finally sold an item on eBay

 

Here it is 2020, and I sold my first item on eBay.

Is it possible to make a few extra dollars by getting rid of things?!

I can see it's tough because eBay takes 10% and PayPal takes I think it's 2.9% plus 30 cents.

I had buyer pay shipping, and even that is a loss, despite having a discount of 20% on ground and 40% on surcharges.

Why?

The actual shipping was like $10. ebay calculates it to be $11.50.

Then there is a residential surcharge of $4, delivery area surcharge of $4, and fuel $1.12. With my discount it's $13.50--a loss of $2! And to think someone walking into UPS pays $19.

anybody good at this selling stuff? Honestly? I set my prices so high as if I didn't want to part with the items, and kind of practicing and going through the motions. I was surprised someone bought as my price was sufficiently high and didn't have free shipping.

USPS?

I don't know the size and weight of your sale but will suggest that you look to the USPS for shipping. Priority Mail boxes are available free and using Flat Rate or Regional Priority boxes are especially easy since the prices are fixed and there's no need for a weight, etc. Click-N-Ship is the way to go for paying for USPS shipping.

I've sold a lot on eBay and buy even more. Selling on eBay is a great way to declutter your home while making a bit of money.

For heavy items or if you want to maximize your profits, there's always craigslist which I've also successfully used.

PS: I am not the "Craig" of the list razz

Craig

How does eBay compare to Craig list in your experience?

Craigs List? For every

Craigs List? For every legitimate inquiry you will get probably 10 or more scammers. The first indication is that their first contact wlll usually ask if you have more pictures. Or right oft the top, will you take less?

Craigslist has long past any usefulness. Just like Facebook Marketplace. They are both overrun with scammers, and false ads.

--
Frank DriveSmart55 37.322760, -79.511267

My comparison

riveroaks wrote:

How does eBay compare to Craig list in your experience?

Well, craigslist has no fees—and payments/pickups are worked out between the buyer and seller. If you have something big or bulky to sell and it's something that will sell easily, it's worth checking out. Also, many cities have "craigslist" pickup sites like a camera-monitored parking area just outside a law enforcement office which gives some extra security since you need to remember that buyer and seller are meeting in person, one with a potentially valuable item and the other likely with a large wad of cash. These sites also avoid having the buyer know where the seller lives, etc. For really popular items, a craigslist item could be sold within hours of being listed, good for buyer and seller. I imagine that craigslist works best in large cities and not-so-well in a rural area many miles from any sizeable city. (When my brother lived in greater Denver, he did very well with craigslist for years right up until he moved in late 2019.)

The downside to craigslist is if you have some specialty item where you can expect there will be a lot of folks interested in the item and these folks can see, bid, and buy from anywhere in the country or even world. In this case, it's very unlikely an out-of-town person will even see a craigslist item while eBay offers nationwide/worldwide visibility plus the security of PayPal payments, credit card protection, fraud protection, etc. The added pool of bidders and the ability to sell either at a fixed price, a negotiable price, or an auction where there can be a bidding war may result in an eBay sale at a much higher price than a seller could have expected.

I'd, therefore, want to sell a camera or GPS on eBay while I'd offer a lawn chair, lawnmower or floor lamp on craigslist.

here

CraigW wrote:

I don't know the size and weight of your sale but will suggest that you look to the USPS for shipping. Priority Mail boxes are available free and using Flat Rate or Regional Priority boxes are especially easy since the prices are fixed and there's no need for a weight, etc. Click-N-Ship is the way to go for paying for USPS shipping.

I've sold a lot on eBay and buy even more. Selling on eBay is a great way to declutter your home while making a bit of money.

For heavy items or if you want to maximize your profits, there's always craigslist which I've also successfully used.

PS: I am not the "Craig" of the list razz

Here are the actuals....box going from Phila to eastern CT. I've been there for work actually, it is a bit remote to me, almost nearer to RI.

UPS ground 12x9x5 box, 2 lbs:

$9.89 shipping
$4.10 residential address surcharge
$4.00 Delivery Area Surcharge
$1.12 Fuel surcharge

$19.11 total

since in my listing buyer pays UPS shipping, eBay calculated it would be $11.48.

My cost out the door was $13.57. I get 20% off the shipping and 40% off the surcharges other than fuel. So I lost $2.09.

The reason I don't trust USPS is everything lately has come to my house via USPS, be it Delta, Kohler, amazon.com, Warner Elektra Atlantic. On more than one occasion, the tracking showed delivered to my mailbox. First, I don't have a mailbox, second, nothing was delivered. Then, 1-2 days later, the postal carrier had the item. I can't stand that--scanning delivered when it was not. I can't imagine an eBay buyer having this happen then slam me the seller lol

One order never made it to my house at all--the vendor simply resent. It was about $40 retail but I know nothing to them, $10? As an eBay seller I could not afford to have that happen....

At the same time I want the buyer to pay the shipping--it's part of it in my deal. Maybe I should raise the price, and offer free shipping? Problem there is the cost varies, CT and CA are not the same, and residential is a killer.....and it's not with USPS I know...

It used to be easy to use

It used to be easy to use ebay as an online "garage sale" but harder and harder to do nowadays. When I sell an old garmin or other old piece of electronics, it's possible to make some extra cash, but I find usually items under $50 are not really worth it with all the fees they tack on these days.

another

interesting fact. I made $26.12, eBay and PayPal collected $11.62.

I know the latter would argue, if we didn't have the platform, you wouldn't have made $26.12. lol

With stock trades costing $0 no matter where you do them, it's simple to make $25 in a few days today, with nothing more than $300 (say Lowe's over the last week). Why wrap, pack, and drive off to the UPS store for only $26.12 hahahahahaha

Oh and when I said made, I mean I resold an item that was purchased and not used. This implies the lack of profitability of a "store" so to speak. But if I looked at it as I bought something, I didn't use it and it was in the basement unopened, and I sold it, then I made $61.31....so I have $61.31 that I didn't have last week I guess--the garage sale way of looking at it, not the "storefront" way...

I used to..

I used to buy and sell GPSr's frequently on eBay until the shipping became too prohibitive. At one point, I looked into opening my own eBay store to take advantage of the discounts offered but my volume wasn't high enough.

Originally, I opened a USPS account and shipped from home to save time & gas running to the post office or the UPS Store. Since eBay & PayPal changed their pricing structure, this is may no longer be the cheapest solution however.

I still sell from time to time but the profit margin isn't what it used to be. You also have to decide what your time is worth. Writing the ad, monitoring the auction, answering questions, it all adds up. Although rare, dealing with disputes from eBay and the buyer are no fun either.

Click-N-Ship

Craig is right about USPS Click-N-Ship. Tracking is included. The most important cost to avoid is going to the Post Office. Let the mail man pick it up.

CraigW wrote:

I don't know the size and weight of your sale but will suggest that you look to the USPS for shipping. Priority Mail boxes are available free and using Flat Rate or Regional Priority boxes are especially easy since the prices are fixed and there's no need for a weight, etc. Click-N-Ship is the way to go for paying for USPS shipping.

I've sold a lot on eBay and buy even more. Selling on eBay is a great way to declutter your home while making a bit of money.

For heavy items or if you want to maximize your profits, there's always craigslist which I've also successfully used.

PS: I am not the "Craig" of the list razz

got my

first positive feedback as a seller, it said, "Lightning fast shipping, thank you so much!"

Now, as a human being, I actually feel good that I went to the UPS store after work and shipped out the same day as I received payment.

Hold that thought--a person I will never meet wrote that. Yet, they feel good they got an item exactly as described as fast as amazon could have shipped it. I feel good that hey I somehow have a satisfied customer.

I guess that's how eBay is supposedly a "community." Reputation is key.

Example--I got a car part that lists for $270, for $70. Item was described new. It was for the most part but I could tell someone installed it and took it back off (drip molding) as there was a tiny "dent" or bend in it. I was really angry and wanted to slam the seller who actually was like 99.6% and tens thousands of reviews. A power seller--a message came up you must wait before posting a negative review. I read the rules and you are supposed to make a good faith effort to resolve first. I contacted the seller and guess what? He said please accept a full refund and keep the part. Who knows, maybe the part was damaged by the USPS (it's like 3' long), maybe you're better off getting it locally instead. Then he explained the reason that was $70, and you see the other side is $230, it depends on where it's sourced. If USA, it went through a USA distributor and has the $230 price. If $70, it was sourced from Japan which is why the price is so low--it's a legit part (gray market). My point is through many transactions as a buyer, always seemed the seller was customer focused and reputation mattered more.

As a tiny seller it would seem we could not eat items....I was thinking, what if a porch pirate grabbed the item....

Insurance

johnnatash4 wrote:

As a tiny seller it would seem we could not eat items....I was thinking, what if a porch pirate grabbed the item....

I learned the hard way when selling on eBay to insure "expensive" items you can't afford to eat. Yes, it cuts into your profit margin but pays off in the long run.

USPS (again)

bdhsfz6 wrote:
johnnatash4 wrote:

As a tiny seller it would seem we could not eat items....I was thinking, what if a porch pirate grabbed the item....

I learned the hard way when selling on eBay to insure "expensive" items you can't afford to eat. Yes, it cuts into your profit margin but pays off in the long run.

That's one of the reasons why I recommended using USPS earlier. Using Priority Mail and Click-N-Ship, not only do you get free Tracking and Insurance (up to a point) plus optional fee-required Signature Required delivery, but all can be handled at home with label printing and free pickup and as mentioned before, free USPS Priority Mail empty boxes delivered to your home.

Going back to the original posts, I do think that there is a learning curve to using eBay for sales: how to list, purchasing options offered and starting price, what to offer on eBay and what to avoid, how to ship to maximize a safe delivery and minimize sellers' costs, etc. Also, I think it's safe to say that some folks are natural eBay sellers while others should not be selling (or even buying) items online. It's a lot like an investment advisors customizing a client's retirement savings based on the clients' tolerance for risk as well as age, amount of savings, and so on.

We're all different individuals and that's what makes life so interesting.

I

simply don't trust the USPS being on the recipient side. Items scanned as delivered, then showing up in 1-2 days, or recently, 1X not at all. This would add to my stress level thinking man I can't even rely upon the tracking disposition. I've only caught UPS through work claiming a 24/7/365 business closed on several occasions with overnight early AM, I think to buy time. Also, when iPhone 11 Pros were brand new, mysteriously about 3/25 went missing, 2 of which turned up months later (what a royal PITA to get fixed with the carrier, when the person getting the phone was doing an upgrade).

On the insurance thing, one time I was shipping a $2,800 part to Idaho from PA, to be repaired (ABS pump). I thought man if this gets lost I would have to spend almost $3k to replace it, but I don't want to pay to insure that much (it was a lot though can't remember how much--my co. ships $4500 Toughbooks UPS and never insures them, never lost, who wants a laptop nowadays). So I insured for $300 thinking maybe just being insured, ensures it doesn't get lost? haha