Friday, February 8, 2008

Why DI is Better Than eBay

...at least when you're trying to get rid of things.

Express Lane Cookbook - took up residence in my kitchen cupboard, keeping my other cookbooks company. I sent several off to DI to find new homes, but as this had hardly been cracked I thought I would try my luck.

eBay Sale Price: $1.45

Not wanting to overcharge anyone too terribly on shipping I used eBay's calculated shipping option and entered the weight a bit above the true book weight to cover any extra costs.

Calculated Shipping: $3.17
Total Payment I Received: $4.62

Unfortunately, the options offered at the post office weren't the same as those I had chosen on eBay, and the dimensions were such that it couldn't be shipped like I expected. Media mail would have been fine, but they had paid with the intent of faster shipping than that.

Total Shipping I Paid: $4.60

My Earnings: $.02

Worth the trouble? No.

* UPDATE: It is now Feb. 13th and I was thinking this morning that I didn't even account eBay and PayPal fees into the calculation, so without checking the exact fees by far I was the loser. Then lo and behold, I got a surprise e-mail this afternoon from the buyer with $3.00 to help cover the shipping (how sweet is that?). I think I came out a little bit more on top.

2 comments:

  1. I'm glad you shared this experience. I had considered using eBay to sell some books. I can see it probably wouldn't be worth the hassle, especially since I've never been an eBay seller. But, hey, now you have "two cents" for when you think someone needs some advice! :)

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  2. Horrible!!! 2 cents? To think you could have just dug through the couch and been better off!!!

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