How Do These eBay Mattress Sellers Make Money?

pixpotato on 19/10/2020 - 16:42

Just wondering if anyone has ebay selling experience and know how these ebay mattress sellers make any profit?

Example: https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/371933200177
A pretty premium queen mattress (I assume from china) is 279 delivered. Something that big would be so heavy, probably around 35-40kg, I dont even know which couriers wouls deliver it. But whoever does would charge another 50-75 bux I'd imagine.
Ebay commission of 10%
GST another 10%
Product probably costs around $150-170?
Warehousing

General Discussion Mattress

Comments

  • rambutann on 19/10/2020 - 17:09
    +19

    Let me try and break it down based on a Queen mattress.

    Alibaba is showing that a mattress would cost around $80USD, im assuming FOB costing. This is based on quite small numbers (less than 10).
    These guys have sold just under 10,000. They will be filling up containers on containers. As a stab in the dark, i'm going to guess that it'd cost them around $40USD per mattress FOB Main China Port. It'd be a fairly automated manufacturing process. It may be a little less, it may be a little more, but i'd guess that it'd be $40USD per mattress (give or take $20USD).

    As a guess, each box will be approx 153cm x 40cm x 40cm (based on the width of a queen mattress). That's 0.2448CBM per mattress. A 40' high cube container comfortably fits 60CBM. So that's around 245 mattresses per container. The logistical costs of a container would be approx. $1500USD from a main china port to Melbourne Port, plus another $2000AUD in port charges, delivery fees and customs clearance (no duties due to China Australia Free Trade Agreement).

    Alright, so we are talking around $4200AUD (rounded this up) in logistics - approx $18AUD in freight per mattress.

    So far we have $18AUD in freight plus $40USD ($57AUD) cost of goods. So we are at $75AUD landed costs.

    Domestic freight would be a huge portion of their cost. They seem to have a variable postage cost, it seems to be free to major cities, but it charged me just under $28 to Gold Coast. So i'll assume Brisbane free delivery costs..

    Based on a quick google, I reckon it would weigh around 40kg.

    I have some decent domestic courier rates at my work, and my company wouldn't ship as much as these guys do. It'd cost $9 per consignment + $0.48 per KG. This is based on a 250kg per 1CBM chargable rate, so based on the dimensions I used before, this would be charged at 61.2KG. So delivery would cost $38.38AUD + some fuel surcharges, so lets call it $45AUD.

    We're up to $120AUD ex GST. So there's around a 50% markup before ebay fees.. pricing makes sense.

    • 343 on 19/10/2020 - 17:48
      +1

      Very detailed response and sounds about right.

    • pixpotato on 19/10/2020 - 19:54

      Nice one! Doesn't FOB cost include freight out?

      • rambutann on 19/10/2020 - 19:59

        Includes all costs associated with getting it from the factory onto the vessel.

        • pixpotato on 21/10/2020 - 08:02

          So when taking FOB costs do you have to include another 1500 in port expenses?

          • rambutann on 21/10/2020 - 09:18

            @pixpotato: Nope the manufacturer would pay the origin charges. The manufacturer would have an MOQ and would then include the FOB cost in the cost of goods.

    • This Guy on 19/10/2020 - 20:10

      I think you could have overestimated the shipping.

      Mattress are mostly air, with some springs and a cloth cover. These cheaper mattress' should be shipped compressed to double or triple the amount that will fit in a shipping container. That would give $6 to $9 bulk freight. Shipping optimised mattress' like Ikea's could reduce that further.

      That said, I have never received bulk goods so I am just guessing.

      • rambutann on 19/10/2020 - 20:21
        +1

        Ive had a bit more of a look at it, bed in a box dimensions are generally 19" x 19" x 43", which once converted its approx 0.2511CBM per box, so i think my original estimate is fairly accurate.

        • This Guy on 19/10/2020 - 20:23

          You sound like you know better than me. Thank you for the update.

    • Ryanek on 20/10/2020 - 10:09

      So they've made just under 10K net profit for the month of October alone.

    • kuruptz on 01/11/2020 - 04:27

      This response deserves a standing ovation. I found it super interesting too.

  • Neoika on 19/10/2020 - 17:14

    eBay Stores pay less fee. FYI, Ozplaza eBay had two times 20% off last year around November.

  • SelfMade on 19/10/2020 - 17:15

    I stopped reading when you thought it was 'premium' at a price point of $279…

  • foxmulder on 19/10/2020 - 18:56

    That seller should have a massive warehousing need. I can't even think how a seller (Not Amazon) can do 500ml sanitizer at $9.95 delivered ;) shipping from Australian location.

  • godofpizza on 20/10/2020 - 10:47
    +1

    i helped my parent buy a sealy mattress for almost 1k a few months before covid kicked in. I couldn't image what your getting for a $279 mattress delivered is going to be like?

    • SelfMade on 20/10/2020 - 16:47

      Apparently it's 'premium' according to the OP…

    • pixpotato on 20/10/2020 - 21:09

      Probably the same thing from china for a cheaper price tag?
      Mattresses are quite simple items unless you go like tempur. Even then whether it's worth the price tag is the question.

    • Neoika on 20/10/2020 - 22:41

      There were deals of queen size ones around $200 delivered in the past. Minimum new one I have seen is $149.

  • dealman on 27/10/2020 - 10:37

    The problem with these cheap horrible mattresses is they end up duped by idiots on walking tracks and back alleys. Tired of reporting these to the councils, there must almost be a garbage tax for these junky products

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