You understand the basic listing fee (often credited, esp. if you use the .99 auction start which I do not recommend) and the general final selling fee. Is there more? You betcha!

Gallery pictures, adding extra categories are reasonable charges should you opt to go there. I didn’t. So how come I ended up with a 12.75 fee on 44.60 worth of sales? Mind you, this is 28 percent of my income. Throw in PayPal and it is a whopping 30 percent.

1. It was because of “Shipping Costs” I don’t mean the actual shipping cost but the Conversely, you could take the hit on shipping and have your listings go to the top of searches and get better ratings, but you’ll have to pull this cost out of the rest of your revenue

Example: I sold ONE Sedum ‘ANGELINA’ a 2″ potted Plant for $2.95.

The final Value Fee was $0.30 (This I expected!)

Not so the Final Value Fee on Shipping $0.58

So one 2.95 plant had near .90 cents taken off. The shipping value fee was never revealed in the listing process. With PayPal fees I net $2.00. Get no feedback and have to hoof it to the Post Office twice when I discovered I could ship it cheaper than the choice I made. Voided the shipping label and re-printed it to local mail delivery. In twenty one days I ought to get a refund from USPS for the first shipping cost.

Your proverbial pocket book hurt yet? Mine does. Read on and you will understand why I canceled ALL my listings!

2. Packing Supplies

You’ll need to pay for boxes, envelopes, rubber bands, shredded paper or bubble wrap to ship your item as well as the time to package the material.

3. Gas and Time Wasted on a Trip to the Post Office

Depending on the distance between your home and the post office, this translates to a lot of gas money, time in line and a ridiculously increased carbon footprint. Have it picked up at your house is not an option as my delivery arrives at the end of the day and the pickup may not get processed for that day.

4. Taxes and book-keeping. Unless you want to get in trouble with the IRS or State taxes you better keep track of the taxes you should be collecting. This is another hidden cost and is much better handled in local sales or garden events.

Worst of all, you only find out about this final “shipping value fee” a month later when you are invoiced. I quickly deleted all my listings before I was lucky enough to sell some more. Discussion of said fee! http://community.ebay.com/t5/eBay-Friends-From-All-Over/Final-Value-Fee-On-Shipping-Charge/td-p/1394204?rmvSB=true

I would also add a basic disenchantment with “buyers” who opt not to leave feedback, even when given it themselves or after receiving a free plant. Rudeness indeed!