When it comes to selling goods on ebay, the general consensus is that it’s a simple, straightforward procedure with zero effort and great rewards. In my case: not so. To begin with, I had to set up a seller account and link this to Pay Pal. Unfortunately, having originally registered for ebay while living in France; all instructions were given in French. Unable to de
cipher computer jargon at the best of times, let alone in a foreign language, I called upon the ebay live support team. Via instant messenger they helped reinstate me as an Australian ebay citizen and set up a seller account. All in all, these few steps took a couple of days. Once an official AUSTRALIAN ebay seller, it came time to prepare my unwanted fashion items for sale. In all honesty, it was this stage of the game that had deterred me in the past. It involves the sorting of goods, washing and ironing clothes, taking good quality photos, writing descriptive text – from washing instructions to fabric types and item faults - then finally loading everything online. For around ten items I set aside a full day to get everything organised.
When loading the listings online, my lack of experience left me at the mercy of ebay tip sheets to determine what starting prices I should register for each item. They recommend starting your items at a low price to attract more bidders however I opted for the lowest price I would be happy to accept. This ranged from $4.99 to $49.99, with most products starting from around $9.99. I figured ten dollars for something I would otherwise have donated to an op shop would be fair exchange, while $50 for something I’d paid a lot of money for would be substantial. As it turns out, your starting price determines the amount you are charged for insertion fees – thus leading me to the next selling component: cost.
When you list an item on eBay, you're charged an insertion fee; if the item sells, you're also charged a final value fee. Then there are the extras you pay to enhance your listing. These include images, highlighted typeface, special positioning and more. Once you’ve sold the item and want to transfer your funds to your own bank account, you’re charged again. For example, to transfer $65 I’d received in payments to my linked account I was charged $1. None of these fees are unreasonably large but can add up over time. In my case, it made me reconsider some of the items I’d hoped to sell; some will instead be given away. After all, taking into account my time and insertion fees, the effort would not be justified if the items sold for a low figure or not at all.
The lesson that emerged from this experience is that in future I’ll only ebay items likely to fetch a hefty price like designer labels or great jewellery and accessories; other garments will go directly to the op shop. My ebay activities have also provided a welcome reminder to carefully consider the clothes I buy. Something that’s too big or way off my usual style is never going to look good on, regardless of its beautiful fabric, colour or bargain price tag.
