| Author |
 Replies: 19 / Views: 5,017 |
Page 2 of 2
|
|
|
|
Moderator
 United States
23522 Posts |
Low value items are a rather silly business model to begin with (in retail, if you don't double your money on gross you have large problems), and free listings are still a kind of new concept to someone like me who's been there since the 1990's. Guess it's all a matter of perspective.
|
|
Pillar of the Community
 Canada
1984 Posts |
I end up with a lot of low value items as I often buy lots in order to get particular items. I do not sell anywhere other than on ebay. So my only choices are to sell them as bulk lots, which is not attractive, or to sell low value items individually. When low value items really cost next to nothing to begin with, it is actually not a bad business model. But regardless of whether it is a good or bad model, the only practical alternative is to not buy the lot containing the coins I really want. |
|
Moderator
United States
23522 Posts |
Quote:
When low value items really cost next to nothing to begin with, it is actually not a bad business model. Truth, when someone applies your sensible model to it. If you can double your initial cost of product, and don't care that your Net is small per unit, you've got something that works. What you're selling was essentially gravy to begin with. It's just that I've read so many sob stories over the years here from folks who sell things for <$10 and have been surprised by discovering that there's not much headroom at that level. It's like, um, what were you thinking....? I'm colored somewhat by still remembering my glee when ebay introduced the concept of "free listings." It didn't exist when I was moving the greatest volume of merchandise I've done. |
|
Pillar of the Community
 United States
1949 Posts |
Quote:
Low value items are a rather silly business model to begin with (in retail, if you don't double your money on gross you have large problems), and free listings are still a kind of new concept to someone like me who's been there since the 1990's. Guess it's all a matter of perspective. If you sell 100 items you profit $1 on, or 1 item that you profit $100, that still ends up as the same $100 in your pocket, just one occupies a lot more time |
|
Valued Member
United States
249 Posts |
"If you sell 100 items you profit $1 on, or 1 item that you profit $100, that still ends up as the same $100 in your pocket, just one occupies a lot more time" And in the former example, you have 100 personalities/problems/scams/returns to deal with; instead of the one. I think superdave has it right that really, ebay shot itself in the foot w/50 cent items ( chicklets, postage stamps and baseball cards) early on and now would like to shed that part of their sales model. What they want is to be Amazon... but that's not going to happen w/ their current attitude towards sellers; who are "expendable" as well as guilty until proven innocent. Edited by rynegold
05/06/2015 09:45 am
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
1949 Posts |
Quote:And in the former example, you have 100 personalities/problems/scams/returns to deal with; instead of the one. I think superdave has it right that really, ebay shot itself in the foot w/50 cent items ( chicklets, postage stamps and baseball cards) early on and now would like to shed that part of their sales model. What they want is to be Amazon... but that's not going to happen w/ their current attitude towards sellers; who are "expendable" as well as guilty until proven innocent. I completely agree with the sentiment, however, the counterargument would be that if the $100 item is purchased by a scammer, you are out $100, while over the course of 100 items there's a natural hedge in place... Also, to clarify, a business model based off of $1 an item profit would need outrageous volume, a realistic model would have a nice mix of high and low $ amount margins |
|
Pillar of the Community
Canada
5404 Posts |
There is going to be shrink or scamming in any business model be it a retail B&M or an online store. We have been had on both . Being hit by a shoplifter in a store is the same as the " I did not get it guy " on ebay. The low Value seller on ebay attracts different customers than a higher end seller. Both have their pluses and their minuses. Personally I think it just way too much work and risk to sell low , low end stuff on ebay. With ebay so buyercentric these days , we have changed our business model completely. Now we are tracked only shipping, that precludes selling low ball items for sure. Too bad really because there are lots of neat and interesting ten dollar items in the world. |
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
2669 Posts |
Quote:
If you sell 100 items you profit $1 on, or 1 item that you profit $100, that still ends up as the same $100 in your pocket, just one occupies a lot more time Not really.. this is why I've shifted to selling smaller items in bulk rather than individually. For each transaction on ebay you are hit with: 1 final value fee, 1 listing fee (if the listing was not free), one paypal charge (at my last check, $1.29 + 3%, could be different now). For your $1 profit items you are already in the red with the paypal fee. Let's say those items sell for $5 and your ship charge is $2. Fees are based on total amount, including shipping. Paypal fee $1.29 + .21 = 1.50 Based on a 9% Final Value fee = .63 Subtotal $2.13 * 100 items, Total = $213 in fees If you're only making a profit of $1 each you're in the red $113, and that's not even including the listing fees for the ones over your initial free ones. Now let's sell those 100 items as a lot, and let's say you get the full $5 each, with $2 shipping. Paypal fee on $502 = $16.35 Final Value Fee $45.18 Total $61.53 At your profit of $1 for each item, you have an overall profit of $38.47 Not including the time and energy involved in photographing each individual item, etc. |
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
1949 Posts |
xshift, That's why I said 'profit', not gross... So technically I was referring to net vs. gross Even selling $5 items, those numbers add up: (Your numbers would actually be based off $7 item average, as ebay/paypal basically includes shipping cost as part of the sale price) Essentially, according to your numbers, average ebay seller would be paying $2.13 in fees on each $7 item sold individually, leaving fees representing roughly 30% of the net sales cost Now say the seller spends the full $1.92 ebay 1st class shipping cost, and the item had cost the seller originally $1- Leaving a total cost to seller $5.05, with a NET profit of $1.95 My initial point was simply that each $1 NET profit x100 comes out to the same NET profit as a single $100 NET profit transaction Regardless, I certainly concede that a single transaction NETTING a $100 profit is far preferable, but single transactions that NET that much are few and far between without a significant outlay of capitol |
|
Moderator
United States
23522 Posts |
Everybody in the room is in agreement, because what each of us are saying is, "Think about it first, and only sell it if it fits an intelligent business plan." That term will define differently for each of us.
|
|
Valued Member
United States
449 Posts |
This is off the main topic but I found this really awesome fee calculator that let's you see your net profit. http://finalfeecalculator.com/ It is up to date for 2015 |
|
Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
575 Posts |
I just checked my small transaction and here it is:
Item Total:
£2.99 GBP
VAT:
Postage:
£1.15 GBP
Seller discount or charges:
£0.00 GBP
Total amount:
£4.14 GBP
Fee amount:
-£0.34 GBP
Net amount:
£3.80 GBP
Minus ebays 10%= 3.39 or something like that.
Minus postage=2.24
This rule should apply everywhere.
Edited by valdiman
05/06/2015 1:58 pm
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
1699 Posts |
I sell many items on ebay in the $5 - $15 range, and by far the largest fee for me is shipping. I spend close to double the amount in shipping costs as I do ebay fees. This is also roughly 3 times what I pay in paypal fees. Granted, I have an ebay store, so I do get 150 or so free listings each month, but on an absolute level, paying for insertion fees shouldn't have too much of an impact. |
|
Moderator
United States
15505 Posts |
xshift ... I respectfully question the source of your PayPal fee charges ... Quote:
one paypal charge (at my last check, $1.29 + 3%, could be different now) All of my recent (2 years +) ebay sales with PayPal as the payment transfer source have been at $0.29 + 3%. To Smallcentguy original question ... Concur this is a 'fee increase' of sorts ... but as an ebay buyer I enjoy the change in policy ... hopeful that it will reduce the tremendous volume of junk coins being listed. David Take a look at my other hobby ... http://www.jk-dk.art |
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
2669 Posts |
Quote:xshift ... I respectfully question the source of your PayPal fee charges ... Quote:
one paypal charge (at my last check, $1.29 + 3%, could be different now) All of my recent (2 years +) ebay sales with PayPal as the payment transfer source have been at $0.29 + 3%. My memory, actually  Which should teach me.. apologies, it's not as good as it once was. But you get the point, with even 29 cents + 3% there's more money coming out of your pocket in fees for many smaller transactions rather than one large one. |
|
Page 2 of 2
|
Replies: 19 / Views: 5,017 |
Page 2 of 2
|
First Page
Posted 05/06/2015 07:27 am
