Inflated Calculated Shipping Costs
Has anyone else been having issues with their calculated shipping costs being way too high? I was made aware of this and checked out a bunch of my listings. Some are appropriate, others are just stupid. Example: electrical workbook under 2 lbs. is coming in at $13.05 shipping (ground advantage). Bunny toy also under 2 lbs. saying it's $14 for shipping (G.A.). I can fuss with my weights and measurements for each item to get the cost that the customer sees down, but I don't know why this is happening in the first place and it's frustrating to have to go through each individual listing. I am also worried that when the item is bought and I put in the actual numbers again, it will go back to the inflated costs and I'll lose money. I do not pass on Ebay savings to the customer and the shipping increase seems to be a recent-ish issue. Thanks in advance for any help!
simba6
·7 months agoI have noticed eBay enters package sizes and weight for you and those can be way off. Over size or what they say are over size seem to have very high shipping rates now.
mamacassidy
·7 months agoA work-around that I use is undercharging the weight in the listing by a bit, so the buyer sees a lower price. But then I still am getting a little extra with the discounted label to cover fees and shipping supplies.
ie, most of my women's suits will be a 2lb package, but I list them as 1lb. When I go to print the shipping label, the ebay reduced-cost label is almost always still less than the actual amount they paid. There are some exceptions where I basically break even, but for the most part it still works out in my favor.
The only items I list at actual weight are media mail items because ebay doesn't offer the discount for those labels.
wastingtime101
·7 months agoNot ideal as that will impact eBay International Shipping @mamacassidy - in case you never considered that.
mamacassidy
·7 months agoHmm, I had not considered that.
I send quite a few items to the hub. Are they charging the buyers extra for the package?
monroe67
·7 months ago"I send quite a few items to the hub. Are they charging the buyers extra for the package?"
Yes, they do.
As with any eBay listing, the buyer can see the shipping price in the listing and pays it at the time they commit to buy.
As with any eBay listing, the buyer agrees to pay the shipping price shown in the listing.
wastingtime101
·7 months agoThey are not billed extra post-sale @mamacassidy , but when buyers are consistently undercharged because sellers consistently under state the weight, that has to be factored in to eIS price model and can overall increase rates for all buyers across the board to account for these types of discrepancies.
In addition, it can impact new sellers as eBay offers suggested weight/dim for their listings based on averages from other sellers of similar items.
Always best to state actual weight/dim to avoid unintended consequences. 🙂
mamacassidy
·7 months agoWell, I definitely did not consider those things before. But I will now.
Almost every time I list an item, the suggested weights/ measurements are waaay off. So I always adjust those, and I figured that most other sellers did too.
I will take appropriate measures, but maybe someone that matters will see this post and it will highlight what you said in your earlier message:
"eBay does not provide effective tools to deal with this. Sellers need an option to charge discounted rate + a fixed percent."
I always appreciate your help!
wastingtime101
·7 months agoUltimately do what you need to do and what works for your business, but do it armed with additional knowledge so you can make informed decisions. 🙂
wastingtime101
·7 months agoThis is the byproduct of charging retail rates. The past 3 years the gap between retail and online rates has grown exponentially. eBay does not provide effective tools to deal with this. Sellers need an option to charge discounted rate + a fixed percent.
Your options include leaving things as they are, passing on the discount and adding a handling cost, switching to a free shipping model, etc.
vintagegal1971
OP7 months agoThank you for your response. I am not seeing a way to add a handling cost. Am I just missing it, or has Ebay discontinued that option?
wastingtime101
·7 months agoIf you are on the simplified listing form it is not an option. Look for a link on the top right of the listing form to switch to the business tool.
If already on the business listing form, go to the shipping section and click the menu to see more options, and there you can toggle the handling cost slider.
If you use business policies, then you add handling cost to your policy, not to the listing form.