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.

[jb143]

Back in the day, I only did it for loss leader situations. Free shipping in general though I'd inflate the price to cover the cost, and yeah, there were some advantages, and you could make more if they buy multiple items. But selling everything at a loss (or for pennies) is asinine.

[fluid_matrix]

Back in the day, I only did it for loss leader situations. Free shipping in general though I'd inflate the price to cover the cost, and yeah, there were some advantages, and you could make more if they buy multiple items. But selling everything at a loss (or for pennies) is asinine.

My minimum sell-for price $10 + shipping on any given item. Anything less than that just goes to Goodwill.

[jb143]

I ended up putting them together into several lots. Usually for us, anything that doesn't sell(or not worth the trouble to try) goes into a garage sale we have once a year. If it still hasn't sold after a coupe years, then it goes to a thrift store.


Another "tip" if you want to call it that, is that when you select your shipping options on eBay to pay for shipping, they let you choose Regional Rate shipping. Which under some circumstances, can be cheaper that other options. It's not an option when you list it, only when you buy the postage, and you have to order the boxes(for free) from usps.com. It's usually not an option for "regular folk" but eBay lets you do it. If you're going to be selling a lot,especially heavier items that will fit into the box, it's something to look into. So something that would cost $14-$20 to ship in a larger priority mail box, you can ship for $10.

[gbpxl]

now heres the real question... how many seconds are left on the auction when you enter your bid? in the past id click when there were like 3 seconds left and it wouldnt process quick enough so i lost the auction. 5 seconds seems to be the sweet spot. if I bid at 30 seconds, some madman will usually push the bid way up and end up winning

[IMJ]

What I've been doing is charging a flat rate and then amending it upon the sale with an invoice because you never know how many items a person is buying from you. That saves some of the eBay charge, but also keeps the buyer happy because the shipping is somewhat accurate.