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Since its launch, eBay has grown from an online auction site to a powerhouse e-commerce marketplace where you can find — and sell — practically anything.
Kick off your eBay business by signing up for an account online.
It all depends on how much you intend to sell.
If you plan to use eBay as part of a side hustle for extra cash, selling everyday items like gently used clothing and household items you no longer need, sign up for an individual account. If you’re looking to offload multiples of items in a business inventory, you can save money on insertion items and more with an eBay Store.
Selling as an individual
eBay Store
Consider four main fees when selling on eBay: subscription, listing, final value and PayPal transaction fees.
If you want to open an eBay Store, choose from five paid subscription tiers to choose from: Starter, Basic, Premium, Anchor and Enterprise. You generally can shave savings off monthly costs with an annual subscription.
| Starter | Basic | Premium | Anchor | Enterprise | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Subscription fee | $7.95 monthly or $59.40 a year | $27.95 monthly or $263.40 a year | $74.95 monthly or $719.40 a year | $349.95 monthly or $3,599.40 a year | $2,999.95 a year |
| Free listings per month | Up to 100 fixed-price or auction-style listings |
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If you’ve run out of free listings or the item you want to sell doesn’t qualify for a free listing, you’ll need to pay a selling fee. A selling fee is a percentage of an item’s total sale price.
| Basic Store package | Featured Store package | Anchor Store package | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Auction-style listings | $3 | $3 | $3 |
| Auction-style listings in Collectibles category | $1 | $0.05 | $0.05 |
| Fixed-price listings | $0.50 | $0.20 | $0.05 |
| Fixed-price listings in Media categories | $0.05 | $0.05 | $0.05 |
| Classified Ad listings in Real Estate category | $49.99 | $49.99 | $49.99 |
| Classified Ad listings in other categories (except Motors) | $19.99 | $19.99 | $19.99 |
You also pay a fee when your item sells on eBay — called a final-value fee.
These fees are calculated as a percentage of the total sale price, including postage and handling. Amounts range from 4% to 10%, depending on a complicated fee system that involves your membership level, the category you listed your item in and sometimes the item itself.
Another fee to look out for involves payments processing. The company charges two types of fees for managing your payments:
You can avoid these charges by receiving buyer payments to a PayPal account, but PayPal itself will charge a fee based on completed sales and method of payment.
With all these fees to consider, it’s easy for an item that sells for $50 to return you only $43. I’ve had moments where I’ve dropped the price of my unwanted threads to $0.99 plus postage for a quick sale — and wound up at a loss due to all the fees.
Before you decide on a price, check out an eBay calculator to see whether you’re fairly pricing your goods. You’ll find numerous apps and online calculators online.
There are a couple of eBay shipping options available:
Compare a range of shipping platforms like ShippingEasy and ShipStation to find the best fit for your inventory and budget.
ShipBob takes care of picking, packing and shipping your e-commerce orders, whether they’re placed through your website or a third-party channel like Amazon.
If you can’t get your listing in front of potential buyers, it doesn’t matter how tantalizing your stock. That’s where eBay’s marketing and promotion options come in.
Sign in to your eBay account to learn more about:
The main factors to consider when working out how to price items on eBay include:
After trial and error, you should be able to find the perfect price point that represents a decent profit for you and good value for shoppers.
Like many marketplaces, eBay extends a healthy list of services to protect both buyers and sellers against fraud, nondelivery and misrepresentation:
Potential issues every new eBay seller should be aware of:
Read more pros and cons of eBay in our comparison of selling on Bonanza versus eBay.
The beauty of eBay for both sellers and buyers is that you can find nearly anything under the sun for sale on its marketplace, from clothing and everyday household items to toys and sought-after memorabilia and even high-end electronics and cars.
It can be. A globally recognized online marketplace, eBay is a major player in the world of e-commerce, and so lots of eyes could potentially land on your listing.
But profits depend on converting those eyes into a sale, and that’s not guaranteed. Multiple eBay fees and general business costs of selling — like packaging and posting — can chip away at your bottom line.
Understand the risks involved in running an online business before getting started.
If you’re looking to start an online business, you may want to consider signing up for an e-commerce platform that allows you to create your own store. Use the table below to compare your options.
In the world of online selling, eBay is difficult to avoid. It’s touted the “world’s largest marketplace,” after all, offering so many wares to every corner of the world.
Whether you’re a hobbyist or an expert seller, you can get your listings in front of millions of people. But watch for complicated fees and restrictions on select items.
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