Selling Bullion coins on Ebay for their Legal Tender Value? As people are probably aware Ebay charge fees for listing Items, Selling Items, and PayPal Charge fees for selling items as well, which leaves either no profit margin or very little when selling Bullion coins on Ebay. So I was thinking last night and was wondering if any one has tried selling Bullion coins on Ebay for their Legal Tender value, and then charging a postage and handling fee that would equal that of the price you wish to sell your coin for. Example Selling an American Eagle for it's Legal Tender value of $1 then charging $39 Postage and handling. It would get a bit complicated if you were a business as it would be a bit difficult to buy a coin for $40 sell it for $1 and claim a loss of $39, then provide a receipt for $39 postage. But if you were selling coins for a hobby and can't claim any expenses anyway you would save yourself a lot of Ebay and PayPal fees if you could? Any Thoughts,
SSHHHHH your not meant to talk about it But I'm sure there are lots of products from China being sold like that I just doubt that coin buyers would be into it
I see it on Amazon all the time, people put up silver for $1 then charge like $40 to ship it, this way they show up first in the results and also when you find an item you see someone else is selling it at a great discount. The only problem with this is you can't combine shipping . . . trust me . . I've tried!
It's called fee evasion, and is pretty much a way of cheating ebay out of money you owe them. If a seller is already cheating the place they sell their items from, do you really think they are going to deal with you honestly?
People were doing this for a while so eBay introduced the Final Value Fee. So what you're charged is 9% (I think) of cost of item plus P&P so wouldn't matter if you sold the item for $1 and $39 P&P or $39 and $1 P&P, you'll still be charged a $3.60 Final Value Fee. "Final value fees: If the item sells, you're charged a final value fee. Final value fees are calculated based on the total amount of the sale, which equals the cost of the item, shipping charges, and any other amounts you may charge the buyer. Sales tax is not included in the total amount of the sale."
I saw one seller doing exactly this. He had 2 different auctions going at the same time, for 2 of the same items. On one of them, he was charging reasonable postage, about $5 or something, and the item price was about right. On the second auction, he was charging about $70 for P & P, and started the auction very low. I sent him a query about it, just incase it was a typo or something. The curt response I received was that he was trying a different marketing idea. So, yes, people are doing it, but as has been pointed out, they arn't getting out of the fees.
not so sure thats the case in Aust ive sold big ticket items ie 2K+300 post final fees based on item only in the USA thats not the case though but i may be wrong im glad i encourage private sales just my experience
Final value fees Final value fees are charged only when your item has sold. Final value fees are based on the final sale price of a listing (excluding postage) Under certain circumstances you may request a final value fee credit Find out how final value fees are calculated for different types of listing formats. Auction and fixed price formats First 30 listings in one month** 31+ listings in same month Final value fee 7.90% (capped at $100) 7.90% (uncapped) ** To qualify for the cap of $100, listings must meet the Casual seller eligibility criteria above. thats straight from ebay AUST take a look yourelf
If you follow that path you won't last long on eBay. Buyers along with competitors will report you and you will become known as a shonky operator trying to rip off eBay and buyers. I have dealt with sellers trying this stupid fee avoidance and all it means that a neg feedback comes their way. With eBay now offering telephone support it is much easier to report the cowboys. If a seller is prepared to rip-off eBay what's to stop them doing the same to buyers? Avoid this line of thought at all costs unless you want to damage any reputation you may have. To find an equivalent marketing and payment method will cost you a lot more than the fees charged by eBay and Paypal. If you are unhappy with the fees eBay and PP charge, the solution is simple - don't use them. They both provide a valuable service and both are entitled to charge for that service.
A buyer may well be put off with such a tactic because if something goes wrong, the seller does not have to refund the postage cost - only the sale amount.
Shifty and shonky type listings are asking for trouble for both buyers and sellers. What if the buyer requests a refund for the goods. They pay return postage and you give them a buck. Negative feedback waiting to happen.
keep in mind also is the "top rated seller" status. If you want to obtain or maintain the status, you have to keep a certain rating. One of the criteria is they buyer rating of "is the shipping price fair?" in their feedback. I don't think anybody like paying any type of fee but unfortunately/fortunately, Ebay does bring in buyers especially when you leave in a small town. Seller here is great and such but can people that never know you before trust you enough to buy stuff from you? If you post something on Ebay with a fair price, chances are it will be sold at the time of your auction ended where as if you post somewhere private, chances are you have to wait a long time. This is especially true on Kijiji and other such sites where you have people emailing you with very low ball offer or continuously change their mind at the last minute.
And in truth, the best way to sell on Ebay is to ship free (to your continent at least). I find that when I sell things, be it valuables or the rubbish laying around my house, that bidders would rather pay $50 for something, than $35 + $10 in shipping, probably because it saves them the hassle of doing math. 99% of all my listings, and I'd do silver (and will when the time comes) the same way, is a listing that starts at a penny, has no reserve and has free shipping. That, I feel, is the perfect formula to get people to willingly overpay for things.
my exp in AUSTRALIA people aint so silly to overpay just for free post in the USA post is very cheap compared to AUSTRALIA so easy to offer free infact our post borderlines outrageous and its going up again on monday 22nd oct man if i offered free post i would go broke as 90% of my stuff is heavy 5kg plus i buy stuff from the USA all the time your post is dirt cheap compared to here
it would involve a lot of explanation to not really smart buyers who cannot figure out what and why is this happening and they wanna make money for ebay following their "rules"... and 100% what SULLA said
Final value fees are charged only when your item has sold. Final value fees are based on the final sale price of a listing (excluding postage) Under certain circumstances you may request a final value fee credit Find out how final value fees are calculated for different types of listing formats. straight from EBAY today
