Selling Expenses. : eBay Guides

Hi there. This is my first try at writing a guide of any sort. If it needs revisement of any sort please let me know. Thanks.

So this is just a short guide to make sure you actually MAKE money instead of losing a dollar or two profit here or there from unseen or unknown fees and prices. If you are going to sell something there are actually a few things that you need to know. I still don't know everything as I am just learning so, hopefully you will jump ahead of how I do.

Here are most of the costs I can think of all associated with selling any sort of item.

  Item: The item itself, what it cost to purchase initially as well as any taxes.

  Shipping: Now I'm just finding out about all of this, and I still am just a beginner in this area so if I misinform anyone I am truely sorry. But Shipping charges can really catch a person off guard if they are not sure of what they are doing. Information involved with shipping includes:

  - Item Weight: The heavier it is, the more it will cost to ship.

  - Item Dimensions: Apparently awkwardness to carry will affect your shipping charges as well.

  - Distance: The farther you send it, The more it can cost.

  - Insurance: It is optional but always a safe bet to have. Refunds can lose a lot of your profit if you have to send out any.

  -Packaging: Mail needs to be boxed or wrapped properly. The norm now is brown corrogate boxes or yellow padded envelopes. Bubble Paper, foam, air packs all cost money to insure safe arrival of your items.

  -Stamps: Your package obviously wont go anywhere without your basic stamps or print out labels, all of which add on to your overall costs.

  -Courier: Depending on whether you use Canada Post / UPS / Fed EX / Purolator or any other company, their fees differ and vary by bits and pieces so, Be sure to look around and try find the best deal.

Seller Fees: This area can leave a man for broke if he is just starting and goes overboard like I just about did. There are many different fees you have to pay, Just to get your item looked at. Then if you do sell it, Ebay makes a commission off of that.

   -Listing Fees: I'm not sure of listing with stores, but I will do research later on to update and write possibly more guides for everyone. Basically for your ideal cheap listing will cost about 25 cents american. If you want it to stand out in any way or have even more then one picture to show what you want to sell. There are fees to go along with that. Be sure to keep track of them.

  -Ending Fees: Ebay makes a percentage of each item sold on ebay. Lucky I know, but for us a minor inconveinence on our profits. You have to be sure that your item will sell for a decent profit to you because you will have to cover these minor costs in the end.

  -Paypal: I have just recently started using Paypal. It makes the electronic business world a lot easier to deal with. It keeps great records and details. Although they as well have fees for using them. I'm not sure of the exact costs but I believe they take either a percentage of the transaction made or it may be a $5.00 base fee.

All in all it is great to do some research before you get started. I know that for me, once I finish this, I am going to look up everything I can to maximize my potential profits without taking away from a good deal. It is hard to do with all the market competition, but stay positive. You can make it !