@lemarcheaupuces wrote:
@brads_ann wrote:I always list my items with free shipping and just factor that in with the price I list it for. I always do Buy It Now with no returns.
Of course I know any buyer can do a return if item not as described/broken, etc. But in those cases, I'd pay for the return shipping anyway.
When would it be to a seller's advantage to charge shipping?
i also offer free shipping (well let's say shipping included).
recently i sold an item for about $15 including shipping.
for various reasons i looked for the same item in ended listings.
another seller sold the same exact item (same period of time) for the same amount of $ plus almost $8 in shipping.
i looked at the description, same condition as mine, imperfections and all.
that seller offered NO returns.
well the listing was conflicting it said; "seller offers NO return" but in the description seller said he would work with anyone if a problem arose.
now this is an item that could easily be shipped for $2.77 in a small box FC mail anywhere in the US.
this seller was charging almost $8 to ship to my state. had to be priority plus handling charges?
i am amazed at this.
i always thought buyers shopped by the total price.
well may be not.
now i am thinking should i charge for shipping?
so to answer your question i am not sure there are any advantages to offer the so called "free" shipping. especially since the final value fee discount for TRS+ has dropped to 10%...
here's a seller that charges twice the accurate shipping charges and manages to sell the item.
oh... another thing...
this seller started his item at the same price than me.
BUT ALSO;
copied MY exact title (word for word, same order).
wasn't a plain generic title. this wasn't a coincidence.
i know "titles" are not copyrighted.
so for now i don't know.
but it gets me thinking...
Most do shop by total price but other factors could be at play in your example.
Where others available?
Did Cassini show them to the buyer who paid the shipping cost?
Did the buyer purchase other books from the seller and did the seller combine shipping?
Certainly pros and cons to this option.
When I order online from some of my favorite Big Name stores (non-eBay) I get free shipping. And also free RETURN shipping, if an article of clothing doesn't fit nicely, for example. Now obviously I know shipping costs are rolled into the pricing of the merchandise from those stores, that it is just one more expense covered by the pricing of the merchandise, but it's also just very Right Up Front for buyers.. this is the price. Period.
But on eBay, merchandise is not nearly so individual to just certain stores. Likely many sellers are listing that same item at the same time, so many buyers will search for the LOWEST price plus shipping, where the sellers listing with Free Shipping may well not come off looking very good. Where the seller one state over from me can ship the item to me for $8, the seller of the same thing on the coast has to add an additional $5 to his asking price, just because he might sell to the far coast. And he's expecting ME to subsidize that. Isn't going to happen.
But, if the seller is shipping First Class, for example, then distance won't matter. Same cost to the state next door as to the state way up in the corner of the nation. Free shipping seems to work well for that merchandise because it doesn't matter where the sellers or buyers live, the shipping cost is always the same.
If you get the TRS discount on selling fees for your sales, that is figured on the cost of the item only... not on the shipping part, so if you offer free shipping, the WHOLE THING now becomes the cost of the item, and you will get the discount on fees on the entire amount! If you sell enough, that little extra might buy you a few steaks. 
There certainly are buyers who LIKE free shipping, to the extent that they enter that as one of their criteria in searching. They have money, they are comfortable spending money, and being able to shop total price only as they look over merchandise works for them, even when it may sometimes cost them a bit more.
I've sold both ways. It used to seem that using free shipping brought me more sales. I've switched to pricing everything now without free shipping, and now I'm not certain that the free shipping did much to my benefit back then.
@chipper01work wrote:
@lemarcheaupuces wrote:
@mega-ma-roo wrote:
@lemarcheaupuces wrote:for whatever reason i thought that having just 1 price maximized the TRS+ discount.
i thought that by charging for shipping, a seller only got the TRS+ discount on the price "part" of the item and not on the shipping "part".
Sorry, that was my misunderstanding. You are correct that the TRS discount is only on the sale price and not on the shipping. And I agree, offering free shipping just to get the TRS discount on the shipping charge is probably not worth it.
Hope your migraine goes away quickly!l
never said "just to get..."...
but you are right the TRS+ discount dropped to 10% so it is peanuts.
then again if you are a volume seller it adds up (well in my case i am NOT a volume seller).
now i am rethinking my shipping included business practice.
and the reason is that i see so many sellers charging for shipping with very high shipping charges.
and before 1 corrects me, yes i know that the "calculator" is the one showing me shipping charges to my state based on the info the seller provided.
most often when shopping i am amazed that i could ship what i am looking at for a fraction of the price shown by the shipping calculator.
seems to make no difference... buyers are still bidding. (i am guilty of that. when i want something i just buy it).
so yes i am rethinking it all.
but really have to think about all aspects.
but going back to shipping charges with my low shipping charges should give an advantage.
as i said earlier.
i sold an item for $15 with shipping.
another seller had the same starting price with close to $8 in shipping.
an item that could have been shipped for $2.77.
and this is not an rare instance.
i can say that 50% of sellers could actually ship cheaper.
When you say "could have been shipped for $2.77" are you taking into account materials and eBay/Paypal charges on shipping monies?
$2.77 is the price of an item shipped First Class mail up to 8oz anywhere in the US.
this is the net shipping cost.
charging close to $8 to ship the same item is unbelievable.
but of course it is up to the buyer to bid or not to bid.
in this case the item sold (unbelievable).
this is why i am rethinking my "included" shipping business practice.
i see this pattern happening over and over again.
i re-question my thinking;
do buyers ship by the total price?
i am not so sure now.
by the way "fees" should be included in your item starting price, not in the shipping and handling charges.
as for material cost;
6x4x4 box = 0.21 cents o ebay (last time i placed an order. including shipping. buy them by the hundreds).
1 piece of tissue paper = hardly a few pennies.
1 square of bubble wrap = hardly a few pennies.
shipping label = 2 pennies (again bought on ebay with free shipping).
tape and a little toner (real cheap since i switched to a brother laser printer).
so my material cost comes to 50 cents at the max.
hardly justifies $2.77 versus $7.42...
just saying.
but doesn't seem to bother buyers.
now it is true when shipping supplies i ship by the total price.
my purchases are about 50/50.
i buy a lot of jewelry boxes with cotton and my seller charges for shipping and has the best prices on ebay.
but my BBL mailer seller has free shipping and has the best prices.
same for my self adhesive labels.
like i said it is about 50/50.
like many on this thread i do NOT automatically assume that "free" shipping is a rip off.
clearly it is what some claim every time this topic pops up.
