I spent a lot of time yesterday trying to find a way to sell some of my extra merchandise online.
I went first to eBay, thinking that it is the most popular website and would have the best chances for high exposure. I signed up for an account, and was just about to click the "list item" button for my first item when I noticed a line that said "Items like yours typically have a starting price of $1.00 and an average selling price of $1.00". Yikes! I was hoping to get at least $15 for the item that I was trying to sell! I did a product search on all 7 items that I wanted to list (5 books, 1 CD and 1 children's play book). The ones that came up either did not sell or sold for less than $2. Not a route I wanted to go any further down!
After checking out a bunch of other websites, I decided to try Amazon.com's marketplace. There is no upfront charge for listing on Amazon, and they take care of payment collection for the seller. Upon sale of an item, there is a $1 transaction fee, a variable closing cost ($1.35 for any book), and up to a 15% commission (depending on the type of item). These costs must be figured in to the asking price of the item. Amazon will charge the customer for shipping and issue a credit to me that should cover the cost of shipping for that item.
My Amazon Marketplace seller page is at: http://www.amazon.com/seller/matthew_richmond
I'll let you know how sales go!
