best way to save ebay fees

[s3p2]

I sold a few things on ebay this summer (first time in years). Things have sure changed! I listed my items and noticed about a $1 charge for posting & a pic.... then a month later they hit me up with a bill for almost $50 ! I only got about $250 for the items I sold. What's the deal with this, and what's the best way around it? Im thinking of listing some silver but want to avoid these fees.
thanks.

[NHsorter]

List the stuff for sale on here. No fees. eBay has the biggest audience, but you pay for it! If you are scared to mail the stuff, then you could go to a local shop or list it on your local Craigslist.

[thesilvertiger]

I really think that selling here on realcent is a quality option. You may not get the number of people looking at the item, but everyone here sure seems to be genuine and informed (or getting informed by being here). There are no fees here and I like that.



Geaux Tigers. Beat Bama!!!

[Thogey]

Use on line photo hosting to post pictures in the item description.

<img src=" post link here">

Some things are better sold here some on e-bay.

Doc would not have sold his hobo nickels here for $100 each.

Your fee seems pretty high though. I don't think I pay 20% I think its like 9%. I get 50 free listings each month.

[TXBullion]

with out any discounts on final value fees, I usually figure 13 % with paypal ( i think thats a little high actually). Did all your buyers pay, because 50 is too high on 250 unless there are other parts of the puzzle not being disclosed

[PolishPunisher]

I had the opposite experience when selling my 25th ASE's. The ebay fee was only $180 for selling $7459. The online ebay fee calc had estimated the fee would be $235. I strongly agree with the other posters sell on realcent if you can. It is so nice to get the actual price you sold the item for.

[TXBullion]

Ebay is a great marketplace for many things. Regular silver bullion that will sell about spot, you are better off on RC than ebay

[getdong]

Like others have said ebay gives you a huge audience but eats into fees. For some people ebay makes more off their business than them if htey have small profit margins. Other areas would be craiglist or other online sales type sites. Also like others have said this may be an option, you can still guage someone's reputation from sales they have done with other members which I like the idea of. As for saving on ebay fees if you choose to use it here's a few tips.

1. Find an ebay calculator. You can put in the price you got the item for, shipping charged, actual shipping cost, etc, etc etc and it will figure out what fees are, what your profit is, etc. Very quick easy tool that helps with pricing items making sure your in the green and quicker than doing it manually. Only thing make sure the calculator you find is up to date, ebay is constantly saving fees.

2. Sell alot of volume. Ebay is going to charge you a fortune and nto much you can do about the fees short of opening a store which doesnt help that much. By selling alot however you can get your paypal fees lowered closer to 2% than 3%.

3. Get a digital postage scale. So many people on ebay wind up paying out of pocket to cover parts of shipign they underestimated. A digi calc will save you from estimating and over estimating and overpaying or under estimating and leaving your buyer footing part of the shipping bill to get their mail.

4. More about shipping fees. Take into account cost of packaging supplies. Packaging tape isn't cheap and padded envelopes will run you over a buck an envelope if you don't buy in bulk and shop smart so add that to shipping. one other thing with ebay, they somewhat recently started charging fvf on shipping as well to stop people from listing items for $5 with $120 shipping so keep in mind your paying ebay fees on shipping, if you charge what shiping actually costs your losing money right off the bat.

Alot of people knock ebay, with good reason though ebay has terrible policies in some areas, favors buyers too heavily, continually raises fees adn a host of other stuff i hate but no arguing ebay has the biggest reach and if anyone else could do it better for cheaper we woudln't all be using ebay