I wonder if eBay is worth all of this!

[EMSnurse]

I have just started selling on eBay to bring some extra money into the budget. I was so excited at how well stuff was selling...until I got my invoice today. Once the fees are deducted, I will have made around $20, if I deduct postage and supplies, I might break even. If I deduct the cost of printer ink, I will be in the negative. Am I doing something wrong? Do I need to sell large items to make a profit, or maybe thousands of small ones? I am so frustrated I feel like crying. Any advice from experienced sellers would be greatly appreciated, because I feel like giving up right about now.

[Shann]

it's called craigslist or www.kijiji.com FREE posting and it's all local, so you won't get such a wide range of ppl but you set the price and unless you choose no shipping charges.

[SHERY123]

http://www.ebcalc.com/

THIS WILL SHOW YOUR PROFIT ETC BEFORE U POST IT PLUS U JUST STARTED WHEN THEY UPPED THERE FEES..

[iluvmybaby]

I have never paid to sell ANYTHING, ebay rips you off, and eats up all of your profits. On top of that, it does not offer you ANY support if the transition goes wrong. o

[buttrfli]

Unless you are selling high end items, its not really worth it. You not only have to consider ebay's fees, but if you take paypal, they are gonna get you there too.

[PrincessArky]

I never could get into ebay......basically they are there to make money not for you but themselves

[jayhawkfan]

I dont like to sell on ebay either. When I was selling, I listed it here or I would take it to our local consignment store. At least I was getting something out of it without having to pay stupid fees for everything.

[Heidi]

I sell a lot on eBay and honestly, if you are selling low dollar items it probably isn't worth it. But with me, I never know how much stuff is worth so I just list it and it sells for whatever it sells for. Usually stuff that I'm thinking won't sell winds up selling for 30-40 dollars.

[ElleGee]

I was selling beads on Ebay that I got for free and I still made about 20 cents each auction.. it really wasn't worth it

[ladybugva]

I have had the same prob before. Matter of fact b/c I didn't post enought flat postage on one I lost money. Haven't had a tun of luck w/ craigs list or here either... sorry for the downer. I think E-bay is def. better if you have bigger ticket items to sell.

[buglebe]

Yes I have all kinds of stuff I was going to try to sell on ebay. My daughter sold some stuff, she did good. The next time she put the same things on and didn't do good at all. It cost her money. I know we have an ebay power seller on here. Maybe she can enlighten us. Ebay was good at one time. I sold some stuff about 5 yrs ago and it was ok. But now the fees are too high. I have a house full of crap I want to get rid of. I haven't decided yet what I am going to do with it. Maybe I will try Craigs list. I don't know yet.

[EMSnurse]

Someone on another forum told me she lists all of her stuff at a starting price of .01 and usually makes out better than if she starts higher. That seems a little scary to me, but I might try a little higher shipping but lower starting price. I don't want to give up just yet, there has to be a trick to it. The person I just mentioned said she makes about $1700 a month from eBay.

[atprm]

Someone on another forum told me she lists all of her stuff at a starting price of .01 and usually makes out better than if she starts higher. That seems a little scary to me, but I might try a little higher shipping but lower starting price. I don't want to give up just yet, there has to be a trick to it. The person I just mentioned said she makes about $1700 a month from eBay.


those days are gone... I think (gotta search it) they made it so that you had to list at no less than $1.00.

[Heidi]

I list all my auctions for $.99 and it costs $.15 to list it and then you have the final value fee when it ends.

[twinkiesmom]

but I might try a little higher shipping but lower starting price.

be careful on how high u do your shipping cuz i know lots of ppl like me that'll move onto other auctions for the same item w/less shipping. Dont scare away potential bidders.

[Freebeemom]

http://www.ebcalc.com/

THIS WILL SHOW YOUR PROFIT ETC BEFORE U POST IT PLUS U JUST STARTED WHEN THEY UPPED THERE FEES..

Wow, this is a great tool! Thank you so much!

[buglebe]

Someone on another forum told me she lists all of her stuff at a starting price of .01 and usually makes out better than if she starts higher. That seems a little scary to me, but I might try a little higher shipping but lower starting price. I don't want to give up just yet, there has to be a trick to it. The person I just mentioned said she makes about $1700 a month from eBay.


Remember some people exagerate.

[EMSnurse]

http://www.ebcalc.com/

THIS WILL SHOW YOUR PROFIT ETC BEFORE U POST IT PLUS U JUST STARTED WHEN THEY UPPED THERE FEES..

This is awesome! At least now I can figure out what I need to get out of an item to make a profit. Thanks!

[EMSnurse]

be careful on how high u do your shipping cuz i know lots of ppl like me that'll move onto other auctions for the same item w/less shipping. Dont scare away potential bidders.

So how much is too much? For example, on a book I was charging anywhere from $3.15 to $3.99, depending on the size of the book. I started the books at 99 cents. I was thinking about starting the books at 49 cents but upping the shipping to 4.25. What do you think?

[christianw27]

I sell my books on amazon....I just like them better.

[aussiegirl]

Someone on another forum told me she lists all of her stuff at a starting price of .01 and usually makes out better than if she starts higher. That seems a little scary to me, but I might try a little higher shipping but lower starting price. I don't want to give up just yet, there has to be a trick to it. The person I just mentioned said she makes about $1700 a month from eBay.

What the heck does she sell?

[twinkiesmom]

So how much is too much?

sorry i didn't see this sooner. What I look at w/shipping is if I can get the item for less than the price plus shipping together at a B&M store for brand new, I move on. For instance, if the book is originally $6 new, you want 3.99 shipping and the winning bid is $2, I'd rather get new, ty. But that's just me. I hate to pay a huge shipping charge on something I could go down the street to buy. I know u gotta make a profit too, and it isn't free to box that thing up n send, but u gotta keep your options open, also. Like media mail I know is cheaper. Find out exactly what it's gonna cost u to send and go from there. I believe the usps site has a shipping table u can use to calculate your shipping.

[EMSnurse]

What the heck does she sell?

Some examples she gave were a crib she got at a yard sale for $5 and the bid was up to $60, clothing she bought at estate sales and yard sales for $1.00 a bag or box, then sold them seperately on eBay. She also said she does a lot of books. I don't know her personally, just chatted online. I do have a good friend, however, who made $11,000.00 from one estate sale purchase. He bought an elderly woman's closet full of clothing at auction for $200. It turned out that it was mostly designer gowns, which he sold by the piece on eBay. He was the reason I first got started on eBay, but I don't think I will make much until yard sale season starts.

[EMSnurse]

I sell my books on amazon....I just like them better.

I only sold once on Amazon, and by the time they took their cut and I shipped the book, I lost money. The book sold for $5, they took $2.35, and I paid $3,89 for shipping, plus the materials to ship it in. What did I do wrong here?