DOES IT PAY TO SELL COMICS ON EBAY ?

By hoknes 12 years ago

Ebay is the greatest and easiest place online to sell collectibles

BUT

can you make any money doing it ?

EbaySales

Here are some examples at different price levels of what it really costs to sell on ebay!!

EBAY & PAYPAL FEES – SELLING A  $2.99 ITEM !
List an item for $2.99 plus $2.50 shipping – here is what you actually get from your sale
Ebay charges you $0.25 to list the auction = $0.25 to ebay
Ebay takes 13% of commission of the $2.99 = $0.39 to ebay
Ebay also takes 9% commission off your shipping charge EVEN if you charge exact shipping rate at post office = $.23 to ebay
Customers pay through Paypal whom gets a flat rate of $0.30 plus a further 3% rate of the full $5.50 amount which is $0.17 + $0.30 = $0.47.   (If shipping outside North America Paypal takes another 1%)

So in total you had to charge $5.49 for your item = Ebay/Paypal take $1.34 if this amount plus you have to pay the $2.50 at post office for a total of $3.84 costs you do not see.

The amount left is $1.66
So you get $1.66 minus the cost of what you paid for the item in the first place. Let’s hope you didnt pay more than $1.66 !

Your ebay costs were 45% of listing price !

Also if you spent any money on packing materials (box,tape,envelopes,gas) that also has to be included into your original shipping cost or you are losing even more money!        What about your time ?

EBAY & PAYPAL FEES – SELLING A  $5.00 ITEM !
List an item for $5.00 plus $2.50 shipping – here is what you actually get from your sale
Ebay charges you $0.50 to list the auction = $0.50 to ebay
Ebay takes 13% of commission of the $5.00 = $0.65 to ebay
Ebay also takes 9% commission off your shipping charge EVEN if you charge exact shipping rate at post office = $.23 to ebay
Customers pay through Paypal whom gets a flat rate of $0.30 plus a further 3% rate of the full $7.50 amount which is $0.23 + $0.30 = $0.53.   (If shipping outside North America Paypal takes another 1%)
So in total you had to charge $7.50 for your item = Ebay/Paypal take $1.91 if this amount plus you have to pay the $2.50 at post office for a total of $4.41 costs you do not see.
The amount left is $3.09
So you get $3.09 minus the cost of what you paid for the item in the first place. Let’s hope you didnt pay more than $3.09 !

Your ebay costs were 38% of listing price !

Also if you spent any money on packing materials (box,tape,envelopes,gas) that also has to be included into your original shipping cost or you are losing even more money!        What about your time ?

EBAY & PAYPAL FEES – SELLING A  $10.00 ITEM !
List an item for $10.00 plus $5.00 shipping – here is what you actually get from your sale
Ebay charges you $0.50 to list the auction = $0.50 to ebay
Ebay takes 13% of commission of the $10.00 = $1.30 to ebay
Ebay also takes 9% commission off your shipping charge EVEN if you charge exact shipping rate at post office = $.45 to ebay
Customers pay through Paypal whom gets a flat rate of $0.30 plus a further 3% rate of the full $15.00 amount which is $0.45 + $0.30 = $0.75.   (If shipping outside North America Paypal takes another 1%)
So in total you had to charge $30.00 for your item = Ebay/Paypal take $3.00 if this amount plus you have to pay the $5.00 at post office for a total of $8.00 costs you do not see.
The amount left is $7.00
So you get $7.00 minus the cost of what you paid for the item in the first place. Let’s hope you didnt pay more than $7.00 !

Your ebay costs were 30% of listing price !

Also if you spent any money on packing materials (box,tape,envelopes,gas) that also has to be included into your original shipping cost or you are losing even more money!        What about your time ?

EBAY & PAYPAL FEES – SELLING A  $20.00 ITEM !

List an item for $20.00 plus $10.00 shipping – here is what you actually get from your sale
Ebay charges you $1.00 to list the auction = $1.00 to ebay
Ebay takes 13% of commission of the $20.00 = $2.60 to ebay
Ebay also takes 9% commission off your shipping charge EVEN if you charge exact shipping rate at post office = $.90 to ebay
Customers pay through Paypal whom gets a flat rate of $0.30 plus a further 3% rate of the full $30.00 amount which is $1.00 + $0.30 = $1.30.   (If shipping outside North America Paypal takes another 1%)
So in total you had to charge $30.00 for your item = Ebay/Paypal take $5.80 if this amount plus you have to pay the $10.00 at post office for a total of $15.80 costs you do not see.
The amount left is $14.20
So you get $14.20 minus the cost of what you paid for the item in the first place. Let’s hope you didnt pay more than $14.20 !

Your ebay costs were 29% of listing price !

Also if you spent any money on packing materials (box,tape,envelopes,gas) that also has to be included into your original shipping cost or you are losing even more money!        What about your time ?

EBAY & PAYPAL FEES – SELLING A  $50.00 ITEM !
List an item for $50.00 plus $15.00 shipping – here is what you actually get from your sale
Ebay charges you $1.00 to list the auction = $1.00 to ebay
Ebay takes 13% of commission of the $50.00 = $6.50 to ebay
Ebay also takes 9% commission off your shipping charge EVEN if you charge exact shipping rate at post office = $1.35 to ebay
Customers pay through Paypal whom gets a flat rate of $0.30 plus a further 3% rate of the full $65.00 amount which is $1.95 + $0.30 = $2.25.   (If shipping outside North America Paypal takes another 1%)
So in total you had to charge $65.00 for your item = Ebay/Paypal take $11.10 if this amount plus you have to pay the $15.00 at post office for a total of $26.10 costs you do not see.
The amount left is $38.90
So you get $38.90 minus the cost of what you paid for the item in the first place. Let’s hope you didnt pay more than $38.90 !

Your ebay costs were 23% of listing price !

Also if you spent any money on packing materials (box,tape,envelopes,gas) that also has to be included into your original shipping cost or you are losing even more money!        What about your time ?

EBAY SITE – EXACT CHARGES !

http://pages.ebay.ca/help/sell/storefees.html

http://pages.ebay.ca/sellerinformation/news/Feecalculator.html#

 

I am always happy to hear your comments and thoughts/criticisms on any of my posts.

Terry Hoknes (author) of Hoknes Comics loves analyzing statistics and watching the growth and fall of comic titles over a period of time.  He sells all of the latest hot back issue secondary market new comics at www.HoknesComics.com and also self-publishes a series of books called “Investing In Comic Books” that focus on the Golden, Silver and Bronze ages of comics.   hoknes@hotmail.com

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