RunMan3 Posted February 24, 2014 Posted February 24, 2014 I'm fairly well established as an EBay Individual Seller (Power Seller status, 100% Positive with 185 FB), and now wondering if I should branch out to selling on Amazon also. For those with experience with selling on both, how do they compare in regards to ease of use, selling fees, for both an individual and or Professional/Store, etc. How many of you actually sell on both Amazon and EBay? Which do you prefer? Is it worth it to sell on both? Any insight or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance for any help you may provide. Quote
exciter1 Posted February 24, 2014 Posted February 24, 2014 There are many threads that have discussed Amazon selling in the past. It will probably be beneficial fo you to search past threads and topics in the Amazon and Buying & Selling forums. Here is a great blog article that every potential investor should read first: http://blog.brickpicker.com/maximizing-profits-the-who-what-when-where-of-selling-lego/ Start reading the blogs, there's a wealth of information out there. 1 Quote
RunMan3 Posted February 25, 2014 Author Posted February 25, 2014 I know there are some other threads but was just interested in hearing some comments from people which do/have sold on both Amazon and EBay as to what they like or dislike or recommend. I didn't mean to start a fight or get hammered because I put something in the wrong place. Sorry Quote
stephen_rockefeller Posted February 25, 2014 Posted February 25, 2014 its not a problem, exciter wasn't hammering you he was just point you in the right direction. 1 Quote
jbacunn Posted February 25, 2014 Posted February 25, 2014 I'm in a similar position as you but with more experience on ebay (over 1400 FB). I just started selling on Amazon in the past two weeks. In my limited experience I have found that you can get better prices on hard to find items on Amazon but the fees are higher. I sold an AS on Amazon on Sunday and got a solid price for it versus what I would have gotten on ebay right now. I am selling as an individual but if you are high volume it would probably be better to go the professional route. I find that it is very easy to list things on Amazon, they do most of the work for you if it's an item that is currently being sold on Amazon. I was also surprised that people bought from me even though I was just starting but I don't think people care because they assume that Amazon will resolve any issues that come up. So far I have been pleased with my experience and plan to continue to use both. I'm fairly well established as an EBay Individual Seller (Power Seller status, 100% Positive with 185 FB), and now wondering if I should branch out to selling on Amazon also. For those with experience with selling on both, how do they compare in regards to ease of use, selling fees, for both an individual and or Professional/Store, etc. How many of you actually sell on both Amazon and EBay? Which do you prefer? Is it worth it to sell on both? Any insight or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance for any help you may provide. 1 Quote
No More Monkeys Posted February 25, 2014 Posted February 25, 2014 its not a problem, exciter wasn't hammering you he was just point you in the right direction. That blog might be outdated, I added comment about ebay "final value fee", since it is 10% flat now, regardless of the price Quote
RunMan3 Posted February 25, 2014 Author Posted February 25, 2014 I'm in a similar position as you but with more experience on ebay (over 1400 FB). I just started selling on Amazon in the past two weeks. In my limited experience I have found that you can get better prices on hard to find items on Amazon but the fees are higher. I sold an AS on Amazon on Sunday and got a solid price for it versus what I would have gotten on ebay right now. I am selling as an individual but if you are high volume it would probably be better to go the professional route. I find that it is very easy to list things on Amazon, they do most of the work for you if it's an item that is currently being sold on Amazon. I was also surprised that people bought from me even though I was just starting but I don't think people care because they assume that Amazon will resolve any issues that come up. So far I have been pleased with my experience and plan to continue to use both. Thanks for the info. That's what I was interested in some current real world experiences. So how is the shipping handled on Amazon? Do they offer shipping labels with discounts similar to EBay? Quote
thirsty Posted February 25, 2014 Posted February 25, 2014 Yo jbacunn, what would you consider high volume? Like where is the magic number where a professional account is better than a personal account? Dollar value, or units sold? Quote
dutchmaster305 Posted February 25, 2014 Posted February 25, 2014 I wish amazon offered shipping discounts. Sometimes on ebay I save 32% on a label. $15 bucks off is nice. Thirsty basically the pro is $40 a month if you go over 40 transactions in one month. You should go with pro. Quote
jbacunn Posted February 25, 2014 Posted February 25, 2014 Thanks for the info. That's what I was interested in some current real world experiences. So how is the shipping handled on Amazon? Do they offer shipping labels with discounts similar to EBay? Shipping is similar to ebay. You can print the shipping label directly through Amazon. The cost is similar for USPS but they do charge a small fee usually around 10 cents. You can also ship UPS. It's very user friendly. Sent from my iPad using Brickpicker Quote
jbacunn Posted February 25, 2014 Posted February 25, 2014 Yo jbacunn, what would you consider high volume? Like where is the magic number where a professional account is better than a personal account? Dollar value, or units sold? I don't know. You would have to crunch the numbers on that to see what would be cheaper. Sent from my iPad using Brickpicker Quote
jbacunn Posted February 25, 2014 Posted February 25, 2014 I wish amazon offered shipping discounts. Sometimes on ebay I save 32% on a label. $15 bucks off is nice. Thirsty basically the pro is $40 a month if you go over 40 transactions in one month. You should go with pro. In my few transactions I have found the cost to be close to same for USPS. I am power seller and top rated plus so I do qualify for a discount on shipping through eBay but maybe not the highest. Sent from my iPad using Brickpicker Quote
redcell Posted February 26, 2014 Posted February 26, 2014 Selling on Amazon is much different ball of wax than selling on Ebay. The fees are significantly higher and you will end up eating a lot of shipping costs since Amazon tacks a set shipping fee onto each item that rarely covers the cost of shipping. Also, the only way that you can realistically expect to sell an item is to have the absolute lowest price since all items get funneled onto a single page with the lowest prices featured at the top of the page. Also, the competition on Amazon is pretty brutal. For Lego, you really have to wait until an item is 2-3 years after EOL for the number of sellers to dwindle to the point where the returns are worth the fees that you pay. Finally, you need to be prepared to provide customer service above and beyond anything that Ebay requires. Your customers will be able to return items for basically any reason whatsoever and you have little choice but to accept them. Although you can charge restocking fees if an item is open, you could sell a $500 set that is brand spanking new and get a set back that is opened, beat up and missing parts and you have little recourse. Amazon can be good if you're really dedicated, but it comes with a set of headaches far different than those you'll experience on Ebay. Quote
No More Monkeys Posted February 26, 2014 Posted February 26, 2014 Selling on Amazon is much different ball of wax than selling on Ebay. The fees are significantly higher and you will end up eating a lot of shipping costs since Amazon tacks a set shipping fee onto each item that rarely covers the cost of shipping. Also, the only way that you can realistically expect to sell an item is to have the absolute lowest price since all items get funneled onto a single page with the lowest prices featured at the top of the page. Also, the competition on Amazon is pretty brutal. For Lego, you really have to wait until an item is 2-3 years after EOL for the number of sellers to dwindle to the point where the returns are worth the fees that you pay. Finally, you need to be prepared to provide customer service above and beyond anything that Ebay requires. Your customers will be able to return items for basically any reason whatsoever and you have little choice but to accept them. Although you can charge restocking fees if an item is open, you could sell a $500 set that is brand spanking new and get a set back that is opened, beat up and missing parts and you have little recourse. Amazon can be good if you're really dedicated, but it comes with a set of headaches far different than those you'll experience on Ebay. If you are not a powerseller plus on ebay, then fee difference is just 2%, isn't it? Plus, preset shipping screws you over for a few bucks, but if the set is expensive, then percent-wise it does not matter. the best way to sell on amazon is when there is pricing inefficiency, and lowest price on amazon is above lowest bin price on ebay. Quote
redcell Posted February 26, 2014 Posted February 26, 2014 If you are not a powerseller plus on ebay, then fee difference is just 2%, isn't it? Plus, preset shipping screws you over for a few bucks, but if the set is expensive, then percent-wise it does not matter. the best way to sell on amazon is when there is pricing inefficiency, and lowest price on amazon is above lowest bin price on ebay. I am not sure what the bonus is for being a powerseller plus on Ebay, but the normal Ebay final value fees are 10% while Amazon's per item fee is 15%. In addition, Amazon charges a per item variable closing fee on top of the 15% and if you are not a professional merchant, you are charged an additional $1 per item. Add on whatever loss you incur on shipping and selling on Amazon can be quite expensive. Quote
justafrog Posted February 26, 2014 Posted February 26, 2014 I am not sure what the bonus is for being a powerseller plus on Ebay, 20% off the qualifying final value fees, which are charged on the sales price plus the shipping (so 20% of the 10% paid for each sale, disregarding listing fees, if any). Quote
No More Monkeys Posted February 26, 2014 Posted February 26, 2014 I am not sure what the bonus is for being a powerseller plus on Ebay, but the normal Ebay final value fees are 10% while Amazon's per item fee is 15%. In addition, Amazon charges a per item variable closing fee on top of the 15% and if you are not a professional merchant, you are charged an additional $1 per item. Add on whatever loss you incur on shipping and selling on Amazon can be quite expensive. You are forgetting paypal 3-3.5 % fee And I think amazon 15% already includes closing fee, at least that's how my stats look like Quote
jbacunn Posted February 26, 2014 Posted February 26, 2014 You are forgetting paypal 3-3.5 % fee And I think amazon 15% already includes closing fee, at least that's how my stats look like There is an additional variable closing fee in certain categories like media but not toys so for individual seller on Amazon it's 15% plus .99 per transaction. On eBay for top rated plus sellers it's 8% closing fee plus 2.9% plus .30 cents per payment through Paypal. The shipping can be tricky on Amazon because of the set amounts. Sent from my iPad using Brickpicker Quote
No More Monkeys Posted February 26, 2014 Posted February 26, 2014 There is an additional variable closing fee in certain categories like media but not toys so for individual seller on Amazon it's 15% plus .99 per transaction. On eBay for top rated plus sellers it's 8% closing fee plus 2.9% plus .30 cents per payment through Paypal. The shipping can be tricky on Amazon because of the set amounts. Sent from my iPad using Brickpicker Does ebay waive insertion fees for BIN lots for powersellers? Or the usual 50 free insertion per month apply? Quote
justafrog Posted February 26, 2014 Posted February 26, 2014 Non store subscribers get 50 free, doesn't matter if it's auction or fixed price. Different store levels get a different number each "free", but the monthly fee for the store basically replaces the listing fee. Top rated/power sellers get no special insertion fee breaks. Quote
jbacunn Posted February 26, 2014 Posted February 26, 2014 Non store subscribers get 50 free, doesn't matter if it's auction or fixed price. Different store levels get a different number each "free", but the monthly fee for the store basically replaces the listing fee. Top rated/power sellers get no special insertion fee breaks. They do run at least one promotion each month for free listings for a certain amount of time, usually several days. Either free buy it now or auction style listings. This may only be for power sellers. I'm not sure if everyone gets these offers. I live off the 50 free and the promotions but it gets tight some months. Sent from my iPad using Brickpicker Quote
justafrog Posted February 26, 2014 Posted February 26, 2014 The promotions are random - some folks seem to get them all the time (I usually do on all ids, but they're pointless for me since I only do GTC and those are usually excluded) and some folks complain that they never get them. Quote
Soadfan4ever Posted February 26, 2014 Posted February 26, 2014 The promotions are random - some folks seem to get them all the time (I usually do on all ids, but they're pointless for me since I only do GTC and those are usually excluded) and some folks complain that they never get them. I have been wondering about GTC. Can I use my allotted monthly listings for them, or is there an extra charge? Quote
jaylay Posted February 26, 2014 Posted February 26, 2014 Does ebay waive insertion fees for BIN lots for powersellers? Or the usual 50 free insertion per month apply? im a powerseller and my 50 free listings a month run out quick ... so i do get a monthly special where a few days im alotted so much free listings either BIN or auction style ... i just got my ending of the month special ... 60K free BIN listings for 6 days ... sometimes i get two listing specials a month ... Quote
Soadfan4ever Posted February 26, 2014 Posted February 26, 2014 im a powerseller and my 50 free listings a month run out quick ... so i do get a monthly special where a few days im alotted so much free listings either BIN or auction style ... i just got my ending of the month special ... 60K free BIN listings for 6 days ... sometimes i get two listing specials a month ... Yeah, I feel like I've been getting a few a month lately as well. They really come in handy when you run out of those 50 listings. Quote
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