Early in my experience with eBay I found that monies for eBay and PayPal fees need to come from my sales, not a credit card or checking account. I have seen people in financial disasters trying to fund insertion fees, final value fees, and shipping in a haphazard manner.

I became a seller back in 1999. For the first four years I mailed money orders to eBay and maintianed a positive balance in my seller's account. The limit used to be -$25 and I would send $50-$100 depending on how agressive I was selling.

A couple of years ago I started using PayPal. I found my sales increased and about 90% of my receivables came through PayPal. This slowled down the action at my mail box, but it also brought my money under better control. That extra "walking around money" was not hitting my pocket as much.

About a year after subscribing to PayPal, eBay took them over. I immediately found that paying off my seller account with PayPal shortly after the auctions was great.With PayPal most of my auction payments were received within hours and the books were balanced.

I took another organizational step by getting a PayPal debit card. I use this card exclusively for shipping costs. That takes money directly from the sales as with the seller's fees.

Now all the fees come directly from sales and I avoid a balancing act with many funding sources. My cost of doing business is easily found in one place, my PayPal account.

New seller or old, if you feel a vagueness about your finances maybe my method can help.

Thanks, Bernie