Once upon a time a titanium seller told me that when they started on eBay they listed everything starting at £1. They then realised they could save five pence on every listing by listing the items at £0.99.
This seller was selling over 500 items a month, spending £25 a month, for the sake of £5.
But if we look at the other break points in the eBay fee structure:
| £0.01 – £0.99 | £0.15 |
| £1.00 – £4.99 | £0.20 |
| £5.00 – £14.99 | £0.35 |
| £15.00 – £29.99 | £0.75 |
| £30.00 – £99.99 | £1.50 |
| £100.00 or morefor multiple item listings in £100.00 or more tier | £2.00£3.00 |
If this seller was listing 500 items at £30 instead of £29.99, for the sake of £5 a month the additional listing fees would cost £375.
The final value fee break points are less of a worry point:
| 0.01 – £29.99 | 5.25% for the amount of the high bid (at the listing close for auction-style listings) up to £29.99 |
| £30.00 – £599.99 | 5.25% of the initial £29.99 (£1.57), plus 3.25% of the remaining closing value balance |
| Over £600.00 | 5.25%of the initial £29.99 (£1.57), plus 3.25% of the initial £30.00 – £599.99 (£18.53), plus 1.75% of the remaining closing value balance |
The difference in the final value fee would be 17p for the whole month!
Shops are the hidden Daemons of eBay, charging pennies (max 11p for 30 days over £500 price tag) to list the item, up to 10% of the final value if sold for lower priced items and giving little or no visibility on the marketplace.
| £0.01 – £4.99 | 10% for the amount of the selling price up to £4.99 |
| £5.00 – £9.99 | 10% for the initial £4.99 plus 8% of the remaining selling price balance |
| £10.00 – £49.99 | 10% of the initial £4.99 plus 8% of the initial £5.00 – £9.99 plus 6% of the remaining selling price balance |
| £50.00 – £499.99 | 10% of the initial £4.99 plus 8% of the initial £5.00 – £9.99 plus 6% of the initial £10.00 – £49.99 plus 4% of the remaining selling price balance |
| Over £500.00 | 10% of the initial £4.99 plus 8% of the initial £5.00 – £9.99 plus 6% of the initial £10.00 – £49.99 plus 4% of the initial £50.00 – £499.99 plus 2% of the remaining closing value balance |
So take a look at your pricing, could you save by obeying the ‘break point’ rules?
