I’ve met quite a few people recently who are spending loads of time trying to sell things on ebay, in the hope of earning a “quick buck”. It’s one of the things we often see advised isn’t it, if you’re cashflow is a little tight – “Is there anything around your home you really don’t like, need or want? Sell it!”.
That’s all very well, but some of these people I’ve met recently are selling things for 99p. Now, I know all the theories about consistency in your approach being key to your success. But, are 100 items at 99p really going to make you the quick buck you think they will?
Cost benefit analysis of ebay
So, what I ask these people, is:
How long does it take for you to add your item to ebay?
How long does it take for you to wrap your parcel and take it to the post office?
How much is the minimum wage in the UK?
Now, I do sell some things on ebay. I’ve sold excess stock, and personal items, over the years, but I don’t think I’ve sold anything for 99p!
I may be doing it all wrong, but, with writing the ebay description, getting all the details in all the boxes, taking photos and adding them, it can take me 10-15 minutes sometimes for one item. Wrapping the parcel, again, depending what it is, can take some time. Let’s say 5 minutes for this example, and 10 minutes travel to and from the post office. Let’s assume there’s no queue, so that’s taken 30 minutes to sell this one item.
Minimum wage in the UK, at the time of writing, is £7.20 an hour. So, this item has cost me £3.60 in time, that I could have spent on something else, (potentially, I know, so don’t shout at me. I’m trying to get you to think about this).
If I’ve earnt 99p on this item and the postage cost is neutral, then you’ve got the ebay fees to consider.
So, let’s say, we’ve used our 20 free listings this month, as we were on a roll with decluttering the wardrobe. When you sell the item, ebay will take 10% of your final sale price – 99p. That’s 10p.
If you take payment via paypal, (which you have to offer, I think on ebay), paypal will take a fee off the payment sent by your buyer. This is about 5% of the overall payment (final fee, plus postage). This is a recent item I sold for £10 wtih free postage:
So, now, let’s have another look at our earnings of 99p from selling that item we wanted rid of:
| Sold item for | £0.99 |
| Costs:
Ebay fee Paypal fee My time for 30 minutes |
-0.10
-0.05 -3.60 |
| Total income received | -£2.76 |
Now I know you may be really clever, (and much cleverer than me), to load lots of items all at once. However, the people I’ve spoken to recently have been selling one off items, which all need describing, photographing and cataloguing.
Please everyone. I’m sure you can think of more worthy things to do with your time than “selling” home items for 99p. If you’re job hunting, then why not take your items to the charity shop, and see if you can do some voluntary work there and get a reference from them?
This may seem a bit ranty, but I’m seeing lots of people not valuing their time, in all sorts of ways at the moment. This is just one example.
Please think things through before thinking that all ‘selling’ is good, and earning you an extra income. If you’re looking for another income stream, get in touch and let’s talk through some options which won’t waste your time!