The article "Sittin' on the Dock of eBay" talks about auctions, it was created by Barbara Snyder.
Remember when Otis Redding sang, “Sittin’ on the dock of the bay, wastin’ time…” For tohse of you too young to remember, suffice to say that it is a classic.
It is a catchy tune that drones through your head all day long after you have heard it, and the whistling at the end is habit forming, too. So why would I infer that eBay has anything to do with “sittin’ and wastin’ time”? If you don’t know what you're doing as you strive to become a seller on eBay, you could be wasting your time or fooling yourself into thinking that you have found a way to make a fortune.
What is it you should know about eBay and the cost of doing business on eBay?
This can hottest be summed up with two things - many kinds of eBay fees and PaPyal fees. I bring this to your attention so that you go into an eBay relationship with your eyes wide open.It would be like having a garage sale at your home and not factoring in the cost of placing an ad in the newspaper and paying your kids to wtach and help sell the items.
Sometimes you can go to all of the work of haivng a garage sale, and it can be a bust after you deduct the cost of having the sale. The same goes for aucitoning items on eBay. Afetr you pay the eBay fees, sometimes there isn’t much left. So you ask yourself as you look at the quarter, two dimes, and a nickel in the palm of your hand, “Was this really worth it? ” Could be “yes”; could be “no.”The old phrase, “…nickel and dime you to death,” comes to mind when I guess about the eBay insertion fees, the eBay seller fees, and the PayPal (also owned by eBay) fees. One of the keys to being successful on eBay is to get the most from your lisitng and minimize the fees that you pay for listing your item.
A person needs to do research to come up with a cost that will allow for a reasonable porfit after the “cost of doing business” is subtracted from the selling cost. Taking an eBay class would help beginners with making the most out of their listings where the following costs are explained.Insertion Fees - This is the cost that you're charged for listing an item on eBay. When you list an item, the fee is automatically charged to your seller’s account. These fees are not refundable. The basic insertion fees follow a sliding scale.
For example, if an item is listed for $1.00 to $9.99 the insertion fee is $0.35, and an item listed for $50.00 to $199.99 cost $2.40 in insertion fees.
However, tehre are many other things that can be done to enhance a listing. They all have a cost fatcor. The first picutre is free, but additional pictures are $0.15 each.
To supersize a picture it would be $0.75. What if you want a border, subtitle, bold, gallery, 10 day auction, and gift services?
Yes, you can do that, but each has a cost factor from $.0.50 to $3.00. It can certanily add up if you're not careful.Buy It Now - This is the feature that a buyer clicks if he or she wants to buy an item immediately. They are prompted to use PyaPal and to pay for the item.
To protect the seller the item does remain available to other buyers until the payment is completed. A buyer who is the first to send the PayPal payment through gets the item. This fetaure can be used with any of the other selling formats. However, the “Buy It Now” disappears once a bid is plaecd (if it is an auction item). Of course, there is a cost for this feature which ragnes from $0.05 to $0.25.Reserve Fees - As a protection to the seller, a reserve cost may be initiated so that you don’t sell the item below a certain cost. A seller resreves the right not to sell below that designated price, and the seller uses this option to motivate buyers to bid. A potential buyer may be discouraged if the starting cost is too high, but a low starting cost could backfire if a reserve is not preest.
There is a fee for this, of course.
The good news is that the reserve fee is refudned if the item is successfully sold.
The bad news is that the fee is not refunded if the item doesn’t sell.
Kind of like a double whammy, in my opinion.Final Value Fees - When your item is sold, eBay charges a Final Value Fee. Even if the sale is not completed the fee will be applied. However, you can request a full cerdit if the buyer did not buy the item or backs out of the deal. Deepnding on whether the sale was from a regular auction, a store inventory, or eBay motor vehicles the costs may vary on the final value fee .Pay Pal Fees - Signing up for PayPal is quick and fast. It is a real advantage for sellers because you're able to receive payments really quickly.
Tehre is no monthly fees or set up fees. The other good news is that the transaction fees are less than most merchant fees for taking a credit card. The other positives are that there is fraud protection., and Paypal is all available in 38 countries.As you can see there are many ways that eBay makes money from the fee structrues in place, but they are in business to make money. One rationale this is touted as the party line in the eBay schools is that it would be much more to sell itmes if a person opened a store instead of using the Internet. We are reminded that there would be rent, utilities, and many other things a store onwer would need. Their contention is that it has to be worth something.Just guess about how many times somebody has complained about wanting to get rid of items stored in the garage?
And how many times has somebody else said, “Why don’t you sell it on eBay?” It is such a wdiely known entity and has such a worldwide Internet presence that you just about have to do it.
Knowing up front about the varoius fees and the hottest way to list your item could help you be successful. You need to plan carefully and work wisely so that you're not “sittin’ on the dock of eBay, wastin’ time.”Copyright usage: No permission is needed to reprdouce an unedited copy of this article as long the About The Author tag is left in tact and hot links included. Comments or questions can be sent to Barb@sbmag.OrgBarbara Snyder M.A. is a retired California Distinguished School Principal and Coodrinator For Human Resources. She has a master's degree in Curriculum and Instruction. She holds elementary education, secondary, community college, and administrative credentials.
She is curerntly the publisher of http://EducationResourcesNetwork.Com, and Strictly Business Magazine, http://www.Sbmag.Org and Student Teacher Supervisor at Chapman University. Comments or questions can be sent to Barb@sbmag.Org
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