advice for first time Ebay seller

[Navi]

It doesn't matter what price you start your listing at - the first 50 are free each month

[archidraca]

This is wonderful! Now I know how to start selling aside from listing here.

Is there any advantage to creating a Store if you're thinking you may only have a limited stock of items, say 70, or if you may only keep the Store open into the new Year? And do you still have to pay for the store if there's nothing currently in it?

[ponylady]

Yes, there is a monthly fee. And yes you are charged whether there is 100 things or nothing in there.

[kellyponyfeathers]

Soooo, Ebay takes a sales tax on top of their own fees and Paypal fees? Even if I'm not a regular business seller? I wasn't really planning on that. 

Basically, I'm just trying to get an idea how much I can expect to lose for fees. Fees include Ebay fees, Paypal fees, taxes (though I don't plan to report this on my tax return; I'm not going to make enough money for it to matter), and whatever else I might be forgetting.

Let's say I have an item posted for $50 BIN, plus shipping.  It's one of only a dozen items I listed, so it's free to list.  There are several photos, but not more than the 12 pic allowance. The buyer pays with Paypal. How much money is left over for me after fees?

And again, is the photo zoom feature free? Or does it cost extra?  Do I have to specify it in the settings?

[Navi]

This page is pretty helpful for answering ebay questions:

http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/selling-basics.html

I think theres a fee calculator in there somewhere too. If you sell to someone within your same state, you're supposed to charge sales tax, and report your income. Ebay itself doesn't charge you sales tax.

[StoryDreamer]

The photo zoom is standard

[LittleSpiffy]

Forgive me if what I'm about to add has already been said - I only skimmed over the other replies.

eBay runs promotion nearly every-other month for free listings.  They're "by invitation only,"  but I really think all sellers get the emails from eBay   You can use these promotions in addition to your 50 free listings.

Sometimes bidders will win multiple items from you...and pay for each one separately   That's $0.30 for each additional item in PayPal fees.  I've learned that you can contact PayPal's customer service by phone and they will refund the additional fees for you.  I sometimes feel silly calling, but in the last month I've already saved over $2. 

If you know the basics of Excel, make yourself a spreadsheet.  I can't stress this enough!  I pretty much sell ponies and small 80's toys (who would have guessed, right?).  Sometimes when I think I'm making a profit, I'm not.  Keeping a spreadsheet allows me to figure out EXACTLY what price I should ask for.  I never start an auction for less than what I need to break even.

It just dawned on me that maybe...just maybe...what I've come up with could help someone else.  Let me post some pictures and give you formulas!  Everyone likes Excel, right?    I'll post in under a spoiler just only those interested in my insanity can get ideas.

Spoiler

This is a screen shot of one of the spreadsheets I recently made.  My goal was to break even on a lot I purchased on eBay for $16.50.  There was a Blossomforth tucked away in all of that madness.  I like to bid on lots like this because from what I re-sell, I can add a pony to my collection for nothing.

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As you can see, at the top of the sheet I have inserted an image of the Order Summary as well as images from the auction.  This is mainly to help me out in the future.  I know 30 days from now I will have no idea where these ponies came from or went.

To create the images, I do a screen capture (Ctrl +Alt+ PrntScr) and paste it into Paint.  I crop it, save it, and insert it.

I can fiddle around with the selling price until I see a profit amount that I like.  As long as it isn't negative, I am happy!  When the auction ends, I update it with the actual selling price.

If anyone would like the formulas or for me to email you a blank spreadsheet template, let me know!

[StoryDreamer]

What a great idea to use images in the spreadsheets, Little Spiffy. I have a spreadsheet as well, but I don't include pictures. My fields are as follows. I included a "notes" field so I can write where I got it, etc. I try to go for things that will only make a profit of $5.00 or more.   My items I sell are all over the map though.

Now... do some sellers offer free shipping to get out of paying the final shipping fee?

Item   Price Paid   Sell Date   Sold for   Ebay fees   Total Revenue   Notes

[LittleSpiffy]

No.  In fact, if you offer free shipping, you are actually paying that 10% Final Value Fee through eBay.  After all, the cost of postage is included in the selling price of the item.

If you have the buyer pay for shipping, eBay doesn't charge you a fee on that amount.

Personally, I love offering free shipping because it takes the pressure off of the buyer.  You know that exactly what you bid is what you're paying.  No hidden fees.

The only exceptions are LARGE items (like playsets) and international shipping.  I weigh my items and figure what box I'm going to use before I list so I can enter all of the information into the listing so buyers will know what to pay before they bid.

[ponylady]

If you have the buyer pay for shipping, eBay doesn't charge you a fee on that amount.

Actually they do. The fee's apply to your item price plus shipping costs.

[LittleSpiffy]

If you have the buyer pay for shipping, eBay doesn't charge you a fee on that amount.

Actually they do. The fee's apply to your item price plus shipping costs.

Thank you for this!  I just looked at my recent activity and had no idea.

Here's a strange one:
I sold an item internationally.  I offered free domestic shipping.  Even though my international buyer paid for the shipping, I wasn't charged a final value fee on the shipping price.

I sold two items domestically.  I offered free shipping on one item and the buyer had to pay shipping for the larger item.  Since the same buyer paid for both items in a combined payment, I was charged a final value fee on shipping for BOTH items.

Sneaky, sneaky, eBay!

[StoryDreamer]

I know that Ebay has actually told people on the phone (I've seen this on message boards) to "offer free shipping and include the cost in the auction."  I noticed today I got charged 50 cents for shipping. Now I'm like, well, do I offer free shipping?  I sell a lot of books, etc. I mean I'm not paying for shipping on the board games I sell because those suckers are $16.75 but smaller things... how if I were to make that board game $29.99 with free shipping, maybe..