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Reasonable shipping score
Summary: wiboi questions the rationale behind eBay's "reasonable shipping" feedback, arguing that buyers should already consider shipping costs before purchasing. wastingtime101 and kyle@ebay agree, suggesting the rating may be outdated, originally intended to deter inflated shipping costs. They propose replacing it with feedback on packaging quality. finders_sellers shares a challenge with maintaining "reasonable shipping" ratings despite offering free shipping, speculating on buyer expectations and considering charging for shipping to better manage perceptions.
So... I don't really understand why eBay has the "reasonable shipping" question on feedback. If someone is shopping and sees what an item costs, along with the shipping amount that's right under that, and STILL decides to buy the item; wouldn't it be assumed they find it reasonable?? Why buy an item that you find unreasonably priced? When I shop and see an item and the seller isn't offering free shipping, I add the shipping amount to the cost of the item. If I find that amount "reasonable" I hit the purchase button. If I don't find it reasonably I move on. If I agree to the entire price at check out, then I'm essentially saying that "yes I find that a reasonable price". I don't offer free shipping and never have. If eBay wants all sellers to offer free shipping, then they should decree it into law. Until that time, having "reasonable shipping" scores on feedback is not a very well thought out strategy. Especially if they're keeping in mind their seller's reputation. Perhaps fairness for the seller isn't a consideration when deciding such matters I don't know🤷ðŸ¼
mod-dorothy
·1 week agoHi!
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finders_sellers
·1 week agoMajority of my sales are books and records, I offer free shipping and typically add $5 shipping costs (media mail) to my auction starting price. I underprice to encourage sales and b/c my sourcing costs are low. My reasonable shipping costs has sunk to 4.7 and I’m not sure why. Unreasonable buyers/ buyer’s remorse? Should I go back to charging buyers shipping costs to better manage their expectations. Until recently my detailed seller ratings have been all 5s with occasional dips to 4.9 or 4.8 and then bounce back. 100% positive feedback.
gator08041971
·1 year ago@pastimpressions
Don't forget, any time estimates when you see on an item, even your own, are always going to reference your location, not the buyer for shipping time estimates and prices.
When in doubt use the shipping calculator provided by eBay:
https://www.ebay.com/shp/calc/rates
Occasionally I use this to gauge shipping to extreme ends of the country. Fortunately, I'm in Michigan, so I don't have as high a price as someone shipping from say NY to CA or vs versa would have. Typically, shipping to FL is about the same as shipping to CA for me, but there are some variances.
I had to send out notices for my last 4 items sold (they all went out on this past Sat) because all of them were delayed by the huge ice storm that swept through here. I was without power for 2 days and there are places in MI right now that will be without power for up to a month. Many of our gas stations are even out of gas to sell, and other items are scarce at the moment too. (The bridge linking the upper and lower MI has been closed a lot for ice dangers the past few days)
Anyway. Point I was making.. Yes. Shipping times are always fluctuating. I find that most of the time my shipments arrive on-time and even earlier than expected. Only a few of them might be a day or so late and extremely few are longer than that.
wiboi
OP1 year agoAlso.... My listings come with best offers as well. I take all reasonable offers, if it's around 20% and under, I very often hit the accept offer button. That 20% discount, in about 90% of cases, more than covers shipping. I will even consider offers up to 40% off although it hurts more to hit that accept button, but there have been days that I'm feeling more generous than normal. I ignore or decline the 50% off offers cause I find them a bit insulting lol.
pastimpressions
·1 year ago1. Unless a buyer is also a seller and/or has cause to ship items regularly, they really don't appreciate how much shipping costs.
Not even talking packing materials and the labor time to pack things properly. Merely postage.
This is why there are countless amazing sellers on this site that get outstanding 5-star reviews but 4.8-4.9 stars on the reasonable shipping question.
Sellers can never win on that one because consumers are both conditioned to free shipping by massive commerce entities and also not aware of actual postage costs. They would be shocked.
My guess is that the vast majority of sellers that get that 4.8-4.9 for reasonable shipping either break even or lose money on shipping.
2. I would simply settle for eBay not setting up unrealistic expectations of scheduled delivery times/windows by quoting outrageous dates that are literally physically impossible.
They are creating a lot of the angst with the clientele by advertising impossible to meet deadlines as opposed to simply deferring to the applicable carrier's tracking data. They are setting up potential issues that need not be.
Who needs an unforced error? Why?
99% of the clientele are fine with following tracking until they are worked into a froth by this platform.
If somebody promised me something multiple times, I would expect follow-through on that commitment (no matter how logically unrealistic that promise is). Wouldn't you?
I would like someone to tell me how, barring owning a transporter from Star Trek or Mr. Wells' Time Machine, I am able to secure final delivery for a box going from one coastal location to a location at the extreme opposite coast one day BEFORE my 3-day handling window expires?
Just food for thought.
gator08041971
·1 year agoSurprisingly, despite the fact that I have many listings with free shipping, and those that have calculated shipping, I try to keep the shipping cost to the buyer as low as I can.
And even though I go through all that effort, sometimes the calculation of a shipment is WAY higher than it should ever be, even though I have the package size and dimension correct in the listing.
As a result, there has been one, maybe two buyers that felt the shipping price was apparently less than 5 stars. But I don't mind. Every buyer gets the same treatment: I ship same/next day. I pack their item carefully. They get a message with pictures of their item being packaged and how the package will look when it was shipped.
Because of how I handle all my packages being sent, I don't have to worry about the item getting damaged on its way to the buyer. Or the buyer having an unrealistic expectation. They get to see exactly what they are going to get.
momtoabeautifuldaughter
·1 year agoI look at it as this way
Let's say $2 shirt with $20 shipping may be reasonable for total price but $20 to ship a shirt may be considered unreasonable.
wiboi
OP1 year agoExactly my point. Then you find the total price of that purchase unreasonable and you don't buy it. If you see the total costs and hit PAY then there's no reason to have a reasonable shipping score.
momtoabeautifuldaughter
·1 year agoI literally said total price IS reasonable
But $20 to ship a shirt isn't so the shipping is unreasonable
wiboi
OP1 year agoThe shipping cost just gets added to the amount of the item. The simple logic is this: If the shirt is $2 and the shipping is $20, then there's shirt costs $22. Don't just pay whatever the seller throws at you then complain it wasn't reasonable later. If you considered it unreasonable, then don't buy it. The high shipping cost is probably why the shirt was only $2 to begin with lol... Where I live, shipping to California is ALWAYS about double the price than what it cost to ship almost everywhere else in the USA. So location DOES matter. By the way, I DO NOT inflate my shipping costs. I type in the exact weight and dimensions of the box (right on eBay before I post a listing) then look at EVERY carrier available and choose the cheapest option. I will ship FedEx, USPS or UPS. Whatever is the cheapest option, even if it means more hassle.
nobody*s_perfect
·1 year agoeBay's original rationale for inventing this rating seems to be lost in the mists of time, but I suspect that the reason they keep it is to encourage sellers to offer free shipping so they get an automatic "5" rating.
The rating is so ancient, it predates the policy of charging the final value fee percentage on shipping as well as on item price, so it might have been partly to discourage sellers from inflating their shipping costs (and reducing item price) in order to avoid fees.
wastingtime101
·1 year agoYep, it's outdated and pointless.
I tried to petition eBay to change it to something that makes sense, specifically how well an item is packed.
As a buyer I can see ship cost upfront and decide if I want to buy. I don't care whether other buyers think shipping cost is reasonable or not.
What would be helpful as a buyer is to see ratings on how well a seller packs their items because that's something you can't determine until after you receive your package.
@kyle@ebay
kyle@ebay
Hey @wastingtime101 apologies for the delayed response. I think that is a great idea! I'll be glad to pass that along!