How does eBay make money?
Many people only partially know how eBay makes its money. The online marketplace became known through auctions. A certain flea market image is still pending, although it is now mainly commercial sellers who are responsible for the company's profit. The company would like to establish itself worldwide as a new goods dealer.
That On-line-Auction portal eBay was founded in 1995 under the name "auctionweb". Just a few years later, the largest marketplace on the Internet was created. The company processes most of its payments through its subsidiary PayPal.
eBay - top-selling online auctioneer
The company is active worldwide and does everything to stay number one in internet auctions. The annual turnover is several billion euros.
- The Internet telephone provider Skype was sold to Microsoft in 2011 for several billion euros. In return, the e-commerce company GSI Commerce was bought. You earn money with CSI by setting up online shops for third parties, for example.
- For 2012, eBay reported a stronger influx of customers to the marketplaces and the PayPal payment service. The online auctioneer has to deal with the competition. Amazon, the world's largest online retailer, is drawing attention to itself with competitive prices, good services and digital products. Amazon also acts as a seller itself.
- Only the fees have always ensured eBay's survival. The company can count on more than 100 million active users. The more expensive the products sold, the higher the fees for the seller.
Almost everyone has sold or bought something on eBay at some point. For little fees ...
How money is made with fees
If you take a look at eBay's fee overview, you will see a complex set of fees. In the past, you could roughly estimate the proportion of fees using the sales price. In the meantime, you have to study the fees page more closely.
- The online auction house earns money with an offer fee, sales commission and additional options. The offer fee applies to all articles (starting price over one euro). A successful one sale the invoicing of a sales commission follows. The higher the selling price, the more the online auction provider earns.
- If you want to improve the visibility of your offers in the search results, you can use additional options. Here, too, eBay is not the only source of income. Because the fees include VAT, which the German tax authorities receive.
As a seller, you cannot "just" plan fees in your head. You have to watch out for special cases and exceptions. Specific Online cost calculator you can take advantage if you costs want to calculate in advance for your sales activities.
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