Have any of you noticed new ebay sellers are padding shipping prices significantly
Over the past several months I've noticed that the majority of "new" sellers are elevating their shipping charges significantly. I just purchased a blouse that weighed 7 ounces with dimensions of 6x9x2. Zip codes 75034 and 33442. I as charged $8.20. When I put in the info in the shipping calculator it was $5.52. I ended up "helping" the seller and getting into Calculated Shipping so there's never a question. That said, whenever I ask anyone about the "high shipping" they always comeback with it's paying for their shipping cost and materials etc.
32 comments
shire123
·4 months agoNo I haven't. How can an experienced seller not know that there is more to shipping charges than just the postage???
The largest cost is certainly the postage. But then there is:
- approximately 13% ebay fees on the postage you charge
- cost of materials. For me it is generally the box. While some casual sellers can probably find "free" boxes, I cannot as the volume I am selling, the vast number of different sizes and my handling time of 1 day requires me to have the right size on hand. Those purchased boxes average at least $2 a box. (larger boxes are more).
- getting the packages to the shipper. FedEx/UPS requires a 28 mile roundtrip. As I have a very rural location free pick up does not work with the USPS.
So as someone else has said in this tread, your getting the seller to use calculated shipping has probably led them to lose money on their sales. Unless you add a significant "handling" charge to your caluclated shipping you will lose money. If you then add a handling charge then you are back to the "padded" shipping costs!!!
resellnell
·4 months agoI follow a lot of youtube personalities that excel on ebay, a common trend is padding shipping with larger sizes and weight to profit off the delta once you update prior to shipping.
pickapaper
·4 months agoI don't know how much the blouse was that you bought but let's say it was $25.00 plus the $8.20 shipping, so the price of the blouse was $33.20. Would it have made a difference if she had charged $27.68 plus $5.52 shipping? It still comes out to $33.20. (Plus whatever tax is involved.)
You are an experience seller and you run your business the way you want to. You can't tell other people how to run their businesses. If you see something you want to buy, if you agree with the seller's shipping cost, buy it, if not, don't.
fern*wood
·4 months agoI see you have been "helping" sellers for a long time by asking them to lower (partially eat) the postage you pay. I guess you just don't agree with all you have been told in the past threads or you don't read the responses. If you wish to charge your buyers the exact amount of postage to ship and eat the final value fees and material costs, that is your choice to do so, but not your right to tell others to do so for you.
big_guys_place
·4 months agoShipping Supplies aren't free. Neither are toner cartridges as next you will complain about not getting a receipt as well. Calculated shipping doesn't account for supplies so it's worthless.
kibble-net
·4 months agoIt's not worthless if you add a handling fee
itsjustasprain
·4 months ago@big_guys_place : Not at all... you can add a Handling charge, and you can also charge Retail shipping cost to the buyer while buying the postage on-line at a discount. There is a seller preference setting for that. The difference can go towards your supplies or other expenses.
In my selling account I use Calculated shipping across the board on everything so that prospective buyers near me will not be discouraged by a strangely high Shipping charge but buyers on the other side of the country will pay what's needed to get the package to their doorstep.
kibble-net
·4 months ago$2.70 for materials, while a bit on the high side, isn't unreasonable in my opinion. Personally I only charge $1.50. My average box cost is about a dollar, and things like bubble wrap, packing paper, and shipping tape do cost money.
If you think this cost is unreasonable, you are free to buy from another seller. But are you willing to pay $2.95 more for the item to save $2.70 in shipping? It is a semantics game. If you don't like the price, just don't buy it. It's splitting hairs, and ideally you can find something better to be upset about 😉
soh.maryl
·4 months agoSome of us are missing the big picture here: A blouse that measured 6 x 9 x 2? Inches? Feet?
powell-collectibles
·4 months agoThose are not the dimensions of the blouse. Those are dimensions of the package. Seller folds the shirt, puts it in a poly bag or something similar. That’s it.
soh.maryl
·4 months agoSo the package with the blouse inside is 6 inches x 9 inches x 2 inches? Thank you for your response.
Although it still seems like a mighty small package.
grann-4629
·4 months agoSo the package with the blouse inside is 6 inches x 9 inches x 2 inches?
The other possibility, as you Americans call it, could be in feet, in which the cost of shipping is awesome.
kalyoth
·4 months agocould be one of those import sellers may not be in US sizing.
soh.maryl
·4 months agoNot referring to size of the garment, OP states 6 x 9 x 2 inches as the size of the package, not the blouse.
krazzykats
·4 months agoMaybe it was vacuum-packed, LOL!
Still, 6"x9"x2" is a pretty tiny package for a blouse—about the size of a sewing pattern.
ᓚᘏᗢ
soh.maryl
·4 months agoEvidently we've discovered later that the size of the package was 6 x 9 x 2, which still seems very small for a blouse.
And this has nothing to do with European or Asiatic sizing.
Which weighs more, a ton of coal or a ton of feathers?
tobaccocardyahoo
·4 months agoI use fixed rate charges for shipping. A 4 ounce GA package goes for $6 and will be $6.59 when the new surcharge is in effect. I am averaging a break even on all shipping related costs, but it am annoyed during those weeks when most of my sales are to CA or OR.
Between $8 and $9 is where my 8 ounce shipments will be.
Anyone with a problem can buy from someone else, if you can find the item for sale by someone else.
ed8108
·4 months agoBuy or not buy, the major question for the buyer may be , is it really a need or a want
grann-4629
·4 months agoThe amount you were charged is reasonable considering it costs more than that to mail a DVD. I suggest you look at your actual shipping costs, not just the postage or courier fees, but everything you had to add to make it happen including your time.
Selling to break even is really not the way to go. 😎
r_lresale
·4 months agoWhat you paid was pretty much spot on for retail rate. I put the numbers in the USPS website and....
1786davycrockett
·4 months ago@legalnurseconsultant
Since 2018, you have brought up this subject at least FOUR times -- and the responses which you have been receiving are largely the same -- eBay sellers are permitted to recoup ALL their shipping costs within their stated shipping charges, and NOT just the USPS postage fees.
Items purchased on eBay do not magically ship themselves directly to the buyer -- the seller is still the middle-person who needs to prepare the item for shipment; purchase or create a shipping container in which to ship the item; pay for the transport of the item to the post office (my post office is 14 miles away -- do the calculations on what that costs me in fuel charges, based upon the current fees for gasoline); plus account for all of the extra fees which eBay deducts from our sale prices.
"Shipping charges" do not end at what the post office may charge eBay sellers.
And another price USPS increase is coming up April 26 -- so I suppose we should brace ourselves for yet another round of "eBay sellers padding shipping prices."
grann-4629
·4 months agoHey Davy ... if the actual cost of shipping goes up and seller's costs go up by the same amount, is that 'padding'?
Hopefully, most sellers will increase their shipping rates only enough to cover their increased costs (postage, envelopes, tape, packing material, shoe wear from walking 14 miles one way to the post office, etc.) not like B&M stores where they profit on any increases forced on them by adding a few % to the increase.
1786davycrockett
·4 months ago@grann-4629
"if the actual cost of shipping goes up and seller's costs go up by the same amount, is that 'padding'?"
Definitely not -- selling on eBay should not be a charitable occupation.
roccotacodad54
·4 months agoFor me as a buyer my bottom line is the overall cost. I don't care if it's $10 with $20 shipping or $20 with $10 shipping. It will cost me $30, that's all I need to know.............................
darn_yankee
·4 months agoThank you! This is exactly what I was thinking. I think it's pretty myopic to come in after a purchase and say the seller's shipping cost was too high when you bought the item because you thought it was a deal and you knew what the shipping cost was before you bought the item.
monroe67
·4 months ago" . . . whenever I ask anyone about the "high shipping" they always comeback with it's paying for their shipping cost and materials etc."
I would say: TRUE.
I recently bought a plastic, bubble-lined mailing "envelope", 15" x 11", for $3.49, for mailing a sold item.
Mailing the 12 ounce item from Southern California to upstate New York cost $6.43 -- and that was eBay's reduced price.
On that one transaction the shipping cost, $6.43, plus the material cost, $3.49, came to $9.92.
My payout on that transaction was Nine Cents ($0.09), because I chose to offer free shipping on the item.
I knew someone would be able to put the item to good use and I wanted it out of my home. Win-win.
I receive reasonable, acceptable payouts on all my other sales.
usa_biker_goods
·4 months agoI would have charged $8.85 for shipping for USPS flat rate envelope if it fit in that. If not it would have jumped to the next tier Medium Flat Rate Box for over double the flat rate envelope price and that's just the commercial rates without adding any other fess onto it that ebay charges the sellers. I can send a sticker to my next door neighbor in a cardboard flat with USPS Ground Advantage and it costs nearly $5.00 for that at 1 oz. Shipping is not cheap anymore.
jbbowers12012
·4 months agoHi, Actual shipping costs - Including materials, time, fees' etc. etc. can be more costly than one would expect. From here in New Jersey $8.20 seems just about perfect if not a bit lite.......IMHO Of-Course.
kalyoth
·4 months agoFirst you need to understand what the current shipping prices are. It sounds like you still believe shipping costs what it did 5 years ago. What you were charged is actually cheap compared to actual retail rates.
What carrier & service were you looking at & what location of the calculator? If on ebay, discounts will factor in & skew the estimate.
stainlessenginecovers
·4 months agoIf it calculates to $5.52, then true cost to the seller is $6.35 (fees) PLUS cost of the envelope ($2 if not buying in bulk) so now seller is at $8.35 plus tape, plus label (paper) plus ink (does add up).
$8.20 was fine and now you just talked a new seller into losing money.
Good job as they will soon be not selling, so less competition for the rest.
kensgiftshop
·4 months agoDon't forget the fee's that Ebay charges the seller on the shipping charges.
soh.maryl
·4 months ago1. A blouse with dimensions of 6x9x2? Inches? feet? A blouse for a Barbie Doll?
2. Haven't sold for a long time, but when I did, it was OK with eBay for me to add the cost of packaging etc to my shipping charge. So that's changed?
3. Glad you were able to help that new seller. But are you aware of changes in shipping costs per USPS? And there is another increase coming on the 26th of this month.