I have been selling on eBay since 2011 and I even worked for them in 2018 as Seller Support. Nowadays, eBay is becoming more and more popular for new resellers who are trying to make some money but is it worth it in 2022? Before you decide to quit your job and sell on eBay full time, let’s go over a few pros and cons to help you decide if selling on eBay will be profitable for you.
Pros- Why Selling on eBay is Great
- Quick Payouts – You can get paid really quickly on eBay – usually with 2-3 business days after the your sale. This is what made eBay so attractive to me – who doesn’t like daily payouts?!?
- Easy to List and Sell– Listing on eBay is super easy and quick. You can quickly list things by scanning the barcode or by clicking ‘sell similar’. eBay handles all the advertising so that’s a plus.
- Sell Anything – There’s almost no limit to the things you can sell! You can sell just about anything on eBay. I have sold condoms, sex toys, expired vitamins, food, baby formula, used ink carts and soo much more. This is probably one of the best things about eBay. You just never know what people will buy
- Global Selling– Selling internationally is really easy with their Global Shipping Program. It’s really easy to use – just ship the item to their Global Shipping Program and they will handle the rest at no additional cost!
Cons- Why Selling on eBay Sucks
- No Seller Protection – eBay does not protect their sellers at all. Most of the time, if there is an issue with your buyer, eBay will rule in their favor. For example, I had a buyer who purchased a NEW Microsoft Software and the buyer wanted to return the item because they found it cheaper somewhere else. I was not taking any returns at the time so I declined the request. The buyer then sent a bunch of upset messages saying that they just want to return the item and that it has not been opened. I explained that I was not accepting any returns. The next day, I got an email from eBay saying that the buyer filed a chargeback with his bank saying the item was not as described. I contacted eBay and explained the situation. The rep was understanding of the situation and advised me to upload my evidence and wait for the buyer’s bank to decide. Even though, eBay was able to see all of those messages from the buyer admitting that nothing was wrong with the item and they just wanted to return it so they lied to their bank – eBay still sided with the buyer. I had to give the buyer their money back, pay additional bank fees AND they got to keep the brand new Microsoft software. eBay did not vouch for me at all – despite having all of that evidence of the buyer lying. They did not care.
- Feedback System – Once upon a time, you could leave negative or neutral feedback for your buyer but eBay has changed that. You can ONLY leave positive feedback for buyers – even if the buyer was a total scammer and you would love to to warn other potential sellers. eBay has took that right from sellers which is a bit crazy to me.
- Seller Levels – eBay has three seller levels – Top Rated, Above Standard and Below Standard. They use seller levels measure’s a seller’s performance and can help determine if your listings will be seen. eBay wants sellers to be Top Rated (highly preferred – they offer more perks) or Above Standard (no perks, your listings are just seen). If you are Below Standard, then eBay will put your listings at the bottom of the search results andddd you have to pay higher fees than the other seller levels.
- Store Can Be Closed by eBay– I have read wayyyy too many horror stories about really big eBay sellers getting their stores closed and being unable to continue selling on eBay – without any warning.
- eBay fees– eBay fees are high. Their fees range up to 15% and it depends on the listing style, product category, price of product, and your seller level that I was telling you about. I remember selling an iPhone for $475 and eBay fees cost me a little less than $100 – yikes!
Conclusion
eBay was one of my favorite platforms to sell on in the very beginning. Over the last few months, I have gotten extremely frustrated from lack of seller support against fraudulent and scam buyers, seller levels, high fees, ridiculous feedback system and huge decrease in sales. It is just not profitable for me to continue to sell on eBay buttt that may not be the case for you. If you are selling bulk products with great product margins then maybe the pros will easily outweigh the cons for you. It may then be worth it for you. 🙂
