# Bonanza Online Market



## 33706 (Mar 5, 2008)

I know Ebay's fees are high, and as Mike says, for Ebay to get a slice of the shipping dollars is not right.

For decades now, I've been involved in one way or another in the sale of antiques and collectibles, and have the scars to prove it. Perhaps I seem to be prejudiced, but I absorb all the experiences both good and bad, as well as keeping tabs on my daily 'take' from one type of venue or another.

Time was, the country flea markets were THE place to set up your wares, and get the best prices. I did this from the late 60's through the late 70's, until gradually there were less of us old Americana dealers around. What was once generally shows for antiques and collectibles became forced out by imported Asian crap and fortune tellers, and even tattooists setting up booths adjacent to my antiques…the good market days were over.

So, I tried multi-dealer shops. That venture fell on its face too. I'd go in a few times a week to straighten up my kiosk, and find a plane or two missing a knob, lever cap or cutter missing. Somebody must've found a plane elsewhere in the shop and married my hardware to it, and the other seller got the sale. I saw a cookie jar on another dealer's table, and it was missing the top. Somebody snagged my lid on my identical cookie jar, and paid peanuts for the other jar with my lid on it. This kind of stuff went on constantly, and worse, the owners both had the sloppiest bookkeeping possible.

Yard sales? They were awful too. For every one respectful customer, there were five obnoxious, insufferable lookers who used offensive words as a negotiating tool. For example, I had 7 brass blowtorches. One piker offered me a dollar apiece saying he couldn't get much more than that from the local metals scrapper. Five block planes disappeared into someone's pockets when I wasn't looking. Another offered me $3 for a #5 Hercules Sargent plane, still in the box. It was marked $40. There was somebody who offered me $3 for my good-running Craftsman snowblower, ($50) he said he could only get $7-$8 for it at the scrappers. And so it goes, on and on.

Ebay at least weeds out the undesirables, to a large extent. My only problem is people who ask the nit-pickiest questions or demand extensive pictures on, say, a functional plane listed for a mere $12.50. It's worth it, however, for conducting sales on Ebay, when they collect and forward sales taxes to states and provinces, sparing me that aggravation. No standing outside in the hot sun, no hurried 60 mile runs with truck and trailer at 5:00 AM, no fighting over spaces I'd reserved from a week earlier, no pillaging or pilfering, yeahhh, it's worth it.

*But….I'd be interested in any feedback on whether Bonanza is a good place to set up shop!*


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## drsurfrat (Aug 17, 2020)

Poopiekat - thank you for going to the trouble to write that. It is a great long-term perspective, and helps me balance my 'analysis'.


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## OnhillWW (Jan 10, 2015)

> The reason I started this was that eBay takes a big cut - including from shipping costs *which they have nothing to do with*. I was hoping for a more reasonable fee scale.
> 
> 
> > OK here is a dirty little secret that both Etsy and Ebay do; Both take a percentage of the shipping fee, this is outrageous BUT to add insult to injury, both have negotiated reduced shipping fees for their sellers and both only pass on a portion of the savings and pocket the remainder THEN charge the seller a % of the shipping fee = double dipping.


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## 33706 (Mar 5, 2008)

Ebay used to actively request that users report sellers who charge exorbitant shipping charges. Now I realize that Ebay would just as soon take a cut of an inflated charge as an actual charge.

I've dealt with sellers who list items with horrendous shipping charges. The strategy they used was to avoid Final Value Fees, by lowballing the bid price and making up for it with high shipping costs. Ebay got wise to this and I guess they wanted a piece of the action.

The reduced Postal charges get offset by sales tax on shipping tax and fuel surcharges and anything else they think of. I assume USPS operates in a similar fashion.

I avoid integrated services like "Shippo" and directly, independently deal with my Canada Post account so that Ebay doesn't ever see the actual amount I spend to ship a parcel to my bidders.


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## 33706 (Mar 5, 2008)

I just reviewed my Last sales transaction in Ebay. This is what I see, as a seller: 
Ebay sale: $26.00
Calculated Shpg 29.97
buyer's local sales tax: 3.17
Total transaction 59.14

Then… Ebay, through Paypal, collects their 2.49 Fee for the listing and sale from the above total, and forwards the buyer's sales tax to the appropriate state agency. $3.17
I receive a net value of $53.48. Then, I pay out-of-pocket for shipping.

But while I was compensated for the shipping cost by Ebay's internal calculator, I was responsible for the actual cost of shipping, by what Canada Post says they will charge me. In this particular case, I spent $26.88 for shipping on a business account.

Sometimes, the way that rates are structured make it difficult to get it exactly right. It's usually higher or lower than what the Ebay shipping calculator says. for example, using 2 identical 12" X 12" X 12" boxes, I could ship 50 pounds of solid lead, or a single soccer ball. You'd think one package would cost more to ship than the other, but NOOOOooo…it would be about the same because the rate structure is based on perceived volume as well as actual weight.

About Fees: You can list your item in Ebay using multiple categories, but it will cost extra. You can add descriptions, but it will cost extra. Add huge photos, extra. Use any of a dozen or so options, extra extra extra. Then click the auto-relist button, and you'll pay these fees over and over again until the item sells. Before you click the 'List' button, it indicates how much the list will cost. Click on it, it's a link, and decide whether all the bells and whistles are worth it. You have one last chance to opt out of any feature that you really don't need.

Ebay is still the best way to go, in my opinion. 'Til something else comes along. If I was set up at a Country Flea Market, I'd eat up the $$ difference in hot dogs and coffee in the course of a day.


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