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    Good Category for Ephemera and Using ESE

    I have some small inexpensive brochures and pamphlets that can easily be shipped in an envelope using  ESE, Ebay Standard Envelope, or a single stamp.  Any suggestions for a sort of catch all category to list such ephemera that will then be eligible for ESE?

     

    My current seller level numbers show shipping without tracking at 97% with all other dashboard levels at below 0.20 %.  Anyone know how low I can go on tracking before I loose Top Rated status?

     

    seller level3.jpg

    m60driver
    m60driver
    6057View listings
    Posted 1 year ago·Last reply 1 year ago
                                           
             
    5 comments

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       
                   
    estate_echoes

    estate_echoes

    ·1 year ago
    329View listings

    @m60driver wrote:

    I have some small inexpensive brochures and pamphlets that can easily be shipped in an envelope using  ESE, Ebay Standard Envelope, or a single stamp.  Any suggestions for a sort of catch all category to list such ephemera that will then be eligible for ESE?

     

    My current seller level numbers show shipping without tracking at 97% with all other dashboard levels at below 0.20 %.  Anyone know how low I can go on tracking before I loose Top Rated status?

     

    seller level3.jpg


    I sell some similar things. I am starting to think that having much cheaper shipping now outweighs the miniscule benefits of being top rated. 

                                           
    tobaccocardyahoo

    tobaccocardyahoo

    ·1 year ago
    5503View listings

    You may already be underpricing your brochures by offering free shipping. The limited interest makes motivated  buyers, who actually will buy, willing to pay for proper tracked shipping while the availability of free or low cost shipping does not make the item attractive to more buyers. It could be a plan to leave money on the table.

     

    And your current use of untracked shipping is a risk to your seller level. Living with Above Average seller level might not cost you many sales for some items, but it could cost you sales for other items which are more profitable.

     

    Needless to say, shipping a brochure in a number 10 envelope also means a greater risk of shipment damage. Unfortunately, Ebay has appeared to discontinue their Ebay supplies cardboard number 10 envelope which I had used with great successs.

                                           
    meme6253

    meme6253

    ·1 year ago
    3964View listings

    johnathanbrightlight has your answer!

                                           
    jonathanbrightlight

    jonathanbrightlight

    ·1 year ago
    0View listings

    Brochures and Pamphlets are not among the eligible types of items for ESE:

    • Patches
    • Stickers & Decals
    • Greeting Cards
    • Seeds
    • Trading Cards
    • Coins & Currency
    • Postcards
    • Stamps

    You can certainly send them with a stamped envelope if you choose, but there are two things (at minimum) to be aware of:

     

    Because they'll be untracked, you cannot win an Item Not Received claim.  There will be no insurance, so you'll have to just accept any losses if customers claim they don't receive their items.

     

    You cannot fall below 95% on your "Tracking uploaded on time and validated" metrics and maintain Top Rated Seller level, but many sellers just accept that they will be Above Standard instead and do just fine, or they will sometimes open a separate eBay account that they will sell the untracked items through to keep their main account's metrics ok.  That is allowed, but obviously adds some complexity to your management of items and orders.

                                           
    m60driver

    m60driver

    OP1 year ago
    6057View listings
    @jonathanbrightlight wrote:

     

     

    Because they'll be untracked, you cannot win an Item Not Received claim.  There will be no insurance, so you'll have to just accept any losses if customers claim they don't receive their items.

     

    You cannot fall below 95% on your "Tracking uploaded on time and validated" metrics and maintain Top Rated Seller level, 

    I am not concerned about an INR as these items have negligible cost to me and a low sell price.  And so it looks like I have a few more no tracking items to go before I fall below 95% even if I sell nothing else.  I will just have to keep track of the metric.

     

    And thanks for the info.

                                           
                                                                                     
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