How do you estimate shipping costs for a buyer when using the EIS program?
Hello, everyone!
I was approached by an Australian buyer who expressed interest in items from four of my listings. She requested that I create shipping bundles that do not exceed her duty-free threshold, AUD 1000 (or about USD 670). I was able to do that fairly easily, and she and I seem to be on the same page with respect to what the pricing of the two resulting lots will look like. What I’m having trouble doing, however, is giving her a shipping estimate for these two parcels.
My buyer understands that since I’ll be using the EIS program, there are two shipping legs to consider – the domestic leg from my location to the eBay hub in Chicago; and then the second leg from Chicago to Australia. I’ve told her that I’m happy to provide “free shipping†for the domestic portion of the journey, but I have no idea how to estimate what eBay will charge her for the international portion. Is there an online resource that can help with this?
I’ve used eBay’s shipping calculator before to provide domestic customers with quotes for custom orders, and I’ve found it to be very accurate. I was able to use it to obtain two USPS ballpark estimates for my prospective buyer’s two parcels going from Chicago to Australia, but of course, that tool assumes that *I* am the one doing the shipping and that USPS will be the sole courier – and in this particular case, it will be eBay who will be managing the shipping and selecting the courier once everything arrives in Chicago. I have no idea how far off the quotes I’ve obtained from that tool are from what my buyer will actually be charged. If I could provide my buyer with a firmer shipping quote, she may decide that it’s cheaper to ship everything in one parcel, even if she has to pay additional taxes/duties.
Before I create two new listings and go through all that entails (kill four active listings, take new photos, write descriptions, etc.) for a sale that may not move forward, I thought I’d see whether anyone here has faced a similar conundrum.
Thanks in advance, and Happy Holidays!
Kevin
buyselljack2016
·2 years agoJust a suggestion, and not what you asked about, but showing a main photo of several items when the listing is set up "per item single sale" with multiples available has proven to be problematic for some sellers.
Buyers sometimes do not go beyond the photo and the price when looking at a listing.
When they do not get all the items shown in that 1st photo, they open a "not as described" return because they did not get all the items shown.
stainlessenginecovers
·2 years agoCreate the listing
Figure your 'shipping' cost (to the US hub)
Look at the item on ebay.au
That will tell you (and buyer) what the shipping cost would be.
If it doesn't work out, end the listing.
boskev
OP2 years agoThanks so much for your reply.
You know, I almost did precisely that. But the problem here is that I'd have to create *two* listings for her, and because of the 16-hour time difference, she likely wouldn't see those new listings (or my quote in the Messenger app) until "tomorrow." Meanwhile, my other four listings containing identical items are live (unless I kill them), and if someone were to come along and purchase even one of them while my Australian buyer is mulling everything over, I'd be in trouble.
I was hoping there was a resource that could just give me a quote without going through the hassle of creating new listings.
buyselljack2016
·2 years ago@boskev
you can use the out of stock (OOS) option to temp set the active listing to OOS (quantity 0 )so that no one buys. Listing stays live. Just is not searchable/seen except by you.
Your test listing(s) can then be done to get that shipping cost info. It can be "bare bones" with just what is needed to determine shipping. No pics, no long description. Can be put up as OOS to test it, and then revise if it looks doable rather than going at it full force just to see what comes up.
boskev
OP2 years ago@buyselljack2016
Thanks so much for your reply.
I'm a fairly new seller, I just want to clarify how the OOS option works. If I mark four listings OOS, and if this deal doesn't move forward, can I just then go back to those four listings and mark them back in stock (qty=1)? Is there a relisting fee incurred? And I'm assuming that marking something OOS will cause the Watchers and Offers history will be lost?
buyselljack2016
·2 years ago@boskev
No fee, as those listings stay active. That's the good thing about it. Just not available to be purchased.
Yes, you can just go back to change the quantity.
To my knowledge/experience nothing lost. I have OOS items showing watchers.
I have used the OOS to make something unpurchasable when being annoyed by a possible problem buyer.
Just be advised that when you are using the OOS option, and something sells the listing will renew monthly even with (o) quantity using up one of your "free listings", or charged if no free left. They would be unsearchable. Need to manually end.
boskev
OP2 years ago@buyselljack2016
I just wanted to formally thank you for introducing me to this Out of Stock option. At first, it didn't seem to be working for me, as every time I changed the available quantity to zero, I received an error when I tried to press the REVISE button. But I watched a brief YouTube tutorial on how to use the OOS option, and I realized that I hadn't clicked the "Listing stays active when you're out of stock" option in Selling Preferences beforehand. Once I did that, it worked like a charm.
The only thing that I've done differently is that I've OOS'd the two dummy listings that my buyer and I will use to play with shipping estimates. I've done this because since I've shared these two new listing IDs with her, I've noticed that "someone" has added nine other listings of mine featuring items similar to the ones she's considering to their Watch List. (Given my low volume, this "flurry" of activity is unusual, and I'm inferring from this that my buyer might be considering adding to her order now she has a quote that feels more concrete. She hasn't actually replied to my email yet, but all these related listings are being clicked on and/or watched.)
FYI: One of my dummy listings is 276234222260
buyselljack2016
·2 years ago@boskev
we can not see an OOS listing with quantity zero. just you need to see that to determine shipping cost to any location.
as someone posted you can see what the buyer is shown by by entering Australia rather than your zip at
Shipping............ see details
stainlessenginecovers
·2 years agoI just looked at your listings; if you are talking ANY of that Breakable stuff; you should pass and EXCLUDE all countries (except US) as these have a very good chance of breaking and you will be refunding.
Also note, EIS has a size/weight max and looking at all your $10-$20 items, to get up to $670 may be quite larger than what you can ship (and again, you should NOT ship those breakables)
boskev
OP2 years ago@stainlessenginecovers
I just looked at your listings; if you are talking ANY of that Breakable stuff; you should pass and EXCLUDE all countries (except US) as these have a very good chance of breaking and you will be refunding.
I am primarily a vintage pottery seller, so this deal is indeed for a collection of about 14 fragile items. While I've only used the EIS program twice, I am curious about the above statement. I thought that one of the benefits of EIS is that sellers are largely protected in the event of lost or damaged shipments -- or even against an INAD claim. My understanding of the program is that my responsibility ends once I successfully deliver these parcels to the eBay hub. After that, eBay handles everything, including all returns and refunds.
buyselljack2016
·2 years agoYou understand the program correctly.
pjcdn2005
·2 years ago@stainlessenginecovers
Looking at the item on ebay.au would likely not work as the shipping cost shown is usually to the buyer's location. I just looked at an ebay.au listing and it showed me a shipping cost to Canada and I wasn't signed in to that site. To look at the shipping cost to another location the seller could go into the listing on .com, scroll down to the shipping tab and change their location. Then they would click on see rates and they would see what the buyer at that location would see.
stainlessenginecovers
·2 years ago@pjcdn2005 correct; it shows the 'buyers' address and when a member goes onto ebay.au and does NOT sign in, it will just show the items being shipped from ?? in the US to Australia, which would be very close.
I've done it many times to see what shipping costs is being shown to Canada, to UK, to Australia etc.
pjcdn2005
·2 years ago@stainlessenginecovers
Before I wrote my post I went to ebay Australia. I wasn't signed in but the listings showed me a shipping cost to Canada or showed me that the seller didn't ship to Canada. I was signed into .com on the same computer so that might make a difference but I still say that it is easier for the seller to temporarily change their location to Australia to see what the buyer sees.