Calculated shipping vs actual shipping cost.
On some of my items, I've sent them to calculate shipping. I give the shipping weight and dimension and have no extra S/H charge.
However, when I custom purchase the item, they get charged $7 for example. When I go print out a label, it only $5.
Do I have something setup incorrectly? If so, I don't know. I originally didn't have free shipping many years ago, and then moved to free shipping. But with the postal cost over the past year going up 15%, shipping out strips any other cost. Also, my items are small, 2oz , and price around $2-$4. I went back to calculated shipping so buyers could see the actually costs instead of my charging them $11 for an item only to get messages saying that I'm overcharging etc. They totally ignore the shipping costs.
a_c_green
·6 months ago@mostlydicestore : This is not an issue with calculated shipping. What's happening here is that your buyers are paying you retail postage costs, whereas when you purchase the postage on-line, you get the on-line discount. That's where the difference comes in.
If desired, you can charge your buyers the on-line rates instead. It's a Shipping Preference that you can select: https://www.ebay.com/ship/prf/carrier
If you choose to offer "eBay discounted rates" to your buyers, you can further refine that setting to offer the discounts on a per-carrier basis, such as discounts on USPS shipments but not on FedEx or UPS, for example.
My preference is to leave the buyer charges at retail, and the difference between that and my on-line cost can go towards my shipping supplies and so on. People tend to see a Shipping charge as being the same as the postage cost, but of course postage is only a part of the total shipping cost.
legalnurseconsultant
·6 months agoI have only used Calculated Shipping for years. It's accurate and easy and I've never had any problems with it. What I am seeing though is with newer sellers, they are adding additional charges to the shipping charge. When I've asked about it, I'm told it's to pay for the shipping supplies. In 27 years of buying and selling with eBay, I have never charged my shipping supplies because they're so inexpensive (for the most part) and you can always get boxes, envelopes etc through USPS FREE. Obviously, I realize if the purchaser is across the country, I'll be paying more but with Calculated shipping, it'll give you a price according to where you live.
May blessings everyone!
christworks
·6 months ago@mostlydicestore I am in Zone 5 in relation to you, and I see $7.95 as my shipping charge. Shipping to me would be either $5.07 or $5.45, depending on whether you ship at the 4oz weight or the 8oz weight. The max shipping you'd pay would be to Zone 8. That rate would be $5.52 for 4oz and $5.77 for 8oz. The least amount of shipping you would pay would be to Zone 1, and it is $4.78 for 4oz and $5.16 for 8z.
Given all of your inventory is relatively lightweight, I would not mess with calculated shipping. Instead, I would use flat rate shipping. If most of your packages are shipping at the 4oz rate, I might set the the flat rate at $5.25. Maybe you want to add 0.50¢ to account for the eBay fees or supply expenses. Let's say $5.75 is what all buyers would pay. No matter who buys, you make a small amount of money to cover fees and supplies. If you are shipping at the 8oz rate, maybe you set up your flat rate to be $6.00 or $6.25. Those are all very reasonable cost and buyers close to you won't think it is too high, becuase you are giving them a price that is below the counter rate.
The reason why I'm suggesting you approach this as a flat rate rather than calculated is 1) it will be a major time saver when it comes to listing. You won't have to fill in weights and dimensions. 2) You directly control the discount the buyer gets.
The $7.95 I currently see is expensive in my mind. Now, if I were going to buy your dice, I'd be looking at the total out-the-door cost and seeing how that compares to other sellers. As long as your item price and shipping is reasonable with added together, the fact the shipping has some initial sticker shock wouldn't stop me from buying from you. That does impact some buyers.
For my lightweight items, even people a few cities over are willing to pay $6. I've found somewhere around $5.50-$6.00 works well. I do not have a seperate policy for 4oz. I start at 8oz and go up from there on my policies, so if something is 2oz, I charge my 8oz rate.
mostlydicestore
OP6 months agoThanks. That's very interesting and helpful. My highest shipping has been $5.89 to CA. How do you handle multiple items? I do get many orders that have 2 or more sets. With the calculated shipping, it seems to come out closer on those weights. I guess I'll have to play around with that some more. But thanks for the detailed explanation.