EBAY To Sell or Not to Sell a.k.a. Is it worth it?

EBAY: ARE YOU REALLY GOING TO MAKE MONEY?

Almost every declutter source at some point suggests selling your stuff, and most mention ebay.  Don't get me wrong, I love being able to buy stuff on ebay.  Might be looking for some random part, or in need of an item I don't want to buy new.  So it makes sense that I should participate in this market, not only as a buyer, it needs sellers to work.

And so I have posted a few items.  However, in my frustration at the rising cost of shipping, I have taken a slightly closer look at the bottom line.  That bottom line is what I take away from the arrangement. Yes, me, the one who purchased the item, took the time to list the item, and then has to deal with shipping and possibly be responsible for any shipping mishaps.

This post is spurred by my recent sale of 2 brand new pairs of shoes, unworn with tags in box that my children outgrew before wearing (long-story).  One pair of Jambu sneakers cost me about $60. My husband posted them for $15 stating he just wanted them out, he put $10 shipping. His goal was to stay under the $30 half price point.  Of course they sold with one bid for $15. I want to say that in my previous foray of ebay selling, all 10 items sold with 1 bid or 2 for a couple which means that they sold within $1 of what they started at.

So the buyer has spent $25 for a new pair of shoes that would have cost about $60 in-store or on amazon. That seems reasonable.  Now for me, on my end of things.  First, I know this is a loss, and I should purchase only from LLBean-where I could return these new items even though it has been 3 months--and I could get the size that fits. BUT I didn't, soo I eat a loss, that is a given.  The only thing to decide is whether it is worth trying to make someone else happy and make a few dollars on ebay--meanwhile these things hang around my space.

Here is the breakdown:

 $15.00      sold
 $10.00       shipping charged
 $25.00       amount charged

-$15.00      shipping costs
-$ 2.50        ebay selling fee ***they charge their fee on the selling price + shipping,
-$1.05         PayPal fee of 3% total amount charged  + $0.30
 $6.45         Amount I receive for my $60 shoes & the time I spent listing, packing, & getting to USPS

The way I see it, is that I put in probably 20 mins of time, getting shoes listed,  and then another 15 finding a box and packing, then a half hour to drive to and from the post office, and however long I stand in line (or time and resources to print label)  so, yup better off working minimum wage.
If I donate all of the shoes and rest of things that might go on ebay I can write them off for more than I will make on them, the benefits will be that I can support a charity I believe in, help the local community out, get the stuff out of the house almost immediately and save myself a lot of frustration. Honestly, if the cost of shipping were more reasonable, it could almost be fun, but the recent rate hikes in USPS just pushed it over the edge.  Another option would be to gift them to friends.  As a side note I had the same shoes on several local selling sites/apps  for over a week, before going to ebay, again, there is still the hassle of meeting up with someone to sell in person-though I try to meet at the grocery store, even so timing is not always convenient.