The average pitch you may have heard about with becoming an eBay seller is the three basic fees:
On the list of major concerns for every eBay seller are the fees for selling through the eBay platform. The buyer does not pay for eBay fees. This means every fee the seller encounters are the seller’s responsibility.
There’s a lot of discussion about some of the most common fees for which a seller is responsible. Then there’s those fees that people give little attention to when thinking about costs.
It is often a mistaken assumption the eBay seller already knows about the fees in question. Yet, the fees new sellers ignore are important to consider. After all, it is the collective fees will subtract from the seller’s bottom-line.
The adage “knowledge is power,” applies when talking about all eBay fees. So, here we examine the common but often ignored fees a seller faces first.
The second section of this article examines fees found in eBay’s instructive guides. Putting all the fees in this two-part work offers a snapshot of fees. It paints a broader picture of a sellers responsibility.
This section examines some of the fees you won’t often read about or find in a seller’s guide. Some common fees never crop up during the discussion of eBay business startup and sales. Let’s look at these important inclusions below.
The following fees are common in eBay fee discussions and write-ups. If they are so common, you might question why we’re sharing them here.
This listing of fees will prove beneficial to a new seller who might not be familiar with them. Hence the fees a seller faces is dependent on how one lists items. The price of a listing is also dependent on the add-ons and tools the seller uses.
There is a fee schedule for auctions. The fee schedules for eBay Real Estate and eBay Motors differ. The fees with industrial or business solutions also differ.
A list of eBay’s auction and Buy It Now fees include:
• eBay Item Promotion and Classified Fees
• Upgraded listing fees
• Final value fees
• Insertion Fee
• Store Subscriptions
• Application Subscription fees
The current average fee for listing an item as an auction is $0.30. But this fee doesn’t go into effect until you use the free 50 listings you will receive every month. The first 50 items have no listing fee. Each month you get another 50 free listings. When the items find a home with a buyer, you will be responsible for seller fees.
The 50 free insertion fee options are for auction and fixed sales. After the initial 50, the auction and fixed price sales are $0.30 for every listing you share on eBay. Some categories have no insertion fees whatsoever.
The eBay platform is generous. It allows you to upload 12 decent-sized photos of each item you are selling. The more photos you have, the more visual power you offer the buyer. The photos are like eye candy. It will entice the buyer while informing them of the product condition.
The fees you pay on an item that sells is dependent on the item’s final price. The sellers fee that follows the sale of the item is the “final value fee.” The fee is a calculation dependent on the category your listing appears.
The percentage of the valuation fee is 10% of the item (this applies to most categories). The greatest amount of the final value fee is $750. Categories can result in a 10% final value fee up to $750.00. Top Rated Plus Listings have a final value fee of ten percent as well. However, sellers that are “below standard” are charged an additional 4%. Learn more @ EBAY FINAL VALUE FEES.
You will make $7,032.90 or say 90% of the sale. Which means, your fees are 10%.
Have more questions? Contact CUSTOMER SUPPORT @ EBAY.
If you are going to avail yourself of the eBay Store options to list more than 250 items, you save money. The platform comes with three subscription options. They are:
Payments for subscriptions are something you can process each month or for the year. eBay will give you considerable savings if you decide to pay the annual subscription fee. Thus, you gain the advantage of paying more upfront, but less in the future.
Sales do have a final value fee at about 10%.
All subscriptions come with free insertion fee credits. These credits are for action-style product listings resulting in a sale.
Personally I have a Premium store. Here is a screen shot showing my store front. My eBay store is: AskDanna.com
If you want to fancy the look of a listing you can do so with some extra fees. Advanced listings tools are upgrades you can choose to alter the appearance of a listing. The advanced fees allow greater flexibility, but they will influence your bottom line.
For addition listing visibility via the eBay platform, you can pay a fee. There are different ad rates you can choose from when you want to gain exposure.
This will put your listing in different areas on eBay and increase how many people see your item. The fee is a percentage ranging from one to 20 percent of the sale price of your item.
The base sale price applies here, as the percentage rate doesn’t include shipping or sales tax. When the item sells in a 30-day period, you pay the fee for the promoted listed.
Learn more @ EBAY LISTING UPGRADE FEES
Reserve: If you choose to add a reserve price ranging from $0.01 to $74.99, the price of the reserve is $3.00. Any Reserve over $75.00 has a price equal to four percent of the reserve price. The uppermost reserve fee you must pay is $100.00.
Special Duration Fee: If you want to set up an item for sale or auction for a special time, there is a fee of the scheduling. This fee is only 10 cents. And it will be in addition to any other listings fees. Example, if you schedule a one or three-day listings as an , The fee is $1.00 per listing plus 10 cents to schedule.
Auctions: One Day or Three day’s the listing fee is $1.00. NOTE: 5 or 7 days are generally free depending on the seller’s terms or offers at the time. You may receive 50 or 100 free auction listings. This will be for 5 or 7 days for the free offer. Ten day auctions there is a fee of 40 cents.
Learn more @ EBAY STANDARD SELLING FEES
When a seller lists an item on eBay and relies on the Classified Ad format, there is an insertion fee. The Insertion Fee Table reveals the fees for listings and insertion rates. Also, the Close5 app, which allows you to sell to local buyers, is owned by eBay.
Here, you can post a listing free for the item you are selling. The buyer must agree to local pick up. If you rather list your advertisement on eBay.com, you have that option.
The eBay ad runs for a period of 30 days, unless you choose the Good ‘Til Cancelled solution. The lattermost option has automatic renewal option every 30 days.
The automatic renewal ceases when eBay ends the listing. Also, it will stop renewal when you choose to end the listing, or all items in the listing sell. If you are advertising real estate, the ad runs for one, three, five, seven, ten, 30, or 90 days.
The category of your listing defines the insertion fee for a 30-day advertisement. A final value fee is not applicable. All other fees remain the same, including the use of eBay tools for listing the item.
A 30-day classified advertisement costs $9.95 for businesses and websites for sale. The same goes for trade show displays, and construction advertisements. There are more categories you can list under for the same cost. Real estate offerings have a special format and fee structure.
Here is a chart comparing eBay classifieds to Close5:
This article is not all inclusive when it comes to potential selling costs.
There are different exceptions that apply to special listings. If an eBay seller uses resources outside of eBay, or PayPal, more fees might apply. eBay also has many apps to help improve sales. Some of the apps are free, while others are a trial basis. Once the free trial period passes, fees for the apps will apply.
At the end of the day, the “Bottom Line” is all about making a profit as an eBay seller. I pay attention to my grand total at the end of the month and don’t get wrapped up over the individual sale.
If everything is adding up to a nice profit margin by the end of the month AND the bills are paid, well then, it’s a good eBay selling month!
Wishing you all the best with your eBay selling success! HAVE MORE QUESTIONS? No worries, feel free to book a call with me or drop me a line via my contact page. “Cheers” to higher profit margins!