Going to try something different

I'm going to have somebody sell my more than scrap value stuff on eBay.i would but I work a 40 hr + job and scrap metal plus have a wife and 2 children under to 2 yrs old. Just so you guys know my situation. I just hope it works out. Any info?

I can appreciate your thoughts on letting someone else sell your ebay items. I'm retired and have some physical limitations I find that research and listing can take up major amounts of my time. I don't list many items that would support someone else taking a percentage out of the sale so this is something I can seriously consider.

These questions are ones I am suggesting you consider if you have not as of yet.

Will you stuff be listed on your accoutn or on theirs? There are advantages either way, tax cosiderations, bad feed back, good feed back.

What policies will you require of your seller? What is the split going to be?
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A friend of mine did what you are planing and ened up stopping. The problems seemed to be both of the individuals involved. The ebay lister he used ended up with bad feed back and had a accout suspended by ebay. He seemed to be ok with selling items of lesser quality than he promised in his ads. When a complant came up he would generally offer a partial refund but not change his way of doing business.

In my opinion my friend also had some expectations and concerns that may have been out of line. Also his style of listing and mine tend to be very different in part because of the difference in material we each sell.

In this case you are becoming customer/boss of this other person. If you have been a supervisore of someone you realize how challenging it can be letting someone else accomplish the mission. They rarely do it exactly as you would and you can't obsess over it. Best of luck, Mike.

Doing the same thing myself! What are you doing, a per item basis or commission?

That is a great idea. I would be curious what the cost of this type of arrangement would be. Is it a percentage and does the seller meet with the buyer and collect the money? Personally I set the price and the advertiser gets whatever they can. They buy it when they have a buyer. Please let me know your business plan.

By the time the seller pays Listing Fees, Final Value fees, PayPal fees, Packing supplies ect.. it can run 20-35% of the selling price.
Then you have to pay the listing person.
Are you willing to take only 50-60% of the selling price for yourself??

We agreed on 15% commission. I meeting with them this weekend and are writing an agreement up.

i cant see how someone could sell things for others for 15 percent,,,,,if and when i sell for someone its a 50/50 split.....thats after my fees..and im still taking a risk because after i pay someone there half whats to say i dont get scammed in the next 45 days......

If you consider: 10 % for ebay (up to a specific $ amount, depending on the item), 3 % for paypal, and 15% for their commission = 28%, obviously leaving you the other 72%. I personally never offer free shipping, but I always make sure that my items are professionally packed. If you buy your items in bulk and when they are on sale you save a ton of shipping costs. All of my boxes I get for free, in a variety of sizes and all plain brown cardboard, and if you check ebay for bubble rap, pop corn peanuts etc, you will find that you can get these items for a fraction of the cost you can at a store. So figure another 2 percent for shipping costs, and honestly you can probably ad that into the shipping charge (I do), then you have around 70% left. Considering the time and situation you're in, it sounds like a good deal, but that all depends on if you offer free shipping, get your items at a discount, etc.....

Remember that ebay has started charging the final value fee on shipping costs also.

Thanks everyone for the input. I just trying it. People around here don't buy the stuff I have to sell. I don't have the time to sell on eBay or any status on eBay to sell.

Put me in KC's camp. Not all of us want to deal with eBay or the hassles of it. I have someone who does similar for me. Am I happy with 72 out of 100? **** skippy. Still more then I'd get if I scrap the item.

It does work an for those saying it doesn't..eBay used to offer a similar program. Can it go badly? Sure can, just like anything else in life. This is why you get it written out, an put on paper. Know what your getting into etc.

I know it can work, you just have to have the right person doing the selling. A friend of mine's wife does it. She uses her ebay account, as I don't care about the feedback. We have it written out on how things work in regards to a refund and all that other mess. I get to look over the ads an make sure their good with me. I wouldn't allow anyone to mislead a buyer on my behalf.

So..what i'm saying is..Get EVERYTHING in writing. Dot your i's and cross your t's. You know..CYA. I also don't give up my items till close to end of an auction, or till it sells. It helps we live with a block of each other. So far I've sold about 50 things through her, an they've all been great sales, for me, and her. I'm not the only she does this for, so it's not like I'm her only paycheck. The folks who do this, are likely similar to her. Your not their only client most likely.

Far as the items I have her sell for me it varies..Cell phones whose screens I've fixed, gps units I get in that work, old toys, collectibles, all kinds of items really. It's not an every day or every week thing even. Those 50 items have been over a good period of time. I'm happy with it, but then..I don't rely on eBay for everything. I'm quite happy with my scrap profit. An if it don't sell..I don't get upset. I've got other avenues to move items if I so choose.

It's like having a partner at times..it may work for me, an others, but it doesn't for other folks.

As always..YMMV.

Sirscrapalot - Nothing ventured, nothing gained. - Someone that wasn't me.

Double post, sue me..;)

Me an my seller do it on a per item basis. As I call them when I need something sold via eBay. I do add on if they can get more then what I'm asking more power to them. It doesn't happen often but sometimes it does.

To those asking.."Are you ok with 50% or 60%?" I sure am, 50% is still better then selling it at scrap price. I'm going to use an example, an it's just an example so don't go hollering on figures an numbers. If I can sell a iphone 5 for scrap price of 40.00, or i can have my seller throw it on eBay for 200.00, I get 50%..I'm still making 60 more then If I had scrapped the thing. I hope that makes sense.

My point here is your still making more then if you scrapped an item out, an sold off it's various parts at scrap price. Far as shipping materials, I get my boxes for free also, an I get any other stuff I need for shipping pretty cheap. So therefore when I take an item to her to ship out, all she is doing is slapping a label on it an dropping it in the mail.

You need to be on top of the ads an your items. Don't let them be described with lies an falsehoods, always be honest, provide your own description if you like to do that stuff. Provide your own pictures to. I give her what I'd like the listing to say. Sometimes she comes back with some changes, if they seem ok with me I go with it, if not..it's written in our agreement I have final say on the listing add, an pictures. Hence why I usually supply my own.

I do know it's yet another tool in my box, an one I will use when I feel the need to. It just won't be a often thing. :) I still dislike them a lot. After all I have a hand saw, i hardly use, but when i need to it's there for me to use it. Just like Amazon,eBay, CL, flea markets, swap meets, yard sales, etc.

Feh..sorry for the double post, but wanted to add a bit more without turning the first post into a some huge book none of you will read. ;)

As always..Good luck, an YMMV. I don't fault anyone for doing whats best for THEM.

Sirscrapalot - Sometimes you just gotta roll the dice an say..wth. - Me, or someone else, i dunno.

I have the same thing, 15%, and its my girlfriend doing it, so I'm not too worried about it. We're going to probably do some ads together too

Is this an acquaintance of yours? Or are you going through an agency?

I might be interested in having an arrangement like this in the future; but I don't know that any of my colleagues would be interested in the selling portion.

I do some consignment sales on eBay. I use my own account (1900 feedback, 100% positive) and I charge 35% after fees are paid. Shipping fees are mine but I cover all shipping materials and it is always either break even or a couple of cents out of my pocket. This seems to be the going rate around here. If you can get it done well for 15% I say definitely do it. That is a great deal I could never justify the time I spend at that amount. I do not advertise or anything, just get stuff word of mouth around here. It can be a great deal for both parties. I make some money for my work and the seller generally gets some cash for little effort. Of course, eBay is not the gold mine it used to be but it can still move some merchandise.

See..it's not just me that makes it work! :p

Glad to hear of others who do this, an someone who sells for others like Harsas above.

Sirscrapalot - Not as crazy as he thought.

It sure is time consuming!

so was researching for like 2 months about selling stuff on eBay my self and in 3 days I will have my first sell. 20lbs of gold end connectors

Would you mind posting a link? Mike

I can appreciate your situation. Nothing is more important than family. I don't do eBay so can't give you any feedback. But miked seems to have you covered. As iam sure other ebayers will to. Good luck KC.

We had a brick-and-mortar that did this and they were out of business within six months. Stuff like that usually doesn't survive around here. I would chime in that I'd offer this service but don't think there'd be any general interest.

-Matt

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=171606499196&alt=web

hope that works still trying to figure out this android used to own a iPhone

I ,(WE} have 10s of thousands of $ in hi end server parts, we do have an (e bay seller) looking for a better one. problem 1. he is used to low dollar sales. 2. 20 % problems with not recieved dosen't wrk, wrong part etc. 3. don't have the paitence to do it my self. just sold over 5 million worth of un used mainframes for less then $4000. 5. split 50/50 with seller then 50/50 with partner.

HELP !!!

I just sell as scrap unless I can physically see/know that it works so mainly I am going to sell cases and cosmetic parts.