Listing and shipping fish sets
Hello everyone. I am reaching out to see if anyone would be willing to coach me through selling dish sets. I have several sets I would really like to list but get so overwhelmed trying to figure out the best way to list and ship each set?
From my research I see where some people list each piece individually but I would like to offer discounts for multiple items and can’t figure out how to do that. I have also seen where some people offer options where you can purchase different options of the same set but don’t know how to set that up either! I would ideally like to keep mine as families but don’t want to wind up giving them away or even in the negative due to shipping. Any and all feed back welcome!!! 🆘
5 comments
tobaccocardyahoo
·1 year agoThere are two potential markets for dish sets.
1. People who want a set and are going to use it as a set.
2. People who want to replace broken pieces in an existing set or add place settings to the set.
Effectively, it is the equivalent of selling your used car, or parting it out for people to use to repair their car.
Once you sell a part of a set, it is no longer a set, so this is a decision you should consciously make. I have never been willing to sell a set as a set, but I am more likely to buy individual pieces than sets so my prejudice need not be yours.
Packing properly is a PITA. It takes time and it takes the right packaging materials. If what you are selling is inexpensive dishes, you could be increasing the labor associated with a sale significantly. I try to do as little work as I can, so I stopped selling china and glass years ago. And remember, inexpensive items can cost more to ship than the price to buy them.
In some ways the Corell dishes you are offering are ideal, they are unlikely to break and might not require bulletproofing. They are cheap and light. Unfortunately, they are also inexpensive.
g7cnj_3
OP1 year agoYes! I started with the corelle because they were inexpensive and easy. But you are right. The shipping cost is just as much if not more 😕. So I suppose those might do better listed locally.
participatrophy
·1 year agoHi. Look to sold listings. See how people are buying them (e.g. by the piece, as a set, in lots, etc) and set your own listings up accordingly. You can use active listings for inspiration and information but you want to be guided by what's selling rather than what's sitting. Re: shipping, you'll get a feel for it after a while but in the meantime it wouldn't be a bad idea to overestimate the weight and dimensions when filling out the listing. Only when filling out the listing though; when it comes time to buy the label you must be exact. Pack with shock absorption in mind. Something like a stack of plates wants padding between each plate, then padding around the stack, then stretch wrap the whole thing, then lots more padding between it and the sides of the box. The contents shouldn't shift around inside the box at all no matter how hard you shake it. Don't pack like you're moving across the country to a new house; pack like the movers are dropkicking the boxes into the van and saving the furniture for last.
Change the quantity to 2 or more when creating the listing. If nothing happens, look off to the right and up a bit, just under the description box, and click on "See pricing options", then click the slider next to "Volume Pricing" to enable the setting. Blue = enabled. After that click the "Add volume pricing" slider, and the boxes that appear below will be self-explanatory.
Top right of the page when creating the listing, click the three vertical dots, choose "Settings", and hit the "Variations" slider to enable. More or less self-explanatory from there, with one glaring exception. If you'll be using variations in a listing, be step 1 of creating that listing needs to be filling out the variations section. It really ought to be positioned near the top of the listing page but it isn't, so you just have to remember to scroll down past the photos and item specifics sections and edit your variations first.
ryry-jj
·1 year agoAll on line sellers are in the shipping business...selling dishes, plates and glass wares makes this all the more important to understand. Start simple, list and sell individually. Have proper size boxes and materials to pack well. Weight and size of box is important to know when making the listing. Master that first! Know you can pack and ship, and the items can arrive safely.
After you have had success selling individually, then add "lots", but again know you package weights and size beforehand. Combined shipping becomes a huge issue with heavier items, eBay calculates the weights but not the added box size. Often you will find you need to ship in multiple boxes. If selling and offering specials for multiple, have buyers place items in cart and request an invoice. This way you can quote the actual shipping cost.
But start simple and master simple first. Use quality boxes and material for all your shipping, know the difference between dunnage packing and protective packaging.
I know I sell toys, but my wife has sold pottery, glass and dishes for a awhile. We have had zero issues, we ship mostly USPS and FedEX on my personal account...never will I use FedEx via ebay.
But again, stay simple and master the art of shipping. And finally, have good customer service skills, you get a lot of buyer questions in this category. Take fantastic pictures as well from all sides, do not ignore crazing or any imperfections when describing the items. Buyers will still buy, but they want to know what they are buying
soh.maryl
·1 year agoHave never sold dish ware or anything breakable at all. As a matter of fact, actually no longer sell. But I'd probably not sell dishes if I did. No matter how carefully they are packaged, they are still subject to breakage. And, even if just one cup got chipped, you'd be getting the whole set back and paying its postage on the return.
So I will just leave this to someone who, hopefully, has experience in wrapping dishes. Best of luck.