General EBAY process for sellers

[tq60]

Many years ago we sold stuff on ebay, long time before PayPal.

Had fun with the write up, sold a slide rule in 1999 as a Y2K calculator, the 2 people who but it up t $50.00 were married to engineers and wanted it with the write up.

We received the check, waited for it to clear, shipped the item.

Had issue with our then ip provider that caused some emails to not work and stopped messing with it.

Ran out of "junk to sell".

We now have too much stuff and looking at getting back in, fees are expected, so no need for information there.

The shipping is what I need help with.

Before, as soon as something got bids, I would box the item and know the weight and shipping process, USPS flat rate or UPS, the buyer would provide address and I would quote shipping and they sent a check.

Looking at the information on ebay today, it looks like a lot of ways to do this.

One is where you provide ebay the shipping data, size and weight, then they calculate, seems easy, but if it sounds too good...

The question of the day is SHIPPING.

What process seems to be the best for general use,?

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[mmcmdl]

Pirate ship .

 

[MrWhoopee]

I use USPS flat rate as most of what I ship can be made to fit in a small flat rate box or padded envelope. The predictability is a big thing for me. It's also 10 miles to the post office or 40 to UPS.

On a side note, I was just advised that, courtesy of Mr. DeJoy, the USPS will be instituting holiday (higher) shipping rates for the coming season.

https://about.usps.com/newsroom/national-releases/2024/0905-usps-proposes-temporary-rate-changes-for-2024-holiday-shipping-season.pdf

 

[ChazzC]

For items that won’t fit in a flat rate box (or before flat rate boxes existed) I would figure out the box size and weight and use the USPS/UPS/FedEx calculator to ship to a zip code in Washington (about as far away from me as possible): never underestimated and no one complained.

Now if it doesn’t fit in a flat rate box, I feel that the eBay calculator is the best alternative: eBay has special rates with the carriers and the listing will calculate shipping based on location of the Buyer.

 

[extropic]

As an eBay buyer, I can tell you that I usually ignore listings with shipping costs that seem out of line. The few conversations I've had with sellers indicates that they let eBay calculate the rate and that resulted in the offensive amount. I'm talking about something that could easily be shipped in Medium Flat Rate Box showing a shipping cost of more than twice the postage. I suspect that the sellers are allowing (maybe inadvertently) eBay to calculate the cost for the weight + dimensions, rather than using FRBs. Pay attention to the shipping cost that is shown in your listing(s) to be sure it's as you intend.

 

[Ischgl99]

For the items I sell, I put in the weight and an estimated box size and let Ebay calculate the shipping for most items. The box size usually doesn’t affect the rate unless it is a big difference, but the weight will affect the price. I offer USPS and UPS for the buyers, they choose which they want to use, it doesn’t matter to me. I do shipping through Ebay so that I don’t have to enter any information on the buyer, it makes printing labels very easy.

You can offer “free” shipping on your items, that helps get some buyers. Make sure you include the worst cast shipping cost in your price so that you pocket what you want. The advantage of offering free shipping is if the buyer purchases multiple items, the price doesn’t decrease, you get to keep the difference between the actual shipping charge and what you factored into the item price.

 

[extropic]

snip>
You can offer “free” shipping on your items, that helps get some buyers. Make sure you include the worst cast shipping cost in your price so that you pocket what you want. The advantage of offering free shipping is if the buyer purchases multiple items, the price doesn’t decrease, you get to keep the difference between the actual shipping charge and what you factored into the item price.

That's another seller strategy, trolling for stupid buyers. I prefer not to patronize sellers that won't combine shipping if asked.

 

[ChazzC]

That's another seller strategy, trolling for stupid buyers. I prefer not to patronize sellers that won't combine shipping if asked.

If it’s free shipping and I’m buying several items I’ll message the Seller and ask for a discount: usually get it.

 

[Ischgl99]

That's another seller strategy, trolling for stupid buyers. I prefer not to patronize sellers that won't combine shipping if asked.

I never said I wouldn't combine shipping if asked, but I have never been asked.

 

[ChazzC]

I never said I wouldn't combine shipping if asked, but I have never been asked.

Anyone who traveled by air (and read the airline magazines) in the 80’s & 90’s would know about the Karrass negotiating seminars. When I worked for Hershey they were large enough to have an inhouse seminar that I attended: the biggest takeaway was that you don’t get anything you don’t ask for.