posted on November 1, 2000 05:08:34 PM new
Do any of you sell for others on consignment? I was approached by a dealer asking me how much I would charge him to sell items (probably $25-$60+) on ebay for him, or what % I would charge. I told him about the insertion fee, and that ebay gets 5% of the top. Can anyone help me with a percentage? It takes just as much time and work to sell an inexpensive item as a hot item, so I wouldn't be interested in selling the $10 items for him, I know. Does anyone have experiences to share? Thanks a lot!
posted on November 1, 2000 05:14:50 PM new
I've handled consignments for 20% of the gross. The items ranged from $10-350, most about $30. I don't think it's worth your time and I've stopped doing it.
posted on November 1, 2000 05:26:41 PM new
Before you quote any commission, do this first: Sit down and make a list of all the steps involved to get an auction ready to go, photos, research, description, etc. Then make of list of steps involved during the auction process, emails, etc. Then make a list of everything at auction end - end of auction notice, waiting for payment, following up on deadbeats, packaging, mailing etc. etc. After you have that list prepared you will see why I charge the following for commission:
$5.00 fee to just do the auction
40% for items up to $2,000
30% for items from $2,001 and up.
Anything under 37.00, I get $10 of in addition to the 5.00 - I really should change that to anything under $50, I get $40.
I charge for special fees - $2.00 for a reserve auction ; $20.00 for a featured category auction; and the regular prices for other features. I do not charge eBay commission, it comes out of mine.
I also have a three page contract I request everyone sign. In that contract it covers their not getting paid until after the customer acknowledges satisfactory receipt of the item and several other items that are important such as if they try to sell it out from under you or try to pull the item after it is up at auction.
I have done several consignment sales and two of the sales caused me some public embarrasment, as I was unfamiliar with both pieces and relied on my consignor's statement of fact. One included listing an artist as dead, when he was, in fact, alive. Another included an antique musical instrument in working order, which turned out to be butchered and rigged.
Obviously today is not a good day for me to reply to this - however I think it is a good idea to realize the amount of effort and work that goes into your auction listings. I have a hard time justifying all the work for not alot of money earned.
The best thing I can say is figure what your average sale might be - i.e. $100.00 - at 10% you would earn $1.00 / 40% you would earn $4.00 - is it worth it? Offer to buy it from them instead.
posted on November 1, 2000 05:35:46 PM new
Xevav, 10% of $100 is $10.00. Have you been cheating yourself? I like your breakdown and appreciate your ideas. Thanks! I will definatly not be interested in low price items. Too much work! I have too many of those on my own!!
posted on November 1, 2000 09:09:55 PM new
I have listed several times for an acquaintance lots of vintage toys. I charge him 25% plus the eBay fees, and he does all the packing/shipping. Works out ok BUT he is very lax with timely shipping and keeping me informed about when items get shipped. The rare time that I have packed/shipped his items, I charged another 20% for a total of 45%.
In my opinion, don't do it for any less than 50% with your full control of the item from listing to shipping. It's your feedback at stake after all.
If he does the packing/shipping, charge less but be very sure that he will follow thru in a timely manner.
posted on November 1, 2000 10:23:11 PM new
I have done consig. for people and I charged 25%, and let me tell you, it is not worth the time involved. Now I still do consig. selling and I take half of the selling price. I pay all fees, it works for me. The people are happy to give me the items to sell because I get them a good price, where they would only keep it sitting in a box.
There is to much work involved, plus packing supplies cost money, boxes and tape are free, but don't forget,we go to buy the bubble, peanuts, go to postoffice and ship, stand on line for 40min. with 50 boxes at a time. No one can tell me that 50% of the selling price is too much to charge for the work involved. <br>This works for me, WE SELLERS WORK TO HARD TO WORK FOR OTHER PEOPLE FOR LESS THEN 50% WHO DON'T WANT TO PAY FOR YOUR SERVICES DON'T SELL THERE MERCHANDICE. THANKS FOR LISTENING!!!!
posted on November 1, 2000 10:39:06 PM new
Interesting to see this thread tonight. I have "listed" thing for people and agree, that it is not really worth the time. Especially if your nickel and diming it stuff to get rid of it. I found I take the same amount of time to list a $10 item as a $100 item. However just today I made a deal to sell 25 Hummels at 30 percent commssion. I was going to charge 50, but I chickened out at the last minute. I got tired of all the junk I had laying around, stuff I shouldn't have bought and was trying to wade through. Called to Goodwill and gave them 9 boxes jammed full. The Hummels are already researched and noted. She also gave me the book so I can double check. I haven't done them yet,but in my way of thinking it sure beats all the junk I gave away. Still learning........
Bygrace
posted on November 2, 2000 03:55:36 AM new
A 40% consignment fee doesn't seem at all out of line when you consider that that's the going rate for B&M consignment antique shops, and the stuff can just SIT there for months.
posted on November 2, 2000 04:13:24 AM new
I agree that you need at flat base charge and a % of the sales price and the ability to refuse to accept low priced items. I believe that it takes one hour to do all the steps in an auction. To this you must add all the interaction time with your consignor.
posted on November 2, 2000 04:24:45 AM new
Told you it was a bad day for me to write anything - sorry about the math errors.
You are getting very good advise from everyone and I expect we all have done our share of consignment auctions and have many horror stories to tell.
The last poster mentioned the car he sold, I did the same thing for a friend of mine and I did make a nice profit and the work involved, which is alot, was well worth the commission paid.
posted on November 2, 2000 04:50:26 AM new
There have been a few endless threads here arguing "are we auctioneers requiring a state license?" State law here specifically exempts casual and personal sales, but I think taking consignments might be a bit closer to the line. Oh, I'm in Massachusetts.
posted on November 2, 2000 05:01:17 AM new
I have found consignments to be very much worth my time. I sell both large and small items. The items I sell come from a variety of individuals; including a local computer store and a Cameras & Equipment store who is selling off his entire stock. The rest of my consignors are individuals that are just looking to unload their "junk."
With each consignor, I charge 30% commission after insertion fees and FVFs are deducted. I have no photos to take since my clients provide those. However, in the manual I provide my clients about the auctioning process, I have a section on taking photos that clearly states that there will be a fee per photo if I have to take them. Works as a great deterrent! LOL
I know that many here have said that you should stay away with consignments. It all depends on how you feel about it. Are you willing to take the time to teach your consignors how to watch their own auctions instead of calling for updates? Teach them to write thorough descriptions? Etc. Etc. Etc. With each new person I agree to consign for, the first couple of weeks are miserable but after that, it's great!
I don't have to search for inventory (which running another company full time does not permit). I have absolutely no investment. It's all straight profit....AND I LOVE IT!!
posted on November 2, 2000 05:25:08 AM new
The only person I do it for is my mother. it doesn't matter if is low ticket or not.To me it is worth it to help her out.
But it is way to much trouble and much to much to worry about doing it for anyone else.
JMO
Good luck
"Don't go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first."---Mark Twain
posted on November 2, 2000 08:19:49 AM new
Most important thing to remember about consignment is to have the items in your possession and inspect them, and do the shipping. If the consignor doesn't deliver the goods after the sale or the goods are not what they say they are, the negative FB is still yours.
I had the reverse happen on a NPB. They were bidding through someone else's account - at least that's what I was told and the emaill addy seemed to support the contention.
So do you leave neg FB on the "borrowed" account ? Do you leave neg FB to the consignee account ?
posted on November 2, 2000 08:25:19 AM new
If you do this, have a written contract. I do it for others & having a written contract atleast takes away the "but you said" controversies.
State out exactly what you will do, what they must provide, how the fees are calculated & make sure you have the "option" to not offer any item you don't feel comfortable with selling.
I also make my consignors provide a starting price but work with them when I know it's not attainable.
Good luck..it's darn hard work, no-one really appreciates it but it can be interesting & bring a whole new group of buyers which might not have normally looked at your other auctions over to take a look.
posted on November 2, 2000 08:30:58 AM new
I charge 95% plus the 5% eBay fees, but I do buy them lunch from time to time. Seems to keep everybody happy.
posted on November 2, 2000 09:07:56 PM new
Hi Upriver!!!!!
This is tonimar1 I like your percent,
I did a friend a favor one time by selling his items and working for 10% just to do the top end items, I figured, well they are $$$ items so I should do well, Yes, you will do well if they sell, some consignors only know what price they want, not the true selling price of the item, so that was a problem.
I did sell some of his items, and he nickled and dimed me to death, he even ask me to bid on a Rolex Watch for him, which was 8500.00
It took a week with emails back and forth he finally got the watch for $9000.00 after it was all over he never even offered me a penny for all my work.
A month passed and I said to him, take all you stuff back, I am not working on 10% any longer, he said why, thats good money, I said
My time is worth more to me then 10% plus I said, and you never even gave me anything on the Rolex Deal, He said, oh, why, you wanted to get paid for that, what do you want $100.00, I said, what I want is for you to take all your stuff and go somewhere else.
End of Story, and I learned a good lesson from all that.
posted on November 2, 2000 09:19:13 PM new
Hi Zazzie
This is tonimar1
I do agree, I am doing it for my sister in law and I end up giving her all the money that it sells for, because she does me favors so I fell I owe it to her, but I do put a lot of work in doing her stuff, I could be doing my stuff,
But, thats family life, which I do enjoy.
Sell for my family? Are you kidding? I have no desire to hear years of griping over some beloved knickknack going for "too low" a price (which will somehow become my fault) or worse, a family member deciding not to sell *after* the auction ends and totally disregarding the fact that I could get bad feedback as a result. I love my family but the whining/complaining gene runs rampant there. Maybe if your family is saner than mine, you might consider it. (for some reason I'm thinking of Jack Nicholson in As Good As It Gets: "Go sell crazy somewhere else. We're all stocked up here."
Strangers? As far as I know, they could be as wacky as my family. At best it means a little money. At worst, a whopping headache with negative feedback that stays around forever. Not worth it to me.
Friends? I will do it on a very occasional basis for trusted friends, but I tell every one up front what the rules are and I don't take money. It makes me feel weird to take money from friends.
posted on November 3, 2000 03:00:18 AM new
Been there, done that - more than once. I have done it for 20% of sale, 30% of sale, and 50% of sale. Anyway, it is not worth the time it took away from my own items and my sales went down.
The only items I have had buyer complaints with are items I've sold for other people. I'm not sure why, maybe it's because I just don't know enough about the item or try to not spend a lot of time writing up the listing. Don't know, but any way it goes, it isn't worth it.
Instead, I've earned money by teaching people how to do their own eBay listings. This works much better. It saves them the all the time I spent trying to find a good listing site, a good post-sale program, etc, etc.
I, too, posted a thread asking what to charge and how to sell for other people. I, too was told it wasn't worth the time. I didn't listen then, and ended up losing a lot of my own sales by spending time on auctions where instead of getting 100% return, I only got up to 50%. Even though 50% sounds good, it still isn't worth it.
posted on November 3, 2000 03:39:13 AM new
I am curious if anyone has sold on "consigment" by approaching antiques dealers who sell offline only and don't use eBay. You could say that you are an "antiques broker" and will find buyers for their items. You take the pictures, write the listing, put it on ebay with a reserve. Sell the item, cash out, get item from antiques store, send to buyer. Done!
Antiques store pays you 10% commission fee, plus you get the margin/profit you made on ebay as well! And the best part is YOU HAVE NO RISK OF UNSOLD INVENTORY CAUSE YOU DIDN'T BUY ANYTHING! Of course, you NEVER tell them where you sold it as they might do it themselves!
If you use the traditional model of consignment, you just get a percentage of what the item sold for. This method I just described gets you a 10% commission for the antiques dealer's price, PLUS all of the Ebay profits for yourself!
posted on November 3, 2000 03:52:26 PM new
Hi rvlawrence
What you say sounds good, except some antique dealers may not hold the item aside for you and when you go back to get it, they don't have it. They may get an offer and sell it.
You need to have the item in your posession
or don't do it.
Also, If they give you the selling price you don't have a chance to sell it, because they don't know what things sell on ebay for. And then you did all that work for nothing if it doesn't sell, and remember not everything sells.
I feel, you should only sell what you believe is a hot item on ebay, and check out the bidding prices first so when you list your item, you will be right on the money.
The only way to sell the way you are saying is if the person don't know what they have and they give you a low price.
I still sell consign. stuf, but I get 50% of the selling price, and if I don't feel it is a good item for ebay, I don't take it.
posted on November 3, 2000 08:35:46 PM new
I've done it for several friends and co-workers. My terms are 20%, I have the item in my possession before I post, and i do the shipping.
I paid the items owner when I got notification item was received and buyer was happy.
Everyone was quite satisfied with the arrangement. Cleared out two Star Wars toy collections and netted more than $3-$4,000. The big ticket items more than made up for the pissy little ones.
Won't do it for strangers-but the people I do it for have been quite happy with the arrangement.
posted on November 3, 2000 08:36:11 PM new
Hi All!
Does anyone actually use a contract? If so, could you link it to the message board so we can see how it is set up? Some of our members might still be interested in selling on consignment and seeing the contract might help them with handling consignments in a more legitimate manner. Thanks!!!
posted on November 3, 2000 10:13:04 PM new
TheFed,
I actually use a contract but it's too lenghty to post here. It's designed much like an "agent" agreement. Here are some of the primary sections I use:
Section I covers the parties involved
Section II covers the purpose of the contract
Section III covers the parties' participation & rights. This delineates what each party will do. For example, in mine, the consigning party must provide a basic description & suggested starting price. I then have a detailed description of what services I will provide & my rights to make final decisions regarding billing arrangements, keep all feedback, etc.
Section IV covers the compensation which includes a description of the costs & revenues from which compensation is determined. It also takes into account if there is a net loss, that the consigning party will pay me back.
Section V covers time frame the contract is in effect.
Section VI is for contract revision procedures.
Section VII covers termination procedures for either party.
Sections III & IV are the heavy weight portions. I tried to cover most situations I might encounter there.
While friends/family might be taken back a bit at being asked to sign a contract up front, it's a whole lot easier in the long run to avoid misunderstandings if you have one.
BTW, I actually have 2 contracts, one is 4 pages long, one is 2 pages long, depending on how much the consigning party wants me to do on their behalf.
I always include an option which allows me to decide NOT to take merchandise if I feel it cannot bring the price the person wants & am unable to negotiate a lower starting price with them. This avoids a LOT of headaches.
posted on November 3, 2000 11:42:25 PM new
BAD IDEA! Nobody ever seem to know what their stuf is REALLY worth, and I usually come out on the losing end. They always want too much and they want to run the auciton, ie specifying too-high reserves, etc. I won't do this anymore. Besides, I don't have an auctioneers license and I feel fishy putting out that I will sell stuff on consignment. My biggest failure lately was a $12,000 antique car I tried to sell for a guy. First bad news was he wanted too much, hence a reserve (auction death!) I lost $65 listing fees fooling with that. Never again!
posted on November 4, 2000 04:56:26 PM new
Good point about the contracts being too long to post here. Would any of you who have mentinoed contracts be able to post a link to them or email them to me ([email protected])?
Also, would there be any (dis)advantages to charging by the hour rather than a percentage or flat fee?
