Considering all the fees, how do people make money on eBay?

That's nothing. I sent an inquiry to a site, hoping to find a custom license plate. I got two personal responses, one of which referred me to another, and unrelated, site.

Maybe the others are making it on the shipping and handling fees, Tom. What do you sell, by the way?

I began with my photography--calendars, stationery, prints, etc.--but soon found the meaning of "Starving Artist" so I've added other things. I now sell mostly LED lights and novelty light strings.

I just got back from the Atlanta America's Mart and have brought on new LED lights products and am considering a couple lines of candles, one of which will be soy. The other perhaps beeswax. Oh, I did get a line of LED candles (paraffin).

There's an LED light that turns on when you light the candle--way cool!

But how to make money on eBay...that's the question...

That was my thought Roger. Ebay doesn't charge a fee on the shipping amount so many folks go with the 1 cent listing and S&H for the actual price. Also, avoid the frill nonsense they sell you. People want it or the don't. If you want more than 1 pic, host it someplace else. eBay Stores are cheap too... and items in them are perpetually available for 2 cents per month. You should probably search the eBay message board for more tips and solutions. Good Luck!

Oh yeah, and media-mail on any type of media is a couple extra bucks in your pocket too.

IVE NEVER SOLD ON EBAY BUT I SELL ANTIQUES AT AUCTION. THE TOTAL FEE FOR A PIECE OF GOOD ANTIQUE FURNITURE CAN VARY FROM 15 TO 20% DEPENDING ON THE SIZE (THE BIGGER DOLLAR PIECES GET A LOWER PERCENTAGE USUALLY).
ID LIKE TO GET AN IDEA OF FEES AS A % OF TTHE SOLD ITEM. I ALWAYS HEARD THAT E BAY HAD THE LOWEST FEES FOR AN AUCTION ANYWHERE. SOME AUCTTION HHOUSES CHARGE AS MUCH AS A TTHIRD OF THE SELLING PRICE AND TTHEN ADD A BUYERS PREMIUM WHICH IS PAYED BY THE BUYER AND NOT THE SELLER SO TTHE AUCTION HOUSE CAN OFTEN GET UP TO 40% OF A PRICE. TAX NOTT INCLUDED

All sorts of complaints on the community boards there about the recent increases. I'm not selling right now, but in the past I have sold new items (teapots, salt & pepper shakers, canister sets, Cookie jars, etc) that were uniqe and therefore had excellent sales with a minimum 100% profit. Eventually, others found my unique source and undercut my prices to the point of them not making any profit and me not selling anything.

Anyway, I went digital. I created / wrote a few of my own how to ebooks which sold VERY well. Little to no competition due to the niche, but still high enough demand that it beat the heck outta the physical goods. Everything outside the listing /final value and Paypal fees was profit.

That's the only thing I would bother selling on Ebay now days. They have priced the small sellers out of the market. Buyers have the impression everything is cheaper on Ebay, and won't buy and pay shipping if they can get it from Walmart. For most items, that doesn't leave any room for the seller to make it worth while unless they are already a major conglomorate. IMO, Ebay has catered to the IBM's and other large corporations in combination with building a reputation for being bargain prices. The only exception I have found to this is antiques /collectibles or where new items aren't available.

Definantly host your own pics at imageshack or something, even if you are only using one pic per listing. Don't bother with bold or other upgrades. Don't make it obvious you are profiting from s&h. You can add a dollar or so to the s&h without much fuss, but if you do I suggest printing your own postage with the amount not printed on the sticker. (stamps.com could do that when I was selling last year)