Are you baffled by the vast number of eBay seller fees? Well, you can stop worrying as the basics are really easy to understand, and in this article I'll make sure that you know exactly how to get started. It is easy to get lost as there are many different fees; however, as a newcomer to eBay, there are really just two fees that you absolutely must understand and then just a couple of other kinds of fees that are helpful. The good thing is that once you master understanding Insertion and Final Value fees, the others are also easy to understand.
There are a number of different categories for eBay auctions, such as Fix Price format auctions, eBay Stores, eBay Motors, Classified Ads, Real Estate, and auctions for Industrial Equipment. However, the only category you, as a beginner, need be concerned with is the basic Auction Style format. Even though the Insertion and Final Value fees are different for each category, at this time we only need to be concerned with the fees for the basic auction.
The basic Auction Style is the kind of auction that we all think of when we think of an auction. There is a starting bid followed by bidding of all interested buyers, and the person with the highest bid wins. That is the essence of the basic Auction Style format. For this kind of auction, your Insertion fee is $0.00 for the first one hundred auctions you run in a month if your starting bid is between .$0.01 and $0.99. If you run more than 100 auctions in 30 days, then the insertion fee advances to $0.10 for every auction above 100. When your starting bid is between $1.00 and $9.99, the fee is $.25 and so on until you reach the maximum Insertion fee of $2.00 when the starting bid is $200 or more. Although you have to pay an Insertion fee whether your item sells or not, if you item does not sell and your immediately relist your item, then eBay credits back the Insertion fee for the first auction. In other words, if your item does not sell, you pay no Insertion fee on the first auction if you relist the item.
Final Value fees can also be confusing, but there is no need. Keep in mind that if your item does not sell, the FV is zero. FV fees are a percentage of the dollar amount of the winning bid. Thus, if there are no bids, the FV is $0.00. Otherwise, you pay 9 percent of the final cost up to a maximum of $50. To put this in the form of an equation, FV = .9 x final cost or $50, whichever is the least amount. You sell an item for $20, then your FV will .9 x 20.00 or $1.80. If your item sell for $100, then your FV is .9 x $100 = $9. If your item sells for $2000, then your FV is $50, because the maximum FV is $50, and 9% of $2000 is $180, so we take the smaller amount of $50. Although Final Value fees are different for each auction category, once you master the fees for the basic Auction Style format, figuring out the fees for the other categories will make much more sense.
One of the important optional fees beginners should know about is the Buy It Now (BIN) fee. If you want to give your buyer the option of purchasing immediately at a pre-determined price before any bids have been placed, then you can set a BIN. To do this, eBay charges you an additional fee. An example of how this works would be if you listed as item with a starting bid of $60 but offered a BIN of $70. This gives someone the chance to buy immediately before any bids have been place. As soon as the first bid is placed, the BIN is automatically turned off. The smallest BIN is $.05 for items whose starting bid is between $.99 and $9.99. The greatest BIN is $.25 for items with starting bids of $50 or more.
The last fee I want to mention if the Listing Upgrade fee. You can see the full schedule of Listing Upgrade fees at the eBay page, pages.ebay.com/help/sell/fees.html#upgrade. In my opinion, the essential fees to be aware of are for Subtitle and Bold. The Subtitle fee allows you to add an additional subtitle to your auction listing to give additional information; the Bold fee allows you to list your auction in Bold face type. I feel that these two are most important to mention because veteran sellers report that they make the difference between a successful auction and an unsuccessful auction. Again, these fees are optional but important even for a newbie to pay attention to.
Although there are many fees and different ways of calculating the fees depending auction category, it is not important to discuss them all at this time. Unless you are auctioning vehicles, real estate, or industrial equipment, it simply is not important to stuff you with this information when in all likelihood the basic Auction Style format is what you need to know about right now. Master the basics, and then proceed to more advanced forms of selling. Believe me, once you understand the basics, the rest will begin to fall into place.
There are a number of different categories for eBay auctions, such as Fix Price format auctions, eBay Stores, eBay Motors, Classified Ads, Real Estate, and auctions for Industrial Equipment. However, the only category you, as a beginner, need be concerned with is the basic Auction Style format. Even though the Insertion and Final Value fees are different for each category, at this time we only need to be concerned with the fees for the basic auction.
The basic Auction Style is the kind of auction that we all think of when we think of an auction. There is a starting bid followed by bidding of all interested buyers, and the person with the highest bid wins. That is the essence of the basic Auction Style format. For this kind of auction, your Insertion fee is $0.00 for the first one hundred auctions you run in a month if your starting bid is between .$0.01 and $0.99. If you run more than 100 auctions in 30 days, then the insertion fee advances to $0.10 for every auction above 100. When your starting bid is between $1.00 and $9.99, the fee is $.25 and so on until you reach the maximum Insertion fee of $2.00 when the starting bid is $200 or more. Although you have to pay an Insertion fee whether your item sells or not, if you item does not sell and your immediately relist your item, then eBay credits back the Insertion fee for the first auction. In other words, if your item does not sell, you pay no Insertion fee on the first auction if you relist the item.
Final Value fees can also be confusing, but there is no need. Keep in mind that if your item does not sell, the FV is zero. FV fees are a percentage of the dollar amount of the winning bid. Thus, if there are no bids, the FV is $0.00. Otherwise, you pay 9 percent of the final cost up to a maximum of $50. To put this in the form of an equation, FV = .9 x final cost or $50, whichever is the least amount. You sell an item for $20, then your FV will .9 x 20.00 or $1.80. If your item sell for $100, then your FV is .9 x $100 = $9. If your item sells for $2000, then your FV is $50, because the maximum FV is $50, and 9% of $2000 is $180, so we take the smaller amount of $50. Although Final Value fees are different for each auction category, once you master the fees for the basic Auction Style format, figuring out the fees for the other categories will make much more sense.
One of the important optional fees beginners should know about is the Buy It Now (BIN) fee. If you want to give your buyer the option of purchasing immediately at a pre-determined price before any bids have been placed, then you can set a BIN. To do this, eBay charges you an additional fee. An example of how this works would be if you listed as item with a starting bid of $60 but offered a BIN of $70. This gives someone the chance to buy immediately before any bids have been place. As soon as the first bid is placed, the BIN is automatically turned off. The smallest BIN is $.05 for items whose starting bid is between $.99 and $9.99. The greatest BIN is $.25 for items with starting bids of $50 or more.
The last fee I want to mention if the Listing Upgrade fee. You can see the full schedule of Listing Upgrade fees at the eBay page, pages.ebay.com/help/sell/fees.html#upgrade. In my opinion, the essential fees to be aware of are for Subtitle and Bold. The Subtitle fee allows you to add an additional subtitle to your auction listing to give additional information; the Bold fee allows you to list your auction in Bold face type. I feel that these two are most important to mention because veteran sellers report that they make the difference between a successful auction and an unsuccessful auction. Again, these fees are optional but important even for a newbie to pay attention to.
Although there are many fees and different ways of calculating the fees depending auction category, it is not important to discuss them all at this time. Unless you are auctioning vehicles, real estate, or industrial equipment, it simply is not important to stuff you with this information when in all likelihood the basic Auction Style format is what you need to know about right now. Master the basics, and then proceed to more advanced forms of selling. Believe me, once you understand the basics, the rest will begin to fall into place.
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