Downside to Selling on Ebay
Selling on eBay is a great way to make extra money. However, if you do not pay careful attention to the fees involved, you may end up making a better profit selling your items at a yard sale or on a classified advertising site such as Craigslist.eBay fees are constantly increasing. When pricing an item to sell on eBay, you must calculate the fees involved in placing the ad. There are fees that you will pay regardless of whether you sell your item or not. These include, but are not limited to: general listing fees, picture fees, and charges for making your listing bold.If your items sells, there is a final value fee assessed. The fee is based on the selling price. If you re-list the item, you will incur more listing fees. That one blouse you want to sell for $15 is likely to cost you more than six dollars in fees just from eBay.
Most eBay customers like to pay with PayPal. It is convenient and easy for both the seller and the buyer. However, PayPal charges the seller a fee to complete the sales transaction. This fee is based on the amount of the sale. All of these fees are explained on thePayPalsite.Aside from the rising fees for using eBay and PayPal, there are packing and shipping expenses. You can reduce these expenses by getting free shipping boxes from the US Postal Service, but if you use other shipping companies, you will have purchase boxes or take the time to go out and look for free ones. Purchasing a postal scale is extremely important. If you do not weigh your items carefully in the shipping box, you will likely undercharge your buyer for shipping. Paying the excess shipping cost will affect your profit.Once you ship an item, the biggest downside of eBay will be in customer satisfaction. Once a customer shows disappointment in a product you sold, this person can leave negative feedback on your account. You can rectify the situation but the feedback will stay. Building great feedback is work and you have to dedicate time to following up with your buyers to make sure you don't tarnish your seller account with poor feedback.
One of the biggest downsides of selling on eBay are the non-paying buyers. Many buyers take pride in paying immediately, but there are those who pay slowly or do not pay at all. You can get your listing fees reimbursed if payment is not made in the time frame required by eBay, but you have to take the time to file a non-payment appeal. Otherwise, you have to spend time tracking down the buyer, sending payment requests and possibly re-listing the item if you do not get payment. This is all very time consuming.If you are looking for a quick sale of items that are not extremely valuable (used clothing is a good example), eBay may prove to be more work than you expect. You will function as sales person, customer service, payment collector and shipping director. In order to sell on eBay, you must be willing to spend time doing your 'jobs' well or you will not make enough money to make it a worthwhile investment of time and money.Do your research before you sell on eBay. Once you list your item for sale, you must sell it unless you have a reserve price on it (you will incur another fee for that). Make sure the sale is worth the fees and your time before you list it.
