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Why Did I Just Pay All the (VERY Pricey) Shipping Cost?
Summary: mars4620 expressed frustration over paying unexpected shipping costs for an eBay sale, as their listing mistakenly showed 'free shipping,' resulting in a significant financial loss. monroe67 suggested that the seller might not fully understand shipping settings, emphasizing the importance of thoroughly checking listings before making them live. inceptions noted that 'free shipping' could only appear if it was accidentally selected during listing setup, and advised that listings can be edited rather than remade if errors are found. mars4620 remained skeptical but acknowledged missing the error despite frequently reviewing the listing.
I had a purse just sell. I have NEVER had my settings on any kind of shipping discount. Because I knew seller paid shiping I printed the ebay "DISCOUNTED" label which was 62.00 to ship USPS priority, domestic US !!!!
I went and re-looked at my listing and it had in big green letters on it saying FREE SHIPPING!!! I am SO NOT HAPPY about this, my settings say buyer pays shipping. (no discounts/promos etc). So again, I just forked over 62 dollars, Texas to Wisconsin, for my purse that sold for 135. MINUS EBAY's fee of 22. AND an ALARMING "discounted" shipping label price of 62.!!! So after this is all said and done, for a 135. sale, I am receiving 50. total.
To make it worse, I just looked up the actual rate for shipping my box size on the US Postal site, and it was exactly HALF what I paid, at 31.00!
What is going on Here!!!??
inceptions
Mentor3 weeks agoHi @mars4620
The listing you sold said Free shipping because you checked the box in the listing form for free shipping. You may not have meant to, but that's the only way the listing will show the item ships for 'free."
mars4620
OP3 weeks agoThanks for your reply. But if for some reason I accidentally chose free shipping (which I just do not believe I did)- because this purse has been listed many days….or months I should say. In all the months I always go to look at my own listing, just to see how many have looked, or are watching, I just scroll the entire thing often. So how in all these times would I have missed the big green letters saying Free? I would have deleted the ad and started over?
inceptions
Mentor3 weeks ago@mars4620
We all occasionally miss things when reviewing our listings. You weren't reviewing your listing for shipping details, so your brain didn't zero in on it. The only way free shipping can get on a listing is if you checked the box in the listing form.
For the future, if you find an error in a listing or want to make some other change, it's not necessary to end the listing and start over. All you need to do is edit it. You'll find the Edit option in your Active items list; on the listing itself, you can click Revise.
monroe67
Mentor3 weeks ago · Edited"I went and re-looked at my listing and it had in big green letters on it saying FREE SHIPPING!!! I am SO NOT HAPPY about this, my settings say buyer pays shipping. (no discounts/promos etc)."
Not sure what you mean by "my settings say . . . ."
The Coach bag that sold 5 days ago was listed with Free Shipping via USPS Priority Mail.
That means you, as the seller, have to pay the full shipping cost, even when it is pricey.
There was nothing anywhere in that listing that suggested "buyer pays shipping."
Even your Item Description doesn't suggest that the buyer would pay for shipping.
Which it wouldn't even if you had typed "buyer pays shipping" into the Item Description.
What is going on here? It seems to me that you do not yet have a full understanding of shipping your eBay sales. It can be very complicated.
Your current listing, of an embossed leather tote bag, shows $62.52 as the shipping price, again via USPS Priority Mail, to my zip code in Southern California.
You may have thought your Coach bag listing had that same shipping arrangement.
But it did not.
Remember, also, that USPS Priority Mail is generally more expensive than USPS Ground Advantage.
One of the first things you can do is double and triple and quadruple-check every eBay listing you make, before you click "List It" -- before the listing goes "live" -- to be sure that every aspect of it is exactly what you want it to be.
That could, at least, prevent unpleasant surprises like this one in the future.
mars4620
OP3 weeks agoI am not saying it is ON the listing that buyer pays. Maybe I should say generally there is a shipping charge listed so the buyer can see the amount they will pay. Example: here is another listing of mine that says
Shipping:
US $24.03 USPS Priority Mail®. See detailsfor shipping
Located in: Magnolia, Texas, United States
It is not stating that I, as the selle,r will be paying that, right?
So if my listing currently says Free Delivery, who offers that promo? Ebay?
And why would my "discounted ebay label" be twice the amount I saw on the US Post Office website?
I also DO check every single listing once, twice, etc!! I have USPS priority selected in my seller settings!
So why would it advertise as Free Delivery? And why was it twice the price? And why did I pay it ?
mars4620
OP3 weeks agoOk wait, you edited your original reply. The edited version makes a little more sense. I think?
The embossed bag currently for sale is what I copied and pasted below in my first reply. But you see a different cost. Either way, is it showing that cost because you would pay that right?
It IS confusing! But my other sales on her so far were fine. And again, who "approved" (is that the right word?) the Free Delivery charge showing on the Coach I just sold Friday?
monroe67
Mentor3 weeks ago · Edited"The embossed bag currently for sale is what I copied and pasted below in my first reply. But you see a different cost. Either way, is it showing that cost because you would pay that right?"
Assuming you are using eBay's Calculated Shipping feature, yes.
You have chosen to ship using USPS's Priority Mail program.
With Calculated Shipping, based on the zip code of the seller's eBay address . . . .
. . . and mine, as a potential buyer with a zip code in Southern California . . .
. . . assuming your shipping weight and package dimensions are correct . . .
I would pay $62.52 to have the embossed bag shipped to me at the USPS Priority Mail rate (if I were to buy it, which I probably won't).
You saw $24.03 as the shipping price when you opened your own listing.
If a buyer with a delivery address in the same zip code as you -- if one of your neighbors purchased the bag, he/she would pay $24.03 to have it delivered via USPS Priority Mail.
"And again, who "approved" (is that the right word?) the Free Delivery charge showing on the Coach I just sold Friday?"
I have read vague comments and statements here in the eBay Community Forums that eBay has begun to revise some people's listings. I don't believe it's true. I haven't seen any conclusive evidence of that.
eBay has not touched any of my listings (I sell using a different eBay ID).
So, without knowing every detail of how that Coach listing was created, I would assume you listed it with Free Shipping, although perhaps accidentally. That's why double checking is so important.
The only possible silver lining is that, when it comes time to prepare your federal income tax return next year, all the money you spend on shipping prices for your eBay sales is deductible as business expenses.
Again, that assumes you will -- as the IRS expects from all of us -- it assumes you do include your eBay payouts as Income on your tax return.