My daughter and I have been using eBay as our “go to” bookstore lately. As an eBay seller, I’ll assure you that the fees are far less when selling used items, including books, on eBay. When selling via the big A marketplace, the fees start at about $4, and go up incrementally. Obviously, selling anything other than textbooks or other high end items on the big A marketplace is not worthwhile. However, eBay’s current fee structure is 12% for books, which means sellers can offer better prices to customers. Also, big A has a flat fee of $3.99 to ship a book, unless the seller offers “free” shipping. As USPS offers “media mail” rates for smaller books, the shipping can be cheaper via eBay. Win-win, right?
Here’s an example of a book that I have placed on the marketplace for a client; basically big A gets $6 of the $17 price:
The fee for that book on eBay would be $2.04. The difference between selling via eBay vs big A is 23%, which is about $4 on a book that costs $17.
Let’s say you’re a bottom feeder looking for a deal. Here’s what happens with a $5.50 book listed via the big A marketplace:
The sale price is $5.50 and the fee for selling it via the marketplace is $4.21, which means the seller gets $1.29. Not many sellers will opt for such a small amount, which is bound to drive up the prices of used mass market paperbacks and/or popular hardcovers. By the way, as of this post, this same book is available for $3.34 on eBay, while the lowest possible price on big A is $4.75. Clearly, bottom feeders need to go to eBay for book purchases. And, while there, check out all the other goods available, from electronics, to clothing, to collectibles— often at better prices than you’ll find anywhere other than the neighborhood yard sale.
One reason buyers flock to big A is the user reviews. Unfortunately, those reviews are not particularly reliable. Big A is purported to fighting this issue, whether banning reviews by customers who have not purchased the item being reviewed, or attempting to control “paid” reviewers. Lately, the issue with reviews on big A is a problem with “hijacked” reviews, where in a product’s reviews are actually for a different product. Certainly, if you must read those reviews, really read them, and don’t be fooled by the number of stars highlighted. All in all, while there may be more variety available on big A, the prices are probably better on eBay.
As a matter of full disclosure, I sell on both big A and eBay. My eBay store is here:
My oh my, WordPress didn’t like the spelling of “farkles.” That’s more of a motorcycle term, I suppose, but it basically means shiny stuff that might actually do something to help the vehicle. My rather limited research indicates that this is a portmanteau word, based on sparkle and function. When hubby gets a new ride, he often wants to invest in some 
(deeper and more sturdy than floor mats) and a Genuine Toyota Cargo Tray
, which is also deeper than a mat, if not quite as heavy. While not exactly “shiny” these items are handsome and quite functional.
As one of my Works in Progress is a text on motorcycling, for spring I am sharing a cool 
Although I haven’t gotten any comments, I did get a bit of traffic based on my previous WIP post, so I have just added a portion of Part I, which is an overview of what hubby and I take with us when touring on our bikes. I’ve added a few links to products, including luggage and gadgets, and I also included links to two of my favorite websites: 
I’m always writing something, but I don’t always publish what I write. Sometimes I write letters (sent and unsent) or emails or fragments. I suppose most people do that. But, I also have manuscripts in progress, and sometimes I get bogged down with those because I truly don’t know if there would be any interest in them. So, I am going to try posting a few excerpts, and if the traffic and/or comments indicate interest, the encouragement might be enough to push me out of procrastination and into finishing mode.
Visions and Revisions 