Shipping Question

[antflan77]

I asked this in Ask a Mentor but no one has responded yet and I was hoping for an answer tonight.

My buyer selected FedEx Smart something or other. Even though it says I'm getting a discount the customer was charged the same amount of shipping I am paying, where normally the discount works out to a dollar or two in the seller's favor. I've also used this little gap to provide free camera bags when someone buys a video camera from me and it covers the extra freight. My real concern is that the FedEx option he chose does not include the $100 insurance that USPS does. I don't like that. If the delivery times are the same, is it bad salesmanship to change the shipping method. It is $1 cheaper via USPS, but wouldn't the insurance be better to have rather than nothing at all? Is it kind of sketchy to change it? I probably would not do that without asking them first though FWIW.

  Thanks in advance for your help everyone.

[toomuchstuffagain35]

Firstly, why did you list with Fedex Smartpost as an option? The buyer could only choose it if it was offered in the listing.

Maybe check on the label page that the buyer actually did select that if you weren't offering it.

ETA: I do see you offer Fedex Ground Economy (which may show up as Fedex Smartpost on the label page). I would take out Fedex & UPS (and local pickup except for large weighty items). Just give them the USPS GA choice.

[antflan77]

I just wanted buyers to have as many options as possible as I know not all services go to every place. Also, sometimes there was a lot of variance in the shipping amounts.

I have changed shipping method without asking and sent them Priority when it was cheaper and faster to do it.

I'm still curious how the Ebay discount via Fedex seems to be given to the customer though...

Thanks, I will create some new options as I don't like Fedex anyway since they seem to be super picky about what you ship items in. 

[toomuchstuffagain35]

It's like my nan used to say "never offer a toddler more than 2 choices at a time, it just confuses them" = )

I don't know for sure because I don't offer carrier discounts, but even though using retail pricing for your listing gives YOU the USPS discount, it may work differently with Fedex/UPS?

[antflan77]

Okay, well thanks so much for your time. You seem to have a real wealth of knowledge and you do a real service to Ebay and other sellers by replying to these posts.

You rock! 

Some kind of cool emoji should probably be right here LOL

[dbfolks166mt]

     Shipping can be a crap shoot since there are so many options determining factors like seller and buyer location, package size, weight, value............  

     The fact that the buyer is paying the same rate may have something to do with the agreement between FedEx and eBay and/or the fact that FedEx does not offer eBay a discounted rate for that particular service so the rate the buyer sees is what you are going to pay. 

     Both UPS and FedEx are also infamous for unilateral surcharges and there are multiple posts on this forum regarding cases where the seller has been hit with those. I would simply no offer the buyer so many shipping options and use USPS ground advantage and calculated shipping as your default shipping method unless you know for SURE that there is one shipping option that is the cheapest, has insurance and the cost is NOT effected by where the buyer lives. I have had a few of these type of listings where the item was 30-50 pounds but would fit in a USPS medium flat rate box and the shipping cost. No other option would be cheaper even if I was shipping the item across the street. 

     After a buyer purchases and item I always check all of the shipping options and like you have upgraded the shipping from ground advantage to priority mail since the cost was about the same, sometimes a bit more, sometimes a bit less, and let the buyer know that I upgraded it to priority. I have never, and would never, downgrade the shipping. 

     There is a point where UPS becomes the cheaper option and this is usually for bigger heavier packages. I will always check prior to posting to see if UPS is the cheaper option based on a couple of buyer location scenario's and if it is that is the default shipping I use for the listing. 

     I never purchase my shipping labels through eBay but utilize Pirate Ship which has the same discounted rates as eBay, sometimes better, and offers USPS ground advantage cubic which eBay does not. I also pay for those labels using a cash back rewards CC which in effect reduces my shipping cost. While Pirate Ship offers both USPS and UPS they do not have FedEx as an option. 

[antflan77]

  So, as toomuchstuffagain35 suggested, I went back and looked and the customer had chosen "Fedex economy" so it appeared to me they were just trying to save on shipping. So I sent them an email and told them "I had changed it to Priority (since it fit in a Medium FR box), didn't charge him extra and he would have it up to 4 days sooner, I hope that's okay. I'll drop it off this afternoon and I'm sure it will be great. If I continue doing this, I will definitely check out your suggestions about Pirate Ship as it seems you are all over the shipping aspect and I greatly appreciate your input. Thank you!

[bashort]

I would not worry about not getting the "free" $100 in USPS insurance because it is worthless, I do not even waste the time to try to collect on it anymore

[luckythewinner]

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@antflan77 wrote:

 Even though it says I'm getting a discount the customer was charged the same amount of shipping I am paying, where normally the discount works out to a dollar or two in the seller's favor. I've also used this little gap to provide free camera bags when someone buys a video camera from me and it covers the extra freight. My real concern is that the FedEx option he chose does not include the $100 insurance that USPS does. I don't like that. If the delivery times are the same, is it bad salesmanship to change the shipping method. It is $1 cheaper via USPS, but wouldn't the insurance be better to have rather than nothing at all? Is it kind of sketchy to change it? I probably would not do that without asking them first though FWIW.

  Thanks in advance for your help everyone.

---

My buyer selected FedEx Smart something or other.

The buyer cannot select that unless you offer it.

My real concern is that the FedEx option he chose does not include the $100 insurance that USPS does

You should have been paying attention to that when you chose to offer the FedEx option. 

is it bad salesmanship to change the shipping method

IMHO there is always a risk when you ignore what a buyer selected and substituting something else. 

I probably would not do that without asking them first though FWIW.

IMHO if you ask and the buyer agrees, it is perfectly fine.  

[lakefor94]

I roll with packing items to the max and never think about insurance. Though this time of year, a very minute percentage of packages get lost and that is about the only time insurance will pay out, when there is not a delivery scan.

Expensive items are packed to the max and ship UPS Ground as the most reliable carrier,  imo.

I rely on UPS Ground even more this time of year.

If I change the carrier on a shipment, I let the buyer know how it is being shipped.  I don't offer them the option to accept the change. That is just the way I roll, make a game time decision and go with it.

If it is a couple dollars cheaper, I refund the difference. 

[dbfolks166mt]

I would not worry about not getting the "free" $100 in USPS insurance because it is worthless, I do not even waste the time to try to collect on it anymore

     It depends. In the last 6 months I have had two packages that I sent that were lost, USPS paid the claim on both of those including the shipping cost. I had one package that I never received and the seller also filed a claim and was reimbursed. 

     I have had a number of shipping damage claims over the years and your success at being reimbursed depends largely on how much cooperation you can get from the buyer. I have won a few and lost a few and in every instance where I won the buyer was kind enough to work with me on resolution. In ever case this required them to take the item and the original packing into their local post office for examination. In those cases where they approved the claim the post office retained the item and the original packing. 

     A buyer can also file a claim and it is much easier for them to do so especially in the case of damage but I have never had a buyer do this although I have done so as a buyer and again collaborated with the seller on resolution. 

[dbfolks166mt]

  So, as toomuchstuffagain35 suggested, I went back and looked and the customer had chosen "Fedex economy" so it appeared to me they were just trying to save on shipping. So I sent them an email and told them "I had changed it to Priority (since it fit in a Medium FR box), didn't charge him extra and he would have it up to 4 days sooner, I hope that's okay. I'll drop it off this afternoon and I'm sure it will be great. If I continue doing this, I will definitely check out your suggestions about Pirate Ship as it seems you are all over the shipping aspect and I greatly appreciate your input. Thank you!

     You are quite welcome. I put a lot of effort into the shipping aspect of my listings as given the rising costs of shipping it is playing a bigger and bigger role the buyers decisions and searches. Lots of practice.