Selling on ebay?

**Raheny Red** · 17/11/2006, 9:54 AM

I am new to ebay and I've only bought five or six items. I pay through paypal and I find it very easy to do and quite safe ,apart from one when an ebayer was banned from ebay but it looks like I'll get my mun back! Now I'm thinking of selling items. What I am wondering is when you start selling items what is the best way to find out on much it will cost me for P&P to the seller. Would I be better off going to my lost Post Office first and find out how much it would cost or are there any websites which can help with this?

Sorry for the silly questions

Cheers.

**noby** · 17/11/2006, 11:22 AM

anpost.ie would be a starting point. From my experience sellers give themselves plenty of scope when adding p&p, and for small items like cds etc. it seems to be where the real monet is made.

**Dodge** · 17/11/2006, 11:27 AM

I sold a few programmes on ebay. Charged �1 (back when it was ebay.co.uk only) for p+p to Ireland/Britain. �2 to europe. �4 to anywhere else. Luckily they were all to uk, bar one to Hong Kong. I sent them all through work for nothing...

**dahamsta** · 17/11/2006, 11:28 AM

postage.anpost.ie is a direct link to their calculator. Most of the calculations are pretty standard, for example a CD counts as a "flat", which is something like €1.75 within Ireland and €2.75 everwhere else.

adam

**WeAreRovers** · 17/11/2006, 11:53 AM

A wee hint Raheny Red, most serious eBay sellers use Postage and Packaging as their profit. It's deliberately inflated but I didn't tell you that....

KOH

**Raheny Red** · 17/11/2006, 12:47 PM

Cheers for all the help lads

**osarusan** · 17/11/2006, 1:39 PM

Originally Posted by WeAreRovers

A wee hint Raheny Red, most serious eBay sellers use Postage and Packaging as their profit. It's deliberately inflated but I didn't tell you that....

KOH

Yes indeed. Not all but a lot. I bought a book and was charged $6 for postage, but the stamp only had $2.50.

Not bothered as the book was still cheap, but you want to keep it mind.

**Dodge** · 17/11/2006, 1:44 PM

If you query it the likely answer will be "the envelope, the cost of going to the post office...."

**dahamsta** · 17/11/2006, 2:06 PM

It's the only way of making money on something like a (non-collectable) CD, which is too risky for a reserve and just plain won't sell with a high starting price. You list at €0 or €1 and if more than one person spots it the price gets pushed up and you can do relatively well. If only one person sees it at least you make a euro or two out of something that probably cost you €10-15 originally. If no-one spots it you lose 20c, but that's going to happen a lot more if you list "honest" shipping and a higher starting price or a reserve.

I ship at €2.50 and €4 for the postage costs above, plus the padded envelope*. I sold 5 CDs out of my first batch of 10, 2 of which were for more than the starting price; and 4 out of my second batch of 15, 5 of which were relists and only one of which went for more than starting. It's hardly a profitable business when you consider my original purchase costs. Not a bad way of building rep on the site though, and making a little money for something I'll never use again.

adam

* And the cost of going to the post office of course!

**Dodge** · 17/11/2006, 2:11 PM

Originally Posted by dahamsta

It's hardly a profitable business when you consider my original purchase costs. Not a bad way of building rep on the site though, and making a little money for something I'll never use again.

The average ebay user shouldn't think of it as a profit making business. I did it to get rid of crap and it helped me fund my new crap purchasers.

Crap is my gf's description for the memerobilia I seem to collect somehow...

**dahamsta** · 17/11/2006, 2:20 PM

The average user, certainly, but I'd imagine there's quite a few making a handy living out of it these days. It wouldn't appeal to me unless I had a killer product, but if I had that I wouldn't need eBay anyway.

I reckon I'll just keep building up that rep and clearing out the closet like yourself.

adam

**Dodge** · 17/11/2006, 2:23 PM

Sure you make all your millions of this site anyway...

**dahamsta** · 17/11/2006, 2:26 PM

Ah sure it's billions I'm into now Dodge. That's why I'm living in this here mansion and snorting coke off hooker's boobs and stuff.

**WeAreRovers** · 17/11/2006, 2:38 PM

There's over 100,000 people in Britain making at least a portion of their living from eBay*. Hence the postage 'scam' which is completely different to the reasonable explanation that dahamsta outlined.

KOH

* Source - eBay

**Dodge** · 17/11/2006, 2:40 PM

Originally Posted by WeAreRovers

There's over 100,000 people in Britain making at least a portion of their living from eBay*.

Probably right. I mean the �12 I made from selling the programme to Kenny Dalgleish's testimonial did make up a portion of my income that week.

**Dricky** · 17/11/2006, 2:55 PM

I must say I've found it no problem, I have only ever bought a few thing but some needed couriers, that’s where ebay can be great as you can organise your own pick up and then you can search for the cheapest courier.
For smaller items, the post and packaging is a scam but if it is something you can't get here it's worth it. One friend of mine is into his gadgets and gets a load from Korea and Hong Kong and so he finds the p&p well worth it as the gadgets are still cheaper or unavailable.

just on wearerovers point there were some who were making their full wages from just ebay can't remember the figure, but how bad.

**dahamsta** · 17/11/2006, 3:37 PM

I've bought several items from HK where the cost was €1 or less and the shipping was twice or three times the actual shipping amount (or more, I didn't do any conversions), with no problems. Some of the items might be illegitimate - I bought three batteries for my P910i for just a couple of euros each, for example - but if they are they're coming out of the same factories as the originals - which does happen all the time - because the quality is indiscernible from originals. Which just goes to show how much we pay for the brands.

I've used that pricing with Irish and other people in the eurozone btw, and much to my surprise no-one has even mentioned the shipping discrepancy yet. I guess people realise it's how things are done these days.

adam

**Block G Raptor** · 20/11/2006, 9:51 AM

I Paid €48 for a single sheet of hand signed Take That sheet music for mrs raptors xmas pressie and was charged �8 sterling for P&P now that is a bit of a rip if you ask me. but it'll be worth it to see mrs raptors face on xmas morning!
(Getting it framed on black velvet with the cd single and sleeve so should be nice)