Have any of you sold on eBay?

[Xist]

I was finally going to get rid of everything I did not actually use, like cold clothing, when I moved. I kept telling myself I was selling my old Army stuff when I left the service, but did not do much more than put everything in a duffel bag until I started packing. You are allowed to post fifty "free" auctions each calendar month. I put about forty items on-line, relisted ten when they expired, and found more items I will eventually post.

Both eBay and PayPal take a portion. I tried to follow eBay's suggestions, but isometimes that got weird, and occasionally the recommended shipping did not make sense, but I do not have a postal scale.

I barely wore my winter boots and it recommended five dollars, while they are $150+ new. The rule of thumb is 60%, so ninety?

Recommended shipping charges were weird and one person bought three things from me, but there was no way to combine shipping. I made $67 on six items before fees, a couple of dollars on supplies, and $27.05 on shipping.

So, I spent hours and earned forty dollars. EBay wants me to repost everything, but until the First of the month it costs 30¢ up front.

My profit margin seems too thin to take that large of a cut.

I could set up a store and post another two hundred auctions for "free"--after paying $25, so that works out to 10¢ each. If I sold 12% each time, I would need to start the month with 94 unique auctions to post 250 for my $25 investment. In theory I could sell 30 items for $335, spend $200 on shipping, and make $110 after paying that $25.

The clear winners are eBay, PayPal, and the post office.

I sold a weapon cleaning kit. EBay recommended I listed it for $5.87, with $7.64 a Buy It Now Price, and $7.20 shipping--supposedly.

Someone paid me $19.34, but $7.64 + $7.20 = $14.84.

I just watched

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XD-lp27tl9A

and they said Amazon is usually a better place to sell. The manufacturer of that weapon cleaning kit is selling ones like it for $59 with free shipping. My main problem with selling on Amazon is that it will not accept the password I use to log in.

Does anyone have any experience selling on eBay, Amazon, or elsewhere? Have a great day!

[redpoint5]

Mostly sold on Ebay in the late 90s when they were one of the few games in town. Ebay sucks now compared to alternatives. Since their commission is based on sales price and not shipping fees, I set a very high shipping fee, and note the high shipping fee in bold letters at the beginning of the product description, and that avoids most of the commission. No getting around Paypal fees unless you accept check only.

There is no such thing as free shipping (or free anything). As my wife likes to say, "it's free after you pay".

I prefer to post things on Craigslist since it's free. No commission, no shipping, no Paypal fees. Just cash. Plus the experience is personal and you get to hear how people are going to use the thing they just bought. I even had a guy write a poem inspired by an ad I posted. He wasn't interested in the item, but emailed the poem.

Since I itemize my tax deductions, I'm finding that most things are just easier to donate and write off than to individually sell.

[Stubby79]

I haven't sold on ebay in about a decade. I used to pick up the occasional thing at garage sales for dirt cheap and resell them on ebay. Nowadays, it wouldn't be worth my time. But back then, when I didn't have a dime to spare for anything but bills, it was a way to earn extra for my wants.

If you got used to it/got more efficient at it, it might be OK. I wasn't spending more than 15 minutes setting up an item, and maybe half an hour packing up and shipping off an item. Making, say, $40 for 45 minutes of time isn't bad, especially when you need the money.

I bet they're a hell of a lot stricter these days, so it might not be worth all the jumping through hoops.

YMMV.

[Xist]

EBay takes the same percentage from your sale price and the shipping estimate. Craigslist might have worked in the Phoenix area, but I do not feel like driving two hours or more to sell something for $5 - 10. There is a Page Yard Sale Facebook page. I will probably try to sell a few things there.

I took two big boxes to a thrift store the last time I went back to get stuff from the shed. They asked if I wanted a receipt, but I did not want to make a list of dozens of items I put in there. They said I would estimate the value and that also sounded exhausting. I deducted everything I could in good conscience last year, but I will make more as an employee than I did as a contractor, so I may not have enough deductions to count.

I am in a new tax bracket, though.

[Daox]

I sell on Amazon, Ebay, and Craigslist. Amazon is good for selling new items, its not really that good for used items. Ebay is still the best for that if your item is worth the time of listing and shipping. Only you can determine what your time is worth. Otherwise, Craigslist is a good alternative. I never deliver anything I sell on craigslist. They come to me. To get the prices I sell stuff at, I check the already sold listings on Ebay.

[Xist]

I had been waiting until the First to post another fifty auctions and see if I ever wanted to do this again, but before that happened, they told me I owed them almost nine dollars.

Paypal did not deposit $67, it gave me $73.90. I do not care to figure out why none of this adds up, if eBay has poor business practices, and does not take their cut before sending sales proceeds to Paypal, I should have received $75.90. They keep saying that I cannot buy or sell until I pay the ransom, but that hardly seems worthwhile, and while it seems like they are trying to cut into nonexistent margins more than they had claimed, it appears it would be far more worth my time to donate everything to a homeless shelter.

They have started to threaten to start fining me and take me to collections.

Over less than nine dollars.

In unrelated news, The City of Tempe fined me for parking in front of my house before I moved. It was only $44, but that was 10% more than I supposedly earned, and 100% more than I have had to spare in a while. They kept threatening to tow, but I towed the car myself over five hours away.

Could you imagine the impound fees for 283 miles?!

When I finally had the money and jumped through flaming ring-sized hoops to pay the protection money, they offered to let me make installments.

That seemed like fun.

However, there would be a $20 charge, due on the first payment.

So, make one easy low payment of $31, then a total of $33 afterward? Brilliant!

[oil pan 4]

That's why I'm moving out of the city.
They must be broke where you live.

[Xist]

I lived five blocks from Arizona State and the street used to be full of cars during the day, but several months ago they disappeared, and my roommate, who is still in school, did not have any idea why. There were not any new parking buildings, shuttles, etc.

[oil pan 4]

All the rats are abandoning ship.

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by Xist

I lived five blocks from Arizona State and the street used to be full of cars during the day, but several months ago they disappeared...

Several months? That'd be around May/June, no? So most of the students left for summer?