Ebay: List 5 FREE - BargainBriana

I’ve sold on Ebay before and the biggest drawback to me has always been the listing fees. Why do I want to pay to list if I don’t know if my item will sell? The List 5 FREE Promotion is a great incentive to get started again and I may list a couple of our higher quality items on Ebay this week.

Starting on June 16, 2009, Auction-style listings submitted through the standard Sell Your Item or Simple listing form will be eligible for new pricing which includes:

5 FREE Insertion Fees every 30 days, regardless of start price of the item *Excludes items with a Start/Buy It Now/Reserve price of $18 million and above!
The $0.00 Insertion Fee listings will have a Final Value Fee per listing of 8.75% or $20, whichever is lower
Current Insertion Fees and Final Value Fees will apply to additional listings within the 30 day period

You will then pay 8.75% of the closing value up to $20 for the first 5 listings.

You can read more about it with Ebay’s FAQ about the program.

If you BUY from Ebay, make sure to shop through EBATES as you will receive 3% back! If you don’t know about EBATES, you can read more about this great money saving program!

Robert Stump

June 30, 2009 at 2:05 pm

You do need to be aware of the fee structure associated with this new BARGAIN. One thing eBay likes to do is make money, and though they are offering this as a FREE 5 LISTINGS per 30 days, this will cost most sellers MORE than if they paid the listing fee up front. It all depends on your starting price, the ending price of the auction and the category you list in to determine if you will make or lose money on this gimmick.

For example, the standard auction FINAL VALUE FEE structure on eBay is a sliding scale percentage that goes down the higher the ending price goes up. You currently pay 8.75% of only the first $25 of the ending price, then it drops way down to 3.5% of the rest (until it gets to $1000 and it drops again to 1.5%). However, with this new fee structure on your FORCED 5 FREE LISTINGS, eBay’s commission is 8.75% of the entire ending price (with the maximum capped at $20).

So, what does this mean? Well, the math is complicated and eBay hopes you won’t try to figure it out. It boils down to this… if you list an item using one of your FORCED 5 FREE LISTINGS that has an ending selling price anywhere between $30 and $525 then eBay is making more commission off of you than they would have if you had been allowed to list the original way. The magic zone is around the $220 mark where eBay is making almost twice the commission from you. Under the FORCED 5 FREE LISTINGS this item will cost you $20 in eBay FINAL VALUE FEES, while under the standard listings will cost you $9.33 in FINAL VALUE FEES.

Of course, you need to take your desired starting price into consideration. The cheapest eBay standard LISTING price is $0.15 and can be had for a non-reserve auction starting at under $1. However, the LISTING price goes all the way to $4 for no-upgrade auctions, and will put a dent into your profit. Then, you must also remember the $20 cap for the FORCED 5 FREE LISTINGS. This can actually benefit you… but only if your auction ending price is OVER $534. At that price, the standard FINAL VALUE FEE is $20 and will only go up the higher the ending price goes (by 3.5%, and then 1.5% after $1000 with no cap whatsoever).

I keep using the phrase FORCED 5 FREE LISTINGS because that is what they are. According to eBay’s FAQ, you CANNOT opt out of these automatic 5 FREE LISTINGS per 30 days. The only way to get around this (according to eBay) is to use a 3rd party listing tool. This blows in my opinion… why not let the seller choose which auctions are listed under the new fee structure, and which ones aren’t? For me, if I need to post an item and I expect the final price to end up over $30, but under $525, then I will simply post as many FAKE auctions before hand to use up my FORCED 5 FREE LISTINGS. Perhaps, I will post several auctions starting at say $25 that offers to give sellers the real eBay motivation for offering 5 FREE LISTINGS per 30 days.

Comments

Robert Stump

June 30, 2009 at 2:05 pm

You do need to be aware of the fee structure associated with this new BARGAIN. One thing eBay likes to do is make money, and though they are offering this as a FREE 5 LISTINGS per 30 days, this will cost most sellers MORE than if they paid the listing fee up front. It all depends on your starting price, the ending price of the auction and the category you list in to determine if you will make or lose money on this gimmick.

For example, the standard auction FINAL VALUE FEE structure on eBay is a sliding scale percentage that goes down the higher the ending price goes up. You currently pay 8.75% of only the first $25 of the ending price, then it drops way down to 3.5% of the rest (until it gets to $1000 and it drops again to 1.5%). However, with this new fee structure on your FORCED 5 FREE LISTINGS, eBay’s commission is 8.75% of the entire ending price (with the maximum capped at $20).

So, what does this mean? Well, the math is complicated and eBay hopes you won’t try to figure it out. It boils down to this… if you list an item using one of your FORCED 5 FREE LISTINGS that has an ending selling price anywhere between $30 and $525 then eBay is making more commission off of you than they would have if you had been allowed to list the original way. The magic zone is around the $220 mark where eBay is making almost twice the commission from you. Under the FORCED 5 FREE LISTINGS this item will cost you $20 in eBay FINAL VALUE FEES, while under the standard listings will cost you $9.33 in FINAL VALUE FEES.

Of course, you need to take your desired starting price into consideration. The cheapest eBay standard LISTING price is $0.15 and can be had for a non-reserve auction starting at under $1. However, the LISTING price goes all the way to $4 for no-upgrade auctions, and will put a dent into your profit. Then, you must also remember the $20 cap for the FORCED 5 FREE LISTINGS. This can actually benefit you… but only if your auction ending price is OVER $534. At that price, the standard FINAL VALUE FEE is $20 and will only go up the higher the ending price goes (by 3.5%, and then 1.5% after $1000 with no cap whatsoever).

I keep using the phrase FORCED 5 FREE LISTINGS because that is what they are. According to eBay’s FAQ, you CANNOT opt out of these automatic 5 FREE LISTINGS per 30 days. The only way to get around this (according to eBay) is to use a 3rd party listing tool. This blows in my opinion… why not let the seller choose which auctions are listed under the new fee structure, and which ones aren’t? For me, if I need to post an item and I expect the final price to end up over $30, but under $525, then I will simply post as many FAKE auctions before hand to use up my FORCED 5 FREE LISTINGS. Perhaps, I will post several auctions starting at say $25 that offers to give sellers the real eBay motivation for offering 5 FREE LISTINGS per 30 days.
Brandy's Big Bargains

June 19, 2009 at 7:33 pm

Thanks for the great info! I too did not like the idea of having to pay, but this is definately incentive to start again.
.-= Brandy’s Big Bargains´s last blog ..New Coupons on My Sidebar! =-.

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