I’m getting ready to eBay a whole bunch of stuff from an inherited estate and I’m wondering how the shipping thing works. For those who list things on eBay a lot, how do you go about figuring out what to write as the shipping costs? What sort of packing materials do you use? Do you use the post office or some other shipping outlet? Any other tips for offloading stuff on eBay?
I sold a bunch of stuff on ebay but it was mostly books, so fairly easy to ship. What I did was calculated the cost for postage and added a dollar for the packaging. But then it turned out that the USPS flat-rate envelope was more convenient and the cost includes the envelope, so I started using that instead. I didn’t add anything for “handling” although I should have, because it does take 5 minutes or so to stick a thing inside an envelope and then go online and get the postage.
I sold a couple of other things that required a bit more protective stuffing, and I took them to a packaging store and charged what that cost (less my mileage and time, again).
But my goal was to get rid of stuff, not necessarily to make a profit (I didn’t; I approximately broke even). I think you are not supposed to make your profit on the shipping, because then eBay doesn’t get its full cut. But my understanding is that you can mark it up a little.
Suze - how did you go about calculating the shipping cost? And how did it work for the items you brought in - are you allowed to not say what the shipping is until after the auction is over?
It’s been a few years since I sold on eBay, but they used to have a widget to calculate shipping costs. Also the eBay forums are extremely high-traffic and helpful, you may want to check there too. Another useful strategy is to search for completed listings similar to what you plan to sell, and see what sold, how much for, and what the shipping costs were.
I sold a lot of vintage books at one point, and bought bulk 8x11 padded shipping envelopes. An added cost but much quicker to pack and ship with. I shipped book rate through USPS - for international buyers, I asked them to email me for a shipping quote, then added a buck to the shipping cost (USPS also has a cost widget on their site.)
I still buy stuff fairly regularly there and tend to filter for Buy It Now/“Free” Shipping. Because it’s tedious to click on listings and find they want an unreasonable amount for shipping. I don’t know if I’m typical or what though.
For the books, I put them in the envelope, weighed the envelope, then went to the USPS site and entered the info just as if I were getting a shipping label, only skipped the last step (I had to put in a dummy address when I was using the book rate, but the flat-rate envelopes go anywhere in the US for the same price, which made it a lot easier). For the other items I think I had a couple of shipping options, and emailed the buyer with the costs and any optional things (faster service, for instance) before I sent it. Of course I also waited for the check to clear. In later transactions I only took PayPal, so I did have to know the total beforehand.
A couple of people bought multiple books, and instead of putting each book in a flat-rate envelope I put them in a box, so I had to recalculate the shipping costs again. But I have a scale in my office and USPS online, which made that all pretty easy.
Actually I think eBay had a direct link to the USPS postage site at the time. I don’t know if they still do.
Ebay charges you for shipping. So, if you charge $4.99 to ship, it’ll take a percent of that. (Yeah. I know.) It’s done to encourage free shipping. The Final Value Fee now includes whatever you charged for shipping and handling. They take your expense and treat it like a profit. It’s also against EBay rules to try to charge more S&H to cover your fees.
It sucks. They ding you with insertion fees, selling fees (including shipping!) and PayPal fees. It’s quite a bit for some. And some people are STILL trying to charge something outrageous for S&H.
Read more here. Don’t bother shipping internationally. I shipped a Coach coat and in the end I only made about $27. Should’ve kept the damned coat.
Oh…yeah, and they make it easy for you to calculate your fees if you know the size of the package and stuff.
They also make you wait 3 weeks before they release your money.
Ebay has a fairly powerful shipping applet that let you calculate shipping based on weight and package size. I typically do a flat rate quote that is the maximum US shipping charge based on the item’s weight and distance. 95% of my items will fit in a medium sized USPS flat rate shipping box so that is what I quote.
Using the online shipping app also lets you get USPS delivery confirmation for free vs .85 if you pay at the PO counter. It’s massively more convenient to print out the paid labels at home and put them on the boxes then just dump them at the post office and go vs waiting in the PO line.
If you have very large or bulky items you may want to think twice about using ebay unless you specify “local pickup only” (which you can do), but if course that hugely limits your prospect base.
I usually do not ship internationally unless it’s requested of me and I do the weight calculation. It’s a bit of a crapshoot beacuse you can’t track it unless you pay for wildly expensive shipping options so First Class International USPS is what is used and that cannot be tracked or delivery confirmed outside the US. Never flat rate quote international shipping.
I’m not a high-volume seller by a long shot - but especially for unusually-shaped objects, I would actually take them to a local shipping store and get a price for having them professionally pack and ship the item.
For smaller things (like kids’ clothes) I just used the Priority Mail (I think) packaging and fixed price so generally I knew what the shipping would cost.
I always offer free shipping. Yes, it’s money coming out of your pocket, but in my experience, people see that “free shipping” tag and will immediately pay much more for the item. YMMV.