Saturday, July 22, 2006

Oh, the woes of an eBay seller

I'm pretty sure that I'm giving up my eBay store. I received an email yesterday, via the eBay automatic system, saying that store listing fees were going up dramatically, and Final Value Fees are also increasing.

Last year, eBay raised the base price of a basic store from $9.95 to $15.95. Even then, it seemed worth it for me to just keep the store running all the time, with items only $.03 a month + the 8% Final Value Fee. Now, most of my items will be $.06 a month + the 10% Final Value Fee. Prices take effect on August 22, and I need to determine ASAP whether it will be worth it. I'm not a tremendous seller. Mostly I sell things from around my house -- toys, my children's outgrown clothing, books, movies, music -- that sort of thing. I would have to put much more effort into actually having a store for it to be worth it to me. It would become just another stress point, and that's not something I need at the moment.

Spyder's homeschooling has become much more mom/teacher-intensive, and Sass will begin Pre-K this year, most likely with the same type of schooling. I'm pleased with the path that schooling has taken for us, and I can't see changing it as a good thing. I can't afford to take away time from them to make eBay more profitable.

I've been thinking about this since I got the email, and I only came to my decision on the ride home from work tonight. As much as I hate to give up my "fun money," I know it will be the best decision in the long run.

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