[OT] TAS selling fee shock

[Michael de Estrada]

It's been awhile since I sold anything on TAS, so when I recently got the bill for the sale price on two calc auctions, I was shocked to see that the sale fees have gone up dramatically. They are now a flat 9% of the sale price, regardless of the amount, with a maximum limit of $50. So, unless the final price exceeds $555.56, the sale fee as a percentage of the sale price will be 9%. Add to that the listing fees and PayPal service charge, and the total fees will exceed 12% of the sale price. It makes me wonder if it's even worth the hassle to list items on TAS, unless they will fetch more than $1000, which is not the case with any but the rarest vintage calculators. My first calc did not get much, since I made the mistake of listing it at too high a starting price and having it finish early Friday evening, when people were on their way home from work. The buyer is also a seller, so maybe we'll see it re-listed at a high BIN price! Well, at least it wasn't the infamous Mr. C, who put in a lowball bid on my second auction.

Edited: 5 Mar 2011, 6:16 p.m.

[Keith Midson]

I know the feeling. I downsized a part of my collection just over a month ago and then had to sell another HP to fund the seller fees! I mean at 29C kind of fee! What did you sell? Cheers, Keith

[Michael de Estrada]

I sold 2 HP-45 complete sets, both in perfect working condition. The first went for a disappointingly low amount, much less than originaly paid, and the second went for about the original cost. In the past I've seen the hard case or AC adapter alone sell for nearly what the first auction fetched. I think part of the problem is that the HP-45 is probably the least rare of HP-45 calcs, so they will never be in such low supply that they will be worth very much. Of course, that's also the reason why I ended up with so many of them, 10 in fact, and am now trying to reduce the number to a saner level.

[Randy]

I think you've given birth to a new eBay-ism: sellers remorse

[Thomas Radtke]

Fees will rise just below a level where (1) different auction sites would have a chance to get any sellers except those using them to sell at fixed prices w/o paying fees and (2) TAS' earnings will decrease due to sellers simply keep their stuff or find completely different distribution ways ;-). That's the nice thing about capitalism: The rules are very easy to understand and everyone with a good idea can join in :-).

But ... you will always find someone blaming the car industry for selling cars getting thirsty when driving 200 Mph.

[robert rozee]

wow, 12% fees - that is just awful! normal bricks-and-mortar auction houses charge but a fraction of that level :-(

perhaps you should start adding a "buyers premium" onto your auctions, where the buyer has to pay an additional 12% on top of the selling price to cover the horrendous fees that the online auction site dares to charge?

cheers,
rob

[Wanderley Navarro]

Time to resurrect this?