A week ago yesterday I wrote about the Illy Coffee espresso cups and saucers I’d bought the day before. Last night the six auctions for the six sets ended for a total of $226.00 leaving a gross profit of $202.00 after deducting the $24.00 I paid for them.

The listing fees for the cups and saucers came to $4.50. Final Value Fees (FVF) were $10.36. All six sets have already been paid for via PayPal with PayPal fees coming to $9.80. Subtracting all fees, my net profit for the six sets is $177.34. That is a 738% net profit on my original investment of $24.00.

The six auctions went live Sunday, February 17, so my $4.50 listing fees were under the old eBay fee structure. Since they ended after the new fee structure was implemented my FVFs were $5.49 more than they would have been under the old fee structure.

These six cups and saucers serve as examples of two things you should be doing if you are serious about building a successful eBay business long-term.

First, I’ve been advocating dealing only in items that you can reasonably expect to make at least a 300% net profit on since The Auction Rebel was begin in 2005.

If you are doing so, eBay’s seemingly annual fee increases will have no serious impact on your business. You are able to keep right on building your business without worrying about a few dollars one way or the other. $5.49 isn’t a big deal. Whether your net profit is $177.34 or $182.83 isn’t going to have a major impact on your business or your bottom line.

Second, It’s important to continue to build your knowledge base of what kind of items will regularly provide net profits of 300% or more. You can do this by subscribing to newsletters, reading blogs, forums, and discussions groups that offer a positive approach to doing business on eBay.

As stated in Illy Coffee Espresso & Cappuccino Cups & Saucers, a month ago I wasn’t aware of the value of the various Illy cup and saucer sets. It was only by associating with other positive sellers and continually building a knowledge base of what is selling that I was able to take advantage of the opportunity to buy these cups when it presented itself.

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