selling parts is a mixed bag

so as i began recently learning more ways of increasing my profits i started selling gears belts pulleys and many other things from all the tvs vcrs stereos ect.
now i am rolling on ebay sometimes laughing at prices i get for example:
200 small plastic gears more for robotic/hobby $10

200 larger odd ball gears like vrc tape gears and such 99 cents which weight wise they paid $13 shipping so i will have to rearrange the way i sell these to up the price a bit more but it takes like maybe 5min to pull these out so time wise 99 cents is not bad at least for me.



70 pulley belts off these same things 99 cents which these were a odd mix i sold others i will be by more of the same size in lots of 50

however the pulley gears a lot of 100 mixed with pulley motor attachments $25

for other things its been 6 days so luck yet on sales of laser lens pieces lol but the idea is to list and list and list alot so sales come in everyday more and more which i know alot of you do this and its not new but for me it is a fun journey since i take the time to break down a printer all the way.

the one thing i wish i had is a buyer of plastic or even a free drop off would be nice cause i get swamped in plastic every week and have to throw it away since i have no other means of making money off it shipping it would cost me more and i do not have a 50ft trailer to just pile it in.

Sounds like by time you pay the fees and ship it you are losing money.

no they pay shipping and fees are cheap heat sinks bring in the best rates

With ebay you lose on some auctions and win big on others, all you need to do is come out ahead overall consistantly.

Originally Posted by unknownk

With ebay you lose on some auctions and win big on others, all you need to do is come out ahead overall consistantly.

I agree...eBay will surprise you sometimes. You might think you have something that's gonna sell high and you end up taking a beating. Other times, you list an item that you couldn't sell at a yard sale for more than a buck, and it goes thru the roof. I once listed a vintage pint can of brake fluid, hoping to get $10. It ended up selling for more than $200.

Watch out for international purchasers on ebay. I sold something (not scrap) and checked off only U.S. buyers...and somehow a buyer overseas bought it. Lost money on shipping and it took about 4 weeks to get there but it finally arrived so did not have to refund the money.

Travis....eBay recently changed the final value fee schedule to include the shipping cost. Your 99 cent sale with $13 shipping at the 11% final value fee rate has a $1.54 fee. If you didn't get a free listing fee it adds 50 cents. So even if you break even on shipping this one costs you $2.04 in eBay fees plus 56 cents for PayPal fees if they are still 4% for a total cost of $2.54.

I know you said you need to change this up, but wanted to give you a heads up that the fees are charged on shipping too so you can figure that in when listing. I've sold on eBay since 1998 and it sure has changed a lot over the years.

If you are careful you can do great and sell things you never can sell locally or hit a treasure like DiamondN did.
Good luck.

You could add that into the initial asking price or, possibly, your handling fee.

@travistemple202020 can you tell us your ebay username? I'd like to see your auctions. Thanks.

--Geoff