How are people offering shipping for $20 or less on an item 21x12x16 inches??
I see sellers selling the same thing I have, offering shipping for weird amounts, like $17.99 or $23 or $11... All the shipping calculators I use say it will cost minimum $43 up to over $100. I live on the east coast, so shipping to the midwest will be at least $60. Are people making up attractive numbers and folding the rest into their Buy it Now price? Guy insists he'll buy if shipping is $20. I told him it doesn't exist. thanks.
5 comments
johnrj1226
·10 months agoIf you are using USPS that size package size (over 1 cu. ft.) will be charge a "dimensional rate - which ain't cheap. But I took the real big rate once discovered this the hard way Had a couple more of items that were required a larger than 1 cu.ft. . Once they were they were sold items that wouldn't fit into a 1728 (1 cu.ft).in. split the price 50 -- 1/2 in the shipping/handling, the other 1/2 onto the of the item. and rounded up.
It is OK to play the game of "hide the pea". Worked for me.
FYI - https://www.stamps.com/usps/dimensional-weight/
fm2000
·10 months agoSome huge companies have special negotiated rates, so it is plausible they could ship it for that. But... very unlikely. They are also paying FVFs on that $20, so they are probably losing at least some money, if not a lot of money on shipping one way or another. The price of the item might be covering some of the anticipated shipping as others have noted.
I see items on eBay all the time with both low prices and insanely cheap shipping attached to them that could never ship for so little nor ever be sold at a profit even with shipping factored into the price. I saw one seller listing large municipal trash cans (the big ones with wheels on the bottom) for $20 plus flat $5 shipping anywhere in the US. Every sale probably resulted in a $200+ loss, but he kept listing and selling them. Some people just don't know what they are doing, or seem to care. Go figure.
monica-sells
·10 months ago@robbie31415 answered your question pretty well.....
Ultimately, it is about the "bottom line" (the TOTAL cost....)
I have a few listings with cheap shipping but inflated the item price accordingly to make it attractive...
sometimes, I need to list things really cheap to maintain my TRS ranking (for the item count)
what "looks" better? (sales tax exckuded)
Widget: $25.00
Ship: $4.95
Total: $29.95
OR
Widget: 20.00
Ship: $9.95 (Actual)
Total $29.95
Seller gets the same amount....buyer like the cheaper shipping..thinks they are not inflating the cost of shipping
shire123
·10 months agoShipping costs for larger items depends on which service is used. Objects like the size you quote with average weight will often be $50 to $100 or more with the USPS. But Fedex or UPS are much, much cheaper. I sell lots of items of your qutoed general size and always use Fedex or UPS just because of the costs. I send lots of items of that size for around $20-$25
robbie31415
·10 months agoDon't know.
Could be error.
Could be that they don't want to scare people away with large shipping costs so a portion Could be absorbed by the item price so they can lower shipping costs.
Its a psychological thing.
Could be drop shipping ? People who do Amazon drop shipping can ship items much cheaper leveraging Amazon's free shipping. (Violation of eBay and Amazon policies, but people do it)
Hard to give you an exact answer.