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Ebay Auctions
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Looking at EBay Diecast Vehicle Auctions it seems that the majority of the items attract no bids, and I wonder if this is because of the postage charges which in some cases are greater than the item. Add postage to the item price makes the items expensive - or is it just me wanting a bargain. The same comment applies to other auction categories.
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22:16 Thu 18th Jun 2015
As I understand it, that is just a "con" to reduce the bill from eBay. Most potential bidders will know and are going to look at it as part of the full price anyway and not be overly swayed by it. Or course it may have further knock on affects if you need a refund or whatever I suppose, and p&p isn't included in the refund.
I sell on ebay and this is a tricky one - I sell mainly 'buy it now' some people like 'free postage' which it is not of course you just add the postage onto what you want for the item, some prefer to see the postage separately. For auctions I always add postage as you are not sure how much the item will make and don't want to say 'free postage' if the item sells for less than it would xost to post. Just look at the size of the item and how much the seller is asking for postage. most things iwll fit in a small parcel these days and that's £2.80 Royal Mail second. another pound is quite adequate for packing so you should get most things for under a fiver . The seller gets charged on the postage as well so if I charge £4 for postage 60 p of that goes back to theeving basket ebay as a fee along with 15% of the selling cost
I agree with retrochic and eddie - I sell on eBay, but don't offer free postage as I would have to boost the price of the item in order to cover the postage cost (usually, as retro says, about four quid). People who sell on auction or BIN for very low prices and free postage are probably those who buy and sell in bulk and can afford to take a loss on some items. Private buyers wouldn't do that, it's not worth selling under those circumstances - you might has well give the items to a charity shop.
Dave, you cannot compare the likes of Amazon who sell in huge quantities and can afford to cut their profit margins to cover postage (better to sell 300000 with a 10% profit than 3000 at 20%) with the average eBay seller who not only sells in small quantities but has to pay eBay and PayPal fees as well as the postage and packaging.
If you have never sold on eBay you would be surprised at just how expensive and time consuming it can be.
Also, Amazon has huge leverage with its courier companies. If the courier company doesn't like their terms then Amazon can find another company who will. Try that with the Post Office as an eBay seller. Same with packaging - they don't pay the same for a jiffy bag as I do.
If you have never sold on eBay you would be surprised at just how expensive and time consuming it can be.
Also, Amazon has huge leverage with its courier companies. If the courier company doesn't like their terms then Amazon can find another company who will. Try that with the Post Office as an eBay seller. Same with packaging - they don't pay the same for a jiffy bag as I do.
But it HAS cost you £6.70. If Eddie sold the item as £6.70 with free postage would that make you feel better? If you had to go to a specialist shop to buy the product how much bus fare or fuel would you have spent to get there and back? I often sell things abroad where the cost of postage is higher than the item -I always show separate prices for International shipping. I sold an item for £14.99 and £35 postage to Korea -they buyer was quite happy with that as obviously the item was worth buying for her at £49,99