EBay for Charity without any fees

debtdalek

I was under the impression that EBay didin't charge for items listed for charity, but I read somewhere the other day that the company who collect the money take a cut?
So my question is, is there a way to list items for charity and they get all of the money?
I know it's a free listing weekend this weekend so that will help, but if possible I'd like to avoid the final value fees and Paypal charge, though I don't know if these would be more or less than the percentage charge by listing it the other way?
I know that I can pay the proceeds via Virgin Money Giving without any charge and pay by Paypal.
Anyway I have some craft stuff and handmade items that I've been given to sell for Macmillan so need to get the maximum amount of money for them, so any hints/tips would be most welcome. Thanks.

RainbowDrops

Gumtree / face book groups have no fees, but ebay is a wider audience, so you might get more money. You have to weigh it up.

RFW

There's always someone taking a cut from a charity unfortunately, despite what is often implied I'd be surprised if any could actually claim that 100% went straight to the cause. There will always be costs.

Missionfish take a small cut and Ebay's fees are zero if you list for 100% donation, some examples on here http://www.missionfish.org.uk/help/receiving-donations/uk_mf-deductions.html show that with gift aid if you sell something for £5 the charity can actually get £5.69, no idea how accurate that is.

debtdalek

Thanks for that link. 9% still seems quite high to me as I remain to be convinced that they can actually claim the gift aid, as the seller is collecting money, not giving it themselves.
So basically EBay FVF is 10% and Missionfish admin cost is 9%. Not much difference really other than that I think 9% is high.
I think I might just go with the free listing weekend and give them all the profit ie after the final value and the paypal fee (which you would also incur with Missionfish anyway) or even aim to cover those in the cost of the p&p.
Either way I know that Virgin Money Giving def' don't take any cut at all for the donated monies paid through them and it can come straight out of what I get paid into Paypal as that's the only way I ever allow people to pay me anyway.

Crowqueen

Having worked for a charity, you need to pay people to keep track of the money and so on. Accountants can earn a lot in the private sector so charities need to be able to pay reasonable wages to get reasonable people. People can't afford to volunteer for something that somewhere else would be their proper job.

You could always say in the listing text that you will donate all the proceeds to charity, but then you don't get the benefit of the fee rebate, nor are your buyers 100% certain the money will actually get there - so it's six of one and half a dozen of another.

Unfortunately there will always be costs associated with charities. People do try to keep things to a minimum, but the person from Missionfish who distributes the money securely (so there's no chance of one thing being said and another thing being done) has to be paid too.