I haven't been posting because I'm not really sure what I wanted to blog about these days. Considering the main thing going on in my life is reselling. I guess, that's what I'll be blogging about. Probably peppered in with some motorcycle and hopefully some travel posts after next year.
So eBay. I don't even know where to start. Between eBay fees, postal fees, and the low prices of items being sold. Is it even worth it anymore?
To answer my own question. Kind of.
I think you have to be really selective with what you're selling though. I mean, if you don't care about fees, and want to give close to half your money to a major corporation, then yeah, it's still worth it. I personally have a hard time giving anyone that much of my money.
Here's a good example. Today I sold a Buffalo Bills hat.
Between promotion fees and transaction fees it's almost $5 in fees. Subtract the shipping at $6.07 and in the end, eBay made more than I did on the sale. It's like that business partner I never wanted!
Yeah, they have the traffic, but I still don't think that justifies these fees. They're ripping people off. Nobody, and I mean NOBODY should be taking half your money for ANYTHING!
After my product cost, eBay made $4.84 off my sale. I made $4.11. Seriously, not happy with this scenario. I just don't think they should be making more than the seller. It's just not right.
I'm pretty sure I'm done selling clothes on eBay now. On top of that, there are just too many newer venues to sell clothes on. Most have a better fee system than eBay.
So clothing on eBay is probably getting phased out by me soon. I'll find other venues and keep more of my money thanks.
Here's another example of when an eBay sale might be worth it. The fee is still ridiculous though.
So I sold a 14kt gold crucifix the other day. The item sold for $572 and I paid $94 in fees. Not as bad, but still almost $100 just for posting to a site. They didn't do anything other than host some images and supply some traffic.
Now in all fairness, they do supply an authentication system for high end merchandise. The customer pays the fee on that. It cost my customer around $40 to have a GIA certified jeweler verify and authenticate my sale. Something, you don't get buying elsewhere. eBay does supply some service for the cost of their fees, but I still think they're fees are ridiculous. Not to mention, I'd like to know what the authentication actually costs eBay and how much their gouging the end user on that.
Now it was gold, sold around scrap weight. In the end, I probably did better than selling it to the refiner or a pawn shop. Definitely better than a pawn shop! In this case, it's still worth it if you can stomach the high fees. I think the refiner offered me around $300 for the piece. So, even after fees, I did better than the refiner.
Not to mention this is a piece of jewelry I've had for a very long time. I knew what I paid for it. In another case, I have a gold watch I paid $100 for 10 or 15 years ago. It currently sells for around $3500 used. Again, the fees will be worth it, and I'll probably make a lot more than selling it to the refiner.
I'd love to see them put a "cap" on fees. For instance different items have a fee of maybe 10% or a maximum final value fee of $25 or something along those lines.
I think eBay is done for clothes now. It's just not worth it, unless it's some really high end, vintage, rare clothing item that people will pay for. Again though, the higher the sale, the higher the final value fee will be. I can't wait to see what $3500 item gets in fees :( A perfect example of capping the fee. I'd have no problem giving someone $250 of a $3500 sale. We'll have to see what happens. I'll keep ya all posted on that one if and when I decide to let it go. At current gold prices though, I'd be crazy not to cash in on some.
I think eBay is now reserved for vintage items, high end items, high ticket items. They have the traffic and if you don't mind the fees, you'll probably sell your high end item fairly quickly. That's the only thing that makes it worth it.
Man, I can't believe were almost ending another year. As 2026 comes to a close, I'm going to try and get most of my clothes off eBay. The focus of eBay will be on collectibles, and high end quick turn around items. I'll keep my clothing on Vinted, Depop (now bought by eBay), Poshmark, and Mercari.
I'm really hoping, eBay doesn't destroy Depop or kill it with fees. I started Depop to get away from eBay and then they bought the company. 😭 You can't make this stuff up!
It almost makes sense to incorporate Depop into the eBay platform with it's sole purpose being clothing sales. Somehow, I don't think they'll do that though. That would be far to logical. Instead they'll beat the platform down with exorbitant fees and crappy customer service. Then liquidate the platform saying it was beyond repair. Just a prediction on my end, nothing to back that up. Seems to be what most corporations do to their competitors after a buyout.
It seems to me, eBay wants to incorporate everything but what they started as. They're trying to be Whatnot, Depop, Amazon, and every other sales platform when all they should be focusing on is auctions and keeping their USER base (both sellers and buyers) happy.
They were good at auctions. eBay used to be fun! I've been on eBay for a long time now. Since around 2001. They've lost their way. It's far from the auction site it once was, and they've lost a lot of resellers and customers over the years as they've morphed into whatever it is that they're trying to be now. Still, corporate profits are at an all time high. Again, at the expense of those that use the service regularly.
I'll leave it there for now. If you enjoyed this post, follow for more reseller content. I've been feeling the writing bug again. I should be posting about this subject at least a couple times a week.
If you have any good reselling venues, feel free to post them in the comments. I'm always looking for new places to sell.
