Last few months I've been focusing on selling off stuff that categorically doesn't fit here on GameGavel. Mostly everything was large bulky expensive itmes that sold off without any issues aside from the insane average 10% or so fee's. But, I had one old piece of software that I'd listed on a whim with a 99¢ starting price. Here's how it turned out.:

Microsoft Office Professional '97
$0.99 - Sold for Amount.
$3.50 - S&H Charged.
$4.49 - Total Buyer Paid

09¢ - Ebay Final Value Fee on Item. (9.09% fee)
31¢ - Ebay Final Value Fee on Shipping. (8.86% fee)
43¢ - Pay Pal Transaction Fee. (9.58% fee)
83¢ - Total Ebay Fee's

$3.24 - Actual cost of postage.
$0.83 - Total Ebay Fee's.
$4.07 - Fee's and Shipping Total

$4.49 - Total Amount Buyer Paid
-4.07 - Total Expenses
$0.42 - What I actually got to keep from the sale of this item.

Ebay made nearly twice as much off the sale of my item than I did!

Now, for just a moment please notice the percentages being charged. When worked out we find that on the total amount of $4.49 paid by the buyer Ebay charged a staggering 18.49% fee.



Breakdown of the 42¢ that was "cleared".
16¢ - Amount cleared from the item itself.
26¢ - Leftover shipping aka Handling Fee

And I attest that after having to package the item, drive it to the post office, and then stand in a line for ten minutes to mail it that it was not worth my time to "make" 42¢. I didn't even "make" enough money off of this sale to mail a letter, a postage stamp now costs 44¢. My car probably drank more than 42¢ worth of gas just going to the post office and back again.

Now, as Douglas Adams had discovered decades ago, the ultimate answer to the ultimate question is indeed forty-two. I honestly believe the man was prophesying without even being aware that he was doing so. Since Ebay did not exist back then there is no way he could've possibly known that the ultimate question posed would be, why would anyone bother selling stuff on Ebay for ninety-nine cents? The answer: 42¢