Ebay Selling Query

[DSJ]

I recently sent for 'ebay.co.uk for Dummies' and have been working my way through it.

I would like to start by selling just one or two items to ease myself into it gradually but am not sure if I pay ebay a standing charge upfront or as I go along. Can anyone explain this to me before I register please?

[shoota]

I can't remember paying any upfront fees - there is a listing fee and a fee when the item sells though.

[grasscarp]

Nothing upfront. There are listing fees and a fee percentage of what it gets sold for, if it sells. You will get a bill for this once a month.

[shoota]

Use this to get an estimate of what the charges would be:

http://www.fees.ebay.co.uk/feeweb/feecalculator

[DSJ]

Thank you, very helpful. I'll sign up and give it a go.

[mccfluff]

look out for weekends giving free listings

[DSJ]

I will, thanks.

[grasscarp]

DSJ - just a few comments - pick a start price for the auction at an amount you would be happy for it to go for. I put some stuff for 99p and sometimes you only get one bid. Be realistic with postage and packing - the post office website has prices so you go in with the weight for cost. I also use collectplus sometimes. Look at how other people have fared with the type of item you want to sell. Once you have registered you can search for something and tick completed listings from the left hand side to see what these items sold for. You need to sign up to paypal if you have not already done so to receive payments, pay ebay fees and issue refunds sometimes.
There are plenty of seasoned ebayers on here so come back if you have more questions.

[Quoi]

Ebay automatically takes the money you owe them at the end of the month.

Remember to organise your listings to end when there are more buyers around.
When Items end during working hours there are less people to do last minute bidding.

[Canary42]

Good luck DSJ, I'm sure you'll enjoy it (although packing can be a bit of a bind sometimes).

[SimonBolivar]

Thank you all for your help.

[DSJ]

My husband has just thanked you on my behalf. Thanks from me too.

[shoota]

Welcome - was wondering.....

[smurfchops]

Always look for zero listing days so you dont pay a fee before you sell. You will pay a fee after you sell plus a fee for postage charges to ebay as well. Plus a fee for Paypal payments, most people pay by paypal, make sure you get paid before you post. Mention any defects as you dont want negative feedback. See if anyone else is selling the same as you to get an idea of prices and wording for listings. Most people are genuine but you always get the odd difficult ones. Dont 'relist' automatically as you will be charged, re list as a new listing on a zero listing day. Load your photos, type all your descriptions in Word or similar, then you can cut and paste easily. Dont forget if you sell abroad postage is more expensive. Good luck, you will get used to it.

[jessiedog]

Just thought you might like to see some figures as an example…

You want to sell a pair of shoes and decide that you will start the auction at £5.00, plus £3.00 to cover the cost of postage (£2.60 for the actual postage and 40p for your packaging and time spent doing it).

At this stage you will incur a listing fee of 25p - this is for the starting price of £5.00 and does not include the postage amount.

The auction ends and you sell the shoes for £20.00

Now all final fees are worked out and include the postage as well as the final bid price and are as follows -

10% of £23.00 = £2.30 paid to ebay
3.4% + 20p = 98p paid to paypal

plus the listing fee of 25p = £3.53 paid in fees.

Leaving you an amount of £19.47 - then less the postage = £16.87 raised from the sale of your shoes.

Paypal take their fees immediately and ebay add them all up and invoice you at the end of the month. These are usually taken straight from your Paypal account.

[DSJ]

Brilliant. Thanks from both of us.