Should You Even Bother Charging Shipping Domestically Now?

[wingzrow]

So now that eBay will be taking a % from the entire purchase price, including the shipping, should you even bother charging shipping domestically? I can understand charging shipping internationally for the extra work you have to put in when doing a customs form, having to drop off your item at the post office, etc, but for domestic I just don't see the point.

[theclaw]

I'm fairly lazy at times, tend to not bother weighing each item. As much as I know I should. Some come out ahead. Others are too low making me eat the difference.

[leatherrebel5150]

I would think what many sellers would start doing is figure out the shipping cost and make that the starting point for their auctions rather than .99.

[theclaw]

Yeah .99 is tricky to use well. You can spur on great bid wars that way. But if an item ends far lower than you'd really wanted to sell for, the sale is settled.

[Kitsune Sniper]

Most of my items already have free shipping, so it's not that big of a deal.

[mobiusclimber]

Or just give up on Ebay and sell on Amazon instead.

[mobiusclimber]

Sorry for the double post but I got an Internal Server Error when posting so I hit refresh thinking it didn't go thru. Anyone else been getting those lately?

[Wookie]

If you sell cheap-to-ship items at fixed prices, then no. Just roll the shipping cost into your price and advertise "free shipping". A shocking number of ebay users (i.e. idiots) fall for that.

Even better, list them on gamegavel first then only move them to ebay if they don't sell. Since gamegavel's fees are so much lower, you can actually list the items at lower prices and make the same (or more) profit.

Heavy items, where shipping cost varies widely depending on destination, are probably still best listed with calculated shipping. Or list them as local pickup only and skip all the hassles of shipping, including the new fees.

[APE992]

Truth be told I haven't done calculated shipping costs in years, the calculator always seems to give people low balled numbers and they really don't like paying more than eBay says they have to. I use USPS flat-rate shipping constantly these days as it makes things a lot easier and cheaper. Particularly given I can print shipping labels with my laser printer than are scanable (don't expect inkjet to be scanable) and leave them on the porch for the carrier to pickup.

Easy, cheap and extremely convenient.

I've yet to experiment with integrating shipping into the cost of the item and listing it with free shipping. Somehow I don't think people are willing to pay as much as they normally would just because the item says "free shipping". Would love to be wrong.

[pooch]

Sorry, wrong post.

[Cornelius]

Truth be told I haven't done calculated shipping costs in years, the calculator always seems to give people low balled numbers and they really don't like paying more than eBay says they have to. I use USPS flat-rate shipping constantly these days as it makes things a lot easier and cheaper. Particularly given I can print shipping labels with my laser printer than are scanable (don't expect inkjet to be scanable) and leave them on the porch for the carrier to pickup.

Easy, cheap and extremely convenient.

I've yet to experiment with integrating shipping into the cost of the item and listing it with free shipping. Somehow I don't think people are willing to pay as much as they normally would just because the item says "free shipping". Would love to be wrong.

I've generally had the opposite experience. The calculator has always worked great for me. I use a scale at home and print labels with an inkjet (an older one that I have a stockpile of cheap ink for), and they scan just fine.

I also haven't done much 'free shipping', largely because there were no fees on the shipping part, but I'll probably start to now. From having viewed completed listings to price things over the years I do think free shipping draws people in. Doesn't seem to be working on my GG listings though :(.

[Cmo]

I would recommend using free shipping anyway, especially on cheap to ship items as Wookie said. At work I had switched all of our fixed listings from shipping charge to free shipping and just adjusted the sale price accordingly in early March. That definitely worked out for the better. I started receiving more orders and also making a lot more when multiple quantities were purchased. Even if they only purchased one unit we were making slightly more on most things. Of course this also helped me and made my gross sales higher as well. :)

[Rickstilwell1]

I just like to be honest about shipping. If an Xbox system costs $30 to ship because those things are so heavy, then I am definitely going to say that yes it's $30 to ship it on top of the sale price which is usually already pretty low.

[Griking]

I just like to be honest about shipping. If an Xbox system costs $30 to ship because those things are so heavy, then I am definitely going to say that yes it's $30 to ship it on top of the sale price which is usually already pretty low.

I agree. Another example, if I sell a game and charge $4 for shipping eBay gets what, 10% of my final value fee? So that means that they get an additional $.40 from me compared to me shipping for free and eating the full $4.

[Kitsune Sniper]

I also haven't done much 'free shipping', largely because there were no fees on the shipping part, but I'll probably start to now. From having viewed completed listings to price things over the years I do think free shipping draws people in. Doesn't seem to be working on my GG listings though :(.

Actually, having free shipping bumps you up in the search results. So even if 30 people have Super Mario / Duck Hunt for sale at $3 + $3 shipping, and you have it for sale for $6 shipped, YOU get listed first. Usually.

[wingzrow]

Guess that's why my sales have jumped up. Free shipping & expensive designer scarves for EVERYBODY.

[mobiusclimber]

Actually, having free shipping bumps you up in the search results. So even if 30 people have Super Mario / Duck Hunt for sale at $3 + $3 shipping, and you have it for sale for $6 shipped, YOU get listed first. Usually.

That's only if the person doesn't have their settings changed to "ending first," which, if you DON'T have it that way you're not using Ebay correctly.

I've been thinking about this and finally have a non-snarky response: the reason to charge shipping now is so that you can offer combined shipping. I find myself bidding less on auctions where the shipping is in the starting price and has "free shipping" than when there's shipping, but starts out w/ a low price and there's several auctions from the same seller I'm interested in.

I have to wonder if I'm just really savvy with my Ebay buying now, or if other people are like this too. I've never heard of a seller charging less from the sale price b/c they added the shipping cost to it, but sellers combine shipping and discount that all the time.

In short, fuck Ebay. The morons who are running the place are running it straight into the ground. I can see this recently change fucking up combined shipping (meaning every seller now has free shipping). I'll buy a lot less on Ebay if that happens.

[Kitsune Sniper]

That's only if the person doesn't have their settings changed to "ending first," which, if you DON'T have it that way you're not using Ebay correctly.We're talking about your average eBay buyer;. he doesn't know about this setting. He just wants to buy stuff. ;)

[mobiusclimber]

We're talking about your average eBay buyer;. he doesn't know about this setting. He just wants to buy stuff. ;)

I dunno. Maybe, maybe not. I think if I were the average Ebay just doing a search and noticed the auctions weren't going by the date ended, I would change it w/ the little drop down box. I might not bother figuring out how to permanently change it, but it's not difficult to change it for the time being. So how many people care? I think the person that is going to bid on an actual auction as opposed to a BIN would likely want to see what auctions are ending soonest.

But this is all conjecture (on both of our parts). There's no way to know how the average Ebayer uses Ebay.

[gdement]

What mobius mentioned is also my issue with "free" shipping. It distorts pricing on combined orders. On heavier items, it also distorts pricing that should vary depending on the buyer's location.

If I have an item that costs the buyer $5 including shipping, I don't want to require them to pay $15 for 3 of them. My costs are lower if I sell 3 items to 1 customer vs separate packaging and shipping to 3 different people. If this isn't accounted for in pricing, then you'll get fewer combined orders and spend more money shipping singles.

The way I look at it, the goal of an auction is to find the buyer who puts the most money in your pocket. Different buyers come with different costs in shipping, packaging, and sometimes time. An ideal pricing structure accounts for all these variables as well as possible, in order to efficiently find the most profitable buyer for your items. With "free" shipping, the pricing structure becomes very inefficient.
The function of separate shipping fees is to account for expenses which do not scale at the same rate as the cost of the items themselves.


That said, I'm sure some buyers like free shipping, so it can be a good PR gimmick. But if your items are heavy enough that shipping destination is a significant variable, or if you get many combined orders, then IMO it's better to have a distinct shipping charge.