Does ebay charge 13% on shipping if I ship directly from the post office?
Recently started selling on ebay and found that purchasing shipping thru ebay was very easy, and understood it was much cheaper than purchasing OTC at the post office. But when I sold a heavy book for $3, shipping was ~$10, making the total price $13. Fees came to $2.44, leaving me with $0.56! Yes, shame on me for not realizing the fees applied to shipping, but that left me with two questions:
1) Does ebay charge a fee on shipping if I don't purchase shipping thru ebay?
2) Including the 13% charge on shipping cost, is it really cheaper to purchase shipping through ebay?
Thanks.
10 comments
joe2kool66
OP2 years agoThanks for all the replies. It makes sense to me now. As long as I invoice the buyer for shipping, whether it is purchased through e-bay or the post office, the invoice goes through e-bay and hence e-bay gets a cut. Although I'm not sure I agree with it, I understand it.
Everything I've read, and all the responses say shipping through e-bay is cheaper. But I've never seen exactly how much cheaper. Next sale, I'll check at the post office when I mail it.
Thanks again for the replies.
buyselljack2016
·2 years ago@joe2kool66
Next sale, I'll check at the post office when I mail it.
--------------------------------------------------------
You can check it right here.
Notice 123 | Postal Explorer (usps.com)
Compare "retail" to "commercial" to get an idea.
nobody*s_perfect
·2 years agoA better way to compare prices is to use eBay's own shipping calculator, since eBay's prices are often lower than the published Commercial rates:
http://www.ebay.com/shp/Calculator
joe2kool66
OP2 years agoThanks Jack! In rough numbers, about 30% cheaper.
tobaccocardyahoo
·2 years ago@joe2kool66
As a new seller, you need to consider how to increase the amount you make on each sale, and unfortunately the Ebay fees are not going to be avoided.
@monica-sells has suggested a way to try to reduce your shipping costs.
I will now suggest a way to increase your revenue.
The use of auctions for selling your items is not appropriate for all of the items you are selling.
Auctions may lead to a sale in 7 days, but they depress prices for all but the most desirable items. A fixed price listing for a longer period of time with a higher price may generate more revenue.
It is unlikely that an individual will want repair manuals for multiple cars, so you are likely to sell a lot of 4 to another seller who will resell at a higher price, but have to wait longer to make their profit. That seller will pay for your lot when they make one sale.
A lot of new sellers think of Ebay as an auction site. The bulk of the listings on Ebay are not auctions. They are buy it now. Auctions are inconvenient to many buyers, and often items sell on one bid because few buyers for them will see the listing in a 7 day period. There are many more listings for buyers to choose from then there were in the heyday of Ebay auctions, and buyers have many other ways to use their time. In the old days people spent many hours each week looking at Ebay auctions, they no longer visit Ebay as often.
monica-sells
·2 years agoyour questions have been responded to
this is a suggestion....
That lot may have qualified for media mail, which can save you some $$$...on shipping
(check requirements to see if they qualify)
Also, it is generally a losing proposition to sell and item that costs less than the shipping...try to find a logical way to group things together to get that item price up to 20 bucks or so....
soh.maryl
·2 years agoAlthough most of your advice is spot on, your statement about it generally being a losing proposition to sell an item where the item price is less than the shipping cost is not quite correct. This depends entirely on the item.
I always use this as an example: Sold a vintage Singer sewing machine some years ago. Sold it for, I think, $37 or so. Shipping was more, like $39 or maybe $40.
simba6
·2 years agoShipping is a little cheaper purchased through eBay. The eBay fee is charged in the total amount the buyer paid. So it does not change that fee no matter where you get your shipping from.
infoandy
·2 years agoeBay charges its fee on the total that the buyer paid which includes the cost of the item, cost of shipping and the cost of the sales tax that eBay charges. eBay will pay the sales tax to the buyer's state and that amount is deducted from the total. If you are a top rated seller, they will give you a 10% discount on the total fee, less 40 cents.
Here's an example:
Per order fixed amount · Order total over $10.01 = $0.40
Total eBay Fee = $2.43 + $0.40 = $2.83
Total Net Earnings = $21.90 - $1.67 - $2.83 = $17.40
Your Net Profit would be $17.40 minus the cost of shipping you pay.
Buying shipping labels from eBay is much cheaper than buying them from the post office. Especially if you are shipping items weighing 2 pounds or more via Ground Advantage.
Hope that helps.
kensgiftshop
·2 years agoTheir fee's are based on the total amount the buyer pays, doesn't matter where you buy your shipping .
Depending on the service, buying your shipping labels online does save a little money.