ismaelg Posted October 7, 2018 Share Posted October 7, 2018 Hello, I've been dealing with eBay for almost 20 years, but mostly as a buyer. I sold a couple of kits and a book over 15 years ago in the money order days before Paypal. Looking into my stash I have a few things I know I'll never build like some armor, a duplicate or two, and a couple car kits I have no idea why I got them in the first place. So I want to try selling them. There are no swap meets or clubs around here and it is only a few things, not a huge pile. My biggest question is figuring out shipping and terms. I'm looking at similar items and trying to come up with a trend. Any hints on how to sell on ebay? This will help clear some space and fund more paint, more tools and more Corvette and Ferrari kits I'll never get to build Thanks, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeeBee Posted October 7, 2018 Share Posted October 7, 2018 I haven't sold on eBay for a few years now, not that i had any problems, but with eBay fees, and you're forced to use PayPal as a payment option, you're charged PayPal fees on top of the eBay fees, are you on Facebook ? Last time i had a clean out of the stash earlier this year, I listed them on Facebook marketplace and also joined a few groups on Facebook set up to buy and sell plastic kits, works a lot cheaper in the long run. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigTallDad Posted October 7, 2018 Share Posted October 7, 2018 Have you considered Craigslist? You won't have to deal with shipping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stitchdup Posted October 7, 2018 Share Posted October 7, 2018 remember to include rare in caps on all listings, no matter what it is, also vintage, antique etc. eg. Mcdonalds straw RARE, vintage, antique, retro adult built lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Wann Posted October 7, 2018 Share Posted October 7, 2018 I don't sell on Ebay much anymore. When I do, I list them as a buy it now with free shipping. Tack another ten or fifteen bucks on the pricetag. One of my resin kits generally posts for around $5.50 to most USA addresses. There will be other fees that will come back and bite you in the end too. Paypal might want some money and Ebay might want some too. Don't sell yourself short. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomZ Posted October 7, 2018 Share Posted October 7, 2018 Charge shipping. eBay will lean on you for free shipping but it sucks if you have to pay for return shipping. It's a given that buyers add the shipping to the price when they decide whether to buy so it's a wash anyway. The best way to figure shipping is to acquire a cheap scale and weigh the actual box, packaging and model that you intend to ship. Don't forget any packing you'll put in the model box to eliminate breakage. My wife has sold a couple thousand items on eBay and she charges 25 cents more than actual cost and states so in the description. Personally I don't buy from people who try to stiff me with inflated shipping because it's just annoying. eBay charges the same 9% fee on the sale price AND the shipping charge so there is no benefit to charging anything but actual cost for shipping. Often the box will fit in a USPS flat rate box, which makes shipping easy to figure. You don't have to use PayPal, but most sellers require it, because it ensures guaranteed payment with no hassle. The fee is 30 cents plus 3% of the transaction. Well worth the peace of mind, IMHO. Think of all the little things that you like as a buyer. Do those things. Do it right and you will enjoy it more. The best way to approach selling on eBay is not to get hung up on getting every last cent out of the transaction. Does it really matter if you only received $26.24 for a $30 sale, or if shipping wound up costing 35 cents more than you estimated? Don't suck the fun out of it, selling on eBay can be a lot of fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikemodeler Posted October 7, 2018 Share Posted October 7, 2018 Some of you may have missed the fact that Ismael is in Puerto Rico, so his shipping charges will likely be more. I agree that to save fees, selling on Facebook seems to be a cheaper alternative but with likely less potential buyers. I have yet to buy off of Facebook but it seems to have a lot of activity so could be my new source for kits! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Geiger Posted October 7, 2018 Share Posted October 7, 2018 4 minutes ago, mikemodeler said: Some of you may have missed the fact that Ismael is in Puerto Rico, so his shipping charges will likely be more. I Um no, Puerto Rico is the USA so the same rates apply. Probably less than New York to California. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
440 Dakota Posted October 7, 2018 Share Posted October 7, 2018 (edited) I've sold a good part of my collection recently on Ebay and will continue to do so, yes the fees for Ebay and Paypal end up being between 18-20% when all said and done, but I've found CL users mostly have garage sale mentality and want to offer little to nothing for items, cant comment on FB I'm not on it, as far as pricing I look at completed auctions and come up an average that a kit sells for and that's my starting price, for shipping I use Priority mail, order free boxes online and recycle newspaper for packing, I've never had a shipping problem, printing your labels from Ebay saves a little money, and when listing an item there's a section to enter package information and it calculates the shipping rate for you which is displayed for the buyer based on location, its always been accurate for me, its all very simple and streamlined Edited October 7, 2018 by 440 Dakota Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomZ Posted October 7, 2018 Share Posted October 7, 2018 eBay charges 9% and PayPal charges 3%. Both charge the fee percentage for the price AND the shipping charge. It probably seems like more than 12% because of the shipping fees. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
89AKurt Posted October 7, 2018 Share Posted October 7, 2018 [...] This will help clear some space and fund more paint, more tools and more Corvette and Ferrari kits I'll never get to build [] Yea, that sounds like an awesome excuse, I'm with you! I've been wondering about this too, thanks for asking. I've sold and bought off the Facebook Model Car Marketplace, so far so good. I've made educated guesses on shipping, sometimes I'm shocked how much it is. I also prefer PayPal, sometimes do the 'friend' to avoid the fee. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youpey Posted October 8, 2018 Share Posted October 8, 2018 i was going to post up about the fees, but it seems someone else already did. what i will say, it up charge the shipping a bit. they charge you fees on the shipping twice. first for the sell fee and then the paypal fee. if something is going to cost me 5 dollars to ship, i will charge 8 or 9, assuming you already have boxes and tape. if you need to buy that, then you should charge for that too. i would check out amazon. i havent used it myself to sell, but i heard the fees are much, much lower. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ismaelg Posted October 8, 2018 Author Share Posted October 8, 2018 Hello, Thank you all for the replies! Lots of good information here. I appreciate it. I'll start with one kit and see how it goes. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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