Just saw a guy from ebay on TV trying to justify the policy of users not now being allowed to sell an item with a separate postal charge. He was like a worm on a hook!From what the guy was saying, ebay is interested in businesses selling rather than individuals.So, if you have a business small or large and can offset the postage pricing or cuts that others take somehow, then ebay is the way for you.As a private or casual seller, it may well be that ebay no longer supports your needs.Ebay survival? If they continue the way they are then they will only survive for use by businesses that can afford to use the service . For the casual seller though, ebay seems to be on its last legs - if not death bed.
Currently with most things forcing sellers to have free postage and then ebay taking fees it doesn t always work out well for the seller. All depends on what you are selling. Many sellers also still state they will charge postage.With it getting nearer to Christmas many more will be buying on ebay, making it the perfect time to sell. However, as always, people are looking for a bargain and you will probably have more competition.Ebay certainly isn t as good as it used to be and in many cases it works out better to sell elsewhere, but there are still many things that you can sell on ebay for a decent price. You can never be sure what something will sell for though - you might be surprised
Depends what you are selling .. in my opinion ebay now has so many idiots willing to pay over high street prices that a lot of stuff is no longer cheap ... At the same time, the Chinese have worked out that they can sell electronic goods at half UK high street price, ship direct to UK and still make a profit ... (I suspect that some stuff , such as DVD/CD s, have manufacturing costs in the low pence .. as usual the UK consumer is ripped off by the the UK high street (where the price you pay is 90% profit tax)So - if you want to make a profit, DON T sell stuff made in China :-)
Yes I think it is a waste of time, especially DVD s and CD s as you are not allowed to charge postage on the them so you are out of pocket from sending the items as wellWould rather give stuff away on freecycle than line ebays and paypals pocketsOr use Ad-mag as they are free to list with
Well it depends what stuff you are trying to sell. You can check ebay for auctions that have been completed to see what your stuff actually sold for. (its in advanced search options)You are right, they all take a cut. You can avoid paypal fee if they send a money order. But they stick you with the fee for its convince.You could always try to post it locally for free (craigslist.com) to see if that nets you any hits. Then try ebay as your last resort.Ebay will be around for awhile I think. The good thing about ebay is almost anyone/anywhere can buy it from you, so it reaches out to more people. But like I said it all depends on what your selling.
I ll agree that the way eBay is treating it s sellers is pretty sucky these days. I ve moved into other avenues of Internet income in part for that reason. The company is struggling to deal with an increasingly negative image from the public caused by unscrupulous sellers. Who doesn t know someone who s had it stuck to them on eBay?That said, eBay has always been a discount market. In spite of all the low priced books, music, clothes and other things, it s never been very practical to sell anything for under $10. Because of the time it takes to create and submit an item description, higher priced items are the best bet. I know industrial machinery sellers who regularly turn a $20K profit on a single item with maybe $15K invested. Auto parts guys are cleaning up stripping old wrecks and engines for parts. And if you have a quantity of identical items, you can sell them store-style without doing new ads, but you still have to watch those fees.There are more shoppers on eBay than ever before. If you are selling the right item for the right price you re making money. You can t easily make a worthwhile profit if you re buying at regular wholesale prices, though. You ve got to find deals on liquidation or auction stock. Many times I ve paid $50 for a case of something in a live auction that brought me over $500 sold individually on eBay. As an old flea market guy once told me You make your money when you buy .
