Ebay no longer worth the time it takes

alykatz

MerlinMags wrote: »

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.

but surely for those clearing out old unwanted stuff £60 is better than nothing?

MerlinMags

I've used the wrong numbers to illustrate my feelings. Whilst my £60 this year looks good by itself, it was a massive improvement on the previous 2 year's averages for me. A fluke I don't believe I can reproduce again. Imagine I had said £40 then...

£40 is better than £0, yes.
But having 10 hours of your life free is better than zero hours, too.

As someone mentioned above, I guess everyone has to decide their own profit-versus-time threshold, and the problem is that you can't measure either in advance.

At least profits are tax free!

lisyloo

but surely for those clearing out old unwanted stuff £60 is better than nothing?

That depends on how you value your time.

Personally I would ebay only items that would make a reasonable profit e.g. a camera perhaps.
Stuff that's decent and might sell (like DVDs, books) goes to the charity shop as I'd rather they have the money.
Stuff that can't go to a charity shop but is useable (electrical items for example) I am prepared to freecycle before throwing in the tip - it's a bit of hassle but I'd rather someone had the use and it doesn't go in landfill.

You need to be realistic about pricing and value your time.

lisyloo

and the problem is that you can't measure either in advance

You can make an educated guess from checking completed items and your experience.
If you are experienced you should know postage, parking, time, ebay fees etc.
It's not exact but you should be able to guess what's worth selling and what isn't most of the time.
I can and I'm a lot less experienced than you.

If it's not worth it, then don't do it.

booter

Victor84 wrote: »

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?

I've always listed internationally and prior to the PO price increases/zones/restrictions, did quite well selling abroad (I'd estimate that 50% of my sales were Europe, with the odd few bits to Australia and Canada). I'm a private seller de-cluttering (or at least attempting to ) so selling clothes/shoes/household bits. However since postage increases/zoneage, nothing I've sold has gone overseas .

Now that ebay want 10% of the sale price plus postage price, I'm not actually sure if it's going to be worthwhile listing internationally. For example, I had a pair of shoes sell a couple of weeks ago for £2.50. UK Postage 2nd class was £2.60. With the current fvf rules, the fvf would have been 51p. Ok, I can live with that. However, if a buyer from Australia had won, then postage there would have been £13.25, so fvf would have been £1.57. Not sure I can live with that one, especially after slapping on paypal fees.:cool:

Millerdog

MerlinMags wrote: »

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.

This made me laugh so much...it sounds just like our house. Just been to the second hand posh frock lady to collect a load of clothes she said she could sell. in her shop. Ended up with £10 which was hardly worth the effort of sorting, sizing , petrol costs to deliver & pick up etc.

I feel your pain OP