid via PayPal, now have to use bank account, and have to wait until items received. Fair enough, reduces or eliminates fraud.

eBay computed the shipping. One item, a vintage program, worth WAY more than it sold for (nice, but I could live without it) was stated in description clearly would only be sent Priority Mail, due to scarcity and desirability. Buyer complained that $10 for eBay-computed was UNREASONABLE, quote. Ended up costing $19 to ship.

Each item ended up costing more than computed by eBay, $55 for 7 items, and eBay demanded tracking for each item.

I have sold on eBay, but not since 2017. I don't remember it being this annoying. But things have changed. In retrospect, I would have kept the items. I will not sell on eBay again.

Perhaps if I sold more, things would improve over time. I believe payouts come faster once you regularly sell. Also, the more high-value you sell, fee percentages lower.

It's not for me.

[G1911]

Originally Posted by jingram058

$421 sales, $337 after sales - eBay's fees are too high.

Can't get paid via PayPal, now have to use bank account, and have to wait until items received. Fair enough, reduces or eliminates fraud.

eBay computed the shipping. One item, a vintage program, worth WAY more than it sold for (nice, but I could live without it) was stated in description clearly would only be sent Priority Mail, due to scarcity and desirability. Buyer complained that $10 for eBay-computed was UNREASONABLE, quote. Ended up costing $19 to ship.

Each item ended up costing more than computed by eBay, $55 for 7 items, and eBay demanded tracking for each item.

I have sold on eBay, but not since 2017. I don't remember it being this annoying. But things have changed. In retrospect, I would have kept the items. I will not sell on eBay again.

Perhaps if I sold more, things would improve over time. I believe payouts come faster once you regularly sell. Also, the more high-value you sell, fee percentages lower.

It's not for me.

I don’t think you can reach many people without ~20% to the platform/house. That’s nornal, and on eBay is pretty much the top end only. One need not like it but that’s normal.

It is news to me that sellers no longer set the shipping cost and eBay forces them to use an undercharged amount set by eBay. Have never heard of this before or experienced it.

I really don’t understand the problem with providing tracking? Why would you not provide any evidence of fulfilling your end?

[LEHR]

Originally Posted by hcv123

You may not "pay" anything additional as a seller, but only receive 80% of what the auction house collects. I posit that the overwhelming majority of cases, a buyer is not paying 20% over "market". They back out the 20% buyers premium (and sometimes tax & shipping) to land at their final bid. Ultimately netting you in your "favored" status 80% of market value.

I'm not talking about the Buyers Premium the AH tacks on the the hammer price, I'm saying I'm not paying a sellers fee upfront in addition to the BP the AH collects.
I've also had many items sell for 15%-150% over what I expected them to sell for, and so far this has by far made up for the items that fall short of my expectations. Many items sell for more than perceived market value.

[perezfan]

I stopped selling on eBay 5-6 years ago, and have gone the auction house route ever since. Some factors...

Many auction houses will offer you 0% or even a negative commission

You can package up everything at once and send to them in a single parcel (as opposed to packaging/addressing/sending out dozens of eBay parcels).

You don't have the pain in the ass of writing up/listing everything individually on eBay

I realize better prices than eBay, via the Catalog Auctions

There's more, but I deal more in memorabilia than cards, so some may not apply to the bulk of people reading this.

Bottom line... Leaving eBay is the best decision I've ever made, but to each his own.

[raulus]

Welcome to the party, pal!

Pick your poison in terms of selling venue. If eBay doesn’t work, then I’m sure the BST here will be much better. At least if you sell through a non eBay AH, then you don’t have to deal with whining from the buyers.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Very few auction houses if any are going to take $60 items I wouldn't think. If you hate ebay fees, use the BST, but you're reaching a small fraction of the buying pool.

[jingram058]

Originally Posted by raulus

Welcome to the party, pal!

Pick your poison in terms of selling venue. If eBay doesn’t work, then I’m sure the BST here will be much better. At least if you sell through a non eBay AH, then you don’t have to deal with whining from the buyers.

Agreed! I will do so. I rarely sell anything. BST is the way to do it going forward.

[raulus]

Originally Posted by jingram058

Agreed! I will do so. I rarely sell anything. BST is the way to do it going forward.

My guess is that your collecting habits will align nicely with the crowd that is looking to buy on the BST. So while the audience is smaller, your material probably plays fine with that strategy.

[Yoda]

Trading rocks!

[ALBB]

But yet, I and ( ? thousands of other guys ) are on ebay looking and buying...multiple times a day..every day

[jingram058]

Aside from selling, perhaps it is only unsubstantiated perception that there is dramatically less of the actual vintage things, other than baseball cards, I search for on eBay, and far more modern things attempting to capitalize on the vintage things...metal signs made to look vintage is just one example. For the last couple of years, vintage railroad timetables, I find British and European en masse, modern Amtrak and the like, and far less pre-war American.

For selling and buying vintage collectibles alike, with fee percentages and holds when selling, and far less vintage stuff when searching to buy, with so many other venues, Amazon and Etsy, etc., I wouldn't think eBay's future is bright. But I am a true pessimist.

[Snowman]

Originally Posted by jingram058

Just sold 7 items of vintage on eBay. Total with shipping, $421. After fees, $337. Spent $55 out of pocket to mail everything out. Now we're down to $282 of net profit. One guy had the nerve to tell me I was unreasonable for charging $10 for Priority Mail, which actually cost $19. This for an item from 1897 that I bought in the 1990s for well over $100 that he snagged from me for $67. On the other hand, one item from 1904 that I think I paid $8 for sold for $167. But since I haven't sold on eBay since 2017, I am a "new seller", even though I have been on eBay since 1998. I have to wait until the items arrive (tracking) in order to receive payments. So all of this...fees, waiting to receive payments, is a total pain. I won't sell on eBay ever again. You guys that sell on eBay, I don't know how or why you do so.

Why on earth are you paying for Priority Mail for a $100 card? I would complain too if I were the buyer. That's completely unnecessary. You can ship it for $4.

Also, ebay putting account restrictions on new sellers is a good thing. You can get past that stage fairly quickly though once you establish a record of selling items and shipping them in a timely manner and receiving positive feedback.

[Snowman]

Originally Posted by LEHR

I have never paid a sellers fee on a consignment to an auction house, even on lower dollar items. There is so much competition now I believe that's basically a thing of the past for most AH's, especially if you deal with one or two all the time.

I'm pretty sure he's referring to the Buyer's Premium, which is 20% pretty much always on lower dollar cards. And yes, the "Buyer's Premium" is a seller's fee regardless of what they call it.

[bmattioli]

EBay gets the most eyeballs. Adjust shipping fees accordingly..

[jingram058]

Originally Posted by Snowman

Why on earth are you paying for Priority Mail for a $100 card? I would complain too if I were the buyer. That's completely unnecessary. You can ship it for $4.

Also, ebay putting account restrictions on new sellers is a good thing. You can get past that stage fairly quickly though once you establish a record of selling items and shipping them in a timely manner and receiving positive feedback.

It wasn't a card, Travis. It was a Plant System timetables brochure that I paid over $100 for many years ago. Now it's worth WAY more. But it only sold for $67. I was shocked it only got 3 bids given the number of watchers. I thought it would would sell in the hundreds at the very least. But because of rarity and desirability, I clearly stated in the description Priority Mail only. He didn't have to bid if he was put off by that. In the end, I sold another item that I paid a little of nothing for that went in the hundreds. Even though it sold high, it went Ground Advantage with tracking. Your guess is as good as mine why buyers went into a small frenzy over it. So sales wise, it balanced out, even with my disappointment over the other one.

[CurtisFlood]

Originally Posted by jingram058

Just sold 7 items of vintage on eBay. Total with shipping, $421. After fees, $337. Spent $55 out of pocket to mail everything out. Now we're down to $282 of net profit. One guy had the nerve to tell me I was unreasonable for charging $10 for Priority Mail, which actually cost $19. This for an item from 1897 that I bought in the 1990s for well over $100 that he snagged from me for $67. On the other hand, one item from 1904 that I think I paid $8 for sold for $167. But since I haven't sold on eBay since 2017, I am a "new seller", even though I have been on eBay since 1998. I have to wait until the items arrive (tracking) in order to receive payments. So all of this...fees, waiting to receive payments, is a total pain. I won't sell on eBay ever again. You guys that sell on eBay, I don't know how or why you do so.

I quit in 2002. Got sick of scammers. When I quit I never went back, now am fully retired from shows and have nothing to sell. Nice to be done with that part of the business.

[babraham]

Originally Posted by G1911

It is news to me that sellers no longer set the shipping cost and eBay forces them to use an undercharged amount set by eBay.

eBay still allows you to set fixed or calculated shipping prices of your choosing.

Originally Posted by jingram058

It was a Plant System timetables brochure that I paid over $100 for many years ago. Now it's worth WAY more. But it only sold for $67. I was shocked it only got 3 bids given the number of watchers. I thought it would would sell in the hundreds at the very least.

You should have put a reserve on it for your minimum...it might not have sold then, but at least you wouldn't feel hosed on selling a nice item for so cheap.

[Tabe]

Originally Posted by jingram058

It wasn't a card, Travis. It was a Plant System timetables brochure that I paid over $100 for many years ago. Now it's worth WAY more. But it only sold for $67. I was shocked it only got 3 bids given the number of watchers. I thought it would would sell in the hundreds at the very least. But because of rarity and desirability, I clearly stated in the description Priority Mail only. He didn't have to bid if he was put off by that. In the end, I sold another item that I paid a little of nothing for that went in the hundreds. Even though it sold high, it went Ground Advantage with tracking. Your guess is as good as mine why buyers went into a small frenzy over it. So sales wise, it balanced out, even with my disappointment over the other one.

A brochure? You can ship an item priority mail in a bubble mailer - the ones provided by USPS, which are free - for like $8.

Ebay calculates shipping based on the information you give them, if I'm not mistaken.

[philliesfan]

I just select - All buyers pay the same fixed rate. Then it is

$2.00 for the standard ebay envelope for non graded cards up to $20.00.

$5.00 in a bubble mailer which usually costs about $4.50 for one graded card or a non graded card that sells for more than $20.00.

$8.00 for combined shipping up to four graded cards.

All of the options are insured by the USPS. If additional insurance is required for a more expensive card, I adjust the shipping charges accordingly AND state in the listing that the shipping cost includes insurance to $xxx.xx.

That way there are no surprises and the buyer knows up front what he is paying for.

Bob

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

Originally Posted by jingram058

It wasn't a card, Travis. It was a Plant System timetables brochure that I paid over $100 for many years ago. Now it's worth WAY more. But it only sold for $67. I was shocked it only got 3 bids given the number of watchers. I thought it would would sell in the hundreds at the very least. But because of rarity and desirability, I clearly stated in the description Priority Mail only. He didn't have to bid if he was put off by that. In the end, I sold another item that I paid a little of nothing for that went in the hundreds. Even though it sold high, it went Ground Advantage with tracking. Your guess is as good as mine why buyers went into a small frenzy over it. So sales wise, it balanced out, even with my disappointment over the other one.

A brochure could still go in a priority flat rate envelope for like 9 bucks, just saying.