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ebay email "Your listings with calculated shipping will default to eBay Labels discounted rates"
Got this notice from ebay today that buyers will be offered the discounted rates at the same (? assumed but not specified by ebay) that we usually buy labels at, unless you opt out by 5.15.
Question: A hypothetical case - at present, buyer pays $5 for postage but discounted postage is $3. Ebay takes their cut on the $5 and I pay $3 so I am still in the black. However, if the buyer is offered the $3 discounted rate AND ebay still takes their cut, I will be in the red if I purchase the label for $3.
Do I have this correct?
157 comments
kh-taylarie
·2 years agoDue to the age of this thread, it will be locked in order to keep discussions current. If you have the same or a similar question/issue we invite you to start a new thread on the topic.
deloz19
·2 years agoToday you will arrive when you can .
deloz19
·2 years agoI want a Disney animators collection dolls (minis)
An how much does it cost??
$$$ I complete money 💰
gofeesh13
·2 years agoAnother question related to this - I received an email from eBay that I paid too much for postage and they are "trying" to refund me the $1.64. When I went to purchase my label, I am no longer allowed to adjust the weight or dimensions of the item(s) being shipped. In order to avoid over/under paying for postage, does this mean I have to redo ALL of my listings? And what do I do if someone orders more than 1 thing? I'm really confused after all the information I read today. Can anyone please assist with this issue??
Thank you ever so much,
Tina
ittybitnot
·2 years ago@wastingtime101
Just posting to the end of this thread. Be sure to check your preferences if you have previously opted to not participate. A couple of people in this thread who apparently did opt out, found themselves automatically re-enrolled.
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/Check-your-shipping-rates/m-p/34472430#M2402454
wastingtime101
·2 years agoThank you for the heads up @ittybitnot .
I did not receive the email on my biz account so that's not a factor. I think it went exclusively to lower volume sellers.
Did get the email on a very small, low-volume personal account (can't remember off the top of my head but I think last year it sold about $6-7K if you need a point of reference), opted out early on, checked settings just now and they're fine. Still not passing on discount.
Not sure why it did not work for some. Either eBay glitch, or perhaps the sellers used a different email or had a typo on their email when they filled out the survey. You had to enter the email account that was tied to your selling account for the opt out to work.
Do you recall @toomuchstuffagain35 and @rutlertime if you used the correct email tied to your affected eBay account when opting out through the survey?
toomuchstuffagain35
·2 years agoI definitely used the correct email addy, but I didn't do mine through a 'survey', I used the 'opt out here' link in the email (before the 13th).
retro_licious
·2 years agoI didn't get a notice at all about shipping. Why wouldn't it go out to all?
wastingtime101
·2 years agoYou are a new seller (at least on the account you're posting with) @retro_licious so there was no notice to send. All new sellers are opted into passing on carrier discounts by default, therefore nothing on your account changed on May 15.
New sellers on any platform should be reviewing every single one of their account settings on that platform before listing their first item for sale. 🙂
mariepsu74
·2 years agoBasically the seller is now paying for shipping- I am using the eBay discounted shipping and I am now paying for shipping - whatever they charge the customer for discounted shipping is what it costs me to buy the shipping label, so it’s a wash!
fern*wood
·2 years agoCan't really be a wash if you pay for the label exactly what your buyer pays since you also are paying fees on that amount, so you are in the hole with each shipment. That doesn't even address your packing material costs, if you have those.
aale5367
·2 years agoTLDR: The main question/s is in bold lettering towards the bottom.
I always do free shipping for all of my items.
I used to use flat rate and/or calculated shipping thus the shipping fee would be "priced in" to the overall value of the item I was selling which was fine when a buyer would purchase just ONE item. So when a buyer would buy multiple items at once and I would need to do a combined shipping refund, I would actually lose out on some of the value of my items- (Example: I have a book that is worth around $10, but I list it for $6 with a flat rate shipping cost of $3.99 so my total after a sale would be $9.99, but if a buyer bought 4 of these books in one order worth $10 a piece [but listed as $6 + $3.99 shipping], I now make 4x$6=$24 plus only ONE [adjusted/refunded] shipping cost making me lose a decent chunk of money). Ergo I started just listing everything with free shipping so a book with a value of $10 I will list for $10 with free shipping so I couldn't lose money in a combined order situation.
I guess my question is this: Does this affect sellers that only use "free shipping" on all their listings? Should I even bother opting out? I did indeed receive the email about the new policy even though I have had free shipping on every listing for a long time now, maybe I received it because in the past I have used flat rate/calculated shipping. I will always sell using free shipping while "pricing in" the cost of shipping in to the listing itself. Maybe this has already affected me algorithmically, but when buyers filter by "Price + Shipping: Lowest First" it doesn't matter. A listing for an item for $5 + $5 shipping will still show up right above/below the same item from a different seller with a price of $10 + Free Shipping. I guess now I would just be losing to a seller that has the same $10 item listed for $5 + Calculated Shipping but oh well.
nobody*s_perfect
·2 years agoSellers who offer free shipping, or who charge a flat price for shipping, do not need to care about the recent memo. It only affects sellers who use calculated shipping.
katsutter-0
·2 years agoEven though I have now opted out of this process 3 times, the message is back on my seller hub page again tonight. Do I need to opt out daily?
warbler_ridge
·2 years agoIf the option was available to offer buyers shipping at the discounted rate plus 20%, I would probably opt into that because that's the calculation I've been doing on my own to come up with a competitive flat shipping fee that covers what I pay for shipping, plus the 15% seller fee collected by eBay and an extra 5% to help cover the cost of my shipping supplies. That would be a seller option that would actually save me time and effort - and it would be more accurate than doing the flat rate, which I have to sort of average out to take into consideration shipping to different zones. It would also automatically adjust to any changes in rates. I'm happy to pass on my discounted shipping rate to customers, the discounted rate just needs to reflect my actually shipping costs. Discounted rate + 20%. Easy. And useful.
I never got a notice about this, by the way. And when I checked my account, it is set to charge the full retail with no discount. Odd that not all accounts are being treated the same.
katsutter-0
·2 years agoI opted out to the "survey" I received in April. Apparently, that didn't count because now I'm getting a message on my seller hub page that says I still need to opt out unless I wish to offer the discount. I've opted out twice today on the seller hub page, and the message just comes back again. From my perspective, this is not going smoothly.
lloydsteventaylor
·2 years agoI opted out
Will my buyers see the retail and commercial shipping price?
I opted out
Will that drop my listings in eBay search results?
nobody*s_perfect
·2 years agoIf you opted out of showing the eBay price, then your listing will show (and charge) the retail price to your buyers.
ltldpr
·2 years agoI was already charging the discounted price.
I wonder why they sent me the email - unless they changed my settings to retail rates.
I'm already being charged more for shipping than what eBay charges the buyer. I put 12x12x12 on my listings because we can't leave the measurements blank anymore - and I still get charged more. Print shipping label page had 1x1x1 on the measurements on my last sale and using decimals did not change the shipping that I was charged.
I guess I needed to double check my settings before receiving the email, and before opting out (I didn't really understand it at all so just opted out) to see if eBay went in and changed my settings to retail rates, like when they enrolled me in business policies without my knowledge or permission a year or so ago.
nobody*s_perfect
·2 years agoThat shouldn't be happening; the USPS shipping calculator in eBay listings is 99.9% accurate. We can probably help figure out the problem if you provide an example with specific details, including package weight and actual dimensions, service used (e.g., Priority Mail?), both ZIP Codes, and both exact prices. Maybe start a new thread for this.
To get back to the original thread topic, I suspect that eBay selected a group of sellers to send that message to, and sent the same message to all sellers without regard to whether they were currently charging the retail rate or the eBay rate.
janet9988
·2 years agoProbably... but ebay does not disclose ALL of the tactics used to lower or raise those search standards.
twk
·2 years agoIf you saw eBay's 1st quarter report you would know why this is happening.....to try to increase sales on the site. Shipping is expensive, no way about it. But to put the cost of shipping on the seller so the buyer can get a better deal, well.....
IMHO, eBay is stagnant and has to do something for shareholders.
Sellers will just have to include the loss in shipping in the item price. Actually, it is a no-win situation.
skoof
·2 years agoHi. I stopped charging a handling fee on the shipping due to the discounted price I was getting. The discounted shipping definitely helped on the fees charged by eBay, especially since they charge us on the percentage of the total cost collected by eBay, which is the item cost, the shipping cost and the sales tax they collect plus the insertion fee. If eBay would only calculate the percentage on the item price, I would be willing to pass on the discount to the buyer.
Especially with the change in the IRS taxing the income. I think going from the $20,000 down to the $600 in one swell swoop was too much. I still think down going to the $5,000 is still too steep. I think it should drop to $15,000 the first year, to $10,000 to the next year, then to the $5,000 the next. It should not go to $600. I think those selling around the $600 is like having a yard sell. Your selling items that you want more from than what someone would pay at a yard and you paid good money for it.
fern*wood
·2 years agoThis myth has been beat to death. There is no change in the IRS taxing. Our sales have always been reportable, regardless of the threshold for the 1099k. We have always been required to report even before any 1099ks were sent out.
kalyoth
·2 years agoThanks for the link - I also was default changed to offer the discount rates after getting the email & doing the survey. I was correct in my belief that none of us processed an official opt out notice as no confirmation of an opt out was sent via message or email to us. Never trust the overlords when money is involved.
That said, I'm also paranoid enough to watch for their programmatically masking those numbers over our desires because they won't make money w/o sales...
kindredspiritvintage
·2 years agoI did not receive the email, but I just checked and my shipping preferences were already changed (by eBay) to give buyers the discounted rate. I would not have noticed this change had it not been for one of the resellers I watch on YouTube.
cardsnmore2004
·2 years agoI am not sure opting out is a good idea. I am debating myself what to do. It's going to look really strange when a one seller is showing shipping as 5.00 and you will be showing 8.00. It's going to be even worse when it's even a higher amount. For example. I have been keeping track this year of everywhere I sent packages to. I have seen discounts anywhere from 19 percent up to 54 percent on shipping. I agree with you that's it's nice to have Ebay giving that discount and many times covers all our fees. However I am wondering how it will effect sales and our star rating. I think I am going to opt out for now and test what happens. Do some research and see how many sellers opt in and see how big a difference the shipping charge is.
nobody*s_perfect
·2 years agoeBay listings already are divided between sellers who charge the retail rate vs sellers who charge the eBay rate. Buyers also see a variety of calculated shipping prices depending on the distance between their location and that of each seller. If they see $5 shipping on one listing and $8 on another, it might seem at first glance like that's due to distance, unless they research each seller's location. They'll probably also see sellers who are charging $6 or $7 if they live farther and are charging eBay rates, or closer and charging retail rates.
Opting out means that you are choosing to show the higher (retail) rate in your listings. It would be nearly impossible for an eBay user to determine how many sellers have chosen to show retail rates vs how many have chosen to show eBay rates.
If you want to see "how big a difference" there is between retail vs eBay rates, you can easily check that using eBay's shipping calculator:
http://www.ebay.com/shp/Calculator
pjcdn2005
·2 years agoThe shipping rates are already varied between listings. Some sellers now use discounted rates, some currently use retail. Some sellers add a handling charge, some don't. Some use a flat rate rather than calculated. And some are in the next town from you while others are across the country.
patternsaver
·2 years agoBeware: Opting out using their email does not guarantee you are opted out. I used their opt out button but just found that they had opted me in already anyway -- did not even wait till May 15.
I am not sure how ethical it is to change someone's listings like that. They used a standard "opt out" to catch people rather than the "opt in" approach. But then, this is eBay, known for their poor business treatment of sellers.
My husband and I have often marveled how eBay went from the premier on-line site right next to the other major river site to one facing many other competitor platforms. If they had treated their sellers with more respect, many of these other platforms would not have gained ground. Just saying.....
umoraski
·2 years agoI still have a question about this new Ebay discounted Rate. I sell everything with the option of calculated shipping. I don't make any money on the shipping. but it makes the shipping for the buyer a little cheaper than the flat rate. How can Ebay offer anything cheaper than the calculated shipping, using USPS. Does this mean they will offer the buyer other options like Fed-Ex or UPS? I don't like either of them.
nobody*s_perfect
·2 years agoThe discounted rate is not new. USPS has one set of prices which you pay at the PO counter (retail) and a different set of prices for customers who purchase postage online. When you purchase postage labels through eBay, you get a discount relative to the retail price that you'd pay at the PO counter.
Sellers who offer calculated shipping can use their site preferences to choose whether their listings show (and charge) buyers the retail price for postage, or the discounted eBay price. The new policy says that buyers will be shown the discounted eBay postage cost, unless the seller opts out.
umoraski
·2 years agoI don't have a problem with Ebay showing the discounted fee, because this will stop buyers from complaining about the shipping fees and blaming the seller. I know some sellers pad their shipping to cover costs. But if you know your fees ahead of time, you know what to charge for the item you are selling - Buy Low and Sell High!
nobody*s_perfect
·2 years agoMy listings show the calculated retail price, but I don't get any complaints because I state clearly in the listing that the postage cost shown is the actual calculated USPS postage cost from my ZIP Code to theirs.
One way or another, the buyer is paying the seller's overhead (packaging, eBay fees, etc.) whether it's in the shipping or in the item price. Sensible buyers shop according to total cost.
wastingtime101
·2 years ago😂Think again.
This one heavy product I used to sell shipped, at the time, for about $12-ish discounted ($14-ish retail) in a Med Flat Rate Box as the most economical shipping option several years back. I charged buyers $6 shipping and baked the rest into the item price. The reason I charged a partial ship cost was to mitigate the loss on buyers remorse returns when you don't have to refund original shipping.
Had many buyers complain about the $6 ship cost, including one buyer that left a nasty neg FB saying it should not have cost more than $3-4 to ship. If I dared to tell those buyers what shipping actually cost with med flat rate vs calc ship, they would tell me I was wrong.
Many buyers have no concept of what shipping actually costs, nor do they realize eBay charges fees on shipping, or that shipping and handling may include a buffer for packing materials, or that shipping rates go up multiple times per year. They will complain no matter what you charge for shipping.
magicsue2016
·2 years agoI opted out.
georgestobbard
·2 years agoI saw the message from eBay, and I'm confused as to whether the upcoming policy change even affects me.
I already use calculated shipping, and I already pay for shipping labels through eBay. To ensure that I don't lose money on shipping, I always include a handling fee that enables me to cover the Final Value Fee on shipping, with a little bit left over to pay for my shipping supplies.
Is the new policy implying that unless I opt out, I will no longer be allowed to charge the handling fee????
If that's the case, then I'm definitely opting out.
I do realize that the workaround would be to build the handling fee into the cost of every item so that the buyer doesn't know it's there, but it's a lot of work to change the prices on existing eBay listings if you have many of them. Also, some people are already trying to haggle their way down to a lower price on everything they want to buy, and the higher your prices are, the more likely to think that your price is "fake" and that they can talk you into lowering it. My prices are already as low as I can afford to make them. If I raise them even a little, it will invite more hagglers.
nobody*s_perfect
·2 years agoThe new policy has nothing to do with handling fees.
The shipping calculator in eBay listings can be set to show either the retail price or the eBay price. The announcement merely stated that starting in May, the calculated postage cost will automatically show the eBay price unless you opt out, and if you opt out then it will show the retail price. So the announcement only affects sellers who are currently showing the retail price.
georgestobbard
·2 years agoThank you. Your take on the situation was actually how I interpreted it yesterday. I only started second-guessing myself when other people started getting mad about the policy. That made me wonder if they were aware of something that slipped past me.
So yeah, unless I hear otherwise, I'm going to assume like you that handling fees are still allowed as we see fit. Fingers crossed that ebay doesn't ever take that away from us.
evry1nositswindy
·2 years agoI offer mostly free shipping with a few exceptions. I still opted out, but I wonder why I got it.
oaklandmaryland
·2 years agoBeware just another way to cheat sellers with more shipping fees. Recommend you opt out right away
sbbwest1
·2 years agoYes, I got the email this morning. Read it.
opted out ASAP ☺ï¸
buyselljack2016
·2 years agoGot no email, but checking my seller account................... I did get the "message".
So......................... question would be.............. does eBay know the difference between an email, and a message?
Only those getting the email will be affected.
quote " (Please note that this change will only apply to sellers receiving this email.)" unquote
As I did not get an "email" will I need to "opt out".
Is this just "typical eBay speak" policy writers confusion?
They state that one can "switch back to standard rates" after May 15th.
What are "standard rates"? Is that "eBay speak" for retail rates?
Now............. in my sellers hub it has this:
 
So, make up my mind eBay. Did this happen yesterday, or is it happening in May????????
bomar_97
·2 years agoI did not get any email yet about this.. but I did go to the link posted above by buyselljack2016 and the do not offer discount was already filled in.. so updated with that.
I can't do a one fee fits all shipping being on one coast because of the variation in shipping fees should it go to the opposite coast. Some of what I have now varies by $6 or more! And I don't think it's fair to overcharge some buyers!
Plus.. having to pay Ebay a fee on shipping and a fee on taxes collected, they are already cutting into any money I get! I'm not in a business, just doing mostly a garage sale online.
wastingtime101
·2 years ago@bomar_97
Not all sellers are being opted in. I'd wait for the email before worrying about it. If you receive the email there will be a link in the email, but to make it even easier:
1. If you are opting out before the May 13 deadline you can do so using the link on the Seller Center page:
https://www.ebay.com/sellercenter/shipping/calculated-shipping-rates
2. If you miss the May 13 deadline, then you will have to opt out after this goes into effect May 15 on your Shipping Preferences page: https://www.ebay.com/ship/prf <-- that's the link posted by Jack upthread
bomar_97
·2 years agoThank you, I did use the link posted before to opt out of it. I don't know if that would work, so I used your link to do the official opt out.
I don't want to overcharge some buyers or end up paying out of my own pocket when I have a small amount as it is I'm getting for many I am selling.
janet9988
·2 years agoEbay will probably use this 'opt out" method to downgrade your search standings.
btjfitter
·2 years agoLooking at that email again, it has your name on it and says if its not you to sign in. Then looking at the form it asks for your name although they say its optional. So the only thing that gets turned in is a reason you want to opt out and a email. Is this considered opting out or are they just wanting a opinion? Why if it goes into effect on the 13th you cannot opt out until after the 15th? What happens to your sales between that time?
myangelandmyprincess
·2 years agoIt confirms you don't want your default setting to change when you opt out.
If you don't opt when the new default begins you can go into your settings and change it back.
btjfitter
·2 years agoI got the email also and they say they are trying to attracked more buyers with cheaper shipping costs to buy our products. How about this, why doesnt ebay lower the final value fees on their end and pass them off to the sellers so we can in turn lower our prices. They just raised the final value flat fee price from $.30 to .40 a month ago. Its hypocritical to send out this email saying they want to help lower costs for buyers. I get it , its their platform , but if it were not for the sellers products , there would be no need for their platform. I see these discounts from Ebay all the time mentioned but what are they selling at a discount that they actually own?
antflan77
·2 years agoI believe why some people did not get the email is because it seems to be directed mostly at the folks that use Calculated Shipping. If I'm charging for shipping, I almost always use calculated shipping.
evry1nositswindy
·2 years agoThis is a horrible idea. I will be opting out. It's bad enough that the USPS raises rates at least twice a year and now eBay says "We’re making this change to help your listings attract more buyers by offering a lower shipping cost ". At the expense of the seller!
twk
·2 years agoShipping is getting outrageous. What eBay is doing is shifting the label discount to the buyer in order to make the site more attractive. I would think they feel that increasing sales on items would make up for the difference.
That would be fine if they didn't charge us a % for the shipping fee along with the % for the selling cost.
I have gotten caught a few times and had to eat it. But I do notice that shipping is getting totally out of hand. Many times, as a buyer, I have passed on something I would have like to have purchased because of the shipping costs.
FWIW, I use to refund shipping charges when it was wrong. I would e-mail buyer and tell them I was refunding part of the shipping cost they paid. Not once did a buyer ever thank me or even acknowledge it.
I will just wait and see what happens.
pink_slippers!
·2 years agoThis message from ebay really has me upset. Yes I can and will opt out. My thoughts are this, don't we earn that discount by our selling above average reviews, won't our sells go down if our competitors give cheaper shipping for same items. Why is it ok for eBay and everyone else [ ie our suppliers], the postal system charge higher prices "because of the economy " but Not us sellers, we're suppose to just eat the loss. I hope most sellers will opt out. It is a big deal, I'm here to make money, and I can tell you all the fees and costs do not make it easy. As I said above if other sellers buy into this idea it will have an effect on the sellers who opt out. Buyers will choose the lower cost shipping.
southport40
·2 years agoYes, you are correct. Sellers are getting screwed with this change. The dollar or two that sellers make on the shipping will usually cover the Ebay fees on the shipping. Ebay is eliminating that, so sellers will actually lose money on shipping because Ebay will take a fee on the entire amount. It stinks for sellers. Come on, Ebay - make this more fair by eliminating the fees on the purchased postage!
monica-sells
·2 years agoI am sorry, but how did you determine that sellers are getting screwed?
1. You can opt-out of any changes to your current setup.
2. There is a handy little box there called "Handling Charges"
use it!
southport40
·2 years agoI should have been more specific..... If sellers don't opt out, they are getting screwed! Is that better?
mybigsale
·2 years ago@iredder
Question: A hypothetical case - at present, buyer pays $5 for postage but discounted postage is $3. Ebay takes their cut on the $5 and I pay $3 so I am still in the black. However, if the buyer is offered the $3 discounted rate AND ebay still takes their cut, I will be in the red if I purchase the label for $3.
Do I have this correct?
I am sure with all the thought eBay put into this decision; eBay would never think of placing all the burden on sellers. eBay is most likely getting ready to announce dropping the fees on shipping, so they don't force sellers to ship everything at a loss. 🙄 Am I right? 😥
gottalottatoys
·2 years agoEbay will probably be sending us free printers, printer paper, boxes, and bubble-wrap. Eventually Ebay will opt all sellers into "Free Shipping"
I hope when Ebay sends us free printers and label maker that they are top of the line products.
Ebay loves it sellers and will do anything to help them suckceed on its platform.
mybigsale
·2 years ago@gottalottatoys
Ebay loves it sellers and will do anything to help them suckceed on its platform.
I believe. I've been waiting on eBay for over 20 years now. I feel changes are coming. eBay did give us "free" box credits, coincidently eBay did raise store subscription prices to more then cover the costs just beforehand. I'd prefer to use the credits for boxes without eBay advertising
and at competitive pricing with more selection.
I hope when Ebay sends us free printers and label maker that they are top of the line products.
Really? So you want the "free" top of the line products with the $40 monthly subscription increase instead of the junk for a $10 monthly subscription increase? I prefer the top-of-the-line items also, but I prefer to manage my money instead of have eBay manage my money for me. Seems to be a little biased with my money going to eBay when eBay is in control.
melmurdock
·2 years agoMore like ebay is getting ready to boost those that DO participate. Seems to be a pattern for all platforms.
floyd13s0s6m
·2 years agoI opted to show the non-discounted rate as many of the stuff I’m selling are statues and does cost a pretty penny to ship nowadays. Just sold one where the buyer paid $145 for shipping and it cost me $125 to ship. eBay’s 11% cut on that $145 is close to $16. After their cut, it would have been $129. Had they shown with the discount, I’ll be on the red by $14 on the shipping. The reason we get the “discount†is due to the fees they charge, though you pay the same amount with other shipping companies. So it’s not really a discount.
antflan77
·2 years agoI didn't see it mentioned, but already it was an occasional issue before. I never saw a discount on USPS Media Mail. The buyer was always charged the same amount I paid, so when that option was chosen at checkout, I always seemed to give up fifty cents or so each time. I already opted out and chose "Other" as the reason. So what's next, they start telling us what to charge for our stuff?
That cushion was always needed since many times I did not have a box to ship yet at the time of listing, but by the time my item sold, I would have found one. However when listing, I would have to guess at the size of the box, so I would just add maybe 2" to each dimension. Sometimes I had to use a box that exceeded those dimensions, but I would still be covered. I would love to see the "brainstorming" meetings that this crap comes out of, with nothing other than "How can we manufacture more money while making us look good at the same time?" Hysterical...sort of.
operationspirit4troops
·2 years agoI shipped 2 boxes of books about 5lbs (another shipping company) it was cheaper using ground advantage cubic than media mail. It has happened several times now even shipping priority ended up cheaper. Some days I am so confused!
kalyoth
·2 years agoebay stopping their corporate greed & not taxing sellers on shipping with their %'s would have been the easier solution... Most will try to opt out - no guarantee its an opt out as it was more like a survey & noting official has been received confirming the opt out. Other sellers will just add fees to puff it back up again, still leaving ebay with the same issue they tried to be creative in selling. The rest will stop selling cause no business will absorb or write off the shipping once it hits a certain point. ebay is just in a race to the lowest pricing.
linenandlaceltd
·2 years agoIt's always something that makes it harder for the sellers, the people that are responsible for selling platforms making their money. The whole cubic debacle caused me a lot of stress the past couple of months since I have a lot of older listings from years ago where you did not have to list dimensions, that now are forced to. I never received anything regarding the change. The amount of times I had to contact customer service about a sale that had a label come out with Cubic: 10 on it, and couldn't have it explained to me properly was pretty sad. I needed a solution and to figure out what the issue was to prevent it from happening in the future but took too long to get both, which cost me since I had to cancel an order. I've since had to and still have to go through my listings to update every listing I have that's a pound or heavier. No new benefits or help for me, but made things a lot more difficult and time consuming.
Now they want to give my discounts I earn on shipping to encourage more buyers to spend money here? I'm opting out as soon as it's working and will hope that it actually works and will stay that way, but it'll probably cause more problems later rather than being a solution. I don't believe it's going to make that much of a difference to buyers overall, but will make a world of difference to sellers. I list my items amongst the lowest prices that that exact item goes for and usually will take a few dollars off of that with best offers to get stuff moving. From my experience, you either have people who will just buy an item outright no issues or will want a small discount off, or you'll have people expecting you to practically give the item to them by wanting 50%-75% off the item or they aren't interested. You are not going to please the latter group of people unless you give your stuff away to them. Giving them a shipping discount on top of taking best offers too? Does ebay want people to keep selling here or no? And let's not even get into how willing ebay is to let buyer scammers run rampant here by pulling the old switch-a-roo claiming your new/good condition items you sent them was their broken down, same exact item they want to try to get for free. You can give ebay all the proof and they'll still give these people their money back and let them keep the item. Pretty sure ebay would keep a lot of money and things would be a lot better on here for everyone if they didn't let such blatant scammers scam them everyday....
Update: You now cannot change the pricing or other info on your listings without dimensions being put down, even for the smallest and lightest of weight items. Considering sometimes I'm not sure if I'm going to use a polymailer/padded envelope or box for an item as it depends on what I have on hand at the time its purchased, this is becoming a pretty big issue. I'll now be spending my next day or two updating every single listing rather than putting up anything new.
thndur1
·2 years ago this what I get when I try to opt out
cdelight132013
·2 years agoIt has always been very clear which sellers offered eBay's discounted rates to their buyers via the calculated shipping label. In my opinion, this gave sellers an edge when marketing a product.
eBays message implies, "We’re making this change to help your listings attract more buyers by offering a lower shipping cost.". This update appears to be micromanaging. Which may produce results in the short term.
Search algorithm would attract more buyers. eBay's search is something to be desired.
Fair competition for ecommerce business. The USPS must not subsidize transshipments through or from other nations.
kinzotucson
·2 years agoI think I will opt out. The little extra I get on ebay discounted labels usually will cover my cost for purchased boxes, bubblewrap, and extra padding for the ceramics I offer. If there a big discrepancy due to overestimating weight, I'll refund the buyer a portion.
journeymagnetica
·2 years agoI agree. I'm probably going to do the same.
list-and-sell
·2 years agoThis is ridiculous. The difference between the "retail rate" and the "discount rate" is what covers eBay's percentage and usually covers my shipping supplies and label stock. Sometimes I make a little, sometimes I lose a little on shipping. THIS MOVE BY EBAY ENSURES THAT I WILL LOSE MONEY ON EVERY ITEM I SHIP. Who is in charge over there? eBay is losing sellers already. This will just increase the exit rate!
lthrchp
·2 years agoIt is just a matter of crunching the numbers to see where you need to be on your pricing. Offering a discounted flat rate helps me sell, and there isn't any haggling about shipping charges being inflated. For me, it all averages out, and if I can reuse a clean carton, I've saved $2 on my overhead. Just add $1 or so as a handling charge if you need a buffer.
uncommonllc
·2 years agoWe ship a lot of heavy/large items or delicate items which require heavy duty boxes, time to pack and sometimes a lot of packing materials. We figure the difference between the calculated cost and the discounted label usually covers those extra costs -- usually, not always. The idea we would have to spend the time costing out the packing and ship costs on every single item before listing to compensate for the additional 'loss' to pass along the 'discount' to the customer as well as eBay commission on shipping costs is for us a non-starter and so we opted out.
two_red_feathers
·2 years agoJust wondering:
FURTHER QUESTION regarding 'updating the default calculated shipping rates'
At the bottom of my email from E-Bay, it says, "Please note that this change will only apply to sellers receiving this email." WHY ME? What makes me so special that E-Bay wants my permission to keep even more of my money??
ama357
·2 years agoWhy can't Ebay do what Poshmark does? Have a flat rate of $7.75 for up to 5 pounds?
wastingtime101
·2 years agoProduct is much more varied on this site.
toomuchstuffagain35
·2 years agoWould you want to pay that for an under 8 oz parcel?
bmaverick53
·2 years agoLooks like ebay is squeezing the sellers profit more.
two_red_feathers
·2 years agoJust wondering:
FURTHER QUESTION regarding "... updating the default calculated shipping rates..."
At the bottom of my email from E-Bay, it says, "Please note that this change will only apply to sellers receiving this email." WHY ME??? What makes me so special that E-Bay wants my permission to keep even more of my money??
fern*wood
·2 years agoI wondered the same thing when I got a phone call back in December pressuring me to do the same thing. I'm sure some of the phone calls resulted in sellers changing their preferences, but evidently not enough, so now they are trying again with a bunch of sellers via email. If enough don't change, I wonder what they will do next.
two_red_feathers
·2 years agoI wouldn't be surprised if enough don't change if they just force it on all of us.
I'm surprised you got a notification back in Dec.. The email I got the other day was the first I ever heard of it. My husband also sells things on E-Bay and he didn't get anything at all -- not back then and not now.
Hmmmmmm .....
two_red_feathers
·2 years agoI wouldn't be surprised if enough don't change if they just force it on all of us.
I'm surprised you got a notification back in Dec.. The email I got the other day was the first I ever heard of it. My husband also sells things on E-Bay and he didn't get anything at all -- not back then and not now.
Hmmmmmm.....
pjcdn2005
·2 years agoThere was a big banner on sellers hub about charging your buyers the discounted rate. I think that is what some are referring to.
ama357
·2 years agoEbay should not charge a fee on the shipping when there is no handling fee added. I understand why they did initially...item is 99cents and shipping is $25.99 - to avoid paying the fee on the sold item. Shipping has gone up so much that it is hardly worth selling some items.
patternsaver
·2 years agoWhen eBay removes their fee on the shipping charges, I will lower my shipping costs to their discounted rate.