We’d like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum.
This is to keep it a safe and useful space for MoneySaving discussions. Threads that are – or become – political in nature may be removed in line with the Forum’s rules. Thank you for your understanding.
📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!
Ebay no longer worth the time it takes
Comments
-
porto_bello wrote: »
Whenever someone talks about making a profit on eBay, I find they invariably forget to subtract eBay selling costs, Paypal fees and the original purchase price, after which they're probably somewhere not too far from breaking even.
I'm sure there are some skilled and dedicated people making a living wage from eBay, but as we saw from the 'Wheeler Dealers and Del Boys' TV programme, it's not something that most people can just turn their hand to and watch a steady profit fall into their lap!
I dont sell many physical goods on ebay as my business is web hosting, but when i do sell physical goods i make a good profit as i work out the ebay and paypal fees and take into account on what i paid for the item and then work what profit margins i want.
those that dont work these out are the ones who just say 'oh i will stick it on ebay for £5' thinking they will get £5 but its more like £3 by the time you take off all the fees then the £1.50 it cost you for the item, so in the end you get back approx. £1.500 -
all of my sellers list has disappeared. and they were veterans from way back.
Yep, ebay has just made it too complicated and expensive.
I still get the odd ex-customer emailing me, saying I can't find you on ebay anymore, I bought a phone from you and I want a new one. There isn't any sellers selling unlocked and debranded phones, where have they all gone?
And the answer is, ebay chased them away, in return you get Amazon MKII. The thing is, as a seller I was also a buyer, but as I virtually sell nothing these days, I also don't visit ebay to buy either. JD took a really good idea that worked and wrecked it.0 -
I have now started buying & selling on Facebook within my local area,no ebay fees,no paypal fees,no packing & posting just easy & simple hassle free.
Just put something like - For sale in your town ,county or city:)In life try to be nice to others,you never know who you are going to meet on your way down...0 -
I still make a good profit on ebay (I'm a business seller - clothes). Yes, it's time consuming, and yes, it does require a lot more effort than it used to, but as you go on you find ways of making it easier for yourself, set up templates and the like, do batches of listings, steam the clothes instead of ironing etc.
The fees are high but at the end of the day, it's such a massive market place with access to international customers - I don't know what could compete with that. It's never steady - it ebbs and flows but on the whole I think it's the best place to sell.0 -
After I started this thread, moaning, I was completely taken aback when I carefully calculated my total profit for the 10 auctions I did last month = £60!
My wife claimed this was great and we must do it again...but it was me who did all the hard work, and I am certainly not convinced it is worth my time.
Some of these steps sound trivial, but I swear even typing in the details takes too long. You think "oh, ten seconds per item" and then look at the clock to see half an hour has passed.
You have to:
1. Get all the 'junk' out
2. Clean everything (shoes, ugh!)
3. Photograph everything (N.B. white background with lamp on)
4. Weigh and/or measure everything
5. Check Royal Mail website for latest costs and measurements
6. Write down all details/sizes/code numbers/defects
7. Put it all away again
8. Enter details into ebay website (N.B. on Sunday evening)
9. Wait a week whilst falling over the stuff in the hall
10. Get all the addresses of the winning bidders
11. Remember to buy more sellotape
12. Dig out the secondhand jiffy bags you keep a pile of
13. Wrap it all up and don't muddle the address labels
14. Drive to post office (pay to park in a town!)
15. Queue up at post office (N.B. get free 'proof of postage')
16. Drive home again (petrol cost?)
17. Tick boxes on ebay website to give feedback and mark as despatched
£60 is nice, but those 17 steps for 10 items took me three evenings plus a 45 minute round trip to the Post Office. It isn't trivial, and each step takes longer than any estimate you think you can carefully work out!
Anyway, some people are happy to carry on; that's great. But if your profits are looking mediocre, consider the speedy trip to the charity shop, or use Freecycle (a godsend!), and don't give it another thought.0 -
Ebay is now just full of new purchase pushers and extentions of already big retail stores, gone are the days of second hand goods0
-
morganedge wrote: »I gave up about 6 months ago. Despite getting brand new, current season clothes from shops like topshop etc for VERY cheap (as in, often free!!) It was still hard to make much money.
People want Ebay items for next to nothing.
I still have some ASOS leather jackets that are still in the ASOS store for £100 and I'd be lucky to get £10 for it on Ebay, lol. It's mad.
I have much more joy through old fashioned word of mouth selling!
I had an auction recently where I was selling a DKNY handbag. Cost at this second online is still £180.
The winning bid was £38! I obviously didn't send it, and managed to sell it to my sisters friend for £150. Much more like it.
Not to mention the crazy fees that just go up and up.
Finally, things get lost a lot, and teh royal mail hate to cough up the compensation, so you lose out there aswell.
Stick to facebook selling and teh like. You'll do much better!
Ebay is old newsmorganedge wrote: »I didn't i'm afraid.
I just said it got lost in the post. As far as a buyer is concerned, it's then the delivery companies fault and not the sender; hence no neg feedback
Not that neg feedback would matter anyway. (especially since I don't use it anymore to sell)0 -
Would you recommend selling internationally on ebay to get rid of stuff? I'm wondering if ppl who've made money on their clutter have done so because there're ppl abroad bidding too, or is it just as effective to sell just in the UK?0
-
MerlinMags wrote: ȣ60 is nice, but those 17 steps for 10 items took me three evenings plus a 45 minute round trip to the Post Office. It isn't trivial, and each step takes longer than any estimate you think you can carefully work out!
You are the only one who can put a value on your time. Some people are happy even if they are only making a pound or two an hour - others would not consider anything below 10 pounds.0
This discussion has been closed.
Confirm your email address to Create Threads and Reply

Categories
- All Categories
- 352.1K Banking & Borrowing
- 253.6K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
- 454.2K Spending & Discounts
- 245.1K Work, Benefits & Business
- 600.7K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
- 177.5K Life & Family
- 258.9K Travel & Transport
- 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
- 16.1K Discuss & Feedback
- 37.6K Read-Only Boards