There are plenty of places to sell online. Before you list, check five things: what it costs, how and when you are paid, who you are dealing with, what happens when something goes wrong, and whether the site suits what you sell.
1. Add up every fee
Look at the whole cost of a sale, not the headline rate. A site may charge to list, take a percentage when the item sells, add a fixed fee per order and a payment fee on top, or charge the buyer instead of you. Work out one typical sale in pounds on each site before you choose.
eBay UK's published fees beside Quidbo's
Fee
eBay UK
Quidbo
Selling fee, clothes, shoes and accessories (business sellers)
11.9%
5.95%
Selling fee, books, comics and magazines (business sellers)
eBay is a trade mark of its owner, and Quidbo is not connected with eBay.
The table uses eBay UK's own fee pages and shows the date we last checked them. On Quidbo, private sellers pay no Quidbo selling fee, just the 1.5% + 20p card processing fee, and your first single item sells with no fees at all. See every Quidbo fee or three sales worked out on both sites.
2. Check how and when you are paid
Who holds the buyer's money between the sale and delivery, and when it reaches you.
Whether payouts go through a regulated payment provider, so the site never sees your bank details.
On Quidbo, payouts go through Stripe, and you are paid 3 days after tracking shows the item delivered.
3. Know who you are dealing with
Knowing who is on the other side of a sale makes fraud much harder. Look for a site that checks who its members are and lets buyers and sellers rate each other. Every Quidbo account is checked against a real ID, and buyer and seller rate each other on every completed order.
4. Read what happens when something goes wrong
What the buyer is covered for if an item never arrives or is not as described.
What protects you as a seller: tracking, photos of the item and the sealed parcel, and decisions made on evidence.
How returns work. In the UK, people who buy from a business seller can change their mind for 14 days; people who buy from a private seller cannot.
5. Match the site to what you sell
A general marketplace suits most things people sell from home, such as clothes, books, electronics and collectables. A specialist site may suit a single category better. If you sell as a business, check that the site lets you say so and shows your buyers their rights.
Selling on Quidbo
Quidbo is a UK online selling site, with fixed prices now and online auctions coming soon. How to sell online on Quidbo.