ebay resellling

Someone I know wants me to sell a bunch of electronics on ebay. What % should I charge?
Thanks
Copycat

to me it depends on the total price of the electronic. if it goes for $1k I am happy with 10% to 15%. but usually the items i sell are around or under $100 so I charge 30% to 50%

about 13% to 15% of the ebay sale will be taken in fees. ebay takes 9%, paypal 3%, and ebay even charges you a percentage of the shipping 1% or 2%. my numbers may be a little off, but that is close to what you will be charged. dont forget to factor the fees in, I learned the hard way.

ALWAYS ALWAYS quote your % of net (ie after fees). 20% is the typical rate but that can climb to 50% depending on the circumstances. I would say 20-25% of net 8s a fair %...unless you are selling a ton of Iitems for like $10... $10 items take just as long to list as a $1000 item.

It's still the same risk for returns, just no money invested in the product.

Originally Posted by ryanw

It's still the same risk for returns, just no money invested in the product.

If it comes out of your pocket, or account, and goes into their hand, I'd think it was invested ; )

personally i would DECLINE

aside from the fact that selling on ebay is a battlefield now compared to how it was in the 1900's you also could have a 1099 show up in your mailbox if your sales total goes over the magic number.

it may "look" like easy money now until YOUR income tax is due and you need a paid accountant next year to unravel the mess you got yourself into this year.

Use a ebay trade assistant. It's what I do. If I recall they have to go by certain standards, etc. Feel free to look up the info on the eBay site. As for why not sell it yourself....I got other things I can be doing that I excel at, like breaking things down, dealing with my customers/clients, spending time with my other half, no patience or desire to deal with ebay, etc. I got plenty more.

I'd rather pay a fee, to my ebay trade fella then deal with all the crap day in an day out, I see you all, an others I know who sell on ebay deal with. For the person playing trade assistant, that 15 - 20% adds up fast when your dealing with multiple customers. My buddy's wife does it as her winter job an does pretty well with it.

Good luck!

Sirscrapalot - Its not stress that kills us, it is our reaction to it. - Hans Selye

bad news for trading assistants

eBay Terminates Trading Assistants, Education Specialists OK for Now

Well that sucks. An talk about awesome timing for suggesting it! lol. thanks Oldtoothless.

My new suggestion is...Find a friend, family or other you know an would deal with business wise an have them do the sales for you. It's what I'll be doing since eBay had to go screw something else up. I don't have the time or the desire to rebuil up my ebay sellers account rep, etc, an is why I use a 3rd party. One thing I left out of my initial post, is you can also draw up a contract I would imagine to protect your interests, and the person who is doing the selling.

Sirscrapalot - Not enough booze in all the coolers, fridges, kegs, etc to ever get him to go back to dealing with ebay on a full time basis.

Originally Posted by ryanw

It's still the same risk for returns, just no money invested in the product.

That misses my point. The risk for returns is the same. The problem becomes that you gave the payment to someone else. When I'm actively selling, I often leave the money in my paypal account for a certain time just in case of a dispute. So for example I may have 200.00 in my PayPal regardless of what I have listed (I usually stay away from listing large ticket items).

If you sold something for 100.00 after the fees, you paid someone 70.00, now you only have 30.00 in your account. If you need to provide a refund, where does the 70.00 come from?

What is your plan on getting the money from the person you already paid?

Sounds like a big mess.

I'm sure there are business models that would take this into account, I can also see why someone doing this would charge up to 50%.

eBay Buyers Exploit Loophole in Returns Process

"In addition, we have updated the policy to reflect that if you choose not to engage with the eBay Buyer Protection process as a seller to resolve an issue for an item not as described case, we may seek to carry out a reimbursement from you without asking the buyer to return the item to you. This will mainly be for lower value items and for sellers who have chosen not to engage with the eBay Buyer Protection process on multiple occasions."

more at link above

I just list in big bold letters my tlreturn policy...I generally do NOT have one. It has legal in it that basically says in easy to understand terms there is a no rwfund policy...you bought it you keep it. Helps tons in any rare disputes.

Originally Posted by webuyselltradestuff

I just list in big bold letters my tlreturn policy...I generally do NOT have one. It has legal in it that basically says in easy to understand terms there is a no rwfund policy...you bought it you keep it. Helps tons in any rare disputes.

I wonder how well that really works if put to the test. If I say I didn't see it or read it, I'll still bet PayPal gives me my money back. I bet I could give any reason in the world, and would bet PayPal would give me my money back. I think it is an essential part of Ebay's model. You HAVE to protect the buyer. If you lose the buyer, you go out of business. There will always be more sellers coming along.

My $0.02 on this subject DON'T DO IT!!!!!!!!!!! Only sell stuff you have that is yours outright. So many problems can arise it's just not worth the time and energy.

The problems that arise from selling on ebay are really pretty easy to avoid. If you list your items correctly and describe them accurately you can avoid 99.99% of the problems. The other 1% is following ebay policies to make sure you are covered by seller protection for every single item you sell. If you limit your shipping location to U.S. only you will also see way less problems.

Always fight cases against you. Shady buyers are hoping you will just refund and tell them to not bother returning the item. Nearly every "not as described" and "item not received" case I see ends the same way: I tell them to return it for a refund, and they never send it back, loosing the case.