eBay

kosmosattik · ‎11-03-2022

First of all, yes, I have UPS discounts checked off in Shipping Preferences.

This was a problem a couple years ago that got fixed with a reworking of the listing screen. It seems to have been broken again in the last 10 months with another reworking while I was on hiatus. Here's an example:

The package specs are 48" x 6" x 6" / 2 lbs. 7oz. It's the golf club I have listed. I ship only to the lower 48 states. I live in the Buffalo region.

During listing set-up the UPS Ground rate range is shown as $14.36 - $145.62
After creating the listing using that option, the UPS Ground rate shows as $8.10 to my zip code.
On the Shipping Calculator screen the UPS Ground discounted rate is shown as $8.10 to my zip code. This indicates the discounted rate is in fact applied to the listing.
The Shipping Calculator shows the UPS Ground discounted rate to Chula Vista, CA, over 2,500 miles and just about as far as I could ship anything, as $13.03.

So, what's the problem? Why should I have to go to the Shipping Calculator to see the UPS rate when it could easily be shown on the listing screen during set-up. It's been done before.

In fact, when it was broken last time I had a very long exchange in this forum with a UPS rep, he finally understood what the issue was, and was going to see if he could get it fixed. I was astounded that nobody else was posting about this problem. The fix got into the deliverable pipeline for the next listing screen update, the very popular one, lol, with scads of metadata requirements. How about another fix?

PS FYI: In the above example, UPS discounted Ground costs less than half of any other applicable option over long distances and is cheaper than any other over any distance. So, checking the Shipping Calculator could be saving some decent coin.

lakefor94 · ‎11-03-2022

I just input the weight and measurements into the listing and use calculated shipping for UPS shipments when the buyer is paying calculated shipping. I never look at a shipping calculator.

FWIW, the UPS shipments have been exact. Buyer is paying exactly what I pay when I purchase the label.

Posting ID

kosmosattik · ‎11-04-2022

@lakefor94 You may be missing the point here.

If you never look at the Shipping Calculator, what you see for UPS Ground when creating a listing is the in-store rate in which case you'd never choose it. If you spot checked some zip codes with the Shipping Calculator you might find a meaningful improvement in the UPS discounted rate over the USPS Ground options (or USPS Priority if applicable to the package). Again, consider the example in the OP. That UPS discounted price will end up in the listing though you would not know it by just looking at that option on the listing screen.

For each of the three items I've listed recently after a hiatus UPS Ground was the most economical option, and by a wide margin for long distances in the example in the OP. And frankly, I've found UPS to be superior in that they are more likely to deliver ahead of schedule.

I presume buyers can add 1 + 1 to get to 2, i.e., they add the item price and their shipping cost together before making a decision. So, reducing their shipping cost makes your listing more attractive. Also, whatever you save them on shipping is that much less that is charged to you in the % eBay fee.

monica-sells · ‎11-04-2022

I may be wrong, but I seem to recall when I was cross-checking some of my listings....the "estimate" on my seller hub listing page showed retail......when I checked (as a buyer) the listing online through my other account, it displayed the correct discounted price......(I verified by checking through pirateship) even though my admin listing page showed retail pricing,....

don't know if this is what might be happening.....I am trying to remember if I have a current listing showing UPS as an option......

monica-sells · ‎11-04-2022

throw up an item number that offers UPS shipping...I will be glad to check what options I am offered.....

kosmosattik · ‎11-04-2022

@monica-sells

It's not entirely clear, but that sounds like the problem I describe. You see the UPS Ground retail rate range, not the discounted rate, while creating a listing, right? But after applying that option to the listing, and then updating, you see the discounted rate applied for your zip code.

The problem is not what USP rate gets applied to the listing. The problem is how would you know to choose that discounted rate if you don't see the discounted price range when creating a listing? You have to go to the Shipping Calculator and spot check zip codes.

This phenomenon is easy enough to test. Take an existing parcel listing and edit it to UPS Ground and note the price range. Just don't update it. Then go to the Shipping Calculator:

https://www.ebay.com/shp/Calculator

Enter that listing's package specs and check the shipping costs to your own zip code. Be sure to to click the UPS discounts tab when you get to the rates screen. You're sure to find that the rate shown is lower than the low end of the range that was displayed on the listing screen, and that discounted rate from the Calculator matches what the listing shows shipping to your zip code.

While one is there, compare rates for different providers across a couple of zip codes, one near and one far. It might be illuminating.

Hasn't anybody else questioned why the low end of the UPS Ground rate range when listing is higher than what shows in the finalized / updated listing which shows cost to one's own zip? Maybe nobody uses UPS Ground because it appears to be a lot more expensive than it actually is when creating a listing.

I don't know how I can explain this any a clearer fashion.

PS: Having to hit the return key twice to get paragraph break in these postings is very annoying.

kosmosattik · ‎11-04-2022

@monica-sells

Thanks, but I'm confident the UPS discounted rates are applied to my listings.

As noted in my other reply to you, it's not about what goes in the listing. It's about what is shown when creating the listing, which in the case of UPS Ground is the bogus retail rate. The problem is having to go to the Shipping Calculator to actually determine how UPS discount rates compare to others for the particular package.

lakefor94 · ‎11-04-2022

@kosmosattik wrote:
@lakefor94 You may be missing the point here.

If you never look at the Shipping Calculator, what you see for UPS Ground when creating a listing is the in-store rate in which case you'd never choose it. If you spot checked some zip codes with the Shipping Calculator you might find a meaningful improvement in the UPS discounted rate over the USPS Ground options (or USPS Priority if applicable to the package). Again, consider the example in the OP. That UPS discounted price will end up in the listing though you would not know it by just looking at that option on the listing screen.

For each of the three items I've listed recently after a hiatus UPS Ground was the most economical option, and by a wide margin for long distances in the example in the OP. And frankly, I've found UPS to be superior in that they are more likely to deliver ahead of schedule. (Roger that)

I presume buyers can add 1 + 1 to get to 2, i.e., they add the item price and their shipping cost together before making a decision. So, reducing their shipping cost makes your listing more attractive. (Hell Yes) Also, whatever you save them on shipping is that much less that is charged to you in the % eBay fee. (I make sure I include the FVF on the shipping in the price of the item)

@kosmosattik I think I get your point. I just did not elaborate enough.

I do a lot of calculating shipping along with some free shipping. Very small and light shipments all the way to a few freight shipments and everything in between.

I don't mess with the calculator because I instinctively know when UPS Ground is going to win the price game. If the shipping is 3 lbs or better and will not fit in a USPS Regional A or Small Flat Rate, UPS is going to win most all the time. USPS Medium Flat Rate is going to come in at about the same if the product might fit in a MFR box.

If the item happens to be over a certain monetary value, say, $100 or so, the shipment is going UPS Ground regardless of the dollar or two I might save with a USPS Regional or Flat Rate box. If the cost difference is significant, I might throw USPS a bone if the shipment is not too valuable, say, $200+.

Especially this time of year thru the end of January. I can't be dealing with delayed or very delayed shipments. The inferior USPS Parcel Select service is not even a remote consideration and has not been since I went full time ecommerce back in 2017.

I sell parts and electronics, mostly to contractors who need to install them. UPS gets the job done every time. USPS, not so much.

Some sellers are just locked into USPS and constantly leave money on the table by not stepping out of the box and pricing and using UPS Ground. Unless of course everything they ship is 2 lbs or under.

I completely agree that UPS pretty much kicks USPS's **bleep** on pricing for 3lbs or over unless in some cases, a seller goes with the inferior USPS Parcel Select service which is still usually higher to most locations than UPS Ground.

I reckon it would be a certain advantage to have the shipping calculator included in the listing tool.

Posting ID

kosmosattik · ‎11-04-2022

@lakefor94

When I described the potential virtues of using UPS Ground, depending on the package specs, it was not to promote the service. It was to induce people to do a little testing, to look at the problem with the listing screen showing UPS Ground retail rates, not the discounted rates that are actually applied, and do some comparisons with what is shown in the Shipping Calculator.

In the process, they may or may not find a new preference for UPS Ground, but they'll never know if they don't do some checking with the Shipping Calculator. That's because the listing screen is broken in this regard. I'd like to see eBay fix this once again. They fixed it once before and now it is broken again.

kosmosattik · ‎11-05-2022

@ups_shipping

If you're still around, @ups_shipping, you may recall our PMs from March 2021 on this subject.

To recap, long story short, the current problem is that UPS Ground eBay discounted rates are not displayed when creating a listing. The in-store rate range is displayed. While the discount rates do get applied to the listing regardless if UPS Ground as displayed is selected, a seller has to go to the Shipping Calculator to compare rates using various zip codes, an unnecessary step.

At the time you understood the problem and you were going to look into getting it fixed. Eventually, it was fixed when eBay reworked the listing screen. Now, sometime in the last 10 months while I was on eBay hiatus, this function has returned to the broken state--again, the UPS discount rate range is not displayed when creating a listing.

Any thoughts or help with this?