shipping costs
One thing that is no doubt having an effect on sales is the high cost of shipping small items. Thankfully, Ebay has introduced the standard envelope, which has been a great help for some categories. However, in my case I ship a lot of other items that sell for maybe 5 dollars or under. I like to use Ebay labels for the ease of addressing and tracking, but it is difficult to sell an item worth maybe four dollars when the cost of the label is over four dollars. I know that the Post Office has gone crazy with its postage rates, and now we will no doubt see another increase when the PO raises rates again next month. Without giving away your mailing strategies, any advice or comments?
8 comments
duffy4444
·2 years ago@fallgold4031:
You've answered your own concern.
If the item won't fit into an envelope where you can use the cheaper USPS First Class (with a stamp or two but untrackable), the only thing you can do is to start grouping items in order to get above the bottom cost threshold of USPS Ground Advantage, to where it makes sense.
Postal rates have eroded the success of selling single $4-$7 items when sellers expect to make a decent profit for all the time and packaging expense involved. Single common CDs and DVDs were the first thing I had to dump a few years ago because they were simply not worth all the effort and expense.
Your business model needs to accept, adjust, and adapt to these crazy shipping rate increases.
Cheers, Duffy
mam98031
·2 years agoSee I disagree with that. There are many things on Ebay getting sold that the product price is less that what it costs to ship the item. These items can be worth it to certain buyers. So if they are selling, then that is the goal.
The only thing I'd add is that the OP needs to put in the description of their listings that they do offer Combined shipping discounts, as often on these low cost items a single buyer will purchase multiple items.
When I started on Ebay and up until about 2015 / 2016 I sold products at a low price and the shipping cost more than the item. But I sold these items at a good clip.
Your thought to setting up some lots [multiple items in a single listing] is also a great idea. I use to do that too.
duffy4444
·2 years ago@mam98031 :
Of course one can sell an item with a shipping cost higher than the listing price of the item. Depending on the item, I do that, too.
For example, I sell a lot of skeins of DMC Needlecraft Floss for 99 cents a skein, and charge $2.75 for the first skein with USPS First Class Letter or Large envelope shipping, with free shipping for additional skeins. With up to 6 skeins in a letter envelope, I use a single stamp or sometimes two. I won't disclose any further my business model for such items, but I sell a LOT of floss and needlecraft items and make a very handsome profit percentage on each order at 99 cents a skein. My buyers are happy and often become return customers.
My previous point was made for the less expensive items the OP was mainly concerned about, requiring USPS Ground Advantage. Some of those single items in less demand just ain't worth it, as others have stated.
My business model bottom line is "buy low, list smart, and sell high".
Cheers, Duffy
mam98031
·2 years agoThis is likely the biggest issue that face online sellers, shipping costs. And be aware, come July USPS will have another raise to the costs.
Many sellers see things as you do. It is a problem when the seller needs to charge more for shipping than the actual product will cost the buyer. One simply has nothing to do with the other. Sellers need to charge a competitive price for the product and then the amount they need to charge for shipping to cover costs.
For many years I sold a series of patterns that the product price was somewhere between 99 cents and $10 or so. But lots of them sold for under $5. And more often than not the shipping I had to charge was of a higher charge than the product itself. My sales never suffered because of that.
You have to charge for shipping what you have to charge. If for some reason you feel guilty about it, you shouldn't. It costs what it costs and you nor any other seller have the ability to change that.
Know all your viable options of shipping your items and then pick the best one for you that seems to be the most reliable. And that is the best you can do.
Just make sure you offer Combined shipping. That is really where you make the money on these low cost items anyway. If the first item you have $4.99 for shipping, the additional like items might be around 50 or 75 cents. Of course that depends on the item.
Now in looking at your listings, you aren't very consistent in what you charge for shipping. That you might want to get a better handle on as it will make it easier for you to raise rates when increases happening.
For example: For all my craft books that weight under a pound I have one price for the shipping, those over that another. When it comes time to increase pricing, I can use the bulk editor and take care of about 95+% of my items using the editor. I just have a few that I have to go back and do one by one.
On some of the books you are selling, I only looked at a few, you do not charge enough in shipping. The last expensive you can ship those books is for $4.13 if they are under a pound. Then you have shipping supplies and fees on top of that. For this rate of shipping, I charge $4.99.
Your product prices are not high enough for you to eat costs on shipping that you do not add into the shipping amount.
Your shipping on your stamps and post cards vary too. They should be more inline with each other as they likely ship the same method and close to the same weight.
If you are shipping Ground Advantage on some of your listing, you are likely not charging enough on those listings for shipping, even under 4 oz. For example GA for 1-4 Oz is closer to 4.36, 5-8 oz is 4.68.
Just some suggestion. I wish you nothing but the best.
ajs_coins_and_alchemy
·2 years agoWhen I first started, I mean literally less than 10 Feedback, before I even intended to begin the business, I sold some junk items purely at cost, literally calculating down to the pennies roughly a break even point on shipping, fees, etc. Solely done for the purpose of building up some FB and transaction history.
Goal was to sell off some family stuff to help family members make money, and was doing the FB/history build up to support that effort.
There was a clear benefit for me at that time. Idk what benefit there is for an established seller to do that or anything similar at this time
tobaccocardyahoo
·2 years agoEvery seller has to decide what is the lowest priced item which is worth dealing with.
Even the smallest order takes time to list, process and ship, and places one's account at risk.
Every seller's time is worth something.
If you have assumed that anything you sell for more than you paid is worth selling, you need to think about whether that is truly in your best interest.
Many of those cheap items will not sell without promotion because they are plentiful and other people have not asked themself if they are worth the effort.
When I see lots made up of 3 items with a BIN price of $5 and shipping ESE for $1, I realize how fortunate I am to not have to do business that way.
orangehound
·2 years agoConsidering time spent with photography, listing, shipping, and dealing with customers ... selling any item on eBay under $15 ($10 if a quantity listing) is not something a business should do, in my opinion. But, if it is something that is NOT being done to make money, such as for enjoyment or to keep busy, then don't worry about prices.
If the concern is efficiency and profit, then one thing that can be done is to take these low-dollar items and bundle them together to make higher value lots. For example, bundle all your Republican campaign bundles into a single lot.
ajs_coins_and_alchemy
·2 years agoSometimes, selling cheap items just ain't worth it.