eBay, Things I consider Before Listing

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eBay Homepage: eBay and Me - A Good Match?

On my last eBay page the focus was on (among other things) listing for others. On this page, I'll write about the issues I think about before I list. Some things, such as value, help me to decide whether to list, and other considerations, such as shipping, help me in how to list. In exploring whether something is going to make a profit on eBay, I must consider (among other things) time, cost, value, popularity, and shipping. 

Basically, when considering if I will list an item for sale, I look for other similar listings. When possible, I find the exact item. I count how many items I've found, then jot down, and add up, all the prices. Then I divide the total number of items into the total price. That gives me the average price for the item. In some cases, there are too many items to worry about totaling them all. In that case, I include a couple high prices and low prices along with a few medium prices, for a total of at least 8 items, to get a good idea of the going price. This gives me the value of the item at this time. I may, at this point, look at the retail price of the item. Whether I do that depends on the age of the item and its popularity. If I'm looking up a newer Coach purse, for instance, I would want to use the retail price in my listing to entice buyers. 

Here's where it gets murky. Is it worth the time and expense to list the item? Here's the equation I use:  value minus cost. You've obtained the value by using the process above.  Now calculate the cost. Cost is subjective because everyone values their time differently at different times in their lives. Now, my time is less valuable than in my career years. Because I want something to do, and I enjoy eBaying, I value my time to $10 per hour. So if I spend half an hour on listing, and half an hours finding, repairing and packaging an item (this is a conservative estimate), then my cost is at $10 already. Then eBay has charges and so does PayPal. Add all that together and you have your cost. If your cost is more than the value, then you will lose money if you list the item. If cost and value are the same, you can list for fun. If the value of the item is more than the cost, then there is your profit. Happy eBaying!

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eBay and Me - A Good Match?
To List or Not to List - For Others

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