How to reduce your insertion fees for 3 months

StaffsSW

I have recently worked this one out after finding an odd category on eBay!!

This category is normally bulging in the days after a Cheap Listing Day, so depending when you click the link, you may see loads or little.

What most of these sellers are doing is creating an auction that will not sell, therefore when they need to list a high value item, they simply relist the blank auction, then revise the item with the full description, pictures and category selection.


These unsold items can be relisted up to 90 days after the original auction ends and the best bit is that the higher listing fee is returned as a relist fee credit!!

I've gone through the eBay small print on this, and they state

Insertion Fees are normally non-refundable. However, if your listing ends without a winning buyer or ends with an Unpaid Item, you may be eligible for a relist credit. If the item sells the second time, eBay will refund the Insertion Fee for the relisted item.

So, regardless of what it cost first time around, your credit is based on the fee paid the 2nd time.

http://pages.ebay.co.uk/help/sell/questions/free-relist.html - Clarifies the policy. Some of the key points include -

All items relisted in Auction-format and Buy It Now format will be eligible for the relist credit, regardless of format of the original listing. For example, you could list a car using the Classified Ad format and then relist it in Auction-format if it doesn't sell. Your second insertion fee will be refunded if your car sells.


The starting price you set for the relisted item must not be greater than that of the original listing - So you could list a blank item at £99 for 10p, then create a BIN with the relist at £79.99 and receive your higher listing fee back.

As it is only the insertion fee that is credited, it is not worth adding BIN or Gallery to the original listing - these upgrade fees will not be refunded. They can be added to the relisted item afterwards though.

After all the fees I have paid eBay over the years, this is a nice tip to get something back!

StaffsSW

This is the T&C's page for the recent half price listing day - http://pages.ebay.co.uk/sell/2007halfpricefeb/

"If you re-list an item on Tuesday 20th February 2007 that had previously closed without a successful sale, the re-list will qualify for the promotion. If the re-listed item sells and is eligible under the eBay re-list policy, eBay will refund the Insertion Fee at the Promotional Insertion Fee price."

So yes, if you relist on a CLD, then you will receive a CLD sized refund. The point is to LIST on a CLD, then use the unsold item to RE-LIST at any time in the next 90 days.

The relist policy page - http://pages.ebay.co.uk/help/sell/questions/free-relist.html - clearly states on the second line of the text;

"If the item sells the second time, eBay will refund the Insertion Fee for the relisted item."

This advice is not incorrect, but I understand if further proof is required - I can provide screenshots of fee transactions from my selling history by PM to confirm if needed.

demonblade

steve is quite correct.

For example you want to sell a tv for £150, first list a blank test auction for £200 on a cheap listing day and pay only 5p/10p/15p once it finishes relist it and edit it to the correct category with the correct description for the tv at a starting bid of say, £100 and if it sells then you only pay for the initial listing fee of 5p/10p/15p. Instead of the the usual £2. The way you list is also dependant on what type of cheap listing day is available.

Problem for me is i always forget about this and list normally, only to do a homer once its done. :doh:

$17mma

Ihave some items that did not sell today and went to relist them, I thought that re listing was free if an item was not sold?

I got the following message...

"This item has been sold, or relisted, and cannot be considered here for free relisting. The appropriate relisting fees will be charged for this item if you proceed with this item in the current process"

Does this mean that iw ill have to pay for relisting?

steve1905

If you had multiple items for sale on one listing and some sold, others didn't , free relisting isn't permitted.

Contains_Mild_Peril

Or if the item has been relisted already, you will only get a refund of fees if it sells on the 2nd listing, not the 3rd (or 4th etc). If you wanted to keep relisting an item till it sells, you could use Sell Similar for the 3rd listing if applicable, and though you'd be charged the full listing fees, if it were still unsold and you listed a 4th time, it would count as a relist of the 3rd listing so you'd get your basic listing fee back if it sold.
Another version of Steve's moneysaving trick if you have the item already in hand (I think Soo mentioned this one) is if the cheap listing day is a fixed listing fee for any start or BIN price (which they usually are), list your item properly in the category it belongs, but with a stupidly high price, then just drop the price (and add any suitable upgrades, e.g. gallery) for the relist. If someone buys it at the stupidly high price, even better!

Contains_Mild_Peril

stevew8975 wrote:

I've gone through the eBay small print on this, and they state



So, regardless of what it cost first time around, your credit is based on the fee paid the 2nd time.

http://pages.ebay.co.uk/help/sell/questions/free-relist.html - Clarifies the policy. Some of the key points include -

All items relisted in Auction-format and Buy It Now format will be eligible for the relist credit, regardless of format of the original listing. For example, you could list a car using the Classified Ad format and then relist it in Auction-format if it doesn't sell. Your second insertion fee will be refunded if your car sells.

Thanks for pointing that bit out - I'm not sure when it was changed, but it used to be that the relist had to be the same selling format (auction or BIN) to qualify for a listing fee refund. I have to admit I hadn't noticed that change in the rules.

digerati

The only downside with this MSE technique is that if the relisted item doesn't sell - you'll get stuck with paying full fare. Previously you could drop the starting price to 99p (from £100) and edit the listing to a blank item to avoid paying £2.00 for a £100 Fixed price listing. Sadly, this no longer works...

jasmineswhiskers

I guess you could list in any category and just make the price high so it definately won't sell. eg hole punch for £50.00, soft toy for £60.00.

Contains_Mild_Peril

Something rather odd has happened. One of my empty auctions which I listed on the last cheap day in 2 Test Auction categories at £4.99 has a bid! It's not a newbie either: it's someone with over 100 feedback, 100% positive. I sell secondhand stuff which of course is all different, so they'd have no way of predicting what the item is likely to be. I hadn't even really decided myself! I'm not really sure how to handle this now