Don’t Get Ripped Off Selling on eBay, Try These Sites Instead

Don’t get caught in the eBay fee trap. There’s a better way to sell your stuff.

I have a new addiction. I think my wife is concerned.

It all started when I met up with an old friend for dinner a few weeks ago. We worked together at a sales company about 10 years ago, and I was anxious to catch up. Of course, one of the main things I wanted to know now was, what was he doing for work now?

“Oh, I work for myself now,” he said with a huge grin. “Come down to the basement, I gotta show you this.”

Not sure of what I’d find below, I excitedly went down with him to check out his new gig. I was stunned. Shoes were everywhere. Shirts, hats, and sweatshirts too. He had turned an entire corner of his basement into some kind of undergound second-hand thrift shop. But this wasn’t the kind of thrift shop I was used to seeing. There were all sorts of good looking, clean, name-brand items sprawled out on shoe racks and inside boxes. I was impressed!

“Just made six grand on this stuff last month,” he boasted proudly. “I’ve never been happier!”

Over the next hour we sorted through his items, talked about how he got started, how he cleans and restores shoes and clothes to look like new, and we discussed how thrilling it is to find amazing products at thrift shops and yard sales and flip them online for a quick profit.

“So, do you use eBay to sell everything?” I asked, interested in getting started myself.

“No, no, no. Never eBay,” he advised. “You gotta use Mercari and Facebook Marketplace.”

“Mer what?” I responded.

“Mercari,” he answered. “That place is a gold mine for selling shoes and clothing. Way better than eBay. Trust me, I learned the hard way.”

The next day I found a reason to sneak over to a Deseret Industries and Goodwill, and I began my life as a flipper, handing over $26 for a pair of dirty Vans shoes, a nice pair of Nike football cleats, a couple Nike T-shirts, an Adidas shirt, and two hoodies.

Since I had previously sold some stuff that was lying around the house on eBay in the past, I ignored my friends advice, and posted every item for sale on eBay, Mercari, and Facebook Marketplace once I had cleaned them up and made them look like new.

Within two hours, the Vans that I bought for $5 sold for $18 on Mercari. I was stunned. Can it really be that easy!? Mercari took a total selling fee of $2.62, so I netted a quick $10.

Two days later, I got my first sale on eBay. I sold a Nike shirt for $12.99 that I bought for $2. eBay took a total selling fee of $2.83. I still almost netted another $10, but a couple things bothered me. $2.83 on a $12.99 sale seemed like a lot. Certainly more than $2.62 on the $18 Mercari sale. eBay also charged my bank account up front for the shipping cost, which I wasn’t expecting — since the seller paid upfront. That was particularly annoying because I wouldn’t get payment on the shirt until it was officially delivered.

Mercari didn’t do that. I didn’t have to worry about the shipping. The customer was charged for shipping, and that money was used to pay for a pre-paid label.

So, I did some research — which I should have done before I got started, but I was too excited. Turns out that eBay charges you anywhere from 12.9% to 15% + an extra 30 cents (who knows why, I guess because they can?) on clothing and shoes items, of the total amount of the sale. Total amount of the sale includes item price, shipping and handling, sales tax and any additional fees. Say what??

My $12.99 shirt had $1.37 tax and $5.25 in shipping, coming to $19.61 for my total amount of the sale. eBay charged me 12.9% on $19.61 instead of the $12.99 that I actually get any part of, and they added their fun extra $0.30. What a headache.

To add to my woes, after some of my items weren’t selling, I decided to try the auction style of selling on eBay with three items. I didn’t want to wait the typical seven days, so I changed it to a three-day auction. The next day, I had a $3.00 eBay charge in my bank account. Why? Oh, apparently eBay charges you a buck if you shorten the standard auction time. Talk about nickel-and-diming your sellers. There wasn’t a warning or a pop-up when I changed the auction timing. Just an unexpected hidden fee. Yuck.

Mercari’s fees are actually pretty similar, except for one significant difference. Mercari charges a total of 12.9% (10% + a 2.9% payment processing fee) as well, and also charges the extra $0.30. So, what’s different? Mercari only charges this on the item price. No charge for shipping. No charge for taxes.

Facebook Marketplace is even cheaper. They also charge on the total amount of the sale, but only 5%. Not bad. I don’t like meeting up with people, so I usually only do the shipping only option. There are a bunch of fraudsters that pop up using new accounts trying to get my number and to get me to enter a code, so I don’t like Facebook Marketplace as much of Mercari for that reason. Mercari seems really safe and uses a verification process to keep things as legit as possible.

It was only $3, but after getting charged the unexpected fees from eBay, I deleted all my listings and never looked back. Now two months into feeding my new addiction finding treasures in thrift shops, I’m having a great time earning some money on the side, and Mercari has been a great way to sell. I’ve sold 35 items so far, 20 on Mercari, 14 on Facebook, and 1 on eBay. I bought the items that I’ve sold for a total of $148 and I’ve brought in $525 from those sales. See why it’s so addicting?

Watch out, your loved ones might start worrying about you too.

Thanks again for reading! If you are interested in using Mercari, I recommend that you use my referral link! Mercari will give you $10 off your first order (if you want to buy something) and $20 after you make your first $100 selling on Mercari.

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