My eBay Tally

In a little over 45 days I sold fourteen items on eBay for a total of $162.49. From that total eBay took $16.45 in miscellaneous fees and PayPal charged me an additional $10.19. So when all was said and done I brought home $135.85 of the $162.49 total. Unfortunately, my smallest eBay sales resulted in eBay’s largest profits. That’s just the nature of the beast. eBay charges a $.20 listing fee on a $.99 item, so if buyers don’t bid up the price you’re losing 20% of already piddly profits. Based on this fact I’m not certain I’ll try to sell inexpensive items on eBay again. It just doesn’t seem worth the time and effort.

On one hand I was a bit surprised to discover that eBay took over 10% of my profits. On the other I was happy to have dabbled in the world of online auctions. After all, normally I would have donated everything to charity for free. I still had a few bags for the donation center but having an additional $135.85 at the end of the day isn’t too shabby either.

9 thoughts on “My eBay Tally”

  1. I’ve never had much luck on eBay with selling miscellaneous things. I agree, it always seemed like more trouble than it was worth. I have sold NASCAR tix on eBay, though, and those go instantaneously. So I think it’s all what you have for sale.

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  2. Next time I’m sure I’ll resort to donating most of my items. If I have any big ticket items I’ll consider eBay, otherwise it’s just not worth the trouble.

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  3. Try a garage sale instead of selling on Ebay. All profits are yours and you get to meet interesting people. Also don’t just sell your stuff, try selling bake goods and drinks to help boost the profits. A daughter of a friend of mine sold juice during their garage sale and made an extra $20 dollars minus the cost of the juice.

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  4. In the name of frugality, my wife and I periodically frequent the second hand stores in our area. We like nice stuff, and can sometimes find it for remarkably low prices. For instance, I found a nearly-new pair of a popular brand of hipster-shoes for $2.99. I dug them, but they were not my size. We bought them anyway, polished them up, and sold them on eBay for $58.75! Another recent find was a nice pair of cowboy boots, again a very good name brand, which I scored for $4.99 and sold on eBay for $54.00. Of course, there is no insurance that items will be selling, but we have developed a bit of an eye in that regard. And hey, in these instances, it was definitely worth it!
    Jerry

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  5. I’ve never held a garage sale, but if I did the bake goods and drinks certainly sound like a worthy idea. Of course you probably need a cute kid to help sell it.

    Kudos for buying items in second hand stores and reselling them for profit. Do you research the items before buying them, or have you researched eBay to find out what sells?

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  6. I tend to buy more on ebay then sell. I have sold a few items for more than I paid for them, such as a saddle. However, I have found, having a pre-teen son, that people often buy, buy, buy, and not even use what they have purchased! This makes for great ebay fodder for me. I buy my son name brand clothing (lauren, tommy, american eagle, etc) for a fraction of the retail cost (yes, new items with tags) and usually cheaper than what I could have purchased a simialr item at discount stores such as walmart.

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  7. Have you ever tried buying/selling on Craigslist? My husband and I, during the five years we dated, moved apartments several times. Each time, we would post all our old furniture, decor, clothing, housewares – anything really – on Craigslist. With the money that we made, we’d re-furnish our new apartment. Not only was it exciting to constantly have new things, but we always managed to upgrade our furnishings and never spent a cent! It’s also great for giving away those things that Goodwill or other thrift stores would not be able to sell for you, such as a rusty chair that someone might be happy to take off your hands and repaint.

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  8. Misty — I tried craigslist for larger items, like furniture or sporting goods, but I’ve never tried it for smaller items like home goods or clothes.

    Did you ever try selling small items or just large items like furniture?

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  9. I have sold everything from mattresses and couches to coffee mugs and candles.

    I’ve gotten good at making my postings interesting enough to catch the buyers eye, and can sell just about anything!

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