When you make a decision to start selling on eBay there are a lot of things to take into consideration. Such as, what to sell, should I have a store, what payments to accept, and what shipper to use to name a few. But one thing many people forget to think about is how much is it going to cost you to sell your item. So I am going to share with you what fees are involved when making a sale on eBay.
Now when you list your item there is always going to be a certain fee called an insertion fee. The cost of this fee varies depending on how much you start your item for, what type of item you are selling, and what quantity you are selling. The listing fee starts at a simple 20 cents and can go up to as much as $4.80 for a general listing. Fees for real estate and cars are on a different scale.
Here is a chart of insertion fees for general categories:
|
| Starting or Reserve Price |
Insertion Fee |
| $0.01 – $0.99 |
$0.20 |
| $1.00 – $9.99 |
$0.40 |
| $10.00 – $24.99 |
$0.60 |
| $25.00 – $49.99 |
$1.20 |
| $50.00 – $199.99 |
$2.40 |
| $200.00 – $499.99 |
$3.60 |
| $500.00 or more |
$4.80 |
On top of the insertion fee you can also add on extra features, called listing upgrades. Some of those upgrades are worth the price others are not. The one that gives you the biggest bang for your buck is gallery picture. Adding a gallery picture will place a small picture of your item on the main search page and will really help your listing stand out. Some other good and cheap choices are bold and border. These are a little more expensive so you need to calculate the value based on how much you think you will get for your item.
Here is a list of all the listing upgrades and costs:
*Fees may vary based on promotional pricing.
**The Listing Designer fee for eBay Motors is greater, see the eBay Motors fees page. There is no Listing Designer fee for Selling Manager Pro subscribers.
***Double the Insertion and listing upgrades fees (excluding Scheduled Listing, and Home Page Featured, and Final Value Fees to list in two categories.)
Another group of fees comes in when you choose to list an item at a Buy it Now price rather than at auction. Listing with a buy it now price gives buyers the ability to make the purchase immediatley rather than wait for bidding to end. This is also a good way to sell items off if you have more than one where you can charge a set price for each item. This is also a good way to generate sales around the holidays when people don’t have time to wait for the bidding war to get finished.
Here is a list of the Buy It Now fees (These fees are added to your insertion fee):
| Buy It Now Price (US$) |
Fee (US$) |
| US$0.01 – US$9.99 |
US$0.05 |
| US$10.00 – US$24.99 |
US$0.10 |
| US$25.00 – US$49.99 |
US$0.20 |
| US$50.00 or more |
US$0.25 |
A very important part of your listing is the pictures. In a store you can see the item up close, touch it, smell it, etc. Online all you have is pictures and a description. To maximize your profits it is very important to give a very good description and have good clear photos of your item. There are other ways to add photos to your lisiting, but if you use ebays hosting it will cost you a little extra.
Here is a breakdown of the fees for images:
Finally, when your item sells you will be charged a fee also called a Final Value Fee. That fee varies and is based on a percentage of your sale price not including shipping charges.
Here is a list of the Final Value Fee costs:
| Closing Price |
Final Value Fee |
| Item not sold |
No Fee |
| $0.01 – $25.00 |
5.25% of the closing value |
| $25.01 – $1,000.00 |
5.25% of the initial $25.00 ($1.31), plus 3.25% of the remaining closing value balance ($25.01 to $1,000.00) |
| Equal to or Over $1000.01 |
5.25% of the initial $25.00 ($1.31), plus 3.25% of the initial $25.01 - $1,000.00 ($31.69), plus 1.50% of the remaining closing value balance ($1000.01 – closing value) |
Now you have an idea of the fees for eBay, but what about Paypal. Paypal is the most popular form of payment on eBay. If you start selling I highly recommend excepting Paypal. But keep in mind there are fees to use them as well. If you make a payment with Paypal it is free, however selling and taking payment from others is a different story.
Here is a look at the cost of having Paypal as a payment option:
Some other costs to consider are shipping price and shipping supply cost. When listing you item for sale always take in to consideration all of these costs before deciding on a price to list you item at. You don’t want to end up losing all your profit because you didn’t plan.
For more information on eBay fees go to the following link:
http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/fees.html
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Auctiva’s one-page listing tool dramatically reduces the time it takes to list each auction
Auctiva’s store and scrolling gallery help you cross-market and increase customer traffic, as well as create a brand for your business
Auctiva’s professionally designed auction templates give your auctions an edge over the competition
Auctiva’s profiles will save you both time and sanity in not having to type repetitive information into hundreds of listings
Auctiva’s unlimited image hosting, with supersizing, gives you one central, safe place for all your auction images
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