There is a guy, aqaintance of a friend sort of thing, who would like me to sell “smalls” for him online. Things he has collected over the years, car related, and collectibles, etc (I haven’t even seen the stuff yet. I would probably use craigslist in which case there would be no overhead cost except my time. Anyone done that before for someone else? This could be an ongoing thing with the guy.

What is a good percentage to charge of the profits? (Assuming no overhead cost).

I guess if I used Ebay the percent would be higher to cover listing fees. Also the guy wants to keep track of taxes so the money he would pay me would be showing on his taxes, does that mean I need to have buyers sign a sort of bill of sale?
I have sold my own stuff online before, but nothing for others, or worth enough to consider taxable income, any advice is appreciated.

I don't know. I was thinking 10%/15%. Like you tip a waitress or such. However, what you are doing is basically consignment sales. A Google on that might give you some parameters.

I know at the auctions that I have been to, the auctioneer charges 10%. 10-20% should not be unreasonable depending on what you are doing for him. Some online postings take a lot of work.

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[This message has been edited by Doug85GT (edited 06-15-2011).]

EBay/PayPal or Amazon fees are right at 14%.
I have over 2,000 positive feedback on eBay, no negs.
Allot goes into building a good reputation.

Be selective on what you sell for others, and charge 10-15% for your time.
I would say 15% on items up to $100, 10% if over.

Once sold a NOS Vette oil pan for a friend.
He figured $200 tops, but it went for $650.
After the auction he offered me half but I only took the 10% we agreed on.

Three other items I put up for him didn't sell, what he wanted was more than they were worth.
He had to pay the listing fees on those.

quote Originally posted by partfiero: After the auction he offered me half but I only took the 10% we agreed on.

Admirable but, ... tipping is allowed in the service industry. I would have declined that kind of a tip also. I might have suggested an extra $40. Maybe.

I rarely tip under 20% these days. Times are tough all over. Id ask for 20% and he has to pay for the shipping costs if any. Its time consuming to sell stuff. I even stopped selling a lot of my own stuff because it takes so much, its barely worth it. Even more of a pita if you have to take it to ship it or make arrangments for a buyer to pick it up.

Sounds like for sure I would need to go over what he expects with him before deciding on a percent. He lives in my town and had said he would just give me a box of items to sell. We didn't go over much like if there was a listing fee, shipping costs, etc.. who would pay them. I would have to assume him because shipping would be so sporadic in amount. Any other opinions welcome in the meantime. Thanks

The company i work for charges 12% on materials plus shipping and any taxs or fees.

I usually make 15 to 20% on big ticket items or sometimes I will say OK,I will sell it for a $500 fee. It's a lot of work answering emails and showing the goods...many tire kickers and time wasters. I have also spent time washing and detailing items for easier sales. I usually always end up selling the item but it takes a lot of patience and time. When I get paid for selling something, I usually feel like I earned it but sometimes there are easy sales and those are the icing on the cake. I am the one who takes all the pictures and I write all the descriptions with a little help from the owners about the item. I always mention that I am selling this whatever for a friend who knows nothing about using eBay. Usually I really do sell for friends and have developed quite a good reputation for selling things. I have 100% feed back and have made multiple thousands of dollars. I also utilize the Craigslist,it's free. If I can do it any one can.lol I just had a successful sale to New Zealand selling a high end marine generator. Had to arrange all the shipping and all that fun stuff but I made money.That's what it's all about.