some people sell some tat

Nixxx

I can sell 100 things for 99p (useless tat as you guys say). Using the turbo lister it might take me be 45 mins to take a photo and list them all. Its free to list at 99p but ebay final value fee is 10%. My postage charges are a standard £2.50 per item and the actual postage cost is usually less than £2. Paypal charges me (3.4% + £0.20) of the total amount received in Paypal £3.49. I bulk buy my packaging so it works out as 6p per item.

Purchase price = 0.99
Postage price = 2.50
Postage cost = 2.00
Packaging = 0.06
Ebay Fees = 0.10
Paypal Fees= 0.32

Therefore (0.99+2.50)-(2.00+0.10+0.32)= £1.07 x100 = £107

For those of us in serious debt, £107 is a lot of money for one hours work.:o

sunnysea83

Blimey do you really manage to list 100 items that are all different in 45 mins? it takes me about 10 mins to do just one but then im using auctive (or howevrr you spell it) so that i can put on more than 1 picture etc.

I guess if your selling 100 items and they all sell then its worth it but just the odd thing it doesnt seem to add up.

I normally charge actual p&p plus about 20-25p for packaging so i would charge about £1 less than you on postage.

what do you use to post your items? how often do you sell 100 items at a time?

also listing may take 45 mins but packaging, going to post office, queing in postage etc take longer and cost money too for petrol and parking etc!

cyberbob

I really doubt you could list 100 different items in 45 minutes. I would recomend opening a paypal micropayments account for items under £10 you can half your paypal fees

Hezzawithkids

First of all, one man's tat is another man's treasure.

There are lots of 99p listings on ebay because there is no listing fee at that level in lots of categories.

If you cant make any money selling something for 99p then dont. Start it off at a higher price taking the increased listing fees into account. If its good enough, in demand, you submit an attractive listing and you give good service, it will sell. The effort you put in will be repaid in your returns. If you see Ebay is a quick way of getting owt for nowt then of course you wont make any money.

Personally, I sell on Ebay as a hobby and as a way of recycling unwanted items. I work in marketing so I also see it as a way of testing my creative skills for my direct benefit. I dont take my time into consideration because I actually quite enjoy the whole process of packing something up nicely and a walk to the post office during my lunch break is a good way to get some fresh air and exercise. But that's just me.

Granted, if I was running a business and had my beady eye on my bottom line profit all the time then I would think twice about any 99p listings unless I was selling '000s of them like Nixx.

alfiesmum

cyberbob wrote: »

I really doubt you could list 100 different items in 45 minutes. I would recomend opening a paypal micropayments account for items under £10 you can half your paypal fees

Never heard of a micropayments account. I have things from time to time that go for under £10, halfing the Paypal fee would be good on these! Have to go look for it now! Thank U.

alfiesmum

Nixxx wrote: »

I can sell 100 things for 99p (useless tat as you guys say). Using the turbo lister it might take me be 45 mins to take a photo and list them all. Its free to list at 99p but ebay final value fee is 10%. My postage charges are a standard £2.50 per item and the actual postage cost is usually less than £2. Paypal charges me (3.4% + £0.20) of the total amount received in Paypal £3.49. I bulk buy my packaging so it works out as 6p per item.

Purchase price = 0.99
Postage price = 2.50
Postage cost = 2.00
Packaging = 0.06
Ebay Fees = 0.10
Paypal Fees= 0.32

Therefore (0.99+2.50)-(2.00+0.10+0.32)= £1.07 x100 = £107

For those of us in serious debt, £107 is a lot of money for one hours work.:o

You'd have to factor in any tax payable on that profit too of course.

I agree it's worth doing for the little effort that it takes. I haven't done a breakdown like that for a while. Maybe I'm afraid I'll find out that I've actually paid people to have my stuff!!:rotfl::rotfl:

cyberbob

alfiesmum wrote: »

Never heard of a micropayments account. I have things from time to time that go for under £10, halfing the Paypal fee would be good on these! Have to go look for it now! Thank U.

What you will find when you search that the site is us centric (so it sometimes looks like it doesnt apply) but it does apply in the uk also. What I did was open a normal paypal account then email micropayments@paypal.com and ask them to designate the new account as a micropayments one it works well has increased my profits on the cheaper items

Nixxx

Ok let me explain.

I have an ebay corner where I put all the stuff that I want to sell. To take a picture, I place the Item on a white background and click. I'm lucky that my camera is quite good so I don't need to do a lot of fussing. Of course not all the items are completely different. For example, I had 10 different bikini tops to sell and 6 bikinis. I just save a template on my turbo lister and use it each time. I have a pre-filled bit in the turbo lister and just include the specific details on the decription.

Of course my descriptions could be a lot more detailed but I really don't have the time for that. Of course 100 items aren't guaranteed to sell so thats why I list alot more than that at the time. Also, some items sell for alot more than 99p even if I personally think its rubbish

I really like the idea of the paypal micropayments account. I shall research.

FWIW, I'm only doing this to get myself out of debt and keep a roof over my head. Of course if I had the choice, I would rather give it away. But I just don't have that luxury.

Nixxx

alfiesmum wrote: »

You'd have to factor in any tax payable on that profit too of course.

I agree it's worth doing for the little effort that it takes. I haven't done a breakdown like that for a while. Maybe I'm afraid I'll find out that I've actually paid people to have my stuff!!:rotfl::rotfl:

I don't think tax is payable on this as I'm not buying the stuff to sell. It is things I already own so I believe is exempt.

cyberbob

Nixxx wrote: »

FWIW, I'm only doing this to get myself out of debt and keep a roof over my head. Of course if I had the choice, I would rather give it away. But I just don't have that luxury.

Needs must:D