Originally Posted by
cudak888
The only reason eBay gets away with charging those fees to the general individual is because most people are too stupid to realize that they're giving eBay and PayPal an 18% cut - until:
A. They see how much PayPal cut from their profit when they transfer funds
B. They get the bill for the final value fee. This one is a beaut, because it's monthly billing cycle allows people to forget it exists.
Case in point:
I went to see a package of camera equipment - locally - that the seller had previously listed on eBay for $900 with free shipping. He failed to get a bid. The 18% fees would have knocked his net profit from $900 to $738, and $15 for a large Priority box would cut his net down to $723.
Would it surprise you if I said he had no interest in budging one penny under $900 once we got to negotiations? The discussion went something like this:
"What's your rock bottom price?"
"$900."
"So you'd be willing to take a net profit of $725 if I had bid on this thing on eBay, but you refuse to take the same $725 in cash if I buy it from your driveway?"
"Best I can do is $900."
"Thank you for your time. Goodbye."
Takes all kinds. Thanks to him, I've found a better deal
-Kurt
Not sure how you made up those numbers, but eBarf doesn't take 18%, it's more like 9-10% total. If you get paid via PayPal, maybe 12-14% total.
His gross sale would be $900, not his "net profit." Huge difference. You sound like someone that would talk about 300% profit. Mathematically impossible; you can't make more than 100% profit (if you got something for free, then all of your money that you get for selling that thing is profit, i.e. 100% of it). You can have 300% markup, that's different. And gross profit isn't anywhere near the same as net profit. Net profit is often negative. And 'large Priority boxes' are free. The PO gives them away. Packing materials cost something, but not more than a buck or so, typically. Heck, bike boxes are free at my LBS. I've purchased the same frame boxes that Waterford uses, and those were $5 per box in quantity. Darn good boxes, too (the best, imo).
The reason people continue to sell on eBay is that people usually pay too much for stuff on eBay, on average, so the extra $$ you get in selling price vs. elsewhere covers all of the annoying fees and packing materials. Shipping is often a profit center for eBay sellers (sometimes THE profit center, which annoys the crap out of me, so I don't buy from those sellers).
Just because his stuff didn't sell the first time for $900 doesn't mean that it won't sell for $1000+ next week when he re-lists it. Such is eBarf. Nutty, yet interesting....