How do sellers?

CoinCrazyPA · December 29, 2018 3:21PM

How do ebay sellers survive starting an auction at .01 and free shipping? I see many that end at .01 and free shipping. The costs are .35 to paypal, .50 to USPS. I just don't get it?

Rihotter · December 29, 2018 4:30PM

I've been wondering this myself. Apparently there is some sort of micro-transaction option for Paypal that you can call and get it reduced and save a little on postage using stamps.com but still. I guess they are paying for reputation boosts and transaction history increase?
Anybody know the lowest price you can (theoretically at least) make a profit on a card sale factoring in 10% to ebay, paypal, postage and packaging costs (and you got the card for free)? I see Buy-it-now at .99 with free shipping and I'm doubtful you can make a profit at that price.

LOTSOS · December 29, 2018 4:48PM

$.99
-10%

$0.89
-$0.50 (Forever Stamp. Less if you were an early investor )
-$0.02 Envelope
-$0.00 Recycled top loader

$0.37 Kaboom!!!! Sell a few thousand and you're buying yourself a nice dinner!

PROMETHIUS88 · December 29, 2018 4:57PM

@LOTSOS said:
$.99
-10%

$0.89
-$0.50 (Forever Stamp. Less if you were an early investor )
-$0.02 Envelope
-$0.00 Recycled top loader

$0.37 Kaboom!!!! Sell a few thousand and you're buying yourself a nice dinner!

Don't forget the 3% Paypal fee!!

CoinCrazyPA · December 29, 2018 5:26PM

@PROMETHIUS88 said:

@LOTSOS said:
$.99
-10%

$0.89
-$0.50 (Forever Stamp. Less if you were an early investor )
-$0.02 Envelope
-$0.00 Recycled top loader

$0.37 Kaboom!!!! Sell a few thousand and you're buying yourself a nice dinner!

Don't forget the 3% Paypal fee!!

Plus the .35 fee from paypal on top of 3%.

PROMETHIUS88 · December 29, 2018 5:49PM

@CoinCrazyPA said:

@PROMETHIUS88 said:

@LOTSOS said:
$.99
-10%

$0.89
-$0.50 (Forever Stamp. Less if you were an early investor )
-$0.02 Envelope
-$0.00 Recycled top loader

$0.37 Kaboom!!!! Sell a few thousand and you're buying yourself a nice dinner!

Don't forget the 3% Paypal fee!!

Plus the .35 fee from paypal on top of 3%.

Paypal charges .35 per transaction plus the 3%???

HighGradeLegends · December 29, 2018 5:51PM

@Rihotter said:
I've been wondering this myself. Apparently there is some sort of micro-transaction option for Paypal that you can call and get it reduced and save a little on postage using stamps.com but still. I guess they are paying for reputation boosts and transaction history increase?
Anybody know the lowest price you can (theoretically at least) make a profit on a card sale factoring in 10% to ebay, paypal, postage and packaging costs (and you got the card for free)? I see Buy-it-now at .99 with free shipping and I'm doubtful you can make a profit at that price.

Welcome to the forums.

Albertdidit · December 29, 2018 6:15PM

@PROMETHIUS88 said:

@CoinCrazyPA said:

@PROMETHIUS88 said:

@LOTSOS said:
$.99
-10%

$0.89
-$0.50 (Forever Stamp. Less if you were an early investor )
-$0.02 Envelope
-$0.00 Recycled top loader

$0.37 Kaboom!!!! Sell a few thousand and you're buying yourself a nice dinner!

Don't forget the 3% Paypal fee!!

Plus the .35 fee from paypal on top of 3%.

Paypal charges .35 per transaction plus the 3%???

Yes

PROMETHIUS88 · December 29, 2018 7:13PM

I never paid attention, just thought it was the 3%

Albertdidit · December 29, 2018 7:45PM

@PROMETHIUS88 said:
I never paid attention, just thought it was the 3%

I think its actually 30 cents. Kinda sucks if you sell low value items. Sell 100 and tack on another $30 to the other fees

CoinCrazyPA · December 29, 2018 8:09PM

@Rttrffg2012 said:
I think they are just playing the averages.

One card sells for a penny, another sells for $2.... averages out to $1 each, more if you can get a few people bidding.

Also, if a person buys a $2 card they may buy more to save on shipping. So you might have 5 cards in 1 order. ($6-$7 or so). I often look through a sellers inventory if I think there are cheap cards to be had.

All about overall numbers not individual sales.

And as mentioned above, it builds your store/reputation.

You missed .01 bid and free shipping.

MrHockey · December 30, 2018 4:06AM

There’s no .35 fee if you’re set up for micropayments on PayPal. I think it’s .05 per.

PatsGuy5000 · December 30, 2018 4:18AM

Have switched nearly all of my auctions to “buy it now” to hopefully cover costs. Grading costs at $8.00. Shipping/insurance each way to grading company about $3.00, shipping item to buyer in bubble mailer $3.50, EBay fees, Mailing supplies, etc., you break even on a graded card around $17.

PROMETHIUS88 · December 30, 2018 5:14AM

@PatsGuy5000 said:
Have switched nearly all of my auctions to “buy it now” to hopefully cover costs. Grading costs at $8.00. Shipping/insurance each way to grading company about $3.00, shipping item to buyer in bubble mailer $3.50, EBay fees, Mailing supplies, etc., you break even on a graded card around $17.

If you are paying the bulk submission rate, shipping/ins back and forth to PSA should only add about $1 per card. Usually $50-60 each way, obviously that can vary a little bit. Reinforced bubble mailers in bulk at Sams are about .20 each, Paypal shipping is $2.66 for 4 ounces, Paypal/Ebay fees are 12-13%, paper, packing tape...of course toner. I'm thinking more along the lines of $15 to break event(Not including the cost of the card itself). This is assuming you are paying the shipping.
I'm glad you brought this up. I read your post and was thinking that number seemed way high but then doing all the math you are pretty darn close. Just never really broke it all down.
I sell lots of graded cards for less than that but I expect to take a loss on some cards I get back from PSA. I figure in a bulk order it is going to even out. There will be some that grade lower than expected and I'm going to take a loss but there will always be some decent hits that more than make up for it.

Rihotter · December 30, 2018 6:07AM

@MrHockey said:
There’s no .35 fee if you’re set up for micropayments on PayPal. I think it’s .05 per.

Is this something you can just do on the Paypal site or do you need to call AND have had x number of micro-transactions already?

MrHockey · December 30, 2018 6:58AM

It’s something you can easily set up with a google search

tonylags · December 30, 2018 9:47AM

@MrHockey said:
There’s no .35 fee if you’re set up for micropayments on PayPal. I think it’s .05 per.

Can I have both under same account or do I need a separate account for this?

PatsGuy5000 · December 30, 2018 9:55AM

@PROMETHIUS88 said:

@PatsGuy5000 said:
Have switched nearly all of my auctions to “buy it now” to hopefully cover costs. Grading costs at $8.00. Shipping/insurance each way to grading company about $3.00, shipping item to buyer in bubble mailer $3.50, EBay fees, Mailing supplies, etc., you break even on a graded card around $17.

If you are paying the bulk submission rate, shipping/ins back and forth to PSA should only add about $1 per card. Usually $50-60 each way, obviously that can vary a little bit. Reinforced bubble mailers in bulk at Sams are about .20 each, Paypal shipping is $2.66 for 4 ounces, Paypal/Ebay fees are 12-13%, paper, packing tape...of course toner. I'm thinking more along the lines of $15 to break event(Not including the cost of the card itself). This is assuming you are paying the shipping.
I'm glad you brought this up. I read your post and was thinking that number seemed way high but then doing all the math you are pretty darn close. Just never really broke it all down.
I sell lots of graded cards for less than that but I expect to take a loss on some cards I get back from PSA. I figure in a bulk order it is going to even out. There will be some that grade lower than expected and I'm going to take a loss but there will always be some decent hits that more than make up for it.

Thanks for responding - I have not done “PayPal Shipping”, still use USPS which is $3.50 for a bubble mailer. Do you pay a fee do utilize PayPal shipping and is it easy to set up?

I am learning a lot more prior to submitting cards for grading. I have scaled back sending newer cards (tough to distinguish between a 9 or 10) because most times a 9 grade will be a loss.

I am definitely a small scale seller.

KbKards · December 30, 2018 11:24AM

Thanks for responding - I have not done “PayPal Shipping”, still use USPS which is $3.50 for a bubble mailer. Do you pay a fee do utilize PayPal shipping and is it easy to set up?

Those $3.50 packages through the PO will cost you I believe presently $2.66 through Ebay/Paypal shipping which costs nothing but the postage to use. Go into your MyEbay selling area and find the page link for Items Awaiting Shipment. Everything that has been paid for and needs to be shipped will be on that page. You select everything, specify weights, and pay for and print shipping labels in bulk. You can get sticky labels or just print on paper and tape them on. It is very simple to use and even better than the cost savings is that the tracking number is automatically entered into the system.

x2drich2000 · December 30, 2018 11:52AM

If not a sale through Ebay, you can still use Paypal and get the discount. Just go to www.paypal.com/mos and you can create a shipment to anyone you want.

PROMETHIUS88 · December 30, 2018 12:32PM

Agree with the comments above. I use Paypal shipping for stuff outside of Ebay as well. I don't consider myself a large scale seller by any means. Just enough to make a little money to fund the things I do collect.

How do sellers?

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