When browsing on eBay I am always amazed by the number of sellers, including experienced ones, who seem to completely disregard the Insertion Fee structure. Being aware of the fee structure can save you money.

Let me give you and example: today I came across a seller who has been registered with eBay for almost two years and has a feedback of 446. They currently have 48 items listed, 2 of which have a starting price of £5, and 17 of which started at £15.

At the time of writing, Insertion Fees on eBay UK are:

Starting or Reserve Price	Insertion Fee
£0.01 - £0.99	£0.10
£1.00 - £4.99	£0.15
£5.00 - £14.99	£0.25
£15.00 - £29.99	£0.50
£30.00 - £99.99	£1.00
£100.00 or more	£1.30

Therefore, the 2 items our example seller listed at £5 incurred Insertion Fees of £0.25 each (total £0.50) and the 17 items starting at £15 cost £0.50 each (total £8.50).

However, had he/she reduced the Starting Price by just £0.01 for each of these items, the Insertion Fees would have been £0.15 each for the two £4.99 items (total £0.30) and £0.25 each for the seventeen £14.99 items (total £4.25) making the total Insertion Fee £4.55, a saving of £4.25 or 50% (less a total of £0.19 off the selling price if each of the items sold).

£4.25 may not be a huge amount, if this seller were to make similar listings each week, the saving would amount to around £200 over the course of a year. That is money that would surely be better in your pocket than eBay’s

Although the example used is from eBay UK, the principal is the same no matter which country site you list on. So keep a note of the Insertion Fees handy and consult it before deciding upon your Starting Price.

Posted in Getting Started, Money Saving Tips, Selling Ideas