1. Start reading Sell Their Stuff by Hillary DePiano for free right now
  2. What is a Selling Or Trading Assistant? The Ultimate Overview of Consignment Selling
  3. What does consignment mean? What is consignment selling?
  4. What exactly does a Selling Assistant do? What’s a typical day like?
  5. How does a Selling Assistant make money? Who can become one?
  6. Can eBay Trading Assistants still sell on consignment for others now that the program is gone?
  7. Where can a Selling Assistant sell their client’s consignment items?
  8. What kind of items can a Selling Assistant sell on consignment for their clients?
  9. Sellers, here’s why you should add Selling Assistant services to your existing e-commerce business
  10. From SAHMs to retirees, students to teachers: here’s who should start a Selling Assistance service
  11. Designing your Selling Assistance service from terms and conditions to services and features
  12. Money Matters: How does a Selling Assistant profit from selling items for others?
  13. Resale and the Selling Assistant: Sometimes it’s simpler to just buy the items outright
  14. Selling Assistant fees: What are they and how do they work?
  15. The Pros and Cons of charging a fee for your Selling Assistant services
  16. Does charging a commission on your Selling Assistant services maximize your profits?
  17. Charge a combination of fees and commission to maximize your Selling Assistant profits
  18. Here’s how I profit from my Selling Assistant business
  19. Should a Selling Assistant give their client a deposit or advance on future earnings?
  20. Should the Selling Assistant require a deposit of new clients?
  21. Who pays for what when selling for others on consignment?
  22. Should the consignment seller cover all selling fees or pass them onto the client?
  23. How discounted & free shipping offers affect consignment selling
  24. Shipping costs & selling fees are the least of your worries…
  25. Paying your clients their share of your Selling Assistant sales
  26. Calculating client payments on a Selling Assistant contract
  27. Method of Payment: How should I pay my Selling Assistant client?
  28. Reporting and reconciliation of a Selling Assistant client contract
  29. Build yourself a timeline for paying Selling Assistant clients without getting burned
  30. Money Matters Managed
  31. Your Selling Situation: Where and how should I sell my Selling Assistant items?
  32. Multi-Channel Consignment Selling: List your items on multiple marketplaces for greater exposure
  33. Practice your Selling Assistance service before you start taking on clients
  34. Do you need a storefront or standalone webstore to be a Selling Assistant?
  35. Is eBay still the best place for a Trading Assistant turned consignment seller?
  36. Does the Selling Assistant consignment sell from their own account or the clients?
  37. Should I have a designated selling account for my Selling Assistance consignment service?
  38. The 8 questions you must ask yourself before you start selling on consignment
  39. Good customer service is a selling point that can distinguish your services
  40. The benefits of having a PO Box or other Locked Mailbox for your business
  41. Designate a business phone line for more professional client contact
  42. Consider VOIP & internet-based phones like Google Voice or Skype over traditional options
  43. Offering pick-up services is an easy way to attract local Selling Assistant clients
  44. Should you allow Selling Assistant clients to drop their items off?
  45. Expand the reach of your Selling Assistant service by letting clients ship their items to you

Who pays the selling and payment processing fees on a consignment sale?

bill photoNo matter where you sell, most marketplaces and platforms charge fees per sale, and you’ll be paying those fees on your clients’ items. In the same way, every time you sell anything, you’ll end up paying your credit card processor transaction fees on that payment. While these fees are usually small, they can add up, especially as your sales volume increases.

Let’s say you just sold a client’s item on eBay. As far as eBay is concerned, that transaction is no different from any other one you’d do on the site. The fees are billed to the seller’s eBay account as usual regardless of whether it’s an SA item or not and you’ll need to pay eBay for them. PayPal will also take their fees out of each payment you receive for those items. You may also have additional selling fees such as listing upgrades, picture hosting fees, or other third-party services.

Many SAs opt to bill their clients for selling and payment processing fees. The simplest way to do this is to just subtract these fees out of the client’s profits before you send them their payment. You’ll want to make sure your documentation and contract makes it crystal clear that this is what you’ll be doing upfront so they don’t feel cheated when they get their check.

There are a few other things to consider. Since they’ll be paying the fees on them, will you let clients opt out of listing upgrades or other additional fees? Will you be passing any discounts or promotional listing rates on to your clients or will they always pay the posted rates regardless of what you actually paid? Whatever you decide, just make sure you spell it out in your contract to avoid confusion and unhappiness later.

I’ve always passed all actual selling and payment processing fees on to my clients, though I present it as a feature. Because I’m a volume seller and storeowner, I get discounts on fees and more free listings per month than they would get on their own, and so I spin this as additional value I can offer them over selling their items themselves. Since they’d be incurring these fees anyway if they sold their items themselves, I’ve never had anyone complain about having to cover the selling fees, especially since they are so small.

That said, I sell on commission, and a low commission at that. If you’re charging a higher commission or a flat fee, your clients may expect you to cover those fees from your profits. It’s up to you to draw that line where it’s worth it to eliminate that expense from your profits, and when it’s worth it to shoulder those costs to attract more clients.