ebay email "Your listings with calculated shipping will default to eBay Labels discounted rates"

[iredder]

Got this notice from ebay today that buyers will be offered the discounted rates at the same (? assumed but not specified by ebay) that we usually buy labels at, unless you opt out by 5.15.

Question: A hypothetical case - at present, buyer pays $5 for postage but discounted postage is $3. Ebay takes their cut on the $5 and I pay $3 so I am still in the black. However, if the buyer is offered the $3 discounted rate AND ebay still takes their cut, I will be in the red if I purchase the label for $3.

Do I have this correct?

[tsme35]

I checked mine, its clicked on discount shipping rate but only has fedex checked which I've never used. I know years ago when I set up my account I clicked no discounted shipping. But could be the reason I didn't get the email. I switch it over to standard shipping without discounts. 

[patternsaver]

Beware:  Opting out using their email does not guarantee you are opted out.  I used their opt out button but just found that they had opted me in already  anyway -- did not even wait till May 15.

I am not sure how ethical it is to change someone's listings like that.  They used a standard "opt out" to catch people rather than the "opt in" approach.  But then, this is eBay, known for their poor business treatment of  sellers.

My husband and I have often marveled how eBay went from the premier on-line site right next to the other major river site to one facing many other competitor platforms.  If they had treated their sellers with more respect, many of these other platforms would not have gained ground.  Just saying.....

[palmviewvilla]

Thank you for posting this link, very helpful. Is there another way to find this information in our account settings? 

[cardsnmore2004]

I am not sure opting out is a good idea. I am debating myself what to do. It's going to look really strange when a one seller is showing shipping as 5.00 and you will be showing 8.00. It's going to be even worse when it's even a higher amount. For example. I have been keeping track this year of everywhere I sent packages to. I have seen discounts anywhere from 19 percent up to 54 percent on shipping. I agree with you that's it's nice to have Ebay giving that discount and many times covers all our fees.  However I am wondering how it will effect sales and our star rating.  I think I am going to opt out for now and test what happens. Do some research and see how many sellers opt in and see how big a difference the shipping charge is. 

[nobody*s_perfect]

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@cardsnmore2004 wrote: .... It's going to look really strange when a one seller is showing shipping as 5.00 and you will be showing 8.00.....  I think I am going to opt out for now and test what happens. Do some research and see how many sellers opt in and see how big a difference the shipping charge is. 

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eBay listings already are divided between sellers who charge the retail rate vs sellers who charge the eBay rate.   Buyers also see a variety of calculated shipping prices depending on the distance between their location and that of each seller.  If they see $5 shipping on one listing and $8 on another,  it might seem at first glance like that's due to distance, unless they research each seller's location. They'll probably also see sellers who are charging $6 or $7 if they live farther and are charging eBay rates, or closer and charging retail rates.

Opting out means that you are choosing to show the higher (retail) rate in your listings.  It would be nearly impossible for an eBay user to determine how many sellers have chosen to show retail rates vs how many have chosen to show eBay rates.  

If you want to see "how big a difference" there is between retail vs eBay rates, you can easily check that using eBay's shipping calculator:

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

[pjcdn2005]

The shipping rates are already varied between listings.  Some sellers now use discounted rates, some currently use retail.  Some sellers add a handling charge, some don't. Some use a flat rate rather than calculated. And some are in the next town from you while others are across the country. 

[toomuchstuffagain35]

I'm also wondering what the criteria is for receiving (or not receiving) this email.

[kindredspiritvintage]

 I did not receive the email, but I just checked and my shipping preferences were already changed (by eBay) to give buyers the discounted rate. I would not have noticed this change had it not been for one of the resellers I watch on YouTube.

[kindredspiritvintage]

I did not get the email, but I checked my shipping options and it had already been changed (by eBay) to provide the discounted shipping to my buyers. I have never had that turned on. I changed it back to buyer pays retail.

[kalyoth]

Thanks for the link - I also was default changed to offer the discount rates after getting the email & doing the survey. I was correct in my belief that none of us processed an official opt out notice as no confirmation of an opt out was sent via message or email to us. Never trust the overlords when money is involved.

That said, I'm also paranoid enough to watch for their programmatically masking those numbers over our desires because they won't make money w/o sales...

[twk]

It is the small sellers that generally do not qualify for Top Seller status and thus have the highest shippig costs.

I just looked at an item I was interested in buying and he had shipping, for a picture, 20 x 24 at over $85.00 to ship to me and I am only 50 miles away.  That was too outrageous for me so I passed.  I can get a pic shipped from, oh Maine to me for about $60.00.

[nobody*s_perfect]

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@twk wrote:

It is the small sellers that generally do not qualify for Top Seller status and thus have the highest shippig costs....

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Top Rated Sellers used to get an extra 3% discount on Priority Mail rates, but I'm pretty sure that benefit has disappeared, and all sellers get the same postage discounts when purchasing postage through eBay. For Priority Mail and Ground Advantage, the rates are often lower than the published USPS Commercial rates, plus eBay recently started providing Cubic rates for labels, which is a further savings for many pieces.  

When rates in a listing look extra-high, if it's not user error then it's probably because the seller has set their listing to show the retail postage rates rather than the nice discounted eBay rates.

[whiteparrot2003]

It appears the "opt out" link is considered a "survey".

[skoof]

Hi. I stopped charging a handling fee on the shipping due to the discounted price I was getting. The discounted shipping definitely helped on the fees charged by eBay, especially since they charge us on the percentage of the  total cost collected by eBay, which is the item cost, the shipping cost and the sales tax they collect plus the insertion fee. If eBay would only calculate the percentage on the item price, I would be willing to pass on the discount to the buyer.

Especially with the change in the IRS  taxing the income. I think going from the $20,000 down to the $600 in one swell swoop was too much. I still think down going to the $5,000 is still too steep. I think it should drop to $15,000 the first year, to $10,000 to the next year, then to the $5,000 the next. It should not go to $600. I think those selling around the $600 is like having a yard sell. Your selling items that you want more from than what someone would pay at a yard and you paid good money for it.

[grindercb]

Thank you for posting the link to the shipping discount settings.

I've been all through my eBay messages and my email and never received any such message from eBay.

Looking at the Shipping Discount Settings page, you can go as before, taking the eBay shipping discount while charging full retail to a buyer, OR you can let the buyer have the eBay shipping discount.  BUT there's a third option, to offer a discount of your own.  When you check the box, it opens boxes for both domestic and international where you can specify a percentage discount to allow the buyer.  So far I haven't seen anyone here discuss that although I may have missed it.  I'll also pass that along to my resellers group on FB since none of them have mentioned it.

One FB user said he was told by eBay customer service that to recoup any loss, sellers may end up charging a handling fee.

Overall, I see this as just another slap in the face of sellers.