Shipping
I charge shipping costs the buyer and I am losing money. If I use the USPS shipping materials the cost is sometimes more than the price of the item. If I use my own boxes, it is still sometimes more for larger items. I am asking for some advice to learn more about how to price for shipping without losing money on sales.
5 comments
jerseyboymusic
·2 years ago@chavellcollections
I never lose money with calculated shipping on my listings. Build the price of materials into the price of your items. So if you have to pay $5.00 for a box, increase your listing price accordingly
1786davycrockett
·2 years ago@chavellcollections
For one thing -- the "USPS shipping materials" that you've been using have standardized prices, for particular Priority shipments. They are NOT to be used for anything except USPS Priority shipments.
Secondly -- you should purchase a shipping scale. These are inexpensive, and can be acquired from any office supplies store.
Third -- you need to acquaint yourself with the various methods to ship items, either through USPS, FedEx, UPS, DHL, and so on. All that information is available on-line.
In addition, it would be advisable to compare shipping prices through USPS Ground Advantage versus USPS cubic shipping, versus UPS, versus FedEx.
Shipping items on eBay may seem complicated; but, as you acquaint yourself with all the available shipping options, you'll become more comfortable with shipping on eBay.
Good luck.
nobody*s_perfect
·2 years agoCubic pricing is a subcategory of both Priority Mail and Ground Advantage. Priority has cubic rates for packages up to .5 cubic foot; GA up to 1 cubic foot. In your listings and when purchasing labels, eBay will automatically show the Cubic rate if it is available and is lower than the regular rate.
For a seller just getting started, IMHO they should familiarize themselves with USPS options before branching out to UPS and FedEx.
nobody*s_perfect
·2 years agoWhat does that mean?
Instead of charging buyers some arbitrary flat price for shipping, you should set up your listings with calculated shipping, which is based on the weight and dimensions of your package.
richard1rst
·2 years agoFirst of all get past the notion that the cost to ship has any relationship to the value of the item. Shipping is based on size and/or weight without regard to the value of the contents. Pound of gold, pound of lead, all the same to them.
If you are losing money on shipping then the obvious answer is that you are not doing proper research. Accurately determine the shipping weight and size and put that in your listing along with calculated shipping. (Just make sure you opt out of eBay charging your customer the discount rate - charge them full retail).
STOP using flat rate “standard shippingâ€. It costs more to ship coast to coast than it costs to ship the next town over. “Standard shipping†does not take that into account.
For anything over 1 pound especially, do a deep research into Cubic Pricing. The SIZE of the box determines the shipping, not the weight. In many cases you can ship up to 20 pounds for essentially the same price as shipping one pound.
Hope this helps.