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by: Figster
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Shhh I'm going to let you in on a secret. eBay does not always have the best deals on-line. It's true. Many shop at eBay thinking they are getting the best deal around. Are they?

Let's take a look at a basic economy rules. Rule - They higher the overhead, the higher the price of the product. eBay has continued to increase it's prices on merchants. Recently they announced a 500% increase on store listing fees. Although Bill Cobb President of eBay north America claims that the increase will amount to 6%. The actual increase from .02 cents per store listing to .10 cents per store listing for listing prices of $25.00 or more is a 500% increase.

What's the big deal, 8 cents pffftt.. ? I know that doesn't sound like much if you are a buyer. Let's take a look at what it means to a merchant, and then what that really means to a shopper on eBay. First eBay does not allow options in their listings. If I want to sell leather pants that come in black, red, and white and sizes small, medium, large, x-large, 1X, 2X, and 3X. I can't do that in one listing and let the buyer pick one. I have to list each size and color in a separate listing. In other words to sell this one item means I have to create 21 listings. That's only $2.10 right? Wrong, I also have a store fee, that fee for a basic store is $15.00 per month. Still not bad, but wait, we still have more fees. If I want a gallery picture so you can see the product before you click it, that's an additional fee of .01 cent. Then, when you buy it, eBay will charge me a final value fee of anywhere from 3 to 10% of the final cost. If the item was sold for $99.00 then that is another 7% or $6.93 add in the Pay Pal fees of another $6.93. Already the have taken more than 50% of my total profit for that one item (remember I have to buy the item too). Not all my listings are going to sell each month.

If I want to offer a large selection then I will have to have many listings that don't sell each month. So, if I have 700 listings and sell $1,000.00 worth of merchandise, I will be lucky to walk away with $100.00 in my pocket for the month. If I sell that well.

The competition on eBay is steep. Most months I am not going to do that well if I am selling something like new clothing. The only way for me to make up for this overhead is to increase the price of my goods. If I sell on a web site my overhead is much lower. I have a hosting fee, you can get a good sized web site for about $5.00 per month. I don't have listing fees, I can include more information, have a more attractive listing, and sell for LESS.

Why sell on eBay? Because of traffic. I sell more often on eBay than I do on my site because of the traffic eBay pulls in. They pull the traffic because people have the assumption they are getting a better deal on eBay, or that eBay sellers are some how more legitimate. The truth is far from this.

Many of you have already experienced the .01 cent auction only to find out the shipping was outrageous. The seller resorted to making the price up in his shipping tricking you to bid on an item. Granted, there are a lot of honest hard working merchants on eBay, as well as selling on their own web sites.

Here is another eBay trick I do a search on Google or another search engine for hot items, let's say digital camera's I find a great price, maybe 25 to 30% off retail. I copy the picture, copy the information, and put it up on auction for the same price plus 10%, add an additional 5 dollars in the shipping, and start taking bids. If it is a hot item I may sell it at or above retail. I take the order, go back to the site, make the purchase and send have them send it to you. You could have purchased the item at the same price the seller did if you had just done a search and found the web site.

Even my site sells on eBay, although I sell for less at my site. Do yourself a favor before you make your next eBay purchase, do a search and see if you can find it for less. Most on-line merchants sell through Pay-Pal, so you still have the same protection. Plus your credit cards and debit cards have plenty of protection too. To the point where you really no longer have to worry about purchasing on-line any longer.

About the Author

Jim lives in Augusta Ga, where he and his wife sell lingerie, sexy costumes, clubwear and biker gear, called Hot Stuff Leather and Lace. He also enjoy's writting about romance, relationships, and fashion. You can read his other articles or see him on his forums at http://www.hotstuffleatherandlace.com Come by and say hi, or browse our catalog today.

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