How to Save Money on Your eBay Fees

eBay is a great way to sell all of your unwanted items for added income, but the fees do add up and take away from your profit margin. Here are some easy ways to save on eBay fees and still take home more money from your auctions and sales.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• eBay account (Free)
• Internet connection
• Items to Sell on eBay
• Planning

1. 
   Save Money on your eBay fees

   The first and simplest way to save money on your upfront eBay fees is to list with a lower minimum bid. Items for $.01-$.99 the insertion fee will be just $.15. If you list between $1.00 and $9.99 is will cost you $.35. So right there, is a savings of $.20 per item. If you have lots of items, the savings will add up.

2. The next easiest way to save is to list items in these categories: Books, Music, DVDs and Movies and Video Games. For items under $25, there is a savings of up to $.20 an item. Selling these items as Fixed Price is just $.15 compared to $.35 in other categories.

3. For Final Value Fees, which is what eBay charges you when you have completed a sale or auction, the fees are a percentage of your sale. Here again, the Fixed Price items have a lower percentage (6%-8%) in the Consumer Electronics, Cameras and Photos categories compared to the Auction Style Final Value Fees of 8.75%. Other categories have a higher Final Value Fee of 12% for Clothing, Shoes and Accessories, as well as many other categories. eBay has a list of all their fees at:
   http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/fees.html for you to compare item fees.

4. Combine individual items to sell as a LOT. If you have many pieces of sheet music, try combining them into one Auction or Fixed price sale. You will SAVE on listing fees, and the buyer will save on shipping fees.

Tips & Warnings

• Keeping track of fees in a spread sheet can help you see how much you spend on fees.
• The fees are one of the few costs of doing business. You have the potential of millions of viewers to your sales on eBay, rather than dozens at a local garage sale.
• Don’t get bogged down by over analyzing the fees. Just be aware that there can be simple ways to save on them.

Resources

• Anne Z on the Web
• eBay selling Fees Listing
• eBay.com
• Anne Z's Recycled Treasures on eBay

[yellowstar2000]

on 10/18/2009 Great article on how to save money on ebay fees! thanks for the tips, I love ebay!

[reysmommy1123]

on 10/18/2009 Great tips!!! I just started selling on ebay and I see that the fees can add up, try paying the fees once a week too, to keep them from adding up to a high amount that's not manageable!!! 5 ***** & recommended you :)

[sullysee]

on 10/12/2009 Good tips to save money on your ebay fees. 5*

[highcloud]

on 9/28/2009 Great advice. I can save some money on Ebay. 5*

[pbartelssc]

on 9/27/2009 Good topic. I'm always looking for a way to save on the my Ebay fees.