7 Ways To Reduce eBay Selling Fees for Maximum Profit

Reduce ​eBay Selling Fees for Maximum Profit is the key to get success. In this article we’ll go over the different types of eBay selling fees and how to lower them so you can increase your profits and margins.

7 Ways To Reduce eBay Selling Fees for Maximum Profit

Paying fees are an unavoidable element of doing business on eBay, and there is a slew of them that may quickly pile up. In addition to the basic insertion costs (charged if you list more than a certain number of items per month), final value fees on sales and shipping that all sellers are subject to.  Optional listing improvements promoted listings and failing to fulfill seller requirements all come with fees. As a result, reducing selling fees on eBay is crucial because it directly affects your profit.

Is there any way to reduce eBay selling fees costs so that profit can be maximized? Let’s look at some particular steps that sellers can take to assist them to reduce selling fees on eBay.

1. The different types of eBay selling fees

When you advertise and sell anything on eBay, you will be charged fees. Selling fees are divided into two main categories: insertion fees which are charged when you create a listing, and final value fees which are charged after your item sells. The amount eBay charges are determined by the price of the items, the format and category you select for your listing, any optional listing improvements you add, and your seller’s conduct and performance. Besides insertion fees and final value fees, Let’s take a look at many forms of selling fees below for additional details.

1.1  Monthly account fee (eBay stores only)

Open eBay store is a great option if you sell a variety of products and want to make them all available in one spot. You can pick between Starter, Basic, Premium, Anchor, or Enterprise when you create an eBay Store, select between automatic monthly or yearly renewals when you sign up for the first time. Either way, eBay bills you on a monthly basis until you cancel your subscription.

 The following are store subscription fees:

 The packages you select will be determined by the number and price of items you sell on eBay.

1.2  Insertion fee

The insertion fee, also known as the listing charge, is due every time you list goods on eBay, regardless of whether the item sells or not.

Every month, all sellers are given a number of listings with no insertion fees. Sellers who have an eBay Store subscription receive more zero-insertion-fee listings per month than those who do not. The amount you receive is determined by the store subscription package you select. Keep in mind that there are some restrictions on how much you can sell, and some categories are not eligible for the free insertion fee. 

The number of listings with no insertion fee is listed in the table based on the store subscription package.

After you’ve taken advantage of your zero-insertion-fee allowance, insertion fees are as follows:

• Unsold items are non-refundable.
• Each listing is charged a fee, as well as each category. When listing an item in two categories, you will be charged for the second category as well.
• You’ll be charged for the initial listing as well as every time your item is relisted.
• If you create multiple auction-style listings for identical items, you will be charged per listing.

 1.3  Listing upgrade fee

If you want to make your listings stand out, you could use a bold title, additional Gallery plus, a subtitle, Value Pack or the listing designer, schedule listing… All listing upgrade fees are optional, according to the item’s price, listing format, and duration, the fees for these optional listing enhancements can range from free to quite price.

Here are the price of  upgrading your listing.

• Bold title ($4.00)
• Subtitle ($1.50)
• Second category (varies)
• Gallery plus ($0.35 –  $1 )
• Listing designer ($0.10 –  $0.30 )
• Value Pack ($0.65 –  $2)
• Schedule listing ($0.10)

1.4  Final value fee

Every time you sell something on eBay, you’ll be charged a final value fee. It’s counted as part of the entire selling price, which includes your delivery fee but excludes sales tax. The standard cost is 10% of the final value, with a maximum fee of $750. Fees vary from 2% to 12% in some categories.

Furthermore, you may be charged additional final value fees if you violate eBay’s policy of buying or selling outside of eBay or if you fail to meet their performance goals.

1.4.1 Buying or selling outside of eBay

You’ll be charged an additional final value fee depending on the total price of the sale if you offer your contact information or ask for a buyer’s contact information in the context of buying or selling outside of eBay even if your item doesn’t sell.

For more detail about buying and selling policy on eBay, you can visit:https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/payment-policies/offers-buy-sell-outside-ebay-policy?

1.4.2 Sellers not meeting performance expectations

You may be required to pay additional final value fees in the following situations.

• If your account fails to achieve our minimal seller performance standards for the United States in the monthly review on the 20th, you’ll be charged an extra 5% on final value fees for sales in the next calendar month.
•  If your rate of ‘Item not as described’ return requests is classified as Very High in one or more categories in your service metrics, you’ll be charged an extra 5% on final value fees for sales in those categories the next calendar month.

In most categories, final value fees are capped; the maximum amount is determined by the listing category and your store subscription. The additional final value fees for sellers who do not achieve eBay’s minimal performance and have a very high percentage of ‘Item not as described’ return requests are not subject to maximum final value charge restrictions. Any additional final value fees, including shipping, will be determined as a percentage of the total price of the sale. Learn more about the final value eBay fee you can visit: https://export.ebay.com/en/fees-and-payments/seller-fees/final-value-fees/

2.  How to reduce eBay selling fees

You must constantly consider your costs in any eCommerce business, but knowing your numbers ensures that you can earn a reasonable profit. It’s simple to fall into the habit of listing things without examining and considering your earnings. Understanding your eBay seller fees and how to reduce eBay selling fees will assist you in making a successful eBay business.

We’ve discussed seller fees on eBay in the previous section. If you’re not careful, your fees might eat up a big portion of your profit.

In this section, we’ll show you how to reduce eBay selling fees to Maximum Profit.

2.1  Reconsider your eBay store subscription type

If your shop subscription isn’t the appropriate fit for the amount you’re selling, you can be paying more than you need to on eBay fees. eBay offers five separate store subscriptions, each with its own set of advantages.

I’ll give you an example to demonstrate how important your eBay store subscription is in order to reduce eBay selling fees. Let’s get started.

The fees for store subscriptions are detailed in the table below.

The number of zero-insertion-fee listings per month is determined by the type of store subscriptions shown in the table below. Aside from that, most categories have a flat insertion cost of $0.35 per listing.

Assume you have a Starter store subscription but you’re listing and selling fewer than 50 items per month. In this case, canceling your subscription may be worthwhile because you can list up to 50 items per month for free with no store subscription. 

An example about the benefit of upgrading your subscription in order to reduce eBay selling fees.If you sell 150 items each month on a Starter subscription plan, you’ll pay $4.95 per month as store subscriptions plus $17.5 as insertion fee listings, totaling $22,45 per month.

If you upgrade to the Basic subscription, You only pay $21.95 but you can list 250 items for sale. In this case, you can sell more things for less money than with the Starter membership plan.

Aside from that, deciding whether to renew on a monthly or annual basis might help you to reduce eBay Selling Fees. By choosing an annual subscription, you can significantly lower your monthly fee. While committing your firm to a year of success can be intimidating, it can also provide you with the positive mindset you need to move forward.

2.2 Calculate fees and profits before listing items

Make sure an item is worth the time and effort it will take to sell it before you post it for sale. After all, putting a $100 item up for sale on eBay takes the same amount of time as putting a $10 item up for sale.

To help you figure out whether products are worth your time to sell, I recommend utilizing an eBay fee calculator. It allows you to enter specific information about the item you’re selling and the sort of listing you want to create in order to calculate your profit margins. This is one of the useful ways if you want to reduce eBay selling fees.

You may also use an eBay fee calculator to assist you to figure out a strategic selling price that ensures you make the minimum profit you want. You can use the reverse calculator to set your desired profit, for example, if you want to make at least $15 per sale. Then simply enter pertinent details such as your cost and any shipping and handling fees. This will provide you the best selling price, ensuring that you don’t lose money or only break even.

2.3  Become a top-rated seller

This may appear to be a lot of effort, but if you concentrate on your business and provide outstanding customer service, you will reap significant benefits as you reduce eBay selling fees. More specifically,eBay users who achieve the criteria to become top-rated sellers get a 10% discount on final value fees. And these savings build up quickly. If you earn $2,000 each month on final value fees, being a top-rated seller might save you $2,400 per year.

 Users must meet the following criteria to become a top-rated eBay seller:

•  You must have been a member of eBay for at least 90 days.
• Have completed at least 100 transactions and made at least $1,000 in U.S. sales in the previous year
• Comply with eBay’s policy on selling practices.
• Meet eBay’s transaction defect rate and late shipment rate standards.

2.4 Reclaim non-paying bidder fees

You will still be charged the final value fee if the customer does not pay for their item within the specified time frame. Agree with the buyer to cancel the transaction or report the item as unpaid to eBay to receive this chargeback as a credit.

If you relist the item within 90 days of the original listing expiring, you may be eligible for an insertion fee credit if you follow the relisting process and keep the beginning price the same or lower than the original listing. Understanding the above issues you can greatly reduce eBay selling fees to increase your profit.

2.5 Request credit due for final value fees

There are a number of scenarios in which a seller may be eligible for a final value fee credit, with the following being the most common:

• Between the time an item is sold and the time it is delivered, it breaks or becomes damaged.
• The buyer makes a purchase but afterward regrets it.
• The buyer returns the item or reports it as undeliverable, and the seller issues a reimbursement.
• The buyer refuses to pay.

By knowing those things you can reduce eBay selling fees significantly.

2.6 Make sure you have a PayPal merchant account 

 Although this isn’t really an eBay cost, you’ll almost certainly use PayPal for your eBay transactions, so it’s worth mentioning. If you have a PayPal Merchant account, you’ll be charged a flat fee of 2.9 percent plus $0.30 for each transaction, so make sure you factor it in.

2.7 Upload photos of your items to eBay using a free photo hosting website.

eBay will allow you to post one free photo of your item, but each additional photo you add to your listing will cost 15 cents (0.11 euros). You will not have to pay additional photo fees to eBay if you use a free photo hosting website to upload additional photos of your item.

3.  Final thought

When selling on eBay you can easily fall into the habit of simply listing and re-listing items without re-evaluating the profitability of final sales.  By understanding how to reduce eBay selling fees you’ll be able to easily maximize your profits as well as you can turn eBay into your most profitable sales platform.

Hopefully, this article has helped you understand the many types of eBay selling fees and how to reduce eBay selling fees so that you can reap the rewards (and profits) of your hard work.