Ebay fees are too high!

[khaangaaroo]

I just sold a lens on ebay, and thought it was cool they didn't charge listing fees anymore. After it sold for $225, I saw they took out $22.50 for final value commission. Since when did they increase their selling fee to 10 percent?! And on top of that, there's $9 in paypal fees, which ebay also owns. They pretty much scooped up all the profits from my sale, a total of 14 percent of the final value. What irritates me even more is that the buyer is local. If he had checked Craigslist first, this sale would have gone down with no fees and no shipping costs. UGH

(Expect more of my non-keyboard stuff in the classifies forum here in the future)

[longweight]

That's the eBay fee that I get using an eBay calculator.

[foxer]

I have nothing of value to add through text so have this instead...

[bavman]

Amazon isn't any better either. I've sold several text books through them and they take a nice chunk of money for themselves, but I forgot exactly how much. I try to sell stuff on forums/CL exclusively if I can.

[Michael]

This is how they make their money. By raping you with fees. It's why I never use ebay. Also, they make you wait 21 days to get paid after selling something.

[khaangaaroo]

I wouldn't mind so much if they didn't rape so hard. 3% sounds fair. But 10% is more like I had them take the pictures and write the listing for me.

[fohat.digs]

Listing fees are always cheap, final fees are the killer. They love to list free, give you free photos, etc.

Auction fees are less than fixed-price fees, by a lot. Until-it-sells costs you a lot more than fixed-time.

Whatever benefits a seller, costs more.

But ebay is by far the biggest marketplace in the world. If your item is rare or desirable, then it is probably worth it to seek buyers in Tasmania or Korea (for example).

But, if you have something common, that will sell at a "commodity" price, save some money and sell it elsewhere.

[esoomenona]

Remember when people were selling things for $0.01 and $100.00 for shipping? Yeah, those were the days.

[The_Beast]

Remember when people were selling things for $0.01 and $100.00 for shipping? Yeah, those were the days.

There was a milk frother on Amazon. $0.99 for the frother, $6 to ship


Cool right, I'll order 20 frothers and only pay shipping once. NOPE, $6 to ship each one. Big ole **** you beast

[Tarzan]

Remember when people were selling things for $0.01 and $100.00 for shipping? Yeah, those were the days.

There was a milk frother on Amazon. $0.99 for the frother, $6 to ship

Cool right, I'll order 20 frothers and only pay shipping once. NOPE, $6 to ship each one. Big ole **** you beast

I think it depends on the seller.  I bought two keyboards from a seller in Germany, he/she charged me one shipping fee, as they are packed in one box.

I've also sold keyboards for 99 cents and charged $17.00 shipping, a net loss when factoring in packing materials and time/labor.  Worth it to me to see the keyboards go to someone who will use them, instead of into the dumpster.

[eth0s]

I guess the only answer is to join 'em, since you can't beat 'em.  You can buy shares of ebay stock for ~ $54.25.  You can get 10 shares for $542.50.  At least you can feel like you are getting some of you money back in the form of dividends and capital gains.  Or buy more stock and get more of your money back (and some of everybody else's.)

[bavman]

I don't think ebay does dividends.

[eth0s]

I don't think ebay does dividends.

You're right, i just checked, and ebay has never paid a dividend, well not yet anyway.  So all of your investment return will have to come from capital gains.  But with Tech companies, for some reason, investors are willing to forgo dividends in the hopes that management (i.e., in this case Jeff Bezos) has better investment opportunities and acumen than the common man.  I don't actually agree with that line of reasoning, because I want my dividends.  You hear that Tim Cook?  Dividends.  Pay them.  Now.

[Trent]

The convenience of selling online.  As a primary business unless you're selling highly marked up items or have a bulk discount it'll always be like that sadly.

[Leslieann]

Actual real world auctions regularly take at least 10%, so by the time you add Pay Pal fees, 14% isn't that bad. Consignment shops often charge even more (up to 20%).

Ebay gives you a wider audience than a normal auction would as well, so in many cases you actually end up making more than a local auction or consignment shop would earn you.

[Flyersfan1]

Yes, ebay fees are very high... 10% for the final value fees, monthly subscription fees, listing fees, subtitle fees... it can easily add up to 20% in fees (not counting the 3% PayPal Fees).  Amazon is 15% for most categories, but I have seen up to 25% for certain categories and there is only the additional Monthly subscription fee of $39.95.  The processing is handled by amazon and is included in the fees.  There is also virtually no seller protection for either amazon or ebay, so it's great for buyers, but many sellers think they are not so great to them.  You can buy an item and when you get it, take the parts off of it that you need, then contact ebay (or amazon) and say it was not as described and they get a refund (at the sellers expense).  They let buyers get away with this over and over with no recourse, but if you are a seller, you can get suspended indefinitely (which usually means permanently) because someone reports you for something.  This can be a legitimate report and legitimate suspension or it can be a competitor or a buyer wanting the item for free.  Proof is not required, only a hunch.

We are moving our listings over to toucandeal.com.  It's small for now, but there are lots of seller-friendly features that we look forward to having, such as free to import and list as many items as you want, and only a 5% commission when items sell, auto feedback after 30 days, $50 referral bonuses, and more!  When sellers get wind of it, it will fill up and before long it can be a major competitor and and a great ebay alternative and amazon alternative.

[atectatifern]

Yup, was thinking that same thing.

[nubbinator]

I find nothing shady or suspicious about a post that's from an account with no posts and necroing a thread that hasn't had any activity in two years.  They're just trying to reduce clutter and waste by recycling.

[engicoder]

We are moving our listings over to toucandeal.com.

Looks like a great place to get a giant chair offering electrically powered molestation.

[jbondeson]

Looks like a great place to get a giant chair offering electrically powered molestation.

DON'T FORGET THE QUALITY SIGNAGE!!!

And the tagline! "One can't but Toucan!" Truly a thing of beauty.

[fohat.digs]

Ebay is the worldwide brand and the global marketplace.

Unfortunately, it is a good example of what a monopoly can be, both good and bad.

But, as long as they are putting my product in front of tens of millions (or hundreds of millions) of potential buyers, ~15% is a reasonable tribute.

Just my opinion.