New to Site - What's the Catch?

Hi - I have been using auctiva for only a month. From what I've seen about auctiva the only fees you pay are to ebay and any blank fields that have dollar signs in them.

Everything else is free. At the bottom of the page when I finish writing out my description I always click the check ebay fees button before I list the item(s).

Listing an item through Auctiva the fees for 10 days is generally $.40, buy it now is $.05, and how much the begining for an auction generally varies. 7 day auctions as far as I have seen are free.

I really hope this helps you.

Listing an item through Auctiva is free the fees are what ebay charges. After I write a description and before I list an item I just go to the bottom of the page where it says ebay fees and click on that. Thaht tells me how much ebay is charging to list this item.

I hope this helps you also. Auctiva is the only one I have used and I think it's great.

The only fees you pay are the same fees you pay when you list through ebay. Except with Auctiva you get free pictures, templates & more.
True, Auctiva is sometimes not reliable, but for me I save so much money through it that I don't care.

The only 'catch', if you want to name it as such, is that Auctiva makes their money through supplying Insurance.

They offer shipping insurance, at a rate lower than, for example, USPS. Where a package would cost $1.35 to insure through USPS, if you opt to insure through Auctiva’s company/program, you pay $1.30 for that same insurance.

So, that’s where Auctiva makes their money. This listing service, free for us to use, is the vehicle used to get the insurance profits.

Nothing wrong with any of it, they provide a service, and make money; we use the service, and save money. Win-Win.

You can opt out of using Auctiva’s insurance.

Actually, the buyer pays $1.30, you pay Auctiva $1.05 and you get to keep the $.25 profit

Well see, that's better yet.

I hope that everyone starts to offer Auctiva insurance...it helps keep Auctiva going.

I'd like to use Auctiva insurance, but I don't want to overcharge the customer for it. If I could choose to just use the actual cost (instead of including the kickback) I'd certainly use it.

I'd also like to be able to make it mandatory depending on the winning bid amount. If something shoots up to $150 I want insurance, but if it goes for $5, I'd rather not.

Angela, Auctiva insurance is still .5 cheaper than USPS insurance. So you're not overcharging.

I switched all of my orders over to Insurance Required. I just put a blurb on my seller profiles that goes something like this:

"We now require shipping insurance on all our orders. It's cheap and it just takes a lot of hassle out of dealing with lost or damaged goods. Besides, we handle all the claim files for you and see it all the way through to the end of resolution."

On my lower priced items, I just assume the position of being self-insured because replacing a lost or damaged cheap item over the long run is not so expensive and stays hassle-free. Now, if I started having 2 or 3 claims a week, that would be a different story.

Merry Christmas, Y'all!

I require insurance on international shipping, in case a buyer does a Paypal dispute.