Ebaying items and Postal Insurance

[MisterEd]

Hi,

I'm getting ready to eBay my a bit of my Linn hifi but am a little unsure of what to do about posting it within the uk.

Its value is approaching £4k and so I would obviously like it to be insured for this full amount.

The problem is that so far it looks as though this will cost 5% of its value to insure it (from a quick check on parcels2go).

This is seems like a huge premium and money maker for them - are they really expecting to pay out on 1 in 20 parcels?

Does anyone have any recommendations for how to post this or know what people usually do?

At ~£200 it would be cheaper to jump on a train and hand deliver it...

I'm based in central London if that makes any difference.

Thanks

[kg648]

Also don't forget the annoying 10% ebay fee, I thought twice about eBay'ing my kit once I saw it would cost me £76 for something worth £780.

[CJS]

+1 on the e-bay fees.

Just sold a piece of kit which cost me around £125 when you take in the e-bay and Paypal fees!

On the postage front, you could try Royal Mail special delivery which costs around £27-50 for next day before 1pm insured up to £2500. Obviously if your individual pieces are greater than that.......

Sorry, just realised that your £4k looks like a single piece of kit!

[MisterEd]

Thanks for the replies.

DHL seem to do insurance for 1.5% which is a bit better, and ebay selling fees are limited to £75 which is something. Need to add a listing fee of £12 and paypal fees onto that... checking paypal fees now...

[Dannythered]

Hi MisterEd,

Try this website, no fees, I've sold about £8k of hifi gear over the last 1.5yrs using the site. Every buyer either paid me by direct bank transfer or collected and paid cash in hand.

http://www.hififorsale.com/

I agree ebay fees plus paypal % is a rip off and the buyer seems more protected than the seller. I price slightly less than I may achieve on ebay but then get a quicker sale.

All the best

Dan

[Thekm]

(2012-07-29 13:25)MisterEd Wrote:  Thanks for the replies.

DHL seem to do insurance for 1.5% which is a bit better, and ebay selling fees are limited to £75 which is something. Need to add a listing fee of £12 and paypal fees onto that... checking paypal fees now...

FYI, Paypal fee:
(getting payment from UK/Europe)3.4% + £0.20 GBP

https://www.paypal.com/uk/cgi-bin/webscr...countries=

(But, with the Cross-Border Payments, e.g US or Asia) 3.9%~4.9% + £0.20 GBP

https://www.paypal.com/uk/cgi-bin/webscr...countries=

Thekm
KDS/1/d, KK/1/d, KCT/d, 242/1, quinwired K400/K600

[MisterEd]

Thanks

Hififorsale looks worth a try but it's not letting me register just now.

And I didn't realise paypal fees were higher for cross boarder payments! They are really brutal!!!

[Thekm]

(2012-07-29 14:24)MisterEd Wrote:  They are really brutal!!!

Agreed. But, FYI, there is a way to minimise the fee with eCheque.

https://www.paypal-marketing.co.uk/guides/echeques/

Hope it helps, and good luck.
Thekm

[flatcoat]

I had not realised until I read your post that ebay fees for selling are now 10% of the selling fee upto a max of £75. That has obviously a recent change as it was a £40 max fee the last time I looked. PayPal fees are 3.5% of the selling fee which rises to 5% if it is payment via a foreign currency.

For high value items you can always say it is collection only and in reality that means that it is effectively cash only as PayPal requires electronic proof of delivery. That does obviously reduce the chance of selling but at present it is very cheap to relist and just be patient. If the item is priced right it will eventually sell.

(2012-07-29 12:55)kg648 Wrote:  Also don't forget the annoying 10% ebay fee, I thought twice about eBay'ing my kit once I saw it would cost me £76 for something worth £780.

[kg648]

(2012-07-29 15:46)flatcoat Wrote:  I had not realised until I read your post that ebay fees for selling are now 10% of the selling fee upto a max of £75. That has obviously a recent change as it was a £40 max fee the last time I looked. PayPal fees are 3.5% of the selling fee which rises to 5% if it is payment via a foreign currency.

For high value items you can always say it is collection only and in reality that means that it is effectively cash only as PayPal requires electronic proof of delivery. That does obviously reduce the chance of selling but at present it is very cheap to relist and just be patient. If the item is priced right it will eventually sell.

But cash on collection will not prevent eBay fee's unless you cancel the listing and the chance of the buyer willing to do that on high value items is not alot.