More thoughts about eBay

[Lobo]

I have noticed several postings here regarding eBay, usually focusing on the rather steep costs involved in listing and selling on eBay. I have another thought or two to share.

I utilize eBay pretty regularly. The items that I list include "seconds" (items with minor flaws, tool marks, irregular stitching, etc), the occasional unclaimed special order item, and the occasional customer return (yes, I do get one now and then).

I make holsters and firearms accessories. When I list on eBay I generally set a starting bid of about one-half of my usual retail price. I also make it plain in the auction listing that I make holsters for other makes and models of handguns, different finish colors and options, etc.

Every time I list an item it results in several messages from eBay members, asking for information on my other products (typical inquiries: "I like your holster, but I need one in left-hand", "Can you make this in black?", "I have a Smith & Wesson with a 6" barrel, can you make one like this for my gun?").

So, I generally sell my listed item for 50 to 60% of what I usually charge. I pay listing fees, final value fees, and PayPal fees adding up to about 10% of sale price. But, I usually get at least 2 or 3 orders for other items at my regular prices, generating a good profit overall.

I also have several regular customers that I "met" on eBay, then they started ordering other items directly from me.

My opinion (always free and worth every penny of the price) is that eBay is not a good selling venue for every item, but it can be a very good avenue to develop other business.

[HorsehairBraider]

This is a good point and true for any venue.

Let's say you're at an art show in your local community. Maybe you make $800.00 (which at least covers the booth fee). Do you then count the money you make 6 months later, a year later, from people who pick up your business card and then call you?

A lot of this is just advertising, pure and simple. It gets your name out.

Personally, I do not use eBaY.... but that does not mean it can't be very valuable to many businesses. You have to look at it, assess the risk and the potential. Maybe the one outweighs the other! It will be different in each case.

[Casey Jordan]

Good points, Lobo!

I do western collectable and antique shows. I may not sell much off the table, but all the orders make it worth it.

I noticed I only take two kinds of belts to a show - Too long & Too short. Good way to keep samples on hand!

[hidepounder]

Good points, Lobo!

I do western collectable and antique shows. I may not sell much off the table, but all the orders make it worth it.

I noticed I only take two kinds of belts to a show - Too long & Too short. Good way to keep samples on hand!

[leatheroo]

i personally love ebay...it suits me as leathercraft is only a hobby for me.... i make the mask that i want to make...i dont want to take orders or commissions...i dont do markets or fairs....if someone likes my mask they can buy it, if not i put it on my wall...so far ebay has been good to me...where else can i reach buyers with no effort on my part...so i am lazy, i admit it...but i can understand the point of view of others...ebay is not for everyone

[CitizenKate]

My opinion (always free and worth every penny of the price) is that eBay is not a good selling venue for every item, but it can be a very good avenue to develop other business.

That is the exact same strategy I have used in the past. I would never use Ebay as a primary selling venue. I do consider Ebay a pretty good bang for the advertising/promoting buck, though. The vast majority of sales I've made have been either off my web site, or custom work that began with an inquiry. I only have done occasional auctions to get the attention of a wider audience, and yeah, I usually lose money on the transaction, but it almost always stirs up a flurry of "regular" business. I just chalk up the loss as a cost of advertising.

Kate

[Hilly]

I haven't even tried selling anything on eBay in ages. I'm curious as to what %the fees are up to these days? How much does PayPal take?

[jbird]

well its like this there are things that sell better than others no matter how good of a job you do and ebay is good for the items in demand only for the most part I think IMHO

Josh

[tuffcase]

I have been selling on eBay since 2000 and lately my sales volume and selling price is the lowest it's ever been, and the fees are the highest they've ever been. I too describe in every listing other items I make and do get other business from it.

After a disappointing December and January I have been using eBay for advertising only, a classified ad listing is 9.95 for a month, and is alot cheaper than what I was paying in fees when things did sell. They allow you to edit the ad as many times as you want during it's run.

Dan

[Randyc]

I started marketinng what I call a semi-custom line of pocket holsters on ebay and have done pretty well at it with the added bonus of steering people to my website for the more custom type holsters. I try to keep 4 to 6 different holsters on ebay all the time. If one doesn't sell I'm only out the .85 cent listing fee. I place a 5 day order processing delay prior to shipment which gives me ample time to build the holster and not have a bunch of holsters lying around waiting to be sold.

I'm also able to control the amount of new orders so I don't fall into the trap of having so many orders that I can't offer realistic build times that result in disapointed customers.

With this semi-custom line of holsters, I can offer a better holster, for a cheaper price then some of the mass produced "junk" holsters offered on ebay

Randy

[Lobo]

I haven't even tried selling anything on eBay in ages. I'm curious as to what %the fees are up to these days? How much does PayPal take?

In my experience, when listing fees, final value fees, and PayPal fees are added up, it generally costs about 10% (varying with item prices, lower-priced items will be somewhat higher than higher-priced items due to the tiered structure of eBay fees).

Since what I do on eBay is limited to a few items at a time, and done mostly for advertising to connect with customers who want other items, I consider the cost to be acceptable.

Edited May 5, 2009 by Lobo

[Johnny B]

I stay away from FleBay. They are to anti gun for one and having to deal with PayPal is to much of a hassel for me. And I know a couple of guys that PayPal ripped off. Justclosed their accounts and will not let them have the money in the accounts. I sell on GunBroker.com. Anything from guns to knives to sheaths. And about anything else. No paypal and a small listing fee.

[JLSleather]

I use Ebay nearly every day, if only for a couple of minutes. Just getting some good deals from time to time. I paid $100 for 100 ft of really nice 2 1/2 oz calf. And then there's the occasional search for those old patterns I used to have before somebody decided they needed them worse than I did. Which is fine, long as I don't ever buy a "vintage" craftaid that shows up with my initials on it

But, I couldn't help the other day ... still choking ...

One guy appears to be doing well enough ... selling $20-30 items that couldn't have cost more than $8-10 to make, and involving almost no labor. Looks pretty rough to me, but people are buying it, so I guess that's the interest.

Not for me, but sometimes I'm almost in awe what people will spend their money on.

[UKRay]

I used to use eBay's services a lot - almost exclusively in fact. Then eBay put their charges up and made the rules harder to comply with and then - the final straw for me - they started siding with buyers who ripped me off. Originally I had more than 100 items listed on eBay at any time but instantly cut back when the hassle started.

I now have my own website but still run an eBay shop that has around 10 items in it. All are what I would call 'regular stock' items that I carry all the time and all are easy sellers. Every eBay listing has a link to my own website and the name of my business is very clear on each listing.

I sell consistently from the eBay shop, but don't take any chances as I always sell at a fixed price. I don't care if the listing runs for months as every time somebody looks at it they see the URL for my own site. Obviously, on my site, I don't pay any fees for selling although I do accept PayPal payments and have to accept their charges. I am thinking of changing this to Google's payment system because when you list your products with the Google system it also flags them up to the search engines at the same time. Every little helps!

I should say, my own site is just a little cheaper than eBay too... I pass on the benefits.

Ray

[leatherman1457]

ebay sucks big time,but I still use it on occasian. If they were not out to screw the sellers I would sell a lot more. I use to have hundereds of item on the site till they changed it to where the buyer can leave a negative and i could not do anything. so ebay only gets a few dollars a month when they could get hundereds if they would just go back to the way it was in 02 to 05 . I mainly use ebay to try and get away with using my website on it and try to get people to go to my website and buy tools from there. I only use iit to make a little money. sure wish they had a good place to sell but I will just have to wait till some else can compete with slezebay