Can You Make a Lot of Money on eBay?

eBay used to be a site where people could put up their old junk and hope other people would bid on it. Nowadays though, it is actually a venue for money making online. If you have been looking for a new career at home, you may think about selling products on eBay. There are pros and cons that come along with this, so you need to be really careful about jumping into that kind of work. It may not be as profitable as you think it is. Here is an overview of the money you could logically make on eBay, courtesy of someone who has gone through this process herself.

The Fees on eBay

There are tons of fees on eBay any time you make a post, more so than most people realize. Here are just some of the many fees that you could come across with your eBay business:

• Posting fees: you have to pay a certain amount of money for posting an item on eBay, regardless of whether or not it sells. The more you do with the posting, the more money you will have to pay. Little things like adding a purple border to it or adding a Buy It Now option will boost the cost of your posting. If you consistently struggle to make a sale, you will be forced to pay out without making any money in return.
• Selling fees: If you happen to sell an item on eBay, you will be charged with a percentage of the sale price. This is a sum of money on top of your posting fee. The value of your selling fee will depend on the cost of your item, but it will quickly eat away at your profits.
• PayPal fees: If you manage your money through PayPal, you may have to pay a fee for the money you transfer. This will depend on the type of PayPal account you have and the amount of money that you are transferring from place to place. For instance, you may have to pay a fee to send your money to your bank account if you need it sent instantly. You can look into PayPal's terms of use for more information on that regard.
• Shipping fees: You will obviously have to pay money to ship out whatever item you sell. This will probably cost more than you think it should. My husband and I once sold a single trading card, and it cost more to ship the damn thing than it did for someone else to buy it from us. All of this adds up over time.
• Taxes: On top of all of the fees above, you will have to pay taxes on the amount of money you make from eBay, assuming you turn this into a career. Self-employed taxes are 15.3%, so kiss 1/6 of your money goodbye from the start.

As you can see, there are a ton of costs that come along with selling items on eBay. You have to factor in all of those fees in order to make anything close to an executive assistant salary in the future.

Can You Make Money on eBay?

Yes, you can make money on eBay. You just have to buy items at a really low price so you can sell them high enough to still make a profit. If you overprice the items, you will lose the customers. If you underprice them, you will lose your revenue. Keep all of this in mind, and you can determine if you want to venture into eBay sales or not.