eBay costs

Possibly like a few other sellers you have been sent letters saying that eBay may restrict your activity if you don't improve your seller rating.
One of the ways they suggest that you do this is by lowering the postage cost or even offering free postage.

However, if you are listing to make some money, as we all are, whether it is to clear some unwanted items from home, raise funds for some event or starting a small home based business, another aspect to remember when selling on any of these sites to be covered are the fees. In eBays case this is a variable amount dependant on the start price of your auction and also on its end value.
I have put together a table below showing how the costs stack up.  I have shown it as a 99p listing with only one bid, a listing where I have included the costs in the auction price, with only the actual postage in the postage section and a free postage option.  In all cases I have kept the costs of the 'item' approximately the same, that is I would make the same amount of profit each time.  I also have allowed a fixed price for packaging and set the same costings for mailing, that of a second class recorded packet.

		99p auction		Fees & packaging in listing		Free Postage
Basic costs
Item		£0.92		£0.92		£0.91
Packet 2nd class recorded		£3.15		£3.15		£3.15
Packaging		£0.20		£0.20		£0.20
Ebay listing fees		£0.00		£0.15		£0.25
Final fees Paypal		£0.37		£0.37		£0.39
Final fees Ebay		£0.10		£0.19		£0.55
Total		£4.74		£4.98		£5.45
Listing		£0.99		£1.83		£5.45
P&P Listed		£3.75		£3.15		£0.00
Total customer pays		£4.74		£4.98		£5.45

If you look at the table, you can see by listing using the 99p auction the overall costs to the customer are lower than it would be if I were to list for example, offering free postage as eBay wants you to do and make the same profit. It can also be seen that the fees if using the free postage method are actually more than you make selling the item!
I am after all, selling to generate some cash for me, not eBay. Remember this too, if you list for any more than 99p then you have the listing fee to pay whether the item sells or not, so if you have to relist to sell your item, your overall profit could diminish quite substantially.

I have made my decision, to list using the 99p auction as I am not a shop but an individual who wishes to sell some of her items and give the public the opportunity to buy a bargain. I do not have corporate wealth behind me that can fund advertising(listing items that so not sell immediately) so I pitch my wares accordingly.
I just wish those members if the public who think that they should pay little or no postage look at the costs involved...... it is not just the stamp!!



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