How to plan a collection purchase
01
Plan realistic individual sales
Group similar items into one row. Separate the quantity in the lot from the quantity you actually expect to sell. Damaged or unsellable pieces generate no revenue; include any necessary disposal costs in your additional costs.
02
Assign all of the costs
For each unit sold, enter the expected sale price, shipping charged to the buyer and your shipping cost including packaging. Add selling fees and one-off collection, repair or preparation costs for the entire lot.
03
Compare your limit with lower prices
Set a risk reserve and your desired surplus in euros. Then check what remains if sale prices fall. If you expect to sell fewer units as well, change the sellable quantity separately.
The maximum purchase price formula
Buying limit = item sales + shipping charged to buyers − selling fees − shipping and packaging − one-off costs − risk reserve − target surplus
The calculator assumes a separate sale for every unit sold. Quantity × unit price gives a row's item revenue. Shipping costs and the fixed selling fee are charged for each sold unit. This model does not support multiple items shipped in a single order.
The simplified fee model applies your entered percentage to item revenue plus shipping charged to buyers, then adds your fixed fee for each sale. It does not fetch platform rates. You must account for different categories, fee tiers, taxes on fees or promotions yourself.
Results are planning estimates before taxes, your own labour and ongoing overheads. The risk reserve is money set aside, not a cost already incurred. The calculator does not determine market value or guarantee demand or sales.
Hypothetical example: a console, controllers and games
These invented figures illustrate the model. They are not researched market prices or current platform fees. A console at €100, a controller set at €60 and a game bundle at €40 are each sold separately.
- Item revenue: €100 + €60 + €40
- €200.00
- Shipping charged to buyers: 3 × €5
- + €15.00
- Example fees: 10% of €215 + 3 × €0.30
- − €22.40
- Shipping including packaging: 3 × €6
- − €18.00
- One-off preparation costs
- − €10.00
- Risk reserve
- − €15.00
- Desired surplus
- − €40.00
The maximum buying limit is €109.60. At a €100 purchase price, the surplus after the planned risk reserve is €49.60, before taxes, labour and overheads.
With item prices 15% lower, the buying limit falls to €82.60. Quantities, buyer shipping charges and shipping costs stay unchanged; the percentage fee falls with revenue. Keeping the €100 purchase price then leaves €22.60 after the risk reserve and before taxes, labour and overheads.
Where can you find realistic sale prices?
Compare actual completed sales for the same model, similar condition and comparable accessories. eBay's Product Research also shows achieved prices where a best offer was accepted. Active asking prices alone are not confirmed sale proceeds.
eBay Help: Product Research and actual sale prices (German)Research takes place on eBay. This CrowFlip calculator does not fetch market prices or import data from your eBay account.
Model and source reviewed on .