Ebaying for friends - how/if to charge?

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 stars for description, because I wouldn't sell anything in poor condition - the standards of my friend and myself are high

Mistral001

Are there any people doing this professionally? I doubt it as it is a contractual nightmare and very time consuming as others have said. So why should you do it professionally as that is what you will be doing? Why not suggest that she takes a stall at a car boot sale and sell unwanted items that way if she finds ebay to complicated to use.

Goldiegirl

I certainly wouldn't do it professionally.


My friend works full time and has lots of commitments.


I'm retired and my time is my own.


So, from time to time I don't mind selling a few things on her behalf.


But if I've had enough, I tell her that I'm stopping for a while until I feel in the mood for eBaying again.


There no pressure or anything like that - I wouldn't sell for her if I didn't want to


I wouldn't do it for anybody else, though.

ballisticbrian

My friend works full time and has lots of commitments.


I'm retired and my time is my own.

If your friend can put in for over-time at work, and the items are ones that just go for a few quid or so then the over-time is the best option and just throw the items in the charity shop or the bin, it's a dead simple.

If you have a keen urge to do it that you may learn something or you want to see what comes of it and can handle a bit of stress, then fine go for it.

forgotmyname

Will you be hanging onto the money earned for 6 months just in case you get chargebacks?

Who pays for the items that sell then the seller claims it doesnt fit or its faulty, even after you see pics of them on facebook wearing it to a party.

I advertised a car for a friend and had no dealing with the buyers other than the listing and giving them his address.

Months down the line they left feedback saying the car was good and pushed me to leave them feedback.
How long does it take to test a car that costs a few hundred £? A few days a few weeks, not months down the line just within the time limit to leave feedback, I just had thoughts of them causing issues and leaving me negative comments if it broke down.

Never done it since.

Mistral001

Goldiegirl wrote: »

I certainly wouldn't do it professionally.


My friend works full time and has lots of commitments.


I'm retired and my time is my own.


So, from time to time I don't mind selling a few things on her behalf.


But if I've had enough, I tell her that I'm stopping for a while until I feel in the mood for eBaying again.


There no pressure or anything like that - I wouldn't sell for her if I didn't want to


I wouldn't do it for anybody else, though.

I see your situation now. It is the mention of a "charge" for this service which suggests that you will in effect be doing it professionally in the sense that you will be setting a price for the service.


I would note the cost of postage, ebay fees and any paypal fees and inform your friend of the exact figure and then let her give you something for you time. However, perhaps you should tell her in detail what you did, such as taking photo, weighing item to estimate postage, dealing with winner of the item, wrapping item and weighing again and taking it to post office etc. etc. Many people just do not realise what is involved. Your friend should be very grateful and realise that she should pay you something more that just expenses when you list what was involved.

Goldiegirl

Mistral001 wrote: »

I see your situation now. It is the mention of a "charge" for this service which suggests that you will in effect be doing it professionally in the sense that you will be setting a price for the service.


I would note the cost of postage, ebay fees and any paypal fees and inform your friend of the exact figure and then let her give you something for you time. However, perhaps you should tell her in detail what you did, such as taking photo, weighing item to estimate postage, dealing with winner of the item, wrapping item and weighing again and taking it to post office etc. etc. Many people just do not realise what is involved. Your friend should be very grateful and realise that she should pay you something more that just expenses when you list what was involved.

This is how we work it


I don't do inclusive postage and packing for her items. It's always the auction price plus postage and packing.


Therefore the P&P is paid for by the buyer.


Whatever amount the item is sold for, I take off 15% for fees, and then we share the rest 50/50.


So we both benefit from our arrangement.


We're currently having an eBay 'rest', as I want to sell some of my own things - I'd hate to feel under pressure to eBay!

Goldiegirl

forgotmyname wrote: »

Will you be hanging onto the money earned for 6 months just in case you get chargebacks?

Who pays for the items that sell then the seller claims it doesnt fit or its faulty, even after you see pics of them on facebook wearing it to a party.

I've been selling things for her on and off for three years and have been ebaying my own things for 6 years, and have never yet had a chargeback or anybody wanting to return anything, claiming it's faulty.


If it happened, we'd share the burden - it's only a few clothes and household items, there's nothing wildly expensive.

Goldiegirl

ballisticbrian wrote: »

If your friend can put in for over-time at work, and the items are ones that just go for a few quid or so then the over-time is the best option and just throw the items in the charity shop or the bin, it's a dead simple.

If you have a keen urge to do it that you may learn something or you want to see what comes of it and can handle a bit of stress, then fine go for it.

If something doesn't sell after a couple of attempts, then it'll go to the charity shop.


I think it's really difficult for people to understand the dynamic about my arrangement with my friend.


She's not begging me to sell things because she's desperate for money, and she's not exploiting me in any way.


I like selling her things because eBay is a hobby. The small amount of extra money is nice, but I'm not desperate for it!


I'm not really sure what you mean by the last sentence - but if you mean I should turn it into a business - absolutely not interested.


Just in case people start fretting about tax liabilities - my pension is well below the tax allowance. I'd have to earn more than £2500 per annum on this enterprise to reach the tax threshold..... so far it's more like a couple of hundred this year!

hollydays

A scenario that worries me with friends is if you start an item at .99p that she thinks worth a lot more, and then it only sells for .99p