Sellers of others' goods

[alvina1818]

I have goods that I would like to sell in Canada but don't really have the time to sell directly. Are there e-bay sellers who sell items for a commission or some split of proceeds?

Items include classic original newspapers and magazines, books, items like classic CHUM charts, and others. 

None in and of themselves are big dollar items, but collectively they could add up.

Thank you.

[cumos55]

I was once asked if I would sell inventory  for another person. My answer was "No" because I had too much of my own inventory to sell.

If I did sell for another person  the inventory must be of relatively high value....

and my commission would be about 50%, with me paying all fees.

Also  the person would pay me $5.00 per item when the items would be received by me.  If the item sells this would be a part of my fee.

This $5.00 fee is not refundable if the item does not sell

[mrdutch1001]

back in the day there was something, don't remember what they called it but like eBay selling assistant... Don't know if that program even exists anymore on eBay...

anyway been there, done that... lasted a couple of years selling items for multiple/many clients on eBay as a business, but it was a lot of work.

For an occasional client here and there, that may be easier to manage, but not so sure I'd be doing it on eBay these days, not with what eBay has become...this is a totally different atmosphere here on eBay now, totally different rules and policies too.

[ilikehockeyjerseys]

If the items are similar, or appeal to the same kind of collector, your best bet might be to sell them yourself as a lot. You'd only have to deal with one sale. If they have any resale value, re-sellers would likely bid.

A major issue with selling in Canada is that the margins are too high. This is because there is no economical form of shipping items that exceed 2 CM in thickness. $15 is a fair average price to budget to ship a lighter item via Regular Parcel or Expedited Parcel. 

Add on eBay and Paypal fees, which might be at least 15 percent per item depending on the seller, and you can see that with a $100 item, it will cost at least $30 to complete the transaction. 

So if an item is only worth $30 and cannot be sent letter mail, someone would have to be willing to spend time photographing it, listing it, communicating with buyers, packaging it, shipping it, and also take on the risk of the transaction, all for about 10 dollars minus whatever would go to you. Larger sellers also have to consider taxes which will eat some of that money. 

Point being, it may not be viable for someone to sell your stuff if it is items that sell for a lower price. The cost of delivering the sale is too high. If it is viable, a better relationship might be for you to sell your stuff to a reseller. Although, if your stuff is really valuable, you might want to look into how to do it yourself.

[femmefan1946]

We have an employee doing that for us on one ID.

He gets 40% of the payment, and pays all fees from that.
He scans, describes, and uploads all listings which takes a good 10 minutes per listing and at BC minimum wage that costs $2.43 alone.

But the median sale is $50.

This allows him to stay home with his children, so he is willing just now to earn less that he could elsewhere. 

Ephemera are a tough sell at the best of times. You need a buyer in the right age bracket, shopping at the right time, and willing to spend.