FRUSTRATED LIVE AND LEARN

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Originally Posted by AlohaSandy

So I sold my first quilt on Ebay, great right, NOT!!! They charge $2.00 to list your item, then when it is sold they take a percentage in this case $19.20, then you have to mail your item that is another $11.35 from Hawaii, my money is sitting in Paypal and just learned they also take a percentage, so I am lucky if I made any money sellling this darn thing and don't get me started on Etsy, they don't charge as much but I don't even think people look at this at all. Ok I have vented boy live and learn and am going to charge way more next time but then again the more I charge the more the take, hmmmm sounds like the governmnent right, lol.

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When you list an item on Ebay make sure that you state that the "Buyer pays shipping", otherwise you won't make much.

Check out facebook. Around here there are all kinds of facebook pages to sell stuff and they are all busy,busy. There are a couple of ladies who have stores and they do alot of business there. One said it saved her business. Just an idea. Good luck.

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Originally Posted by Lisaau

Aloha Sandy sorry this has happened.. l dont sell on ebay.......... but recently the australian government demanded ebays records for all Aussies who sell on ebay to see if people owed any taxes if they made over $20,000 a year from selling on ebay the government was going to hit them for unpaid taxes

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Not nice. How did this situation turn out?

I have tried Etsy with no success and I gave up on them. I don't have the option for Craigslist here. I've used Ebay quite successfully for many years and even from here in Iceland. A few months ago I sold an old laptop computer (for parts only) to someone from Texas. I priced it higher to account for the fees and also listed it as "Buyer responsible for all shipping fees and import duties". The buyer had no problem with the shipping costs-which were $35!

I totally understand how you feel. You work hard to make something nice, list it, sell it, and then everyone swarms in to take your hard earned money. I've also sold items on eBay, and when I first started, I knew there were going to be fees, but I guess it doesn't really hit you until they actually take them. I also have shop on Etsy. I found both to be slow moving and stopped ebay for now. My Etsy store is empty right now but I'm hoping to add to it soon. At least they are only .20 for 4 months, and their selling fee is a set percentage no matter how much the item was. I need to explore more options for selling. I've heard, like Carol was saying that Facebook is a good place, so I might try that.

These are the things that have to be factored in when pricing handmade items that will be sold online. Now that you know, you can price your items accordingly. I used to sell my items on Etsy but people in our area know to call me if they want a rag quilt for a baby. That's the only kind I make to sell. This way I can pre-cut blocks and have them on hand. I even make the 'sandwiches' when I have spare time and keep them ready to sew together.

I stopped selling on Ebay after they and paypal ripped me off when selling. I now have a seperate page on my blog with pictures and prices/