Drop Off Ebay Auction Sites
Before you are tempted to get lazy and not list your item yourself, it pays to investigate the fees you will incur by utilizing an ebay drop off site. These businesses boomed (in my humble opinion) several years ago when the ebay name was becoming as well known as McDonald’s or Coca-Cola. I came across a receipt in two Louis Vuitton bags that I purchased that gave in depth details of the fees. The gentleman who sold me the Louis Vuitton obviously decided that it was not worth the chance that the items may not sell (he wanted to start the bidding at $1,999-too, too high), so he sold them to me. Happy day for texastracy.
You could expect the charges to be similiar to the following (I took this straight off of the quote):
- If your item sells for less than $70, you get sale price minus $24.95
- If your item sells for $70-$499.99, you get 72% minus auction fees*
- If your item sells for $500-$2,999.99, you get 75% minus auction fees*
- If your item sells for over $3,000, you need to check with a store associate. Huh?
*Auction fees depend on the style of auction you choose. Non-reserve auction fees are $5. Reserve auction fees are $15 + 1% of your reserve price (ouch!). This must be paid when the item is dropped off.
First, he should have been advised by the store associate that his expectation of a beginning price of $1,999 was too high. The chance of the two pieces selling for that much is very skinny. But, for the sake of our example let us think positive and that they would indeed sell. So, let’s assume the items sell for $1,999 and he has no reserve:
Now, let us consider if he had taken the time to do it himself and added a reserve of $1,999:
I did not factor in Paypal fees on the example where he sells the items himself. Paypal fees are charged if you routinely get paid over $500 per month via Paypal. Chances are, if this was a one time thing for him, he may or may not have a Paypal account. If he was in a position to incur Paypal fees they would be somewhere around the same amount as the Final Auction Value Fees, or around $48. So, he would still net $1897.48, about $403 more just for taking the time to do it himself.
Even if it takes this man four hours to list the item he has just made over $100 an hour. I’d work for that.
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There was an eBay drop off site in the downtown business district where I live. It lasted about one year, and closed about six weeks ago.
I wondered how they could survive, as the rents in the area are very, very high. I guess they could not survive after all!