Ebaying for friends - how/if to charge?

ballisticbrian

Chances are if you subtract minimum wage for doing it, there wont be any money left in the pot.

Just this week, I've seen another really nice company go down who can't make it work on eBay.

celestius

I have done it in the past but would not do it now as peoples idea of 'good condition' varies wildly and I would only want to sell nice items that I would be happy to receive myself.

Selling for someone else is too risky in my opinion!

Not only could you put your account at risk with low stars, feedback, problem buyers etc but I don't think it works financially - at the moment I have a chargeback on my paypal account dating from something sold in March for £18.99, and I also have been charged a handling fee! And although the buyer is saying it's a mistake on the Bank's part the money is still on hold while this gets sorted out...

Hermia

If you are going to do this make sure you get all the items from your friend and keep them at your house before you list. I used to do this for a couple of relatives who didn't have computer access. One managed to break an item that already had bids and another had a party at her house at which there were lots of smokers. She didn't put away a cushion I was selling for her and I could not get the smell of smoke out. Never again!

theonlywayisup

19lottie82 wrote: »

Don't do it. A buyer has 180 days to raise a chargeback through PayPal. Will your friend give you the money back if this happens and PayPal rules on behalf of the buyer?

Seriously show your friend how to do it herself. If she can't be bothered then why should you be?

This, this and this.

ElefantEd

RFW wrote: »

From that description, 25% pf the selling price sounds like a bad deal, unless you mean after charges.
Ebay/Paypal fees will be at least 15%, so you'll be lucky to get £2-£3 plus all the risks. If you get one chargeback from ten sales you'll have lost any earnings.
As a general rule, if I was doing this (and I can't think of a good reason to!) I'd let the owner of the items know that they will be receiving about 40% of the sale price, otherwise it isn't worth it and you'd be at risk of losing on the deal.

I mean after charges. I'm not selling them on ebay so the fees aren't so bad (and are zero if selling through facebook), obviously payapl fees do apply.

If someone did a chargeback for some reason I'm confident that my friend would reimburse me anything I'd lost. I'm doing him a favour after all, and he isn't some random stranger I'd have no reason to trust (or indeed, do it for in the first place).

sportsarb

Is this something you will be doing after work, as work?

kiwi_fruit

I have an on-going arrangement with close friends, I sell their stuff(that's worth more than £10 or so) and all the profit goes in a "pot" which we use it to pay for dinner/drinks when meet up:) so 50/50split really(their suggestion) They are really not into ebaying themselves and the stuff would've been going to charity shops otherwise so win-win.

RFW

kiwi_fruit wrote: »

and the stuff would've been going to charity shops otherwise so win-win.

Except for the charities;)

soolin

no way in earth would I risk my account on someone else's items , especially clothes. I don't even sell clothes generally due to the high level of problems with sizing, returns, items not meeting buyers expectation.

I do sell things that my sons have left behind when they moved out- and I give the proceeds to them. However if I ever do get an INR or a return I just write it off.

Sellers who deal mainly in clothes often moan on the seller boards that it is difficult to maintain a good star for description as everyone sees a second hand bit of clothing differently. A good condition red cardigan to me might look like a shabby deep pink to someone else- and whilst they are happy generally will ding the description star as they feel it doesn't match what they imagined they saw in the picture.

If you do go ahead with this remember to keep all your POPs for at least 180 days in case of a chargeback.

Goldiegirl

soolin wrote: »

no way in earth would I risk my account on someone else's items ,

This is why you need an excellent relationship with your friend, before you embark on selling any of their things


I trust my friend only to give me things in the best of condition, and our relationship is such that I can be open with her, and tell her if I don't want to sell anything.


It doesn't work if the one doing the selling is acting in a passive way, selling a load of old junk and tat for all and sundry.


I have complete control over my account, because I only sell what I want to sell.


I've sold my clothes and clothes from my friend, and still maintain 5 starts for description, because I wouldn't sell anything in poor condition - the standards of my friend and myself are high