Can you lose money selling on Ebay?

[Anthony1]

Ok, I know that is a dumb question, but what I'm trying to find out, is what are the risks of selling something on Ebay?


For example, if you list something, and you get no bids at all, what do you lose? From what I have been able to determine, you lose the listing fee. If you start the item at $9.99 or under, and you get no bids, you lose 30 cents.

Is that correct?

I'm trying to understand this.

Basically, I've bought alot of stuff off of Ebay, but I haven't sold anything yet. I just recently put my first item up for sale. It's auction #3053052396 . It's just a NES system with one controller and a Super Mario Bros. 3 cartridge. I started the bidding at 1 buck and it's 8 bucks shipping. I have no bids so far. Did I do anything wrong as far as this auction is concerned?

Sorry, It's just I'm new to this. So any insite would be appreciated.

- Anthony

[Raccoon Lad]

If no one bids, you get to relist it once for free.

[sisko]

If the item doesn't sell or meet its reserve, then you can relist it once (maybe more) for free.

If you haven't gotten any bids on it, I wouldn't worry about it too much. I noticed it takes about 4 days to get a bid and then it goes from there.

You may want to scrounge up the additional parts to make this work. Complete auctions tend to go for more.

Don't worry, if no one else bids, I'll buy it for a buck

[Anthony1]

How does Ebay get their 30 cents from me?

[sisko]

They will usually bill the credit card you supplied them with when you signed up.

Either that or you can pay with your checking or paypal account online, or mail them a check or money order.

[Querjek]

You should have said something like "$8 shipping for the US, please email for other countries' amounts"

[Balloon Fight]

Ill most likely bid on it also. I need a working NES now...

[Vroomfunkel]

Auction looks fine to me - all the essential info is there, nice clear picture, good title. You've got all the really important things right.

I usually give at least a little spiel about how great the product is I am selling as well, just for added effect. Ok, it's not going to make much difference to seasoned collectors, but it's good sales technique, and I am sure it has helped get me some very good prices on some things.

Including a counter can help you to see if people are looking at your auction even if there are no bids ... but that is down to personal preference, some people don't like to have them.

But don't worry too much, as has already been said, most bids come in the last few days of an auction. I would say probably 90% of the bids on my auctions come in the last day or two - and I rarely bid on anything before the last day myself.

Vroomfunkel

[Griking]

The only real chance you take and possible downside is if only one person bids on it & wins it for $1.00

[dave2236]

You can if you don't know what you are doing.

For example I bought a board game (SW Ewoks Adventure) and I won it for $2 opening bid and only $2 shipping. When I got the package it had $4.71 for postage.

It will take awhile to get used to, but eventually you will learn and be experienced.

[brykasch]

YEah the big thing I can tell you is if you are going to sell alot do two things. One buy a 5lb digital postal scale. Be accurate in your descriptions and use delivery confirmation. You may think it will cost 3.00 to ship but figure packing amterials and what not. And ship timely. I have burned myself a little on that. I work about 50+ hours a week and slagged off a little. i have learned on that and always ship with in 3 days of payment. And for gods sake take payapl. It may cost a little but it makes things so much easier for you and the buyer.

[Griking]

You may think it will cost 3.00 to ship but figure packing amterials and what not.

If you are shipping via Priority mail then the boxes are free. In fact, you can order them in bulk from the USPS website and have them delivered to your home for free as well. For packing material old newspaper works fine. Also, I save packing material used in packages shipped TO me. Doing it this way I don't have to charge buyers extra for shipping.

[sisko]

You may think it will cost 3.00 to ship but figure packing amterials and what not.

If you are shipping via Priority mail then the boxes are free. In fact, you can order them in bulk from the USPS website and have them delivered to your home for free as well. For packing material old newspaper works fine. Also, I save packing material used in packages shipped TO me. Doing it this way I don't have to charge buyers extra for shipping.

I didn't know that, thanks for the info! Also, packing materials tend to be pretty cheap on ebay. Just do a search for packing peanuts or bubble wrap. You will probably pay the most money at your office supply stores such as staples or office max. If you go to a Public Storage or UHaul that sells boxes and such, they tend to be cheaper there.

[dave2236]

If you need a scale, SAMS Club has 50 lbs scales for $40-50 very, nice quality.

I bought my 30lb digital off of ebay for $50

[Anonymous]

Here's another good tip, this is what I do. Sign up with Airborne Express at www.airborne.com and order a bunch of their Labels. They are free to order. What they are is a half sheet of regular paper, and a half sheet sticker. Then, sign up at the US Post Office site, and use their services to print mailing labels with postage. You have to use priority, but it's worth it. You put in all the information, and put the letter in your printer, and it prints out a scannable label that you stick on your package. You get charged the shipping to your card directly, and delivery confirmation is FREE. Then when you get to the post office, you don't even have to wait in line, you just hand all your stuff to the guy in the back! Be sure to have a scale, and only weigh your packages after they're taped up so you don't shortchange on postage.