eBay & Paypal Fees

[m.wright58926]

Yep, as the sale amount gets higher, the impact of the fixed fee is reduced. The total PP fee on $100 is 3%, just slightly above their value fee of 2.9%. The eBay fee is a constant at 10%.

[prestigecollectibles]

I have an Ebay store which gives me a final fee of 9% on most items and I am a top rated seller which gives me a 20% on final fees.

[thecatspajamas]

If you have sufficient sales volume with Paypal ($10k+ per month) you can also get your PP fees down to $0.30 + 2.2% per payment received.

So at best, with an eBay Store, Top Rated Seller status, and $10k+ per month Paypal transaction volume, you can get your fees down to $0.30 + 9.4% per transaction.

You really have to keep on top of it to maintain that 20% discount though. Your average, low-volume seller is going to pay $0.30 + 12.9% per transaction. And in both cases, the percentage applies to any shipping fee you charge as well.

[Exhibitman]

To answer part of the OP:

Some auctioneers will give you a no commission deal on graded cards you consign. All you would absorb is the buyer's premium. If their BP is 15%, it is not worth dealing with eBay for me.

[Harliduck]

I agree that Ebay & Paypal fees are a bit much...but I will take the other side.

I am 99% a BUYER on Ebay, and certainly do not buy cards to resell or even consider them an investment. So naturally as mostly a buyer, fees mean nothing on Ebay.

Now...this last month my wife and I adopted a beautiful young girl out of the foster world (to add to my 4 kids) and the wife asked if I would part with anything temporarily for all the fees and such...I have such a great wife I couldn't say no. I picked a 1957 Topps set which I know is in pretty good demand, and it was pretty high grade. Again, I hate selling, but considering what it was for, I dove in.

I first put the set up here for on the B/S/T hoping for a quick sale, and discounted it accordingly. I was missing Koufax and the Berra/Mantle card. I asked $2000, and I felt it was worth $2500. I put up scans of all the stars, and all the high # tough to get cards. I immediately received three offers ranging from $700 - $800 and was told if I sold it anywhere else I would be lucky to get $1000. I did get one offer of $1600, but was also told that was all it was worth.

Off to Ebay...I did sell a few cards offline before I put it up, including the Mantle, for $500. The rest sold on Ebay for $3322. ($3822 total). My Ebay fees ended up being $348 and Paypal took their percent.


So...yes...the fees and nickel and diming is pretty tough to take...but I ask you...where else would I get such a bang for my buck? Certainly a brick and mortor store would have probably offered less than here....and the differences are staggering. I am certainly not an Ebay cheerleader (they have certainly pissed me off before)...but I have to be honest with the results...they earned every dime they got from me for providing such a medium as a regular joe like myself. Its easy to bitch about the fees...and not see the value of such fees.

I also must add as a buyer there is no better medium. To me the auction houses are better suited for the sellers...I see items routinely over sold. At any time I can go purchase just about any card ever made on Ebay in my underware at 2am. Tough to compete with that.

Just my .02...another view. Legal/Adoption fees are paid, as well as new childrens furniture and I even was able to get my 1955 set down to only needing 5 cards. Happy wife...can't beat that.

[frankbmd]

I also must add as a buyer there is no better medium. To me the auction houses are better suited for the sellers...I see items routinely over sold. At any time I can go purchase just about any card ever made on Ebay in my underware at 2am. Tough to compete with that.

John, I basically agree with your argument regarding Ebay, but

you say that AHs are better suited for sellers and then when you sell you use Ebay (?). I would just add that many of us who frequent auction houses place bids at 2AM in our underwear (correct spelling) or less during those interminable extended bidding sessions. The fee structure on BST is unbeatable compared to Ebay or AHs but this is basically a prewar audience. Selling postwar cards on BST can work but frequently is like trying to sell beef in New Delhi.

[autograf]

As a seller, fees are on the high side of reasonable. But there's really no other game in town where you set ALL the parameters on your sale. You can bundle stuff and send to a multitude of auction houses ranging from the very large to the boutique and pay fees ranging from zero to 10% depending on the item's value but you lose much of the control of the aspects of the sale. For some, that's no big deal as they just want to move the goods or they're goods that will sell for what they will sell for anyway. I still sell on ebay though not as much and I just figure the fees are what the fees are. If you have a business model of selling 1.00 cards on there, it might not be the best unless you're selling dozens of them to a single person.......anyway, they won't be going down!

John.....wish I'd seen your 1957 set FS....I must have missed it.......and I have two daughters adopted from China, so I know all about REAL fees.....much higher than the ebay 12-15% ones! Congrats.....

[glchen]

Originally Posted by Harliduck

I agree that Ebay & Paypal fees are a bit much...but I will take the other side.

I am 99% a BUYER on Ebay, and certainly do not buy cards to resell or even consider them an investment. So naturally as mostly a buyer, fees mean nothing on Ebay.

Now...this last month my wife and I adopted a beautiful young girl out of the foster world (to add to my 4 kids) and the wife asked if I would part with anything temporarily for all the fees and such...I have such a great wife I couldn't say no. I picked a 1957 Topps set which I know is in pretty good demand, and it was pretty high grade. Again, I hate selling, but considering what it was for, I dove in.

I first put the set up here for on the B/S/T hoping for a quick sale, and discounted it accordingly. I was missing Koufax and the Berra/Mantle card. I asked $2000, and I felt it was worth $2500. I put up scans of all the stars, and all the high # tough to get cards. I immediately received three offers ranging from $700 - $800 and was told if I sold it anywhere else I would be lucky to get $1000. I did get one offer of $1600, but was also told that was all it was worth.

Off to Ebay...I did sell a few cards offline before I put it up, including the Mantle, for $500. The rest sold on Ebay for $3322. ($3822 total). My Ebay fees ended up being $348 and Paypal took their percent.


So...yes...the fees and nickel and diming is pretty tough to take...but I ask you...where else would I get such a bang for my buck? Certainly a brick and mortor store would have probably offered less than here....and the differences are staggering. I am certainly not an Ebay cheerleader (they have certainly pissed me off before)...but I have to be honest with the results...they earned every dime they got from me for providing such a medium as a regular joe like myself. Its easy to bitch about the fees...and not see the value of such fees.

I also must add as a buyer there is no better medium. To me the auction houses are better suited for the sellers...I see items routinely over sold. At any time I can go purchase just about any card ever made on Ebay in my underware at 2am. Tough to compete with that.

Just my .02...another view. Legal/Adoption fees are paid, as well as new childrens furniture and I even was able to get my 1955 set down to only needing 5 cards. Happy wife...can't beat that.

+1, great story, and I agree that ebay tends to bring net higher prices for most things. good luck w/ your adoption. read a recent story about adoptions in the nytimes. I have three kids and my wife and I are always scrambling. That's terrific that you and your wife are able to do so much.

[Exhibitman]

My experience has been that auctioning mainstream postwar cards tends to be as good as or better than the net results on eBay, provided you can control the lotting and prevent your stuff from being thrown into dealer-friendly mass lots that are just going to be broken up anyway. There is also the headache/BS/time commitment aspect of eBay to consider. I don't have the time or the energy to list bunches of cards on eBay, monitor results, invoice buyers, pack and ship orders, chase down deadbeats, deal with the inevitable fraction of buyers who are mentally ill, etc.

[Rollingstone206]

...

[peterose4hof]

Originally Posted by Harliduck

I agree that Ebay & Paypal fees are a bit much...but I will take the other side.

I am 99% a BUYER on Ebay, and certainly do not buy cards to resell or even consider them an investment. So naturally as mostly a buyer, fees mean nothing on Ebay.

Now...this last month my wife and I adopted a beautiful young girl out of the foster world (to add to my 4 kids) and the wife asked if I would part with anything temporarily for all the fees and such...I have such a great wife I couldn't say no. I picked a 1957 Topps set which I know is in pretty good demand, and it was pretty high grade. Again, I hate selling, but considering what it was for, I dove in.

I first put the set up here for on the B/S/T hoping for a quick sale, and discounted it accordingly. I was missing Koufax and the Berra/Mantle card. I asked $2000, and I felt it was worth $2500. I put up scans of all the stars, and all the high # tough to get cards. I immediately received three offers ranging from $700 - $800 and was told if I sold it anywhere else I would be lucky to get $1000. I did get one offer of $1600, but was also told that was all it was worth.

Off to Ebay...I did sell a few cards offline before I put it up, including the Mantle, for $500. The rest sold on Ebay for $3322. ($3822 total). My Ebay fees ended up being $348 and Paypal took their percent.


So...yes...the fees and nickel and diming is pretty tough to take...but I ask you...where else would I get such a bang for my buck? Certainly a brick and mortor store would have probably offered less than here....and the differences are staggering. I am certainly not an Ebay cheerleader (they have certainly pissed me off before)...but I have to be honest with the results...they earned every dime they got from me for providing such a medium as a regular joe like myself. Its easy to bitch about the fees...and not see the value of such fees.

I also must add as a buyer there is no better medium. To me the auction houses are better suited for the sellers...I see items routinely over sold. At any time I can go purchase just about any card ever made on Ebay in my underware at 2am. Tough to compete with that.

Just my .02...another view. Legal/Adoption fees are paid, as well as new childrens furniture and I even was able to get my 1955 set down to only needing 5 cards. Happy wife...can't beat that.

It takes an incredibly strong, self-assured and stable family to adopt. You and your wife are awesome! I would like to think me and the Mrs. are building the type of home/family that we could someday adopt. Sharing your good fortune with those less fortunate is commendable; sharing your home with a foster child is truly divine.

[ibuysportsephemera]

Originally Posted by prestigecollectibles

I have an Ebay store which gives me a final fee of 9% on most items and I am a top rated seller which gives me a 20% on final fees.

Me too...Which I think is pretty fair considering the number of people get to see my items.

Jeff