Fixed-Price Selling on Half.com

eBay isn't just eBay. The eBay corporation also owns a site called Half.com (half.ebay.com), which lets anyone sell certain types of merchandise in a fixed-price format. List your items for sale, wait for someone to buy them, and then collect the money. In this respect Half.com works a lot like the Amazon Marketplacewhich, by the way, is another viable place for you to sell your stuff, if you're interested.

As you can see in Figure 16.3, Half.com specializes in specific types of merchandise: books, CDs, DVDs, videotapes, video games, and game systems. Buyers can purchase items from multiple sellers, and have all their purchases consolidated into a single shopping cart and checkout. They make one payment, then eBay deposits funds into each seller's account individually.

Figure 16.3. Items for sale on Half.com.

Note

Learn more about Half.com from a buyer's perspective in Chapter 9, "Buying Fixed-Price Items."

To sell on Half.com, all you have to do is click the Sell Your Stuff link at the top of the page. When the Sell Your Items page appears, as shown in Figure 16.4, you can click a category link for your item, or enter the item's UPC, ISBN, or model number in the Quick Sell box and click the Continue button. Once you've entered the appropriate identifying information, Half.com then inserts pre-filled item information from a massive product database. (It's the same database that feeds eBay's pre-filled information in the same categories.) There are no listing fees, but you do have to pay Half.com a commission when an item sells. You'll pay a 15% commission on items under $50, and lower commissions as the price rises. Instead of a buyer paying you directly, Half.com collects the payment; the site sends you your payment every two weeks.

Figure 16.4. Getting ready to sell on Half.com