Question for eBay power users

[gbpxl]

Disclaimer: I contacted eBay and they werent able to help me.

I want to know how much my shipping discount will be BEFORE I list an item. The last thing I sold normally wouldve been $4.57 but since I printed off the label myself it only cost me $3.36. That is a massive discount if I am selling a very cheap item. profit margins get very tight at that point of $4-6 items.

Is there a rough estimate as to how much the discount will be generally or is it a progressive rate similar to tax brackets? Or a flat rate altogether? I like to know how much something will actually cost to ship before I list an item. from what eBay told me the only way to know is once the item sells. and it sounds like eBay negotiates these prices.

So has anyone found a general rule of thumb for this? Ive been Baying since 06 and never got this far into the weeds with it til now

nevermind figured it out

https://www.ebay.com/shp/Calculator

[fluid_matrix]

If I want to know what something is going to cost to ship, I usually just pull up a previously sold item and plug in what I know, such as weight an pkg. size to get a good estimate as to what it's going to actually cost me to ship an item.

[jb143]

I've always just used the postage calculator on the usps site. I think their click-n-ship pricing is the same as ebay's discounted postage rates.

[gbpxl]

you are correct

I dont even see it worth my time to sell anything for less than $6. I just sold a game for 4.99 and doing the math I realized I walked away with about 68 cents. i paid 25 cents for it so came away with 43 cents profit... was it worth the 10 minutes spent testing it, taking photos, packaging it, mailing it listing it... idk probably not. and I probably couldve gotten $1 in trade credit for it

[jb143]

I know what you mean. I used to sell on Ebay a lot 10 to 15 years ago but haven't done much since then. Just recently when I wanted to sell a bunch of stuff I was surprised how many people were selling the same items I wanted to list so low it couldn't even possibly cover shipping. And they were all listed with free shipping. I don't even know the point in doing that.

[fluid_matrix]

And they were all listed with free shipping. I don't even know the point in doing that.

When it comes to returns/disputes, having free shipping plays some sort of advantage if I remember correctly. Can't remember what it is though.