eBay - Product and Shipping Prices

Once you have established an eBay Seller account and fidgured out what kind of items you're going to be selling, the fun really begins.

 

Rummaging through the attic, basement, or garage has probably given you quite a bit of products that may be sold on eBay or you may be selling handmade or new products. But how should you price your items? What amount of shipping should you charge?

 

Well, product pricing, shipping costs, and commission fees all need to be calculated to determine whether or not it is going to be a profitable endeavor for you.

 

The following example is for a Fixed Price Listing but you can apply the same principles for shipping or when adding a reserve on an item.

 

Let's say for instance that you have a piece of luggage you want to sell. A quick search on eBay is going to give you thousands, if not tens of thousands of results, and prices ranging from $0.99 to hundreds of dollars. Not very helpful. So we need to narrow our parameters.

 

Click the Completed Listings link in the left margin. This will show you all of the listings that have ended within the last 30 days. Still a lot of listings, however you are only interested in the prices in green. These are sold items. Take an average of the sold listings for your base price, and adjust for condition, and rarity of the model/line that you may have. Let's say you come up with $45 as your base price.

 

Now we need to factor in shipping.

 

Your suitcase may not be very heavy, but it is bulky, and shipping companies calculate cost based on dimensional weight as well as how many pounds the item weighs. Once you have surmised the weight and dimensions of the product, you can calculate an estimated shipping cost by going to the USPS website. Simply click Calculate a Price, and you will be prompted to enter weight and dimensions of your item. You will also need to enter a zip code for your destination. At this point you may be asking: how do I know where it's going!?! Of course you don't know, so you need to improvise. Punch in your home zip code, and enter the furthest zip code (major city) from your location. Once all this information is entered, you will be presented with several options. For a suitcase, Standard shipping would be the way to ship. You can find this price by clicking Other Options. You may be surprised at just how much it costs to ship! Of course, smaller and less heavy items will be a lot easier to calculate shipping costs.

 

You could also list your products with Free Shipping on eBay. Now is it really free? Of course not, you simply build the shipping cost into your listing price and you receive several benefits for doing so. Customers always want to feel as if they are receiving something for free and shipping is no different. It also becomes a "no-brainer" as the potential buyer doesn't need to calculate two separate prices for their purchase. Also, eBay rewards sellers that offer free shipping on their products with a 20% discount on fees once they have reached Power Seller status (more on this in a future article).

 

Now that you have come up with your base price, and your shipping cost you need to set your final price. So, $70 for a piece of used luggage seems a little high, so you could bring the price down to $59.95 and see what kind of response you receive. Now that you have set your pricing and calculated how much it will cost to ship, the next step is to get your items listed and start selling!!

 

 

What To Sell On eBay

You've got your account. You're looking to get your foot into the eBay auction world. But what should you sell on eBay?

 

This is the make or break of your eBay business. You need to sell something that people will want. So, here are a few pointers to get you thinking about what you should sell.

 

The first thing to do is to look around your house. Do you have any antiques? They don't have to be one-of-a-kind antiquities that are 1000 years old and of great value. But if you have an old record player, or an antique chair or furniture that you no longer use, those will sell very well on eBay. Used and second hand furniture are always highly searched for on eBay and you can usually get a good price.

 

Don't have any antiques? Collectibles are just as good. Hot Wheels, old Barbie Dolls, vintage clothing, glassworks, vintage newspapers and posters, movie memorabilia, collectible books etc, all of these are good bets. Old toys in good condition in general are great to sell on eBay, especially those that are either rare (such as the old '70s Stretch Armstrong series of toys) or have a mass fan following (such as Star Wars action figures or original run Cabbage Patch Kids). They don't have to be "mint-in-box,".

 

If you have a stamp or coin collection that is valuable, consider selling that, either together or broken up, on eBay. Another good idea might be to watch a show like American Pickers, and ask yourself "do I have anything like that laying around in my house?"

 

Still having trouble with what to sell on eBay? Another resource to tap is garage sales and thrift stores. "Trash" just may be your treasure when it comes to eBay (not actual trash of course!). By going to garage and car boot sales, second hand markets and thrift stores you can find tons of hidden gems to sell on eBay. Ask your friends, families and co-workers if they have any items that they want to get rid of. Offer to take them off their hands for a small price of for a percentage of the income from the sale.

 

Even though you have the capability of selling almost anything on eBay, there are some things that just DO NOT sell well on eBay.

 

Beanie Babies, Princess Diana memorabilia and other fad items that had a "bubble" collectors market years ago have had their day. Every one and their mother bought them at the time thinking that there would be collectable value in the future, but this is the exact reason why there isn't.

 

They were mass produced and MADE to be collectable. Recent baseball and other sports cards (generally from 1980 on) are also a tough sell, with the exception of some well-known or intentionally rare cards. If you have a first issue of a comic book from the collector's boom of the early '90s (for instance, a first issue of 1993's X-Men or the Todd MacFarlane Spiderman), you won't get much money out of it - those issues were printed in the millions, and unlike a mint-condition Action Comics #1 from 1938 there are still millions in existence.

 

Also, common goods, such as most DVDs, books, and new clothing items can be a hard sell as people can get their hands on these from local retailers.

 

Are you a crafter? Do you handmake items that are unique or quirky? Items that you can't easily find anywhere else do well and you can get a good return on your time and effort.

 

The main thing to focus on when deciding what to sell on eBay is "do I have a niche I can fit in?". Aim to sell items that there aren't thousands of others eBayers selling the same thing. The key is research. Think about what you want to sell and search eBay. Look at what comes up for your search and how many sellers you find. If there isn't a huge amount of competition or you're selling something very unique it's a good indication that you're on to a winner.

 

Finally, carefully check the items that you're selling, especially if they are baby clothes or toys of any sort of vintage items. Make sure they are in good condition and free from any damage. Items under recall, or items that the Consumer Products Safety Commission have determined are no longer safe for commerce will not be able to be sold via eBay, even though possessing them is legal. Items in this category include things like lawn darts, old toys or household objects that contain lead paint or have been the subject of a safety recall, vintage baby clothes or blankets that are not fire-retardant, and drop-side cribs (recently banned by the CPSC). Also, certain vintage glazed dinnerware (such as the infamous red Fiestaware manufactured up until 1972) may be mildly radioactive due to the presence of uranium oxide in older glaze recipes.

 

Research the items you want to sell and then get listing!

Starting an eBay Business

With the recession and all the recent financial hardships we've been facing, many people are still tightening their belts and looking to save money how ever they can. Many people are also looking to secure a second income, usually from an online business that they can do part-time or even after their normal hours of work.

 

Many have great ideas, but don't know where to start. There are many ways to make extra money, from selling on eBay, to selling at markets, garage sales, and car boots. But for most people, selling items on eBay is perhaps the easiest way to start. The benefits are clear to see, as you can work from home, selling to millions of prospective buyers who have cash to spend, and can devote as much or as little time to it as you wish. It is very easy to start a small business on eBay, however, many fail at the beginning. The usual mistakes are failing to find products to sell on eBay that have a good profit margin, finding products to sell that people will want and the failure to understand best practices on how to sell on eBay effectively.

 

The assumption that big retailers get their products at cheap wholesale prices, is mis-guided on a number of levels. First, big retailers have the capital to secure products in genuine bulk (bulk meaning hundreds of thousands of pounds/dollars on a set of products). This is a huge mistake that new businesses make, with their thinking being that they can go to a wholesaler and purchase in very low quantities.

 

True wholesale prices are only attained through big orders, often needing to meet the wholesalers big Minimum Order Quantity. When you're starting out on eBay, you'll want to purchase items in smaller quantities until you know that they are selling and that you'll be making a profit. So although you'll be paying slightly more for your items and selling them with a smaller profit, your up front costs are lower and you're not risking a large amount of money.

 

The second big mistake new businesses make, is the assumption that high ticket products, like tablet computers and laptops, have huge margins for profit. Often they do not and they can actually be one of the lowest margins out there. Big retailers actually make very little profit on the sale of these items. They make their profits from a process called up-selling. That is, selling a product on top of the initial main product, such as accessories or extended warranties. They also need to sell a high amount of product to make a lot of money.

 

There are many trains of thought on how an everyday person can start a profitable eBay business in their spare time. The most popular way is sourcing products from China, where often the minimum order quantity will be lower, and the cost per unit much lower than UK or US wholesalers. However, the problem here is that a buyer still needs to buy in true bulk, as often shipping rates are high, and with Import Tax being charged on top of this, it sometimes works out more expensive to source items from China. Buying smaller quantities at slightly higher prices from your own country instead of importing is the way to go when you are starting out.

 

A lot of new start ups on eBay also assume that they need to be offering large quantities of the same item. With eBay you'll have a selling quota where you can only list a set amount of items per month. If you list 60 tshirts with the exact same design, you're eating into a lot of your quota and you are best of diversifying the products that you offer. Offer a good range of products.

 

To be successful on eBay, an entrepreneur must research and learn how to sell on eBay and how to set up their eBay business correctly. Secondly, a business must thoroughly look at and research products to sell on eBay, in order for them to start a profitable eBay business.

 

In all, it is not easy to start any business these days, however, eBay does offer an excellent platform for even beginners to start building up a small, successful business.