Ebay selling fees

Nic880

Hi just wondered if anyone could help,  I've always sold bits and bobs on Ebay, old clothes etc but I've noticed recently that the fees are really high! For example I sold a dress for £14 with £3.20 postage then Ebay have took their fees which are £2.50! I just thought this was a lot more than normal!! Didn't know if anyone had the same issue?? Thanks in advance!!

mjm3346

Sounds about right if that includes the paypal charge - ever so slightly over if it's the newer system without paypal

Nic880

Yes it's the newer system. It just seems a bit steep!! 

pearl123

Google ebay/paypal calculator. It really helpful in getting an idea of how much it will cost. 

Thrugelmir

Worst of all Ebay takes a cut of postage and packaging. Drove me off the site a long time ago. Seemed more profitable to buy Ebay shares than run a business through the website. 

Nic880

Thanks for the tip pearl123! I will do that in future! Thanks everyone! I just want to make a bit of money and not throw clothes away but it's put me off a bit now!! Does anyone know if Vinted is better? Or recommend any other sites?

soolin

Nic880 said:

Yes it's the newer system. It just seems a bit steep!! 

I’ve moved this to the ebay board.

for items over £10 ish the new system is actually marginally cheaper than the old once you factor in the old PayPal fees. 

If you want a cheaper place to sell then try Facebook marketplace , you obviously don’t have the same market that ebay gives you and it is very time consuming as you have to reply to daft questions and sort out all your payments manually, but if you sell and post on there all you pay are the PayPal fees. 

For other places, use the ones that come to mind when you are buying, the chances are if you are aware of them as a buyer then other buyers will be as well. Alternatively wait for the cheap FVF days, we might be due one this weekend , and only list then. 

jon81uk

Previously you were paying 10% to eBay and 2.9% plus 30p to PayPal.
Now its 12.8% and 30p to eBay, the overall cost is very similar.

eBay started charging fees on the whole order (including "postage") back in 2013 as some sellers were pricing items at 99p with £30 postage to avoid fees. 

I don't think the overall cost of selling as a private seller has changed in years and managed payments has only brought it down by 0.1%

SunnyBunny

You could also try gumtree - no  fees.  I've had some success although not with clothes.    The other thing you could check is the cost of postage, if you fold the dress, or whatever clothing item and send in a polybag depending on the weight and size of the bag you can send as a large letter - so cost could be £1.99 rather than £3.20.
Also there are the  eBay £1 selling fees weekends which are great if your item sells in the first listing and the advantage of managed payments means that you do not have to pay Paypal during the eBay £1 fees weekends. 

pbartlett

good tip re packaging - if you fold the clothes to large letter size and use brown paper is slips through the large letter slot - if you use plastic, air can get trapped and it won't slide through as easily.

martindow

pbartlett said:

good tip re packaging - if you fold the clothes to large letter size and use brown paper is slips through the large letter slot - if you use plastic, air can get trapped and it won't slide through as easily.

I'm not sure about brown paper as it tears easily and would fall apart if it gets wet.  I use grip-lock plastic bags so you can squeeze the air out to make it flat.  It also stops the fabric bunching up and the packet being surcharged as oversize for LL.