Ebay solution to alleviate rural zip code surcharging.
Summary: snowmans_top-rated expressed concerns about the new rural fee imposed by USPS, which they feel makes fixed cost shipping unfeasible and impacts seller costs. Some participants pointed out that eBay is not responsible for USPS pricing changes, suggesting instead the use of calculated shipping to address cost discrepancies. tsme35 mentioned a significant drop in sales due to increased shipping costs, while others discussed potential solutions like canceling orders with rural addresses. Several contributors emphasized that calculated shipping is essential for dealing with the rural surcharges effectively.
This rural fee is a debacle as it now makes fixed cost shipping impossible without eating $ on every rural (unknown zip code) that is charging $7.68.
One solution is that Ebay DOES NOT charge a fee on rural shipping amounts only on non rural addresses. Ebay will need to step in on this issue as it will directly cost them millions in lost sales once we sellers have to charge $8.99 for shipping any item 12 ounces and under and consequently affect every Ebay seller with lost sales.
This is a bad situation that needs an immediate solution. I am sick of USPS raising costs twice a year.
mudshark61369
·yesterday at 12:11 PM@snowmans_top-rated , @mozartbach1971 , @tsme35 ,
Not using Flat Rate shipping any longer is the way to go.
The only way to figure out if an address is in a designated rural area is to run the zip code through your shipper's calculated shipping and then compare it to ebay's calculated price for the same carrier. The accuracy of the difference can depend on whether or not the buyer uses a plus 4 zip code or not. The plus 4 will add a Designated Area Surcharge (DAS) , if a general zip code has designated rural areas within it on the carrier's site. There will be a discounted price difference when you purchase labels through ebay, but it is not figured in until you actually purchase the label.
FYI. (for all reading this reply). UPS & FedEx do not use the same DAS as the USPS, Their surcharge if any is based on their own delivery cost metrics.
mozartbach1971
·yesterday at 5:42 AMIs there any option to reject buyers or bidders that have a rural address?
quicksilverdiecast
·yesterday at 12:53 PMYes, until ebay's automatic calculator correctly assess the cost to buyers and not just to sellers, simply cancel order reason as "issue with buyer address", no truer statement could be true. If it can correctly assess the sellers cost, it can surely assess the buyer accordingly, as it does on 90% of the orders. I do not want to hear rural costs more as Postal branches are laid out to cover a certain area. USPS also offers P.O. Boxes so rurals can pick up their mail as well.
mozartbach1971
·yesterday at 2:17 PMDoes this mean they can't leave negative feedback?
quicksilverdiecast
·yesterday at 5:04 PMI believe so, and even if they did ebay will be compelled to remove it, this is their problem not the buyer nor seller...like I said if they can calculate the increase cost to the seller. it should equally be calculated to the buyer...same as automated shipping has always worked. When the Carriers increase prices it increases it equally on both ends, not just leaving the seller to eat more losses...This is not a work around nor game playing...it is a legitimate claim to use the cancel reason of "issue with buyer address". Had a nice conversation at 8.00 est this morning and showed examples where the in accurate totals were and what needed to be corrected...She had also mentioned that they were getting a great deal of calls on this issue...so don't give up sellers...start dialing and express your concerns, remember ebay will only act and take notice when the snowball starts rolling...social media is also aware as I have seen posts of this issues---none were happy....Don't get me wrong I am not happy about the increases either, just as long as the increases are applied equally for both buyer and seller. There is not a day that goes by that I do not get junk mail and assume everyone gets it, so USPS do not cry poor about driving down that rural road to deliver the junk mail...just make sure you take my parcels with you cause you are going there every day anyhow....and the branches are set up to cover specific areas so as not to have a carrier drive 2 hours to one address and back...they have timed routes, as well as carriers who bid to have a certain route...do your own homework, you are paying for it to both ebay/USPS.
bonanza125
·3 days agoSolution is to change listing to calculated shipping or increase your price $2. This is a USPS increase not an Ebay increase.
sassykzt
·3 days agoAs many others have mentioned, switch over to calculated shipping instead of using flat rate! It's the ONLY way to catch the approx. 13,000 USPS rural zip codes with surcharges implemented 7/ 12. eBay is not going to eat the surcharge. It is up to the seller to charge the correct amount or suffer a financial loss.
tsme35
·3 days agotwice, 4 rate increases so far this year(and one rate decrease for 3-5lb), It's been 3 weeks now and not a word from ebay, their just going to rack in the cash. If they don't feel in the 3rd quarter, they will in the 4th. I've pulled 30% of my inventory and not replacing them, I image alot of sellers won't be either.
deserdog
·3 days agoCalculated shipping the only way to go.
tsme35
·3 days agoNot really, it would increase shipping by $2, so my fishing lures shipping would cost $8.40-$8.60. My fishing lure sales dropped 40% when I raised it to $6.50, very few will pay that much for fishing lures when they can pick up a new one for the price of shipping.
mozartbach1971
·yesterday at 5:32 PMI assume you get a lot of buyers buying fishing lures out in rural areas.
tsme35
·yesterday at 7:06 PM1 in 3 of my buyers are rural but I started feeling the hit 3 yrs ago when shipping hit $4, I started putting up lots instead of single lures. Not only lures but I took huge hits on fishing rods and tackle boxes because of dim rate and oversize surcharges increases. My sales dropped 50% last year and sales are running 5% down this year
soh.maryl
·yesterday at 1:20 PMStruggling to understand why we're blaming eBay for a USPS pricing change. Or why we expect eBay to make some change to their fee structure to compensate for this.
tsme35
·yesterday at 1:37 PMI'm not blaming ebay but they already have rural zip code surcharge set up in shipping, has been since 2024. It was only a few cents, a lot of sellers probably didn't know but it's there and they could easily set up a shipping table like HI and AK. Even if ebay stop charging for FVF's for shipping, they'll just raise their fees else where
jaina_solo
·4 days agoSwitch to calculated shipping, that is what I did.
mozartbach1971
·yesterday at 3:09 PMHave you noticed any difference in sales since you did this?
stainlessenginecovers
·4 days agoebay isn't charging ANYTHING.
USPS is.
So how/why could/can ebay do anything about this??
Eat that cost for you??
#nevagonnahappen
american-photography
·4 days agoThe solution is to used calculated shipping based on buyer location so you are charging the correct amount and not losing money.
Here’s how: https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/posting-items/postage-rates/shipping-calculator?id=4178
dbmm-media
·4 days agoebay likes postage increases, they make more money
lakefor94
·4 days agoEbay won't step in to do anything. Postage will cost what it will cost, just like always.