Ebay - is it worth it?

Parsimonious · 01-29-2009, 01:38 AM

I started selling things on E-bay, mostly books that wouldn't sell through amazon. We've got loads of books, and we love them. Unless a book is really torn into pieces and we have a second copy anywa, we won't throw it away. We may sell it, or give it to the library, but we won't throw it away - after all, it's a book

Now, some books sell for a €, some for a couple of €, and when I look at the totals, it actually looks as if it were worth it. But when I total in the number of hours I've worked to get them online, ship them, etc., it looks very less worth it.
If you do E-bay, what do you think is the hourly rate you make? Above or below the minimum wage of your region (i.e. would you make more or less in the worst paying job on the market).

**AmyBoz** · 01-29-2009, 07:14 AM

I'm not sure that I would calculate an hourly wage for the time put in entering the items, wrapping and shipping them. I'd rather be home, in my comfy clothes, putting up my items online than working a minimum wage job outside of the home. It clears clutter out of my house and I make a nice, little profit.

So, to me, I don't think it would matter if the time spent would net me less than minimum wage because there are other factors to consider.

**PrairieRose** · 01-29-2009, 09:23 AM

I've sold several books on half.com and have to agree that it's not like working a job where you get paid per hour but there is a certain amount of satisfaction that comes from selling something, giving it another use, getting rid of it and getting a little something for it all in one fell swoop. If you're looking at it just as is it worth my time in comparison to what you could be making working else where then I'd say no, unless you have some really high end books to move. Jmho.

**homesteadmamma** · 01-29-2009, 09:48 AM

I've never done e-Bay. However after sending a very small parcel to the States yesterday and seeing what the shipping costs were, I'd be afraid to. Canada post raised the price on shipping small parcels and they raised it BIG TIME.

**The Muse** · 01-29-2009, 09:57 AM

I guess it depends on your criteria for "worth it". If I have a stack of stuff I want to get out of the house, it's worth it to me to Ebay the stuff because it gets it out of my house to someone who will use it, and I get a little extra money I wouldn't otherwise have.

If I look at it from the perspective of how much my time is worth, it's usually not worth it.

**madhen** · 01-29-2009, 10:09 AM

Used books are not the best sellers on eBay, unless you have some very valuable ones or you have a lot of one specific genre and sell them in wholesale lots.

I used to have an on-line business for bird supplies, and I did very well with it. I gave it up because I got SO busy, I just didn't have a life anymore. Most buyers understand shipping fees, and I would typically charge actual cost plus $1.50 for handling/materials. Since it only takes about two minutes to pack something up, and I could drop it off on the way to the post office, and I bought all my materials in bulk, that was probably a pretty accurate estimate of the s/h cost. I bought wholesale and sold retail, so it would be approx 2x the wholesale price, less the listing and final value fee. Because I had a store, I could just renew listings, rather than have to take the several minutes each time to type everything in and put in photos. The good thing about books, however, is that you can just type in the ISBN number, and eBay will load in the info/pic for you, so it goes a little faster than when you have to do it from scratch.

As mentioned by others, hourly rate is hard to calculate, but I was selling an average of 10-20 items per day, and I would spend about 3 hours per day either checking my listings, adding stuff, or shipping stuff. I would also spend about 4 hours per month doing inventory and preparing my monthly accounting reports. Typically, every month, my net profit was in the low to mid hundreds. Not enough to live on, but fine for a hobby business.

**happimommi** · 01-29-2009, 10:20 AM

I used to sell on Ebay but found as they raised their fees that I really wasn't making any money. So I am planning a yard sale for this spring. I do still buy on Ebay, that is a very good way to get things much more frugal.

**BlessedMomof2** · 01-29-2009, 10:47 AM

I use to sell on e-bay, mainly items the my family no longer needed or wanted. When I first started it was really profitable but, once ebay raised the fees and now with the paypal fees it just wasn't seeming worth it anymore.

I do have a yard sale every spring/summer which is always profitable and I occasionally sell my kids outgrown clothes to a local consignment shop that resells gently used clothes.

**Cricketlegs** · 01-29-2009, 02:43 PM

I hated the whole end of year taxes and the state sales tax crud.

never again for me.

**Michelle** · 01-29-2009, 03:52 PM

Ebay is such a hit or miss thing that you really can't compare it to a job with consistent and guaranteed pay. If you work outside the home working a "real" job, you'll get paid. That's not guaranteed when selling on Ebay.

Having said that, I would make more money working a minimum wage job outside the home, but there are definitely other factors that come into play. You work your own hours doing Ebay and can work in your pajamas if you want.

I would say that here, I wouldn't be able to make any decent money off of selling on Ebay. If you do high volume sales, maybe that would be different, but for me, it would just be extra money to make in my spare time.

I hope that wasn't too confusing. I'm currently distracted by my children

**ladytoysdream** · 01-29-2009, 05:26 PM

I have tried to be a serious seller on ebay in the past.
It's a rough go, because you need a item/s that you can keep going with. I have never been able to find that product.

I love to sell books, but it's not steady enough.

Have had quite a spell of not having anything up. No motiavtion of any kind. I finally got some yarn lots up yesterday and today. I hope to get a few more up. My user id, same as here

**jgagelvr** · 02-03-2009, 08:01 PM

but stopped about a year ago when they raised their fees and changed their policies. I sold yarn and old pattern books and magazines and stuff I didn't need any more. Shipping costs were expensive, especially if I had to buy a box when I was out of boxes I recycled. Oftentimes Ebay's shipping calculator was wrong, and I'd undercharge the buyer for shipping costs.

If you do decide to sell, do some research. See what's popular on the site, and be sure you are very familiar with the Terms of Service on the site. Also, there are other online auction sites like OLA.com, Ecrater.com to name a couple.

I have taken collectibles to an Ebay consignment shop, and they sold well. The commission isn't bad, but if you do go this route, make sure you see what type of commission is taken, because they can differ with each seller.

**rainbowgc** · 02-04-2009, 12:28 PM

I stopped doing eBay because of the fees and hassle, now I just list on craigslist. I sold a serger to someone in Iowa (I live in Tampabay) and we did the financial transaction through paypal the same as eBay.

**Rippin508** · 02-05-2009, 11:56 AM

I stopped using ebay because their fees are outrageous. I mainly use Craigslist and other web forums I am on. The rest I donate to charity.

**dogbaker** · 02-18-2009, 09:34 PM

I sell on eBay and its a mixed experience. I have been selling there for 18 months.
When we started out we did very well selling things we had laying around home. The fees are a constant concern. You really have to have your items sell for enough to cover those fees. Either through volume or profit.
I had my own private website for my cottage industry,but it wasn't as productive as eBay.
Bottom line you can do it but it takes a lot of time to properly list your items and service your buyers. You need to figure out the combined fees [paypal &eBay] for all sales when pricing.