Nitty Gritty of eBay Fees – Insertion Fees

Feb 15
08:19

2010

Greg Kusch

Greg Kusch

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There is a reason why you will save money by learning tips to sell on eBay. The fact is that you will be charged for everything you list on eBay, whether or not it sells.

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Setting up items without knowing how to sell them will cost you money.  How much?  Let’s go over the facts here. 

Insertion Fees

The fee to list your item on eBay is called an insertion fee.  You pay it as soon as you list your item for sale and regardless of whether or not the item actually sells.

If you’re selling a single item,Nitty Gritty of eBay Fees – Insertion Fees Articles the insertion fee is based on the item category and the starting price, or the reserve price if you use that method.  If you have several of the same item to sell and choose to use a multiple-item listing and the auction format, the insertion fee is the starting or fixed price of the item multiplied by the number if items in the listing.  There are also several optional fees that relate to the specifics of your listing, such as reserve fees or the Buy It Now sales choice.  
For example, if you’re selling a signed copy of a Stephen King novel in an auction-style sale, and the reserve price is $20.00, your insertion fee is $0.35.  If you want to sell your used cell phone auction-style, and the starting price is $20.00, the insertion fee is $0.55.  And if you have a dozen MP3 players with a starting price of $14.99 each, your insertion fee is $6.60 (based on the item category and the per-item starting price of the sale of $14.99—$0.55—times the number of items—12).

If you think that a Fixed Price sale format will be better for your item, the fee structure is very simple: the minimum price allowed is $1.00, and the insertion fee for items in the Books, DVDs & Movies, Music and Video Games categories is a whopping $0.15; for all other categories, the Fixed Price insertion fee is $0.35.  Again, a multiple-item listing will have an insertion fee equal to the number of items in the listing times the insertion fee for the applicable category.

If you are still confused, trust that it will become easier once you begin to create your listings.  And of course you can ask me questions in the comment section or watch for my eBay classes in Santa Monica and future webinars!