Commission rates for selling someone's games

[Sarver Systems]

Lets say you repair games for someone who has A LOT of games.
Lets say you get said games in sellable condition.
Lets say you post ads on Ebay, Craigslist, here, other forums, etc...

What commission would you expect to get for selling the game for the owner?

All the owner has to do is buy the parts to repair the game, pay me to fix it, and get it in sellable condition.

From there all he has to do is sit back and wait for it to sell.

I would take care of posting the ad, answering all of the question, scheduling viewings, scheduling pickup, and even helping to load the truck.

[JDFan]

Figure there are already sites out there that will handle everything for you for around 30% (ie. SellForMe.Ebay.com) - so if you are already getting paid for repairing and getting them ready for sale I don't see asking for more than around 15-20% (though once you add in the Ebay fees etc. the seller isn't gonna net much profit for himself if he's already forking out repair $ and shipping fees etc. so may be better off selling them as is rather than repairing them - so you have to figure you might want to ask for a smaller percentage if the repairs are substantial ! )

[Malenko]

dont take this as a dig, but at the prices you seem to be listing them at, 5% should cover you.

[Generic Eric]

Start at 5%.  When you move enough product, stop and ask for a raise.  Rinse and Repeat.

[Sarver Systems]

dont take this as a dig, but at the prices you seem to be listing them at, 5% should cover you.

Those are the prices he wants them posted at. I wish I could get him lower, but he won't.

[Malenko]

dont take this as a dig, but at the prices you seem to be listing them at, 5% should cover you.

Those are the prices he wants them posted at. I wish I could get him lower, but he won't.

I know, guess what I'm saying is 5% of something is better than 10% of nothing

[Sarver Systems]

I'm afraid if I go to him and say "I want 30% commission", that he'll raise the price to the point where it doesn't sell at all.

But, it needs to be worth it for me to take phone calls and txts all day. If I get $10 out of the deal, that isn't worth it to me.

[Malenko]

I'm afraid if I go to him and say "I want 30% commission", that he'll raise the price to the point where it doesn't sell at all.

We are on the same page.  I'm saying that his already high price point makes it significantly harder for items to sell, if you want a bigger slice of the pie, he's gonna make the pie cost more and no one wins.

[JDFan]

I'm afraid if I go to him and say "I want 30% commission", that he'll raise the price to the point where it doesn't sell at all.

But, it needs to be worth it for me to take phone calls and txts all day. If I get $10 out of the deal, that isn't worth it to me.

That's were you have to decide whether it is better to just do the repair work etc. and leave the selling to him so he can see just how much work is involved in getting them sold. If he thinks they will sell at inflated prices it might be better to just avoid doing the selling and risk him not wanting you to do the repair work (where I would think the bulk of your profit is coming from in the first place) - remember if he thinks your charging him too much to list\sell them he may also decide you are too expensive for the repair work as well !

Sometimes it is better to just let him do the listing\selling himself or find someone else to do it rather than risk the loss of the repair work unless you do the listing\selling at a loss and wind up working harder for the same or less at the end of the day !

The machines just are not selling rapidly at the prices they used to and his expectations may not be realistic in the current market so might be best to avoid getting involved with that portion of the deal and just stick to doing the repair work.

[Sarver Systems]

That's were you have to decide whether it is better to just do the repair work etc. and leave the selling to him so he can see just how much work is involved in getting them sold. If he thinks they will sell at inflated prices it might be better to just avoid doing the selling and risk him not wanting you to do the repair work (where I would think the bulk of your profit is coming from in the first place) - remember if he thinks your charging him too much to list\sell them he may also decide you are too expensive for the repair work as well !

Sometimes it is better to just let him do the listing\selling himself or find someone else to do it rather than risk the loss of the repair work unless you do the listing\selling at a loss and wind up working harder for the same or less at the end of the day !

The machines just are not selling rapidly at the prices they used to and his expectations may not be realistic in the current market so might be best to avoid getting involved with that portion of the deal and just stick to doing the repair work.

All very good points. Something I will have to consider as well.

[leapinlew]

Lets say you repair games for someone who has A LOT of games.
Lets say you get said games in sellable condition.
Lets say you post ads on Ebay, Craigslist, here, other forums, etc...

What commission would you expect to get for selling the game for the owner?

All the owner has to do is buy the parts to repair the game, pay me to fix it, and get it in sellable condition.

From there all he has to do is sit back and wait for it to sell.

I would take care of posting the ad, answering all of the question, scheduling viewings, scheduling pickup, and even helping to load the truck.

So all he has to risk is all the money and all you have to risk is a some time?

The way you phrase it, it seems pretty obvious that you think you are getting shafted. Why don't you just buy the games yourself and sell them? I'm assuming it's because you don't want to risk actual money. If you are starting a business relationship where you feel the person carrying nearly all the financial risk isn't doing his fair share, I recommend you not even start. Find a way to come up with the money yourself, or be happy charging him for whatever the repairs cost.

[Sarver Systems]

leapinlew: I understand where you're coming from, but there are few parts of the arrangement that you missed.

These are games that he already owns, and has already paid for, before he even met.
He contracted me on to fix the games.
Now he wants me to sell the games for him too.

I get a fair rate for repairing the games, which is probably far lower than any of you guys charge per hour. I enjoy working on them, and I don't claim to know everything there is to know (see my many other posts here for proof of that!).

I just don't want to meeting with customers and driving 25 miles each direction to meet with someone, and not get paid for it.

Like I said, I also take pictures, post the ads (sometimes on Ebay, incurring a fee), answer all of the questions, meet with them to display the games, and then help load the truck.

I would hope that's worth SOMETHING above and beyond what I charge for repair services.

And I'm glad you said what you did, because that brings up another possible exception to the rule.

What if I sell a game that I didn't touch? A game that hasn't been repaired, doesn't need repaired, or is being sold as parts?

[leapinlew]

Good luck. Let us know how it goes.

[MTPPC]

1. What's your repair rate?
2. Why aren't you buying broken machines and selling them for yourself?


I don't want to be sour on you, but you should tell him you want $150 plus 10% per machine to sell them and then don't bother trying to sell them to anyone who can't bring their cash and drive a hauler. Selling is hard and very time consuming. If you want to just take 5%, I'll send you a giant list of my ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- you can sell.

[Sarver Systems]

1: I only charge $10/hr +$20 for the trip down (because I have to pay for parking, and its about 45 minutes each way).

2: Believe me, if I had somewhere to store and repair them, I would! I have thought about that MANY times.

3: Selling so far isn't too bad. I have only run into 1 Craigslist A-Hole so far. Everyone else has held up their end of the deal, kept appts they promised, and was honest from the beginning.

[mgb]

That's a tough call but I personally would not sell them for him.
It seems like a lot of work and hassle for little reward.
If he's setting unrealistically high prices and paying low repair fees, then it sounds like its gonna be a real hassle.
 You're already giving him a super deal on repair costs.

[Sarver Systems]

We've come to (what I think is) a fair agreement for both of us.

He'll just pay me my hourly rate when I sell games too. So if it takes me 15 minutes to take pics, 15 minutes to post an ad, an hour of emails/txts, an hour to show a game, and 1/2 hour to load the game, then I just made $30.

For the smaller parts that will get shipped, we're still going to figure out a fair ratio to split.

[MTPPC]

Sorry for the late reply. Perhaps by now you have come to realize that your negotiating skills have given you an opportunity akin to indentured servitude. I wish you were local because I could really keep you busy at your prices.

[jennifer]

    Oppps forgot what I was going to say....