shipping postcards for free or cheap vs. tracking

[estate-raiders]

I've been selling online (mostly eBay) for almost 20 yrs now... but haven't sold postcards for close to 10. 

I'm seeing other sellers selling postcards (sportscards, too) for dirt cheap (maybe $1. or less) *with free or next to nothing shipping*. 

My average sale for other items is around $15. so I ALWAYS have had tracking (I print labels through eBay/paypal, etc).

Question: do these other sellers not provide tracking at all? Its either that or they're losing their shirts(!)... at least through eBay/PP labels, since the lightest items are still over $2. shipping with tracking. 

Without tracking, I'm curious what others' experience is. The only thing I can figure out is they "play the odds"... hoping that no one will scam them for non-delivery... and then (even worse) leave neg FB.

Any input would be appreciated. I've got hundreds, probably thousands of cards laying around here I'd like to get back into selling... thx! 

[njrtsr]

I'm one of those sellers who offers free shipping. I ship out all postcard orders under ~20 dollars with a 49 cent stamp in an envelope.

Contrary to popular belief on the ebay forums, most buyers, especially postcard buyers, are not scammers and won't open up frivolus cases and complaints. They just want their postcards in a short amount of time in the condition described. I get about 1 question or Item Not Received case for about every 200-300 postcards I ship out without tracking. I then apologize and then refund without question, knowing with that small loss I've saved a lot more money on shipping charges.

It costs about 50 cents to ship a card out with a stamp, and about 3 dollars to ship one out with tracking. Passing that price onto a s/h fee will effectively increase the price of each card by 2.50 which will ward off many buyers. Not factoring the s/h into the price will reduce your income drastically.

Shipping without tracking will disqualify you from "Top Rated Plus" status and the 10% final value fee discount that comes with it. But the money I gain from shipping with stamps is probably 10x as much as I would gain from the TRS discount.

Foregoing tracking numbers in favor of stamps has been the best business decision I've made regarding ebay. The bottom line is that I save over $700 a month shipping with stamps.

[div_style]

I also ship stamps and postcards without tracking, but in a rigid mailer so the postage cost is 70 cents.  Out of 1000s of items, maybe 2 or 3 got lost.  In my commmodity store where everything goes with tracking, I have more claims of non-receipt even though tracking shows delivered.

[kenandbetty]

I have been selling postcards for over 10  years and have only had a very, very few not make it there.  No negatives with over 4500 feedback.  Crossing my fingers since I said that "out loud".   I have had a few that I sold that I wasn't able to locate and buyers were okay with an "oops" and cancelling the sale.  Whew.  I charge $1.70 for shipping using a ridid cardboard mailer that goes for 70 cents stamp.  I charge $1.25 for auction prices, $6.89 with BIN/best offer.  I have had a few $100 postcard sales and quite a few over $10.00.  I average about 200 sales per month or more.  Congratulations for considering selling your postcards.  I think you will be surprised at the price you will get for them.  They are the easiest things to sell and send out with a one day handling time.  I gave up worrying about the Top Seller Status because I only have 41% tracking.  Oh, well....I love selling them.  I get a kick out of seeing multiple bids ...

[oz_in_ohio]

Considering ebay will not cover a package if tracking is not included , how do you get around that??... 

[spinach-eater]

It's just the cost of doing business.  I sell about 6,000 cards a year.  Only 8.5% of my cards are tracked (those that sold over $25 or those that the buyer paid $3 shipping).  Out of those 5500 that aren't tracked, less than 10 buyers say they never received the card.  That's roughly a 99.8% successful delivery rate.  The ones that are "lost" I just refund and move on.  

[njrtsr]

Agree totally with spinach eater. For every dollar I have to refund due to lost packages I save several hundred by not splurging on tracking.

[esthersghost]

I am in complete agreement with spinach eater about this.  A $3.00 shipping fee unless the card goes very high price-wise, will turn off a lot of buyers.   I  try for more sales on lower priced cards and even like to comp shipping for multiple wins.  I put a single card in a sleeve, then a small sized envelope, tape that to a matching sized piece of cardboard, then package all that plus a small packing list in the larger business envelope.  Postage is 71 cents or so.   Buyers feel their purchase was protected, which is true, and also they got value for the shipping fee.  I charge .95.

[refried.jeans]

What do you mean, Ebay won't cover it? As a buyer you are not protected?  Ebay does not "cover it" at all, if you mean refund the buyer and eat the cost.  They charge that back to the seller, whether it is tracked or not.