Trying to Sell Surplus Test Equipment?
Sometimes we have customers that believe selling a unit on eBay themselves will result in a higher recovery than our purchase offer or our consignment program. But in many cases the net recovery from a sale on eBay isn’t what was initially anticipated due to hidden costs.
Sell on eBay? The Hidden Costs Can Add Up.
Seven reasons choosing a “do it yourself” asset recovery strategy can incur hidden cost.
- 1) From a pure economic perspective, eBay generally charges a 10% seller fee. ($500 fee on a $5,000 sale). PayPal and credit card charges typically are an additional 2.5% fee to the seller ($125 fee on a $5,000 sale). So you will typically incur a minimum 12.5% cost of sale.
- 2) Administratively, frequent questions are always asked by “tire kicking” buyers that need to be answered timely by any eBay seller in order to close a sale. The potential drag on internal resources to do this also has an associated cost to the seller.
- 3) Legally, there is after sale risk an eBay seller takes such as warranty and right of return that should also be factored in. Also there are export restrictions on certain types of equipment. There are also cases where a buyer takes or swaps out components and returns the unit to the unknowing seller for a refund during the warranty period.
- 4) Logistics costs come into play such as professional packing, insuring and shipping to mitigate potential risk of damage while goods are in transit.
- 5) From a treasury perspective, accepting cash payments, checks, money orders, wire transfers, etc. all require resources for the review and approval by internal risk management or a company credit officer.
- 6) Lastly, accounting resources will be needed as eBay also issues 1099′s to sellers based on the transaction size(s) and type of sale. Sometimes administration of sales and use taxes will require further internal accounting support.
- 7) Most importantly eBay sales results do not typically reflect “true market value” for items. The competition on eBay is usually a seller looking to liquidate an asset, often below market value. eBay buyer profiles are usually individual consumer “bargain” shoppers instead of qualified commercial corporate customers. This further depresses the net recovery to a seller.
As business partner we want to make sure we provide this valuable information for our customers to carefully consider. The notion of remaining focused on your company’s “core competencies” really should come into play when deciding how to get the best recovery from your idle or surplus assets.
Learn more about Market Value here.
We have 20+ years of expertise in repositioning, reconditioning and remarketing of high tech assets for maximum recovery. So seller beware! Be sure to fully understand the challenges, costs and pitfalls of selling on your own through eBay. Consider your leverage. Perhaps you should outsource a non core eBay sale to an expert company skilled in international asset remarketing services that brings a qualified higher paying commercial corporate customer base for your assets.
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