posted on September 3, 2000 01:17:22 AM
HI, I have been approached several times to post items on the auctions for others. Those with no computer or other necessary equipment. I had been doing it for a favor, just for family. Now I am realizing there is a market out there for this type of service...... My problem is I don't know what to charge. I feel it shouldn't all be the same price..... If I write the description, take and up load the pictures and contact the buyer etc. I Should charge more than if they provide the picture and description...... Does anyone have any experience in this? I have heard people charge any where from 25 to 40%..... but I am not able to find another's price list any where....... any advance would be appreciated!!!
posted on September 3, 2000 04:56:04 AM
It takes as long to list a $5 piece as a $500 piece, so IF you do, have a minimum probable sales value for each piece.
Here's some terms that will minimize the trouble IF you get them in writing:
1. Consignor opens an account with THEIR CC (so all charges are automatically billed to them), and their username, directing emails to an account that you have access to. Consignor gives you access to both accounts for listing.
OR, Consignor advances you the money for the fees
2. You have possession of the piece from before listing until it ships.
3. Payment comes to you, you deduct your fees for photos, describing, packing, shipping and supplies (15-40%). You pass the remainder on to the consignor.
posted on September 3, 2000 05:43:24 AM
If you have consignment shops in your area, do a bit of detective work. See what their procedures and fees are and set up your business accordingly. The last quote I heard was 30% of asking price. You could probably make your fee a bit less, since you don't have the overhead of store rent, etc.. If you have a well thought out plan, it should work. Here are a few other suggestions:
1) Have a WRITTEN agreement with the consignor stating your fees, shipping policies, etc.. It also needs to cover how you'll handle refunds, e.g. you'll refund before paying seller, but you still get your fees.
2) This is one case where I'd recommend requiring the buyer to purchase insurance, because you're dealing with someone else's money. Your seller isn't going to be very happy if you end up refunding money because the item is damaged or lost in shipping without insurance, and he still has to pay your fees.
3) The suggestion that you have possession of the item from listing until shipment is a very important one, and should be included in your written agreement.
4) Write the description yourself. If you're not familiar with the item, ask the seller for help. I'd include a statement in the consignment agreement that the consignor recognizes that he will be liable for refund to buyer in the event that he provides inaccurate or misleading information which is included in the listing.
I too have been approached by a local consignment shop (childrens clothing & toys) to basically put her stuff online.
I have good relationship with the owner, and even worked for her part time in the past.
I'd love to do this from home and be able to leave my job at a local school (not a teacher, so we're only talking an hourly wage here and its not our only income source). Is it conceivable that I charge the owner an hourly rate to do this plus a percentage of the selling price? I don't want to hang myself out to dry $$ wise if the item doesn't sell. I'm trying to be fair to her and still make a couple bucks for myself.
posted on September 3, 2000 07:35:56 AM
I have listed alot of items for others on ebay. If pictures need to be taken the seller takes the pics and develops them. After the items sells I take out listing and FV fees and my 10% right off the top and then the rest of the money is given to the seller of the item.
Right now I am selling some fairly high prices items for someone else. I can sit at the computer listing a couple of items for an hour and make between 300 & 1500.00 per item. That definately pays off!
posted on September 3, 2000 09:18:26 AM
I charge 40%. That might seem high but by the time I research the item to make sure what it really is, clean it up, photograph it, then handle the auction, it's worth every bit of 40%. I also pay all the ebay fees. I was doing it for a while for 20% and I was losing money.
posted on September 3, 2000 09:26:54 AM
I have a good friend that I'm helping by listing a "few" items for her until she gets herself up and running. She is going to pay me 30% of the profit (after ebay costs.)
BUT, I wouldn't recommend doing this for many people or for long. It becomes quite a hassle. Its not worth ruining a friendship over.
Best thing to do would be to teach someone to sell. There are plenty of resources out there that someone could do OCCASIONAL sales without having a computer.
posted on September 3, 2000 10:09:12 AM
I would discourage people from doing it, but if they insist: I would ask 50% after expenses on items up to $25, and 30% over $25. I would only do it if I get the impression that the item is "excess baggage", and not something that has sentimental value.
posted on September 3, 2000 10:39:59 AM
I do this for others from time to time includeing antique shops and so on standard agreement .
They pay all fee for listing and selling even if the items dont sell.
after sale I get 30% to 40% depending on the range of price it sold for.
I have to have all items in my hand or Iwont list them.
I charge $1 per photo and editing.
I wont sell any Item that wont bring at least $20 that would be a waist for the other person to pay me 30% of $1 or so and a waist of my time.
#1 problem I run into Is I will have items listed for someone else.
and in the middle of the sale without asking if there is bids or how the ITem wil be doing the party I listed for will come to me say they need the item back they sold it on there own and have cash in hand.
if the item has a bid already there is bad feelings I have to look at the person and say sorry its got a bid you will have to return the money.
if it dont have a bid I can cancel the bid but they feel since they sold it they dont have to pay for listing fees and so on and pitures and I lose out.
#2 problem I run into is the person will be asking me to sell an item or items that I myself an selling putting there items in direct competition with me conflict of interests.
#3 since I have to have all there inventory in my house space get tight other peoples items are takeing up space we could use for are sales.
If you can deal with these problem and others you can do this and make another good source of income from online auctions with out the work of buying as much inventory.
my brother does this now for a antique dealer full time he gets 30% and fees and his mail box has a pile of checks every day and he is requesting paypal check daily from $100 to $500 just in paypal payments .
posted on September 3, 2000 11:35:05 AM
Traditional percentage consignments don't work well for this situation. Listing $1000 items at 30% commission is good work if you can get it, but there's not much demand. Similarly, listing $10 items at 30% commission will get old real fast.
Also, listing random items each requiring a separate picture is different than selling 100 copies of the same thing, when all you have to to is relist.
There is a crucial item which, of necessity, varies based on your relationship with your clients. If the client is your friend or family, you can negotiate for "client has full financial responsibility". If you are running a business, you must accept this responsibility yourself and charge for it.
If you ship client's $1000 item to buyer and it gets lost or damaged, you will be held responsible. You can cover most but not all cracks with insurance paid for by buyer. However, no economically sensible alternative exists for $20 items except that you self insure, meaning that you will refund from your money if the package gets lost or destroyed.
A ballpark for random items each requiring a picture: $5 + listing+ eBay's fvf to the lister. Client pays all fees, including listing fee and fvf (paying ebay fees twice by the time it's done). Require buyer paid insurance on all items over $50 in value.
Dont's:
-list adult oriented items
-list items oriented toward teenagers
-believe client's appraisal of the value; way common, client's $1000 item is really worth $75.
Avoid things which never sell (push toward $1 first bid no reaserve, the listing fees help encourage this)
Badness: things which require refund/rebate
1.overdescribed items (more common item misidentified as rare variant). If you're not sure what it is, don't make extravagent claims in the listing.
2.undisclosed defects. If you don't know it works, don't claim it works. If you make an unqualified claim that it works, you have offered a guarantee of all its functionality. If client has been neglectful in detecting such problems, none of that changes.
If you have to refund/rebate due to either of these, be prepared to have a stressful communication with your client. This can be headed off somewhat by insisting that client accept partial responsibility, but it's always going to be way painful to demand money from a client on a refund situation. However, someone is going to pay two way postage, and it's either you or the client. Much better to work to avoid these in the first place.
Summary: you can put some responsibility on client, and cover other responsibility with buyer paid insuarnce, but there remains some responsibility you're going to cover yourself, and you have to charge for accepting that responsibility.
posted on September 3, 2000 11:43:21 AM
I am currently doing auctions for 6 other people in addition to my own (and yes, I'm exhausted some days).
I charge 50% of the net selling price for handling the items. While this may seem like a lot, some of the items are $10 or less, so my costs there are more than my "take" but many of the items are bigger ticket & make up for the smaller ones.
I also have a detailed contract w/each person where their responsibilities & mine are spelled out & the "net selling price" is determined (less fees, shipping, returns, credit card charges, etc.,etc.).
I HIGHLY recommend a contract, I even have one with my own sister. We've detailed out return policies, damage policies, lost item policies, etc.
Once you spend the time to make a contract, it's pretty easy to adjust it for other customers.
One good side about doing consignments, is it often brings in a new set of customers to look at your items which might not normally look at them. I've had people buying in one category, get interested in something I had in another which has helped everyone's sales.
It CAN get to be a hassle if you don't have a contract & are relying on "friendship" or family relationships. Family is family but business is business..get a contract.
posted on September 3, 2000 12:31:20 PM
littlebutterfly
Not a good idea, not a good idea at all.
All that CAN go wrong WILL go wrong and guess who is to blame? If you like pain, go stand in front of a truck.
posted on September 3, 2000 12:46:24 PM
I listed for someone else for several months.
They gave me item in hand to run. They paid for item, I provided 100% of the labor to take pictures, create ads, e-mail bidders, potential bidders with questions & deadbeats, shipping, handling, transpotation of item, forms at post office, etc.
We split the ebay charges equally, and I received 50% of the final winning bid amount.
I failed to take into consideration that this was done in my name, and appears to be income to me in case of a tax audit. Bad Move on my part.
Also, this is a bookkeeping nightmare - due to deadbeats, returns, etc.
In addition, many-many items did not sell or sold for very low amount. It appeared that I was not doing my part.
This was a LOT of work for a little return.
You will make more if you buy and sell your own items. That way, there is no bookkeeping to someone else, and all income is yours.
posted on September 3, 2000 01:04:26 PM
the key to this though is either good book keeping or setting up an account for each person you sell for with there credit or debit card number.
selling for many people and your self could make it apear on taxes as if you income incress 50,000 to 500,000 in a hurry if it goes well when it actually isnt all your income
WWW.dman-n-company.com
posted on September 3, 2000 02:12:09 PM
My advice is also DON'T. Tried it a couple of times & it was disaster. The items I sold for the other party was not up to my quality standards. I ended up refunding buyers. Never again. I learned my lesson.
posted on September 3, 2000 02:38:22 PM
Been there, done that.. Mixed results.
Make sure that you have the items in hand. Inspect them carefully.. List the items then buy them from the person for, say 30% - $35% under the final sale price.
Let the person know exactly what you plan to do up front and put it in writing.
I would not attempt to list low dollar items because this is not worth your time.
posted on September 3, 2000 08:05:46 PM
I HATE it when someone asks me to sell for them. My question is always "why can't they do it"? My time is just as valueable as theirs???
I try and avoid this completely!!!
