It is all becoming too much. If you live long enough you are forced to witness unending **bleep** and have no control over it. It never ends. When is the last time you saw costs go down lol.
I'm on the east cost and I use flat rate shipping. My flat rate cost is based the USPS pricing tier. I do not give buyers a choice in carrier. I simply give them the service, Standard Shipping, and if FedEx or UPS is cheaper, it adds more money to my pocket. I've done that for two years and I like it. It works for me. A lot of that has to do with how a price.
Every item has a total cost, no matter how you present it. (i.e. Item cost + free shipping or Item cost + shipping). Once I settle in my mind that that total cost is and make any adjustments I feel are needed based on market trends, I subtracted the Zone 8 shipping cost. This would give me the price of the item. So, if an item's total cost was $100 and the shipping to Zone 8 was $15, then I'd have an $85 item cost. This way I never had to worry about eating anything. Whether a buyer pays $0 shipping, $5 shipping, or $30 shipping, it really doesn't matter as long as the total of what the buyer pays lines up with where the total market value is.
I generally do not raise rates when USPS. People who use calculated rates automatically have their rates raised, so when mine do not go up, it acts like a built-in sale. Even when I know I am going to raise rates, I will wait about 30-45 days until I do so I can catch those buyers who are turned off by other seller's higher shipping costs.
When the last hoilday rate hike came around, I made some adjustments. I started using shipping tables. eBay makes this as cumbersome as possible, especially if you have numerous shipping policies. The tables are not perfect, as you cannot perfectly align them up to the shipping zones. You can come close though.
As a point of reference for the month of April, buyers have paid me $347.78 in shipping costs. I have spent $294.99 in shipping labels. I've made about $53 in shipping. For a quick calculation, if we assume a 15% eBay fee on the amount buyers have paid in shipping cost, that comes out to about $52 in fees. That's where I want to be. I did have a little more built in to help cover supplies, but because I am using more free USPS Ground Advantage materials, my supply costs have gone down.
For the year, I am in the hole about $100. In other words, my shipping charges are not fully covering my fees. This means I will need to raise my shipping cost some. Again, I probably won't do that right away. I'll probably wait until June 1 to implement it. I will likely go up enough so I do not have to do it again in Q4.
We do calculated with buyer shown/paying counter price, and all auctions end on Sundays.
My question is what price was/is my buyer shown when they bid today or earlier, and then win on Sunday. They calculated one total cost before bidding that now goes up.
Had a few Friday (4/24 sales that didn't need to be shipped til Monday (4/27. When I played with the printing the labels out I did notice the price increase if I shipped on Monday vs Saturday.
Yes constant increases on shipping, supplies & fees, Things keep getting more & more difficult for the sellers & the buyers still want bargains, The balance for that is becoming increasingly difficult.
This is actually going to start making UPS and Fed-Ex start winning the price war on a lot of stuff under 1 pound.
It used to be that I rarely printed a label that wasn't USPS, but now half the labels I print are UPS or Fed Ex (usually the combo service that the post office does the last mile one). Those prices have remained stable or even dropped while USPS just keeps going up.
After using 'free shipping' for many years I started using calculated rates a year and a half ago and have not looked back. Every time rates go up, I don't have to adjust my prices.
Also, there is usually a major difference in cost between shipping locally and shipping to the other side of the country. For me, an item that cost $7 to ship to Illinois can cost $12-$15 to the west coast. When I used flat rate shipping I ended up pricing out people who lived nearby, since I had to absorb the "worst case scenario" into the price.
"When I used flat rate shipping I ended up pricing out people who lived nearby, since I had to absorb the "worst case scenario" into the price."
On bulker items I can understand why cause shipping cost would be significantly different coast to coast. If an item is say under 1 lb. the cost can be only a .50 cents difference so like in my case if someone would purchase say multiple items I don't have to worry about giving refunds on shipping cost difference. It's all built into the price.
Thank you for the reminder. I am pondering a 50 cent increase for my flat rate shipping...it is a hard pill to swallow. This will make my shipping more than a single item. Something I have tried to avoid for several years.
Yea, I started last year, been putting more lures in a lot then individually. I have to add the .50, just hope stuff sells, .50 isn't much but PO increase rise rates a dollar on 8 oz as of Sunday.
chubbycatcollectibles
·4 months agoIt is all becoming too much. If you live long enough you are forced to witness unending **bleep** and have no control over it. It never ends. When is the last time you saw costs go down lol.
christworks
·4 months agoI'm on the east cost and I use flat rate shipping. My flat rate cost is based the USPS pricing tier. I do not give buyers a choice in carrier. I simply give them the service, Standard Shipping, and if FedEx or UPS is cheaper, it adds more money to my pocket. I've done that for two years and I like it. It works for me. A lot of that has to do with how a price.
Every item has a total cost, no matter how you present it. (i.e. Item cost + free shipping or Item cost + shipping). Once I settle in my mind that that total cost is and make any adjustments I feel are needed based on market trends, I subtracted the Zone 8 shipping cost. This would give me the price of the item. So, if an item's total cost was $100 and the shipping to Zone 8 was $15, then I'd have an $85 item cost. This way I never had to worry about eating anything. Whether a buyer pays $0 shipping, $5 shipping, or $30 shipping, it really doesn't matter as long as the total of what the buyer pays lines up with where the total market value is.
I generally do not raise rates when USPS. People who use calculated rates automatically have their rates raised, so when mine do not go up, it acts like a built-in sale. Even when I know I am going to raise rates, I will wait about 30-45 days until I do so I can catch those buyers who are turned off by other seller's higher shipping costs.
When the last hoilday rate hike came around, I made some adjustments. I started using shipping tables. eBay makes this as cumbersome as possible, especially if you have numerous shipping policies. The tables are not perfect, as you cannot perfectly align them up to the shipping zones. You can come close though.
As a point of reference for the month of April, buyers have paid me $347.78 in shipping costs. I have spent $294.99 in shipping labels. I've made about $53 in shipping. For a quick calculation, if we assume a 15% eBay fee on the amount buyers have paid in shipping cost, that comes out to about $52 in fees. That's where I want to be. I did have a little more built in to help cover supplies, but because I am using more free USPS Ground Advantage materials, my supply costs have gone down.
For the year, I am in the hole about $100. In other words, my shipping charges are not fully covering my fees. This means I will need to raise my shipping cost some. Again, I probably won't do that right away. I'll probably wait until June 1 to implement it. I will likely go up enough so I do not have to do it again in Q4.
sfau
·4 months agoI put all my items on sale to hopefully move stuff before the end of the day....Woke up to a few sales this morning.
steve_stuff
·4 months agoWe do calculated with buyer shown/paying counter price, and all auctions end on Sundays.
My question is what price was/is my buyer shown when they bid today or earlier, and then win on Sunday. They calculated one total cost before bidding that now goes up.
shire123
·4 months agoHad a few Friday (4/24 sales that didn't need to be shipped til Monday (4/27. When I played with the printing the labels out I did notice the price increase if I shipped on Monday vs Saturday.
meme6253
·4 months agoYes constant increases on shipping, supplies & fees, Things keep getting more & more difficult for the sellers & the buyers still want bargains, The balance for that is becoming increasingly difficult.
onefootflipper
·4 months agoThis is actually going to start making UPS and Fed-Ex start winning the price war on a lot of stuff under 1 pound.
It used to be that I rarely printed a label that wasn't USPS, but now half the labels I print are UPS or Fed Ex (usually the combo service that the post office does the last mile one). Those prices have remained stable or even dropped while USPS just keeps going up.
kibble-net
·4 months agoAfter using 'free shipping' for many years I started using calculated rates a year and a half ago and have not looked back. Every time rates go up, I don't have to adjust my prices.
Also, there is usually a major difference in cost between shipping locally and shipping to the other side of the country. For me, an item that cost $7 to ship to Illinois can cost $12-$15 to the west coast. When I used flat rate shipping I ended up pricing out people who lived nearby, since I had to absorb the "worst case scenario" into the price.
bonanza125
·4 months ago"When I used flat rate shipping I ended up pricing out people who lived nearby, since I had to absorb the "worst case scenario" into the price."
On bulker items I can understand why cause shipping cost would be significantly different coast to coast. If an item is say under 1 lb. the cost can be only a .50 cents difference so like in my case if someone would purchase say multiple items I don't have to worry about giving refunds on shipping cost difference. It's all built into the price.
mcdougle4248
·4 months agoThank you for the reminder. I am pondering a 50 cent increase for my flat rate shipping...it is a hard pill to swallow. This will make my shipping more than a single item. Something I have tried to avoid for several years.
tsme35
OP4 months agoYea, I started last year, been putting more lures in a lot then individually. I have to add the .50, just hope stuff sells, .50 isn't much but PO increase rise rates a dollar on 8 oz as of Sunday.
tsme35
OP4 months agoWhelp change shipping, lets see how next week goes, sales have been better then a year ago.
ten_o_nine
·4 months agoI am not adjusting, I 'll be happy if the sell.