[Closed] Ebay - how long will it last

Get down the local car boot sale and then see how you feel about ebay.

Aye, try and sell on here, or even worse, gumtree....

We now sell far more things on our local Buy & Sell page on Facebook.

No fees and most of the time we are selling to someone local who just pops round to collect it or we exchange at the school gates. Being a small village we often know them or know someone that knows them so rip-offs are rare.

Only downside is that it things sell for a lot less than they would get on eBay.

You think its expensive because it cost more than it used to which was nearly free

10% is still very cheap.

I use another online auctioneer and their fees are 15% of the final bid and then 20% vat on the whole price (bid and commission) on top of that. So I pay 35% over the bid price that the buyer receives - and that in sales commission is still pretty cheap.

But to give you an idea of how good a price you can get on eBay I can buy of that auction site pay those fees (they're levied on the buyer rather than the seller), use those goods for a while, and then when I don't need them sell them on Ebay, pay the ebay fees and still be up.

If theres anywhere else you think you can sell for a better price and/or pay less for the service then just vote with your feet and use it.

Craigxxlist?

Ebay has been doing this for a while!
I sold £2k of stuff a year ago and was like OMG Ebay have just nobbled me for over £200.

In some countries they are losing out to other websites with lower fees.

But in UK I've still used Ebay as although paying them 10%, plus paypal fees is a steep price, the stuff generally sells.

If you are feeling super-charitable then you can just give 100% of the sale price to charity and then ebay doesn't take any fees.

Gumtree is fine if you are likely to sell stuff locally.
I've sold some stuff on Amazon actually, but the fees don't end up being much cheaper.

Where else can you sell and get such a big market and thus good prices?

I think 10% is pretty reasonable given the sheer size of market you get exposed to and the price you send up selling stuff for. Where else could you sell second hand for in many cases nearly the price of new stuff. It's bonkers.

Shpock?

It's bonkers.

Yep, very impressed with the prices I've been getting recently for 15-20 year old climbing and camping kit...

i feel proud that i have never bought or sold on ebay.

All the fees are listed in their terms. If you don't like them, don't use the service. Simples ennit.

I think it's a fair price for selling stuff that's hanging around taking up space.
I also think the price is fair considering the security they offer. I know it's saved me a few times as a buyer and a seller.

[i]Shpock[/i]

That advert! The yelling woman/girl with a voice like a Playschool presenter on speed and only women with tight little bottoms squeezed into tiny shorts selling stuff!
Ebay was never like that.

The part that stings is that they charge you 10% on postage too but you have to send it by more expensive recorded method for the paypal rules too. Add to that I have been charged twice for the same item means that I've effectively given the item away and charging postage at cost has left me out of pocket.
I'm still arguing with ebay customer services who send me to links that I can't find using their help section. They really have the cards stacked in their favour. Now they are telling me that I should have contacted them first before ending and then relisting the items instead of using the help section 🙁

and only women with tight little bottoms squeezed into tiny shorts selling stuff!

Thanks for that mental image, im now off to the bogs, and may be some time... 😛

ENJOY ! [img] [/img]

He's sooooooo Moneysupermarket?

Christ, if that's a woman, no wonder she's on fugly.com 😡

The part that stings is that they charge you 10% on postage too but you have to send it by more expensive recorded method for the paypal rules too.

Just factor all that in to your price?

I've sold some stuff on Amazon actually, but the fees don't end up being much cheaper.

+ another

If you use their postage calculator then you end up out of pocket as it doesn't allow you to amend it.

Don't use their postage calculator then?

I never do, I look up the price of 'signed for' postage before I put it on ebay, so my postage fee covers the cost. Or I just send it for free and bundle it into the overall price.

Used to make a fair bit of "pocket" money buying (locally), servicing/tidying up & selling bikes on Ebay.

The price hikes pretty much killed that.

charging postage at cost has left me out of pocket.

That's your first mistake.

"Postage" isn't just the price of the stamp, it's the packaging and assorted costs of your time, petrol money to take it to the post office, and so forth. P&P can be 50p or twenty quid, whatever, it's clearly stated on the advert and people can accept it or not bid.

Folk can still be funny buggers though. We once sold something to an address in my home town. Rather than post it I thought I'd do them a favour and took time out of my lunch break to hand deliver it a couple of days earlier than if it'd been posted out. The buyer kicked off royally that we'd changed postage fees and not posted it... 🙄

"Postage" isn't just the price of the stamp, it's the packaging and assorted costs of your time, petrol money to take it to the post office, and so forth. P&P can be 50p or twenty quid, whatever, it's clearly stated on the advert and people can accept it or not bid.

I had a friend who was stung when a buyer complained that they had overcharged (pennies) for postage as it was not the exact price on the label. I can't remember if the entire postage was refunded or the entire sale value.

FWIW, in NZ eBay is nowhere to be seen. Gumtree and Craigslist neither. Everything goes on Trademe. Low fees (like 3% for normal sales, flat fee for cars etc) and local focus its brill.

its brill

Until ebay buys it 🙂

I thought Ebay owned Gumtree?

I thought Ebay owned Gumtree?

They do and if you cancel an eBay auction because the item sold via Gumtree they're clever and still charge you the eBay fees.

Re postage, you're not restricted on service. If you want paypal protection then you have to use a signed for service but that's just obvious, you need to be able to prove the item got there. But you can use a budget courier. The "fees for postage" is a response to the old trick of charging a low price and a massive postage charge to avoid fees on the sale price so it's hard to argue with.

There's an option to turn off overseas bidding btw (I turned it on one time, forgetting that my account is pre-co.uk so it counts as a US account; when I ban overseas bidders, it bans the UK :lol:)

But

craigxxl - Member

Add to that I have been charged twice for the same item

How? If you cancel a highest bid then you still get charged for that highest bid (again, it's a fee avoidance avoider) but you don't also get charged for the winning bid- you get charged once for whatever's highest.

If you cancel an auction entirely, you only get charged if you used a "my fault" option ie "no longer available"- if it's a "seller didn't pay" cancellation you get your fees back.