Sellers nightmares continued.This can't possibly be right 😢

[jardy]

I love ebay.I love supporting the local Charity Shops,buying,selling,packaging -the lot.It's been a rewarding hobby for me.I suffer terrible anxiety and I am hopeless at figures but a few months ago I started meticulously saving every receipt and keeping a folder every month ready for my tax return which kind mumsnetters helped me with. However it seems absolutely bizarre that I appear to make a huge loss each month.Here is May's example.
Expenses
£624 ( this includes post £126,Paypal fees £134.66,ebay fees £172.12
Profit: Sales : £362.13
Loss:£261.87
I registered as a Business Seller because I thought you had to if buying stuff for profit.I can't go on like this as I am sinking into debt.What am I doing so badly wrong? No flaming please,I am extremely sensitive and bear in mind I do support my local charity shops .
Thank you so much if you can throw light on this situation.Perhaps you are similar and can show me what you do.I would be extremely grateful.

Hi Dulce
Very kind of you to offer advice.I would like to address them as it might be helpful.Regarding increasing postage costs-isn't it against the rules to charge more than it is costing to post an item? Furthermore when I have posted an item for less than the £2.95 I charge I get a negative feedback for all to see.I even got one person refusing to pay until I flattened the items ( bundle of extremely expensive lingerie that cost me £80 which Buyer paid 99p ) and squashed it into a large envelope with a large stamp I.e £1:10p rather than pay £2.95. Ok I can stop paying 12p fixing the auction time but it's a bargain if it means your Sunday nights aren't spent on the iPad.Yes I am a Business Seller as that's the rule isn't it if you are buying stuff to sell on no matter how modest.Yes I am going to be very careful what I buy and likely to get rid of my stock and finish altogether.I do re-list.I became very anxious a few months ago as I just couldn't work out the tax return on my iPad.As stated previously kind mumsnetters came to my rescue but I am still very anxious and so therefore think I might ask an accountant to do it for me-more expense! I am most grateful for the kind words of support and encouragement.By the way I have relisted about 50 items tonight and I see I only get charged 36p plus a final fee.I will find out what is going wrong and let you know.Thank you so much again.My tone is not intended to sound rude by the way,I am just upset and desperate and I really appreciate your kind support.

You are allowed to take your costs into account when charging for postage, so to postage add;
eBay fees
Paypal fees
Packaging costs
Costs of getting to the post office

You don’t need to spend Sunday night on the iPad-just save all items as a draft and then go on and click each item ‘list now’. Takes seconds for each one so you might spend 5/10 mins on the iPad Sunday night.

Can you not list ‘good till cancelled’ and just leave things on until they sell.

If you’re listing as auction, if you know something will sell well then start at 99p to get lots of interest. If it’s something that may not sell then you need to start bidding at the MINIMUM you need to make a profit. So work out your costs first. It’s madness to sell £80 worth of goods for 99p.

Are you checking completed listings to see how much similar items are selling to give you an idea?
It sounds kind your main problem is not knowing your market, so you’re buying things with no idea whether they will sell and how much for.

Hi
Very wise advice from Karda.
You can charge more for postage. On a £2.95 you'll pay 29.5p to eBay and probably another 10p to PayPal. So that's £3.45 before you add your own packaging costs such as tape, boxes or bags. I charge £4.50 for all of mine and have 100% positive feedback. And I charge more on bigger items.
I agree you should start some auctions at 99p but not all of them. I do some of mine at 2.50, and some even higher as I'd rather not sell it at a loss. At the moment I have two expensive items in there for £50 starting bid and if they don't sell I'm ok with that. I won't let someone have them for a quid. The last time I had an expensive one the starting bid was £80 but I was open to offers and sold
It for £69.
I don't do buy it now as it costs to list but I do accept offers on all items.
I don't know about being a business seller. I've sold 60 items in the last two months as a personal seller without any problem.
Good luck

Thank you Kard and Dulce.I will take some of you advice.The lingerie was from a specialist bra shop,as I can't get bras to fit.They seemed fine in the shop but once worn on a daily basis were uncomfortable.I just didn't want ppl to think I was extravagant.Regarding postage I am certain that when I googled 'Buyer charged me too much for postage " it said from ebay that the cost should reflect the actual postage and a buyer can even report.So yes I will charge more for postage but not sure if this is within rules? Cancell until Sold-fab,thanks for that advice.Tried to contact Ebay but no-one there ( 5:30am ) will try later.However what do you make of these figures for May 2018:
Account Summary: previous balance: £134 Payment received £134 New fees : Insertion fees : £115 Advanced listing upgrade: £13.08 Final value fees :,£181 Discount:£9.20'Total due: £172.12 and somewhat telling:A pie chart at the bottom: Total monthly sales: £212.99 Total monthly Fees :80.93% Based on your monthly fees and credits totalling £172.38 your fees as percentage of your sales is Nearly Ninety percent. Can't get ipad to work but just under ninety per cent.so what do you make of that. Huge thanks

It looks like your listing fees are a big bulk of your fees. You either need to use a personal eBay account and use the max free listings a month they give you (tax man doesn't care if you are selling on an eBay personal account as long as you declare the income) or if you have a business account and are listing many things each month you need a basic shop subscription - this gives you 200 listings a month (you would need to check how many auctions it allows you) and pay a fixed fee of about £25 for it.

Also consider Etsy if you are selling anything vintagey or specialist

But you are selling a small amount so I would stick with an eBay personal account and then you can take advantage of the added discounts eBay offers seller sometimes - which it never offers to businesses

With Paypal charges, ebay charges, costs like getting to the post office and packaging and then tax on any profit, I wouldn’t have thought it was worth it.

Definitely look at listing costs. I've had my free listings increased to 220 a month as a personal seller so I don't spend a penny. All I pay are final value fees and PayPal feeds. And you can definitely include those on your postage costs.
Good luck

Yes, it’s definitely ok to add your costs to postage. I think what’s not ok is to make a ‘profit’ from the postage.

Selling your own items needs to be done from a separate personal account, not a business account. This is nothing to do with a tax return.
Selling the bras - did you look and check what similar had sold for? I think with something like that, I would list for what I wanted, say £25 and just hold out (if you’re not desperate for money, they are not taking up much room). Separating them usually gets more. So you might get £15 per bra but maybe only £20/£25 as a bundle (just guessing prices to use as an example).

Do your figures include what buyers have paid for postage or is it just sales?

It may be easier to look at Paypal and add what’s come in - then deduct your eBay fees from this (should also show on PayPal).

Snick Dulce Kard
Great advice and very kind.You must all be busy people if doing ebay-thank you

Hello there,
Kard that includes postage of £2.95.
Spent a frustrating lunch hour trying to speak to a Ebay ( that daft message that says we will be with you in one minute-they never did while I stared at the screen,like wise phone -no phone call although they said they tried) Anyway the advice pages are very informative and I think I am leaning towards £25 per month private listing.I will also definitely put my postage up to £4.50. I will let you know how I get on.I am feeling overwhelmed and need to cut back.Thank you very much again,you've been so helpful.

I have just subscribed to a private Shop account for £30 a month.I will list clothes as a Buy it Now and use Good until Cancelled.I sell about 80 items a month but cannot claim I am a personal seller as I buy the clothes to sell on at a profit from Charity Shops.I will charge £4:50 for postage per item.I will let you know how I get on.Thank you so much once again .

I don’t think you need the shop account, especially the £30 a month level.

Did you find out why your fees were so high? I think you must have read the figures incorrectly somewhere. Where were you getting them from?

PS is this business account in your name or the charity’s? If the latter, I’d be wary of selling as a business seller for a charity. If the HMRC come your way it could get messy. Does the charity have an accountant you are working with to avoid any personal liability for tax on any “profit”

Thanks Lottie.i will see how it goes .i will find out why the fees are so high and report back.I am not working on behalf of any Charity and the Business is in my name.I really like my shop front 😊

Don't list personal items on a business account - it confuses matters and you don't want to be paying tax on them. However, you must have a business account to resell for a profit (it is impossible to comply with consumer contracts regulations if you cannot show your address and I understand that eBay don't allow this on personal accounts any more).

It is possible to make very good money reselling on eBay but it's much easier to lose money - I'd agree you need to calm down and take a step back. Your figures don't look right to me either - make sure you know what you being charged for and check everything. I don't think you need a shop yet either but, again, you need to do the sums and see if the numbers work for you (it's all part of running a business). Forget auctions unless you know the demand for the item. And really, really know your market and product.

If your insertion fees are over £100 then you're better off going for a shop subscription.

Your figures don't look right to me either, especially the eBay fees and PayPal fees.

You really need to study your figures because HMRC won't tolerate mistakes when you submit your accounts or tax return. The fines can be hefty and The "I'm new to this" will not cut it as an excuse to get away with it.

Thank you Patch and Monday and for all the helpful advice.I do wish to keep within the law and have kept meticulous records.I will declare everything to HMRC.I am feeling more positive.

hi i sell on ebay your fees seem far too high, clothes i find they have to be new with tags or as new, photos make all the difference, if you havent already got one look around and see if you can get a cheap mannequin dummy, clothes look better on one than just laid down or hung on hangers, certain designer labels do better than others, biker gear seems to do quite well, as do other niche clothes like goth, or boho, mother of the bride outfits by good makers, good makes shoes and handbags too relist fees add up so if something hasnt sold for £2.99 then its not going to sell, when you buy, add up the cost of buying, add 30% at least to the selling price, then the postage look at courier prices rather than royal mail, up to 1kgs i price postage at £3.80 (courier actual cost £3.29) this covers the extra fees for paypal and ebay , 2kgs i price at £4.80 (courier cost £4.29), i admit i run my page for a charity so fees are slightly different but on a turnover of around £1000 a month fees are around £100 a month and postage is covered by the buyer, and courier picks up from you so no petrol to the post office,
for small items of clothing get the post it plastic bags much easier, raid shops for free boxes most will be happy to give you them