09-04-2013 09:28 AM
ebay encourages .99 cent auctions. free shipping.
several times and recently i sold an item for .99 cents and free shipping.
today it cost me $2.53 to send a small book. this was first class as it was cheaper that media mail. .7oz
when i start listing again i feel the need to inform buyers why i don't start auctions at .99 and free shipping.
recently i have had to explain to a couple of buyers why i charge shipping on a small item.
does anyone have a way that works for you to handle this?
09-05-2013 10:34 PM
ebay always suggest that you lower your price when you relist an unsold item, I raise my price every time and have sold everything I have ever listed.
03-06-2014 07:06 PM
Should have read this 9yrs ago! Just sold a bunch of items with free shipping. Gonna COST me money!!!! Sellers BEWARE!!!!! NOT A HAPPY SELLER. My own stupidity.
03-06-2014 10:54 PM
Wait till you get around to reading all the threads about your NO RETURNS policy !
That'll be a hoot !
03-08-2014 09:44 AM
So my brother in laws father wants to start selling his photography and we were looking thru the sold pictures and there items which sold for 16 cents, 26 cents all under 50 cents - these items were digital and were to be emailed to the customer. Do digital auctions have a different fee base or are these people just idiots?
03-08-2014 10:01 AM
Depends on what it costs them to print a photo....& there's no shipping cost.
03-08-2014 05:27 PM
Surely will be a HOOT!!!! This whole thing drives me crazy!!!!
03-08-2014 05:33 PM
Good advice..... wish I had read it earlier!
03-09-2014 09:34 AM
How odd!
Just received an offer from ebay to list with no inserion fee, up to 25,000 items starting at 0.99 or less and then I come to the P.T. board to find this reserected thread!
03-09-2014 10:18 AM - edited 03-09-2014 10:23 AM
SURE YOU CAN. MANUFACTURE YOU PRODUCT FOR 1 CENT IN CHINA, SHIP SHIPLOADS TO YOUR RELATIVES ON WEST COAST, LOAD UP MILLIONS OF EBAY AUCTIONS & YOU WILL MAKE MONEY. 🙂 at least that is the way I think they do it.
Maybe .99 cents has gone to the New 2.99.
remember the old days when you could buy a junker car that actually ran for $100- well today that junker is 2k easy!
Things change especially in ebay for the worse. So you have to adapt and try different things. they don't make it easy for a part time seller. I seem to be making less these days than when I first started. the $20 dollar and under buyer crowd are brutal when your selling used items. My hubby say's to GO BIG sell over $50- I am starting to think he is correct.
03-09-2014 10:40 AM
Sorry! I misspoke in my post above----- it is 10,000 free listings not 25,000
03-09-2014 10:20 PM - edited 03-09-2014 10:21 PM
I think it's all colors of insane that ebay recommends a $.99 starting bid price.
On a REALLY in-demand item, I can see that it MIGHT work as far as bidders freaking out and starting a bidding war over the item. Sometimes, it does.
But my own policy, albeit as a very new seller: Don't list the item at a loss. Just don't. Not unless you can afford the loss and are simply looking to build up a seller's reputation (and even that doesn't always work - you never know what a buyer will find to complain about and you may get neg repped on any item no matter how stellar it is).
List the item at the lowest price you could afford to sell it. Then you at least don't have a loss. (Be sure to figure in ebay's fees when you're determining this amount.)
I saw a post the other day on the Seller's general forum where the seller was annoyed that the item sold for less than he wanted it to. He was wondering if it was "okay" to contact the buyer and ask him/her to agree to a cancelation based on this. I nearly spit out my coffee reading that.
03-09-2014 10:57 PM
If that post you saw was posted here I know several members who would have blown coffee out their noses.......in that sellers direction !
."But my own policy, albeit as a very new seller"
... ummm....that said may I point you in the direction of a couple of worthy threads on the NO RETURNS topic.
03-10-2014 01:01 AM - edited 03-10-2014 01:03 AM
Komokwa, do you mean on my current auction? Yeah, you're right. I'm going to take that out right now. It's silly to say "no returns" when I know I'm going to accept a return if my customer asks for one. Fighting a return is a hassle, it will be found in the buyer's favor anyway and I don't really want to try to force anyone to try to keep a product s/he doesn't want. No idea why I kept that in my template!
03-10-2014 11:28 AM
Yes....yes of course your current auction......and any and all future auctions .
04-22-2014 04:48 AM
@pantlandia wrote:
@trendydreams wrote:
when i start listing again i feel the need to inform buyers why i don't start auctions at .99 and free shipping.
recently i have had to explain to a couple of buyers why i charge shipping on a small item.
does anyone have a way that works for you to handle this?
Why do you feel the need to inform buyers of this? Just change the way you list. There is no reason to inform them of anything.
When buyers ask me how I come up with my shipping price, of $4.00 first class mail, I say this. Well, first off I need a bubble envelope.. $1.00 then the price of the label for 3oz is $1.93. Printer paper and ink , dont buy them selves, so $.50, tape, bubble wrap, and taking it to the post office cost more than this, but i charge $.57 so $1.00 + $1.93 +$.50 + $.57 is $4.00 but feebay charges me 10% so maybe I need to raise it to $4.40..
People appreciate it when you break it down and actually have a reason for the price you charged.