To EBAY or not to EBAY?

Ok guys and girls! Here is Treva my wife to maybe help yall.

Hello, everyone. I've been selling on ebay for a couple of years. I just recently opened a ebay store to help reduce some of my fees. I started out slow but now keep about 100 items listed. Items that are hot, fast sellers, hard to find I list as auction but things that are only meant for a select few I list in my store. I have the basic store which is about $15 a month and listing fees are only .06 -.10 cents and they take their % when you sell your item. This can save quite a bit. I also use a site called Auctiva that will save you alot of money on posting pictures. I can give you the link if anyone is interested. Yes ebay fees do seem kinda high from one stand point but if you look at it from a retail perspective you have no overhead, no advertising and you have access to unlimited number of buyers. The 1st and last of the month you'll find you have a lot more action, it slows during the middle. Ending your item on Sat or Sun for electronic, auto parts, what I call guy stuff using gets more bids. Ending on Monday or Tuesday for "girl stuff" household items usely get more bids ending times 7-9 p.m on Sat. and 7-8 p.m. on weekdays to catch all time zones. I ship all my items Federal Express except for international in which I use USPS. I have used UPS personally I like FedX. You can sign up for all the postal services online and print your postage right from the computer so all you have to do is drop it off and no waiting in lines (they will come by your house to pick-up also) USPS gives you discounts if you buy online and all of them allow you to get price quotes so you can ensure quoting the correct price for shipping (just remember to pack you item before weighing). As stated in previous post it's very important you learn how to pack your items where they have no movement during shippment because the ride can be pretty rough. I use paypal and love it. I can use it just like my debit card from the bank (but don't use it at the gas pump go inside because they will deduct a depoist until it clears, I learnt that the hard way) Payments go directly into the account, if you use online shipping you can set it up where that come out of your paypal and ebay will automatically deduct your fees from paypay. My fees our usually about $200 a month but when I opened my store it went down to around $150. My total sales a month are ususally around $800-$1500. (some months are slower just like in the real world). You can pay your fees weekly if you like. When first starting out there is a trial and error period. But once you figure out what you like selling and what makes the most money you will start seeing the profit. Just one more tip if you know the value of your item don't go by what previous items sold for, because it may be how they listed the item, what time of day, and time of month that give them the low price. But don't price to high, make your starting bid the lowest price your willing to take for an item and if it doesn't sell the first time, relist. I've relisted items 3 or 4 times before selling. Yes this does increase your fees so if you don't want to add more fees place it in your store at a higher price and just wait, it may take longer to sale but it will. I hope this helps. Thanks Treva