Is your stuff worth thousands on eBay?

Let me fix the title: "Is your stuff worth thousands TO eBay?" There is a reason the site is known to many (mostly those that use, or have used it) as GreedBay, FeeBay, and EvilBay just to name a few. If you do try and make THEM some money, be prepared to have PayPal (also owned by eBay) jammed down your throat, funds held back from you for 21 or more days, sellers that can get you thrown off because of the one-sided feedback/DSR system, terrible customer service, being charged fees on what YOU pay the Post Office, and being manipulated by buyers that know how to play the system leaving you the victim.

Before buying or selling anything, do a search and find out they are not the best deal in town; eBay fees (often 15% and more) are added to every cent you are paid. That $1200 dollars mentioned above is more like $1000 and change after you get soaked for listing fees, selling fees, PayPay fees, and shipping fees. Go to their discussion boards, and study what you are up against. Rule of thumb is don't sell anything worth more than what you are willing to loose...

No disrespect meant to the author, but I'm very tired of reading this type of article that sings the praises of eBay, rather than exposing what is REALLY going on there. I've been selling on eBay for about 12 years, and in the past I would have recommended eBay as a way to make extra money. But due to changes eBay has made to the site since 2008, I now feel the need to warn people against it.

When you sold your figurine Ms. Freedman, I'm sure you noticed that you essentially must use eBay-owned Paypal as your payment processor to sell on eBay.  But are you aware that a buyer has up to 45 days to file a claim through Paypal claiming that an item is "significantly not as described"? eBay almost always sides with the buyer, forces the seller to refund, and the buyer is supposed to return the item... but there is nothing stopping them from sending back a damaged item, or even a box of rocks or a brick. So the seller is then out both the item and the money, and to top it off, this buyer could also leave a negative comment on the seller's public feedback profile. The feedback and ratings are used by eBay to determine whether a seller receives a discount on fees, where the seller's items will rank in search results, etc. And sellers are no longer allowed to leave negative feedback for buyers, so you wouldn't even be able to warn others that the "buyer" is a scammer.

As someone previously commented, a good rule of thumb is to never sell something on eBay that you cannot afford to lose. But there are a few other things people should know in order to protect themselves. Paypal sometimes holds sellers' money up to 21 days... new sellers are often subjected to this, as well as people selling in what eBay deems a "high risk" category, or for other reasons they come up with seemingly on a whim (Paypal also earns interest on this held money, incidentally).

One other very important thing... always send packages to buyers using USPS delivery confirmation (or whatever tracking is offered by other carriers). On items selling for more than $250, you must require signature confirmation. Otherwise a buyer can file a claim with Paypal saying they didn't receive their item, and get a full refund.

And for anyone that is looking to make some extra cash selling their unwanted items, there are some promising ecommerce websites springing up on the internet. Just do a Google search for "eBay alternatives".

I've been selling on eBay  for over 10 years. Not because I want to, but because I have to, at least for now.  It used to be a pretty good site to sell almost anything. Not only does eBay charge fees to list, they charge a percentage when it sells and now they charge a percentage of what you're charging for shipping.   They think this is a solution for the sellers who charge astronomical numbers for shipping.  It's not working.  And, then let's not forget their backup plan, their cash cow.  PayPal. They also get a cut.  So, you didn't make $1200 on that sale. Add it up, or more accurately, subtract it down.  My monthly fees have DOUBLED in the last 6 months without a rise in sales. Figure that one out.  It's discouraging.

My master plan right now is to list a few things on other sites, just to get a feel for what else is out there. I'm also selling off most of my inventory and moving away from eBay.  Their customer service is a joke.

And, what I've noticed no one talking about.  PayPal finally gave in to the government pressure and is reporting your earnings each year.  Check the info.  You'll be paying taxes on that $1200 next tax season.   Fun yet?

eBay does have the most market presence, but at the rate they're driving the company into the ground.....it's not got the presence and clout it used to.

If, after all that, you still want to give it a go, make sure to put "worry" on the list hoping your buyer isn't a con artist, or claims 2 weeks from now they never got the item even if the Delivery Confirmation shows it was delivered. 

Good luck with that.

I agree with everyone else here about eBay. It used to be a wonderful site but the cons far outweigh the pros these days. It's just too expensive to be considered a frugal way of making money. I still buy things on eBay occasionally because you can still get great deals on stuff. I know it sucks for sellers though. They are at more risk than the buyers, and I am saying this as a person who sells on Amazon & Half.com. I've never sold on eBay because by the time I wanted to try to sell off some of my things, eBay had enforced their "PayPal Only" rule. :/

@Yamanatic: That wasn't my experience. I'm sorry yours was so difficult. I still think that eBay can help a lot of people make money by putting them in touch with buyers they might never have found otherwise.

eBay is great for selling collectibles because there's no other easy way to reach the pool of potential buyers, especially for something you have no clue how to find buyers otherwise.

 

Sure they have their fees, but so do auction houses (try finding one that will take your item on commissions charged by eBay) and then the audience is usually limited to those who go to the sale or find out about it through the much lower traffic website.

 

There aren't that many bad-apple buyers as other posters here lead you to believe.  In fact I've found the collectibles category to be very clean - buyers usually are bonafide, pay promptly and don't play games with the seller.   I suppose there is a lower batting average in other categories.

 

The best advice given here is seaching ended auctions to find the market value of your item.  It may very well not be worth your time.  I have a record collection which I have a feeling is not valuable.   I have a few other things that I do believe have more potential.

 

The biggest thing with selling on eBay is *time*.  It's very time consuming to do sales there.  BTDT.  Most people gravely underestimate it.  I have a whole shelving unit devoted to stuff I'll eBay *someday*.  It's still full!  Many of us may be simply better off giving the stuff away after doing some basic market value research.