Sellers Need To tighten Up Shipping On Small Items

[deep-garnet-red]

How do you expect to compete when your shipping charges are too high? Do you not realize that high shipping eats into your profits? I'm talking about the people who only offer Priority for items under a pound.

I ship mostly light items in the 3-8 oz range. I remember many years ago, when I started, the small square priority flat rate box was the goto. Five bucks, free box, no worries about heavy packing materials like newspaper. There was no tracking on First Class, so it made sense.

Well those days are gone. It's time to get competitive. Remember, the more you charge for shipping, the less a buyer will be willing to pay for the item itself.

(note: this advice only applies to people who do not sell jewelry or smalls. Feel free to charge high shipping in those categories )

[phcd1]

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@deep-garnet-red wrote:

...I ship mostly light items in the 3-8 oz range. I remember many years ago, when I started, the small square priority flat rate box was the goto. Five bucks, free box, no worries about heavy packing materials like newspaper. There was no tracking on First Class, so it made sense....

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Priority offers free insurance, something FCM doesn't. Buyer's don't want to pay for insurance, eBay doesn't provide free insurance. Don't even get me started on FedEx Smartpost. I've said this before (and it's coming true), Shipping costs will be the death of eBay and etailers in general. Just in time too, when all the B&M stores are closing. Can you see inflation around the corner when they build back up, I sure can?

[overtheedge1421]

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@phcd1 wrote:

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@deep-garnet-red wrote:

...I ship mostly light items in the 3-8 oz range. I remember many years ago, when I started, the small square priority flat rate box was the goto. Five bucks, free box, no worries about heavy packing materials like newspaper. There was no tracking on First Class, so it made sense....

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Priority offers free insurance, something FCM doesn't. Buyer's don't want to pay for insurance, eBay doesn't provide free insurance. Don't even get me started on FedEx Smartpost. I've said this before (and it's coming true), Shipping costs will be the death of eBay and etailers in general. Just in time too, when all the B&M stores are closing. Can you see inflation around the corner when they build back up, I sure can?

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the high shipping costs will eventually kill off the smaller mom and pop websites

but it won't be the death of the larger companies, as they have the leverage to negotiate huge shipping discounts from UPS and fedex.  Plus the large companies have warehouses all over the country so they don't have to worry about shipping large distances

I wish the government would help subsizide shipping costs for the small guys or start to look into the UPS/Fedex price collusion that has been going on for years

[deep-garnet-red]

The insurance is useless. It only covers $50. It's not needed for a ten dollar item. I've never needed insurance, Most of my items are in the $30-200 range.

If I am looking at items in the ten dollar range I don't mind paying a few extra dollars for shipping, but $8+ to ship a ten dollar item? No, then the item is only worth 4 or 5 dollars to me.

[deep-garnet-red]

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@overtheedge1421 wrote:

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@phcd1 wrote:

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@deep-garnet-red wrote:

...I ship mostly light items in the 3-8 oz range. I remember many years ago, when I started, the small square priority flat rate box was the goto. Five bucks, free box, no worries about heavy packing materials like newspaper. There was no tracking on First Class, so it made sense....

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Priority offers free insurance, something FCM doesn't. Buyer's don't want to pay for insurance, eBay doesn't provide free insurance. Don't even get me started on FedEx Smartpost. I've said this before (and it's coming true), Shipping costs will be the death of eBay and etailers in general. Just in time too, when all the B&M stores are closing. Can you see inflation around the corner when they build back up, I sure can?

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the high shipping costs will eventually kill off the smaller mom and pop websites

but it won't be the death of the larger companies, as they have the leverage to negotiate huge shipping discounts from UPS and fedex.  Plus the large companies have warehouses all over the country so they don't have to worry about shipping large distances

I wish the government would help subsizide shipping costs for the small guys or start to look into the UPS/Fedex price collusion that has been going on for years

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I don't know what it would take for eBay to make the move from being a vendor to actually negotiating shipping prices. Surely there are enough sellers using USPS to make that happen. My guess is they are just being short-sighted. They are going for the quick and easy money selling the labels for USPS. it would be in their best interest to get ahead of the game here.

[lintbrush*]

$100 item  / 13 oz  /  7x7x6 or 7x7x7 box

$3.88 commercial rate + $2.65 insurance + .40 box = $6.93 + 15% to cover other expenses/fees = $7.97 either charged as S&H or hidden in the item price.

Priority 1 lb - $6.65 to $8.35 retail + free box + $100 insurance; or 

                          $5.75 to $7.04 CommPlus + 15% to cover expenses/fees so $6.61 to $8.09

For Priority, the commercial + 15% is close enough to retail pricing  I can just use the retail shipping calculator and use the online discount towards expenses/fees.

First Class is not always the better option.  In the example given, for Zones 1-7 Priority with its bells and whistles costs less than a comparable First Class S&H method.

[deep-garnet-red]

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@lintbrush* wrote:

$100 item  / 13 oz  /  7x7x6 or 7x7x7 box

$3.88 commercial rate + $2.65 insurance + .40 box = $6.93 + 15% to cover other expenses/fees = $7.97 either charged as S&H or hidden in the item price.

Priority 1 lb - $6.65 to $8.35 retail + free box + $100 insurance; or 

                          $5.75 to $7.04 CommPlus + 15% to cover expenses/fees so $6.61 to $8.09

For Priority, the commercial + 15% is close enough to retail pricing  I can just use the retail shipping calculator and use the online discount towards expenses/fees.

First Class is not always the better option.  In the example given, for Zones 1-7 Priority with its bells and whistles costs less than a comparable First Class S&H method.

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Yeah, I'm not paying for a seller to waste 3 bucks on insurance. 

13 oz package: Buyer pays 4.29. I pay 3.88. In most  cases the 41 cent difference pays for materials.

[lintbrush*]

You likely are paying for insurance on everything, but not everyone opts for USPS insurance.  I self insure under $50, but you're paying for it.  It's only 50 to 75 cents though, but you are paying it.

That $4.29 becomes $3.74 after eBay/PayPal fees.  That's less than postage cost nevermind packing materials.

[berserkerplanet]

@deep-garnet-red wrote:

The insurance is useless. It only covers $50. It's not needed for a ten dollar item. I've never...

Priority Mail Insurance coverage is $100 for TRS.

Insurance is pretty much a waste. Had maybe 4 USPS domestic shipments out of 5k+ over the years go missing or arrive damaged.

The 2 damaged were my fault trying to keep shipping costs down and insurance claims would have been denied (rightfully so) anyway due to insufficient packaging. The FCM one resulted in a $6 refund and the PM pkg one in nothing - minor damage and buyer said "no problem".

The two lost packages were uninsured FCM pkgs. One looked legitimately lost and was refunded. the other was maybe lost because buyer played mail forwarding games and claimed it lost, but as it was an Amazon buyer there was no option but to refund. Each $45 refunds (actual $10 losses each), but not out of my pocket as they were for another business with a different business model and risk management criteria.

Self insurance is the way to go unless you have really p*ssed off your USPS people or Murphy just really hates you.

[rei-npkrlma]

"...or start to look into the UPS/Fedex price collusion that has been going on for years"

^^^^^ THIS - BIG LEAGUE!! ^^^^^

The high shipping is ruining my profit margin as I sell mostly small ticket items. With the decrease in discount for "Top Rated" and the high fees, I'm seriously considering shipping on my own and not worrying about "Top Rated". It's kind of difficult, though, as I did everything in my power to obtain and maintain that status.

I mean sheeze, last year alone there were 3 shipping hikes that I can think of by the Post Office / gov't . That's insane. It's almost as if they want to kill of small sellers, which is just crazy.

[kattinsanity]

I deal mainly in kitchen items.  I used to be able to sell an appliance, ship at a reasonable rate and make some money on the item.  Now I stay away from large items as the cost of shipping it totally takes away from the value. 

Now, if I see anything large at the thrift shop I have to take a good look at it before buying it.  Now, instead of selling that large item I take it apart and sell usable parts from it.  Most of the parts can be shipped 1st class for under $3.00.  The parts together sell for more than the whole item would and a lot less hassles and expense in shipping.  I just toss the unsellable parts in the dumpster.

[globalminds608]

Lets not forget that the customers are becoming used to receive everything very fast. For them a delay due to standard or first class shipping, even though that is what they pay for, may result in complains or lower feedback rates. That happens here and elsewhere. You can give them the options to select among standard and priority. And, for some reason there are still sellers that do not provide tracking...if you think it is costly, then add it to the cost of the item, but please know that the customer wants to be able to look up -where his item is- every five minutes on his/her cell phone. As seller think that fast shipping is what they are going for -whether we like it or not. If in doubt, ask a Millenial. Ebay certainly can negotiate better rebates for shipping for sellers to be more competitive in the marketplace. Why aren't there epackets- USA? That should be an option, but China is giving their sellers advantage that USA is not.

[kattinsanity]

I've had 1st class packages travel faster and be delivered faster than priority packages sent the same day.  1st class INCLUDES tracking so there is no need to purchase tracking for it.  I never ship media so I don't know if that includes tracking or not.  A 1st class flat can't be sent with tracking~~it needs to be made thicker and you have to pay package price if you want tracking.

I ordered a BIG box of 100 #5 padded envelopes on Tuesday from a seller in N.Y..  UPS delivered it Thursday~~THAT'S FAST!!  I also ordered something coming 1st class on Tuesday~~it was in my P.O. Box on Friday morning.

I also get immediate updates in tracking when I go to the USPS site and request e mail updates be sent to me.  Following the tracking numbers on ebay sometimes take a lot of time to update.

[kattinsanity]

Ooops~the 1st class package was ordered on Wed. the 17th and was in my P.O. Box on Friday morning the 19th.

[divwido]

I agree that shipping costs are out of control.  Shipping costs should not be a profit center.

If I look at a three ounce item with a $20 shipping costs-I'll go to another site to shop.  Sellers are padding their shipping to the point of gross excess.

But then, there's no one stopping them.   I print my shipping costs on my labels because I want people to know I did not charge them more money than it actually costs.

The solution?  Don't buy.