Chapter 1: Be Sure Your Listings Make Cents
In This Chapter
- Knowing the costs of selling an item
- Getting more punch with options
- Figuring Final Value Fees
- Understanding the different types of auctions
- Including PayPal costs
- Knowing hidden shipping and handling expenses
Selling on eBay is a good idea for anyone. You clean out your garage, sell things you might have thrown away anyway, and make a profit. What a wonderful marketplace! You can make money in your spare time and enhance your lifestyle with just a few clicks on your keyboard and mouse.
When you decide to sell on eBay in earnest, however, you can run into problems. Few eBay sellers have a background in retailing or marketing, and eBay is all about retailing and marketing. In this chapter, I give you tips on pricing strategies. The first item on the agenda is to understand all the fees involved with running an e-business on eBay.
Keeping an Eye on Where the Pennies Go
It doesn't seem so much to list an item, plus pay a small Final Value Fee. Of course, a few cents (maybe dollars) go to PayPal. One by one, these minute amounts tend to breeze by even the most experienced seller. You don't really see your eBay fees, because they're not directly deducted from your sales. eBay bills you at the end of the month. It's easy to lose track of your costs unless you are keeping very good books (more about tracking costs in Book IX, Chapter 3).
Be sure you're making a profit
I recently purchased a selection of women's apparel to ...
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