02-23-2018 06:10 AM
A buyer won 108 of my auctions last weekend. He is unhappy that the shipping discount is not as big as he expcted and is refusing to pay for any of the auctions. I will be opening unpaid disputes this weekend so I can get my fnal value fees back. Is there a way to open the disputes in bulk, or do I have to do this 108 times?
02-23-2018 08:25 AM
If I include the incidental costs in the price of the auction (as opposed to in the shipping cost), then I am limited in giving a discount for multiple wins. That's why I prefer the low opening bid and the $3.80 shipping. It gives me more flexibilty to give the buyer a good deal.
July
02-23-2018 08:31 AM
There's really no way to calculate in advance what the price would be for multiple wins on my auctions, because the items I sell are so different in size and weight.
July
02-23-2018 08:47 AM
You cannot please all the people all the time. Sounds like you did what you could. I'd still consider doing something else than the cases. Do your competitors ship 20 cent cards with 40 cent holders?
02-23-2018 08:51 AM
The $.40 case x 800 cards is the problem.
02-23-2018 08:53 AM
02-23-2018 08:57 AM
02-23-2018 09:04 AM
mg152 - To be fair to the buyer, I do say in my auctions that I do offer shipping discounts for multiple wins. But again, it is impossible to calculate that in advance because of the variety of things that I sell.
02-23-2018 09:07 AM
eponymous - I did offer to put all of the cards into an 800-count baseball card box without the plastic cases in order to save the buyer money, but he was still not happy with the total cost.
Again, the price I quoted him was meticulously arrived at so that I did not make any money off the shipping. It was still too high for him, even after I explained (in detail) how I arrived at the price.
July
02-23-2018 09:07 AM
I would chime in but it looks like you've gotten your answer.
Also consider though, the buyer can always pay once you file the UPI and if it gets paid they can always return them and leave feedback.
So, what price did you ask for shipping?
02-23-2018 09:10 AM
02-23-2018 09:15 AM
@julycoaronwrote:eponymous - I did offer to put all of the cards into an 800-count baseball card box without the plastic cases in order to save the buyer money, but he was still not happy with the total cost.
Again, the price I quoted him was meticulously arrived at so that I did not make any money off the shipping. It was still too high for him, even after I explained (in detail) how I arrived at the price.
July
Based on everything you have stated it doesn't sound like profit is involved anywhere here. After clearing this whole mess up, I would rethink my listings, prices, and shipping. If you aren't getting any bidding, then I would go fixed price with some profit worked in there somewhere.
02-23-2018 09:27 AM
Any experienced buyer would know that their entire order would fit in at most one large flat rate priority box so if you are charging them more than $20-$25 shipping it is because you have built your profit into the shipping cost. How would the buyer know that you have paid 40 cents for holders for each item that you are selling for 20 cents and including that cost as shipping?? As others have stated that cost as well as ebay's 10% and paypal fees should be built into the item price not shipping.
99 cents with $3.00 shipping makes more sense than 20 cents with $3.80 shipping if you are going to offer combined shipping. And then you don't have to worry about the cost of a bubble mailer and can actually come up with a defensible combined shipping charge if you can use a USPS flat rate envelope or box.
02-23-2018 10:56 AM
Kathieskorner - I'm trying to follow your logic. Imagine I sell five different lots of baseball cards (15 cards per lot), the combined price for shipping would be the same regardless of the bid price. About $2.80 for postage, plus three plastic cases (25-count cases) at $.40 per case, plus one bubble envelope (cost around $.20). That's $4.20. Adding in 13% for PayPal and Ebay fees would bring the combined total to $4.63.
So I'm actually saving the buyer money by offering the cards at $.20 with the $3.80 shipping & handling. Because his total cost would be $1.00 (five auctions at $.20) plus $4.63 S & H. If the starting bid was $.99, he'd be paying $4.95 plus $4.63 S & H.
How is this better for the buyer?
July
02-23-2018 11:54 PM
Maybe it wasn't stated because the OP was NOT asking "how do I reduce the shipping costs" but rather "do I have to open all 108 cases individually"? OP is NOT in the wrong here. Period.
@partial*eclipsewrote:
Oops, it would have been useful to know that from the outset.