Things are tough and I need to liquidate some of my collection and need advice,

[blaze422]

Thanks for the free listing link...I will look for it again, when the dust clears.
It appears from what I'm hearing, my plan should be
REA
Shop around with consignment auctions. Would still appreciate opinions. I'm thinking in this order...SCP, Legendary and then Lelands and then Hunt.
Free ebay listings and then what doesn't sell....ebay store.

If I understand the free listing promotion...there is no problem with listings having a reasonable but high opening price listing...and there is no obligation...fee...if the items are not relisted.

[thecatspajamas]

Correct on the free listing promotion. At least on all of the recent ones they have done, it doesn't matter what your starting price is, so you can basically treat it as a 7-day (or 5-day, depending on the fine print) fixed price listing if you want. They do change up the terms a little each time though, either limiting the number of free listings, or making it for specific durations of listings, etc. Just make sure you read everything. But you're right in that, if it doesn't sell, there is no cost to you. That only applies to the basic listing though, so if you do any add-ons (10-day listing, reserve, etc) they will tack those fees on, so just be sure to read what is included in the freebie before diving in.

[drc]

For auctions, it used to be that eBay would charge a higher insertion fee the high you minimum bid-- and it could get expensive, especially when things didn't sell. That's no longer the case-- it's a lot flat rate. So you can list items on eBay with a reasonable min bid without being charged a lot upfront. They recently changed their format in that respect. Though they charge more if things sell. So there's nothing that says you can't put up something on eBay with a risk-saving $99 min bid (or whatever amount) if you wish.

[thecatspajamas]

drc,
That's only true for AUCTIONS if you're using your 50 free listings or if there is a promotional rate that day. Other times, you will pay $1.00 per item to list an auction starting at $99.00 (as opposed to $0.10 per listing for items starting at 99 cents).

FIXED PRICE listings are the same flat rate which varies depending on your store subscription level, not the price of the item.

If you're just doing free auction listings, the starting price doesn't matter as long as you're sticking to the guidelines. If you've used up your free listings or are doing something else though (like starting on a different day, listing for different durations, etc) you'll wind up paying the fees.

Just want to make sure nobody gets stuck paying more to eBay than they have to. I figure I pay more than enough for all of us