Finally Giving Up on Ebay Selling
 

Welp,

I've heard it from numerous members here in the past, but things never seemed so dire in light of the fact that you can potentially get some of the most competitive prices selling on eBay. However, I had to cancel a transaction this weekend using the lame excuse that the bicycle was "broken" (I told the would-be buyer the truth) after eBay not only took more than 15% of the sale as a fee (including the "free shipping"), which is something I was willing to deal with - once - but also withheld my funds until AFTER proof of delivery. I am in a particular situation for a couple of weeks here that prevents me from being able to afford shipping the bicycle, which I imagine might be the case among many people attempting to make a quick sale for helpful cash. How on earth does eBay expect everyone to be able to afford shipping large items without the funds being available? It was ridiculous and infuriating and slightly embarrassing to have to explain to the client!

No more, no more... I'll continue to buy from those select vendors I've trusted for their reputable service for regular wares and who apparently work the system well enough to get by, but no more selling!

-Gregory

They hold the funds for new sellers to protect the buyer. There are a lot of scammers on eBay so they hold the funds for xx number of days to make sure the buyer receives the item and it's as described. Once you are an established seller they no longer hold your funds..

I've been on eBay about twenty years and have sold dozens of items, if not very recently (within the last year or so), including about ten bicycles and multiple automobiles. I'm using the same account with the same feedback and transaction history. No idea why I would have to put up with this but it screwed me over on this one.

The 1099 was the final straw for me.

The fact that shipping charges are not exempt from the 1099 was the final straw. Unlike what some claim, shipping expenses are not deductible if you're a hobbyist. (Deny it all you like, but speak to a CPA if you believe in facts).

As a result, between fees, shipping, and taxes, it's entirely possible to lose money selling cheap items, especially those with significantly higher shipping cost than their sale value.

-Kurt

Dozens of items over 20 years? Thats really rare to occasional use. eBay tends to hold funds for occasional sellers. Its been that way for a long time. I've been selling for almost 23 years now myself. I've never had money held. But I sell $500 to $1000 per week, sometimes more, sometimes less. I'm traveling right now, so I am selling nothing.

As far as the 1099 "problem", the blame goes directly onto congress. Congress passed the law, not ebay. All payment processes were caught up in this change. Typical congress, its under the guise of "American Rescue Plan Act of 2021". At my sales level, I've been getting 1099s for a while.

eBay is just a business. They provide a platform to sellers in exchange for a fee. The fee routinely goes up. Each seller has to decide, is the service I get from eBay worth the fee I pay? I use 20% of what the item sells for as a rough estimate, as there are fees on shipping charges and even a fee on the sales taxes they collect from sellers.

Despite my frustration with eBay, I have not found a more profitable outlet. The moment I do, I'm done with eBay. Until then, I continue to use them. Sold a slide rule recently for $385..... Try selling a slide rule for even $25 anywhere else. Anymore, I sell more "other stuff" than I sell bicycle stuff. My wife and I just enjoy finding stuff. eBay gives us an outlet to move those finds to a new home.


eBay is definitely better if you run it as a business, keep records, get a tax accountant, and so on. Its not worth the hassle if you just dabble in it. It's not easy money. Its work.

https://www.pwc.com/us/en/services/t...threshold.html

Same here. Today might be the day I close my ebay store.

Not to mention I can't find ***** anymore.

IMHO that's ebays problem. If ebay wanted to write a program that kept sellers from uploading a "right clicked image" they could------------------ but they won't.

PS the program already exists (Tineye)

Alternatives?

As Thrifty Bill says, it can work if you're pushing a certain volume and keeping records (aka running a business). The small timer/hobbyist can use the platform, sure. But it may no longer be in his or her best interest. Increasingly not. Ebay has changed.

So, is there an opportunity for an online marketplace catered to the small-time seller? Something with a worldwide reach and accountability? Has that ship sailed? Is Etsy any better? Vintage cycling stuff is a niche market.

I had too many hassles with buyers. Very little of my time is spent on ebay selling anymore and I've learned to be very wary of listing rare/valuable parts as buyers never read the description or look at the pictures until afterwords.

Agree.. I didn't / don't care if they hold the funds for a week or so as to me it's no big deal but that was the final straw for me as well.

I’ve been down this path recently myself. eBay gobbles up all of the “profit” I first found attractive about selling. Consider this with with charges on shipping, listing, fund holds and seller restrictions and it is 100% NOT WORTH IT!. eBay is dead. Someday there will be an alternative option besides marketplace (I hope).

Thrifty Bill got it right. Just keep modest records on a spreadsheet with estimates, and you can whittle down the gross 1099 effect to almost no tax impact. The IRS really cares less about somebody with a sole1099 under $50k. It's when somebody receives a bunch. Or fails to report anything on their return. Easy to report using Turbo Tax. Oh, and I'm a CPA. I seem to recall a hobbyist sells a low dollar amount total. Even then, I can't imagine shipping costs not being deductible on Schedule C. (Do not use the self-employment IRS form!)

Well, I'm not sure how long it's been going on, but I've probably sold about fifty items totaling several thousand dollars with perfect feedback in the past three or four years and have never had funds held before. My listings are always in waves and not consistently posted, with gaps of several months between them sometimes. It struck me as being very random, and I can only expect that the fact that they do it must be embedded deep in the fine print on the user agreement - I was certainly not made aware that it might happen to me in any clearly stated way when I created my most recent round of listings.

-Gregory

One last thing, ebay is no longer a place to sell grandma's china set, they are dominated by large players anymore selling hundreds of thousands or even millions of $$ per year. Its just how it goes. They likely consider a seller like me to be a nuisance, lets say $25,000 per year +/-. They tolerate me, I tolerate them.

All of the on line sales outlets have issues, and none give you the access to the number of global buyers that ebay provides. And ALL of them WILL issue you a 1099, cross $600 in gross receipts, and you will be getting a 1099 whether you sell here on this forum, use PayPal to collect funds at a garage sale or whatever.

To me, the decision to walk away from eBay will be driven by one or two things:

1. I stop buying. Right now, its too much "FUN" finding that item that can return a nice profit.

or 2. I find a better outlet for the stuff I find.


I've sold a lot of oddball stuff, from a Ray Kroc plaque from a McDonald's restaurant, to a mountain climbers down outfit, to a large print bible, and so on.

If you are into this kind of thing (finding and buying deals), and you aren't making money, you are either buying the wrong stuff, or paying too much for it. Buy what other people want, and pay a low price for it. It's just that simple.

Some of the big sellers have moved to their own platform. And, still use E-Bay a bit for the hard to move items, but sell anything easy to move on their own private platform.

For new items, I'll check E-Bay, Amazon, and perhaps a general web search, and choose whatever seems best. It is quite possible that the E-Bay fees are cutting into the bottom line sales prices some vendors are charging. I'm finding quite a few items that are significantly higher on E-Bay than elsewhere.

Still, for used rare items, E-Bay is still king.

I really wish that Yahoo auctions hadn't shut down. :mad: A little competition is good.

Yeah, for me I'm only selling things that at one point or another I bought for my personal enjoyment and am not necessarily needing to make a profit, but am mostly interested in a smooth and honest transaction. Having my funds held on this particular week was bad due to financial obligations and I cannot put $200 into packing material and shipping fees without those funds being released. The fact that this possibility wasn't clearly declared at the time of my listings irks me a lot.

-Gregory

Not having been privy to the conversations which led to the inception of Ebay, it's hard to know what the original vision was. Speaking purely for myself, I've always seen it as one gigantic, worldwide garage sale - especially when it came to selling. Based upon that personal view of the service, I finally bowed out as a seller when fees and taxes ate into profits at a percentage I could no longer accept. I'm sure this cutoff percentage is different for everyone; some gave up long before me, while others continue selling today. It's all about what you're willing to put up with.

Now, having said that, I'm happy Ebay is around because I still purchase stuff, and that stuff is generally not available just any old place. It is what it is.

DD

It's not anymore.

For me, affordable co-up type parts are gone - and that sucks in a city with no co-op. It also means any cheap parts I need that I have to get from here usually come with a $9 Priority Mail flat rate box penalty, at minimum.

-Kurt

Wait, you mean there’s an alternative to those classified listings I’m putting in my local paper to sell old bike cr@p?

I should have been clearer: the stuff I look for on Ebay these days is very, very rarely cycling-related.

DD

Oh, agreed. Had to double up on my video card recently, and nowhere else would I have expected to find a used one with a factory HP mounting support. Or, for that matter, the processors I hope to snatch up soon...

-Kurt

LOL, right!

My outlet for selling is KSL.com, the online equivalent to local paper ads. Limited market and it can take awhile but I deal in cash, make no profit, and get to see the buyers smile face to face. Priceless and so much better than dealing with the hassle of Ebay. I don't do any of this crazy bike stuff to make money off of anyone, just spread the joy.

Ive sold over 1000 Items on Ebay over the last 15 years without as much as a hiccup. Loved It!

Last year I had 3 items returned (that were in excellent and new condition) from 3 differnet buyers and Ebay,after many back and forth Email exchanges, made me eat the Entire amount $$.. Plus the shipping fees. I was out over $200 . . Seems that Ebay will honor any lame item return in the buyers Favor. I sold a New Old Stock pair of SIDI Dominators in the box...The Claim pictures looked as if the buyer took a claw hammer and chisel to the soles and said he received damaged goods. WTF.

I deleted all my listings and wrote them a strongly worded letter telling them to shove it up their kiester.

Oh, that's rich. I'm sure they immediately changed their policies after that strongly worded letter, sir!

-Kurt