Hi All
I don't sell too much on eBay but I had wanted to keep it growing. Well, at least I did, now I am not so sure !!
I only had total sales of 480.51 March, April and May yet my total combined fees ( ebay Paypal and something else ) were 165.01 
That is 35%
I try to take advantage of every promotion, and seldom do I list anything for the .30 insertion fee.
I seldom use any of the "extras" that do not come free with catagory. I do occasionally list in 2 catagories.
Between these fees and cost of item and any returns or refunds I may give .....I ain't making much .for sure !! Not to mention my gas packing supply etc.
Any Suggestions ???
Thanks
Shirley
My fees run around 16% including the cost of a store. You must be selecting features. BIN is an added expense, per listing, is it not? Multiple out all the listings times that fee.
Any suggestions?
Yes - stop selling low priced items with high shipping cost. That is where you get killed by fees.
I see listings for $5 or $6 and $18 shipping.
You pay FVF on $23+ That will kill you every time.
A few months ago, you sold a "Very Rare Hagen Renaker Ceramic Nursery Rhyme Cat Green Shirt" for US$0.99 with US$14.13 shipping charge. Basically, you paid more to eBay in FVF than you received from the buyer. Then you have to pay the PayPal fees.
Your listings are clear, your images inviting and professional. However, you will never make money offering these low priced items for sale on eBay. Every sale is a guaranteed money loser.
Not every item in the world is made to sell by mail on eBay.
You have had 87 listings expire in the last 15 days. 32, I think, had BIN. Take a look at your invoice, everything is detailed on it.
I keep a running total in my head and on my screen. Every time I list something there is a running total of what I have spent plus the notation of any additional FVF for what I have just listed.
Watch your running total. That tells you what you have paid for and what has sold.
I keep a running total in my head and on my screen. Every time I list something there is a running total of what I have spent plus the notation of any additional FVF for what I have just listed.
Watch your running total. That tells you what you have paid for and what has sold.
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My fees (eBay and PayPal) average less than 10%.
I sell in the Stamps category (FVF is only 4.8% after deducting the 20% TRS rebate) and I list everything "free shipping" avoiding FVF on shipping.
Good catch on the shipping FVF there Pierre, I did not see that.
Mags? What was your total shipping costs for that period? Bet, as Pierre noted, it is a lot higher than your net proceeds from goods sold.
I look at each listing of mine individually. Gross proceeds, minus gross FVF and Paypal fees, minus gross shipping cost, minus packaging costs, equals net proceeds.
I have lost money four (4) times in 9000 sales. All four times I messed up on shipping.
Mags? What was your total shipping costs for that period? Bet, as Pierre noted, it is a lot higher than your net proceeds from goods sold.
I look at each listing of mine individually. Gross proceeds, minus gross FVF and Paypal fees, minus gross shipping cost, minus packaging costs, equals net proceeds.
I have lost money four (4) times in 9000 sales. All four times I messed up on shipping.
There is a lot of stuff I do not list because it will not make me any money.
You are selling in a non-profitable manner. Your fees, on some items, are greater than your profit. Do that enough times and you have a rate of 35%. Oh! Wait!
I believe, as in any field, 10% of the sellers do 90% of the profits. There are "selelrs" who have sold for years and never made any money at all. They are in it for the hobby and to lose money. You are already ahead of that curve. Your price researching is ahead of most sellers.
Re-visit your shipping methods. I am hyper-aware of the 250 gram, 500 gram, and 1 kilo limits.
A basic store will add $20 to your monthly costs, but, you get more listings, more promos, far greater flexibility, lower FVF.
You are selling in a non-profitable manner. Your fees, on some items, are greater than your profit. Do that enough times and you have a rate of 35%. Oh! Wait!
I believe, as in any field, 10% of the sellers do 90% of the profits. There are "selelrs" who have sold for years and never made any money at all. They are in it for the hobby and to lose money. You are already ahead of that curve. Your price researching is ahead of most sellers.
Re-visit your shipping methods. I am hyper-aware of the 250 gram, 500 gram, and 1 kilo limits.
A basic store will add $20 to your monthly costs, but, you get more listings, more promos, far greater flexibility, lower FVF.
@ricarmic wrote:
Me again, I didn't look at your items before I posted - for sure try the experiment for the cheaper shipping items like the patterns, the cups will be harder as it doubles the price which would be interesting to see if it worked....can't hurt to try a couple to see what happens.... that is how I've learned a lot of what I do, via experiments, sometimes expensive experiments but fruitful all the same.....
Been there, done that, got the tee-shirt. Worse? I will do it again.
@mags_finds wrote:
When I list a new item ..I research what it sold for in the past and what it is selling for now. The I add what a person from the US would have to spend on shipping. I add the two together and try to list my item at approx the same cost, including what they have to spend on shipping.
If I list my item with free shipping, there is no way I can compete with the US sellers.
In my view, you've taken the right approach, especially since you're selling a lot of breakables (china, glass, etc.) And actually, from what I can see, you're doing relatively well in terms of sales over the past few weeks, considering the severe downturn that a lot of sellers have been reporting since the cyber attack on eBay.
With all due respect to the "stamp people" 
, I think they sometimes forget how challenging it is to offer free or inexpensive shipping if you sell fragile, breakable items.
While you can certainly experiment with free shipping on small, non-breakable items, for breakable items keep in mind that the majority of your competitors will have exactly the same dilemma that you do when it comes to shipping, i.e. a fairly level playing field. In other words, if you position yourself in the middle of the pack where shipping costs and item prices are concerned, you shouldn't be at a serious disadvantage.
You're never going to be in the letter-mail or even Light Packet Air (for the US) size range (under 2.0cm thick) with such things as teacups and other china (which need a sizeable box to protect them), but you may find some items can go by Small Packet Air to the U.S. Buying 3rd party insurance may be more useful than using tracking on those parcels, in which case you may be able to keep the shipping under $15 to the U.S. In Canada, once you have a box of any size thicker than 2.0cm you're stuck with parcel services, which are no bargain at the moment. International shipping of china items will be another story -- I'm not even sure it would be worth it in the long run.
Personally, I think that people who collect teacups, china and such things recognize the need for somewhat higher shipping costs, and will pay them to get an item they particularly like or which is rather unusual. However, I would say that the prices at which your teacups have sold are quite low, so there may be some room for tweaking the numbers there.
Your listings and photos look great, in my opinion, so perhaps it's just a question of rolling some of the shipping costs for china items into the item costs themselves and running some of those items as BIN (perhaps with best offer) rather than all auctions. Offer free shipping where you can, but I can certainly understand that it's not a simple decision with many of the items you sell. As the others have said, a few experiments with pricing and listing formats may be worthwhile.
