40 % houses shipping your stuff to Epay

[W3RSW]

Has anyone used one of these 40% houses to sell your stuff via Ebay?  Outside of expecting them not to pack heavy gear properly and the very stiff overhead, they might be useful on small stuff.  But then again parcel post/UPS, etc. can handle the small, light stuff. 
- Just curious about lag time, shipping integrity and insurance if anyone's used them.
tnx,
Rick

[k4kyv]

Why pay a 3nd party a 40% cut when you can list the stuff on e-Pay yourself?

[KL7OF]

You take the stuff you want to sell on ebay to them and then wait for the check...-40% of course...They do everything else...You don't have to watch the auction, deal with the buyer, obtain packing materials and boxes and pack, ship, insure and all the other things that take up so much time when things are sold on Ebay.....40% seems like a fair amount for smaller $ items... I would think you could negotiate a smaller % for large ticket items....I haven't tried it but I've been thinking about it as there is a business that offers this service nearby..

[Ed - N3LHB]

Why pay a 3nd party a 40% cut when you can list the stuff on e-Pay yourself?

That sounds even worse than paying someone else to renew your license

[KF1Z]

Nope, never have tried that....


But, even for "small stuff"... doesn't sound like a very good deal to me...
On a $10 item...
They take $4.
You get $6.

Now, depending on the item, of course... the packaging can be nearly free...

If it's a solid item, that won't break easily... newsprint is fine...
A Priority Mail box if Free at the PO....
Takes maybe 10 minutes to pack and write the address.....

If it's say, a glass vac variable....  $100 (or so)....
They take $40 !
A small roll of bubble wrap at the PO is $4.
Again, box is free....
And takes the same packing time...

Also, for larger items, the UPS Store around here has done a great job of packing the rice-boxes I've sold on the  -bay...



I don't know....

Maybe it would be worth it for the under $20. stuff....
Read the fine print!!!!!


Suppose there's different ways to view it, myself, I'd stick to selling the stuff myself...
(squeeze every penny out of the deal!)

Of course... I'm a "stay-at-home-Dad".... so, I may not view my time spent the same as others might....

[W1ATR]

I've sold a few things for friends that way and usually manage to lop off 30% for my troubles plus any listing fees, paypal fees, etc... After all, I have to take the item, test it, clean it, photograph it, and pack it in a box, and then into another larger box,(packing materials cost money) put up the auction with pics and a description, respond to questions, ship the item, (I have fedex do pickups, much easier than running it to them), then finally pay the original owner to the item minus my pinch of course.

Is it worth it, that's a matter of opinion. We have a couple of papers around that you can put ad's in, but that gets old quick. People will call you and ask stupid questions at 11:00 at night, schedule appointments and never show up, tire kickers like to come and offer you 15 dollars for a $500 item. The hell with all that nonsense. It's much easier to let them duke it out at auction and you make more in the end anyway.

I'm a wicked packrat, and without epay, I think I'd have alot more junk around.

[KB2WIG]

Localy, we had a company that had a few storefront opps. The guy went out of business without paying most people...  FWIW .......      klc

[W3RSW]

Yeah, thanks for thoughts everybody.  Looks like the same old "caveat emptor."
Depends on time and effort to photograph, pack, list and ship, bunch of small stuff only. If time is worth a nickle /hr. (retirees like me) guess we should list on epay ourselves.