Friday, August 30, 2013

Q: Maybe you have other appointment, right?

Someone asked me about my ventures into ebay and wanted to learn how to profit off selling things online through the website. Let me tell you this; unless you’re certain that the item is going to sell, you might be better off selling them via craigslist. Well, then again it always depends on the item itself and its target market.

I cannot stress enough on this because it cost quite a bit to post on ebay. No joke. Let me break it down for you. Say you have a clock and you wanted to get as much out of it, so you posted the junk on ebay. Upon posting, ebay is going to charge you what they referred to as an ‘installation fee’. In a parallel example, let’s just say it resembles the entrance ticket to an amusement park.  

Now you have a choice; to list it for a couple of days (a range of 1 to 7 days) and to decide how you want to sell it. By the latter, it means having to choose between the auction style or Buy It Now option. Selecting either is an add-on, so yes that means more fees. After finalizing the post, all you have to do is wait. After the list ended, and if you’re lucky enough to score a prey, you’ll have to invoice them the amount you’re charging them. The buyer will make payment and then you will ship the item. Sounds just about right? Sure, except for the additional charges and yes there are more. Ebay leaches 10 percent of your final sales; meaning if your clock went out for five bucks, ebay will want 50 cents from it. You calmly believe that you will have $ 4.50 inside your pocket, but later you’ll see that Paypal wants a piece of the pie as well. Another 33 cents or more and you might only end up with four bucks.

It’s not easy. As a matter of fact, selling online on sites like ebay is risky. If you don’t make necessary calculations, it might backfire on you. This is especially so if you’re planning to sell your items with a Free Shipping tag on it. Pray hard that people at least jack the item amount high enough for it to cover the cost of shipping. Hope that helps!

Elementary,
Vonnie S.

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