Expert: Marvinator - 7/14/2005

Question
Ebay charges a fee, I think. How much does Ebay charge? And does Ebay charge only when I sell an item, or regularly per week or month?

Appreciate any advice!  

Answer
Hello and Welcome to Ebay.  And while we're at it, say goodbye to all your free time!  Ebay is more fun than you can imagine, and more time consuming once you get started selling.  

As for learing about Ebay, let me start by pointing out the Site Map. EVERYTHING you need to know about Ebay, or need to find in order to do business can be found on the Site Map.  I recommend you start with the Left Hand Column, the section entitled HELP. THere are 10 links there which will give you all you need to get started in selling.  

Once you learn that section, go through every other link on that page, and learn about it.  When you're done with that, you'll be quite well versed in what you need to get started.

BUT, let's answer your question about fees.  

Ebay does NOT charge a monthly fee just to be a member.  You are ONLY charged if you list and/or sell something.  (Even if you Buy something, Ebay does not charge you!)

The fees you pay as a seller are in TWO parts:  LISTING and SELLING

LISTING FEES: When you LIST an auction you pay a LISTING FEE to actually put the auction up on Ebay. These fees are on a sliding scale which is dependant upon the starting price of your item.  (Smart sellers know that it only costs 60¢ to list an item with a starting price of $10,00, but only costs 35¢ to list the same item with a starting price of 9.99 - only one penny less! That's why you see so many items listed with a starting price of 9.99!) You pay the listing fee regardless of whether the item sells or not. THere is no refund for the listing fee.

In addition, there are other fees for such things as a bold title, colored title, Gallery Option and the like, but these are not used on all auctions and are optional, so I leave them out for now.  THere is a link below to learn about all the Ebay fees.  

SELLING FEES: When you list something there is no guarantee that it will sell, and many items don't.  BUt, when an item sells - that is, someone actually WANTS to BUY IT, then there is an additional fee charged by Ebay called the FINAL VALUE FEE.  You may start an item at 9.99, but it may sell for $75.00!  The Final Value Fee is a percentage of this final value.

So, you list an item and pay the listing fee. When it sells you pay an additional Final Value Fee.   

You can find ALL the fees laid out for you here:
http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/fees.html

If you need further help with this, feel free to return and ask more questions.