Ebay, Paypal, Shipping costs

[grayrob8178]

Forgive me if this topic has been exhausted elsewhere, but I figure some of you detail oriented people have done the math.

If you consider ebay fees, paypal fees, and shipping costs, do you actually make any kind of money off of a .99 sale on Ebay (shipping cost to the buyer of say $2 or $2.50)

[Nicnac]

sure.... you make it up in volume.

Sorry, old joke. Personally it's not worth my time to list things under a certain value.

[golferphil]

Example

Assumptions - eBay auction listing ended at $.99 w/insertion fee and it is the only item sold during the month and paid via PayPal and you charge exact shipping costs

--Receivables--
eBay final value - $.99
shipping charged - $1.71
Total payment received - $.99 + $1.71 = $2.70

--Fees--
eBay insertion fee - $.10
eBay final value fee - 9% ($2.70 x .09 = $.24)
PayPal flat fee - $.30
PayPal % fee - 2.9% ($2.70 x .029 = .08)
PayPal shipping - $1.71

Net to you - 2.70 - .10 - .24 - .30 - .08 - 1.71 = $.27

Obviously if you listed for free you get $.10 more and if your paypal % is 1.9% you would get that back. Basically to do any good selling at .99 you need to find a way of automating the listing process. I know my time is worth way more than .27 per listing.

[JohnMabry47]

Originally Posted by grayrob8178

Forgive me if this topic has been exhausted elsewhere, but I figure some of you detail oriented people have done the math.

If you consider ebay fees, paypal fees, and shipping costs, do you actually make any kind of money off of a .99 sale on Ebay (shipping cost to the buyer of say $2 or $2.50)

Good question. I personally have items end at 99 cents sometimes. It sucks...because they're items I expected to go for more than that..that's just what I start things at. As far as money...I charge $2.50 for shipping. After 1.80ish for shipping, around 20 cents for the paypal fee, and 20 cents or so for the ebay FVF fee, you make about the $1 on each auction.

[JohnMabry47]

Originally Posted by golferphil

Example

Assumptions - eBay auction listing ended at $.99 w/insertion fee and it is the only item sold during the month and paid via PayPal and you charge exact shipping costs

--Receivables--
eBay final value - $.99
shipping charged - $1.71
Total payment received - $.99 + $1.71 = $2.70

--Fees--
eBay insertion fee - $.10
eBay final value fee - 9% ($2.70 x .09 = $.24)
PayPal flat fee - $.30
PayPal % fee - 2.9% ($2.70 x .029 = .08)
PayPal shipping - $1.71

Net to you - 2.70 - .10 - .24 - .30 - .08 - 1.71 = $.27

Obviously if you listed for free you get $.10 more and if your paypal % is 1.9% you would get that back. Basically to do any good selling at .99 you need to find a way of automating the listing process. I know my time is worth way more than .27 per listing.

There you go. Thanks for figuring that. So less than the $1 I stated..maybe more like 50-60 cents profit after all fees, assuming less percentage for paypal and free insertion on ebay. Not really worth it if you're listing manually.

[golferphil]

Example based on JohnMabry47 info

Assumptions - eBay auction listing ended at $.99 w/no insertion fee and it is the only item sold during the month and paid via PayPal and you charge $2.50 shipping

--Receivables--
eBay final value - $.99
shipping charged - $2.50
Total payment received - $.99 + $2.50 = $3.49

--Fees--
eBay final value fee - 9% ($3.49 x .09 = $.31)
PayPal flat fee - $.30
PayPal % fee - 2.9% ($2.70 x .029 = .10)
PayPal shipping - $1.71

Net to you - 3.49 - .31 - .30 - .10 - 1.71 = $1.07

[h4auto]

I always thought the people selling .01 + Free shipping+(ending at .01) are ID's to build a feedback to rip people off after they develop a good feedback.

[grayrob8178]

Maybe I should consider COMC at some point. I just have some numbered inserts and low value autos and GU that I can't seem to sell on the forums without a ton of hassle..can't seem to trade them, Ebay fees will kill me....and I don't want to simply trash them.

[alexlazarevich]

Originally Posted by grayrob8178

Maybe I should consider COMC at some point. I just have some numbered inserts and low value autos and GU that I can't seem to sell on the forums without a ton of hassle..can't seem to trade them, Ebay fees will kill me....and I don't want to simply trash them.

I never list $0.99 items anymore because I do free USA shipping on eBay now, always. So I'll put cards into a lot, or just send single low end cards to COMC. You should try COMC. It's not perfect, but it works well as an alternate place to sell those lower end stuff, or high end too. Here's some tips for COMC that I have learned:

• send as many different items as you can, the more stock you have on COMC the more business your account will attract
• check COMC inventory before you send your items. (if you send in 25 x 1992 Bowman Ken Griffey Jr's, and there's already 50 in stock priced at $0.50, then you'll have to price lower or your cards will sit there for ages)
• patience is the key with COMC. it will take a lot longer to make those sales, but they will happen eventually

Thing is, COMC is real close to actually being a better alternative than eBay. For some sellers it already is. If COMC does some advertising, or word of mouth spreads more, and they pick up a few thousand more buyers, that place will be hopping. And the more buyers they get, the more sellers they will attract, and it'll just snowball from there.

[JohnMabry47]

Originally Posted by golferphil

Example based on JohnMabry47 info

Assumptions - eBay auction listing ended at $.99 w/no insertion fee and it is the only item sold during the month and paid via PayPal and you charge $2.50 shipping

--Receivables--
eBay final value - $.99
shipping charged - $2.50
Total payment received - $.99 + $2.50 = $3.49

--Fees--
eBay final value fee - 9% ($3.49 x .09 = $.31)
PayPal flat fee - $.30
PayPal % fee - 2.9% ($2.70 x .029 = .10)
PayPal shipping - $1.71

Net to you - 3.49 - .31 - .30 - .10 - 1.71 = $1.07

Dude! You rock! I appreciate the calculations. Now this really lets me know how much I make.

[Care4Card]

When you compile these on a Excel Spreadsheet, seriously, it adds up pretty quick.

When you get a good beat you can easily list 50 cards / hours

If oyu make between .50 and 1$ per card, it's worth your time. depends on how much you paid for the cards first.

It's all about volume

[golferphil]

Originally Posted by JohnMabry47

Dude! You rock! I appreciate the calculations. Now this really lets me know how much I make.

No problemo. I was bored at work anyway.

COMC is certainly an option, but watch out if you decide to cash out, 20% is pretty steep even compared to eBay/PayPal. Personally, I don't like the idea of the cards being out of my hands until I sell them. If I damage a card, well then it is my fault, but to send the cards to someone else adds a lot of chances for cards to disappear or get damaged. Not trying to rag on COMC or its business model, just the reality of an item going through multiple hands.