Are you going to change how you charge for FC shipping?

[pvcliff]

I'm sort of freaked out about the calculated FC shipping about to start at the end of the month. I sell stuff from around the house, nothing I've spent money on to resell, so as long as I make more than I perceive I could at a garage sale I'm good. I pretty much have stuck to free shipping on items weighing less than a pound, but being on the west coast with the possibility of an average extra 50 cent shipping charge to the east coast, I've started to wonder if I should do calculated FC shipping.

First thing I noticed in setting up my first calculated FC shipping listing today (at today's prices) was the big difference between retail charge to the customer and my TRS price. Pocketing an extra buck or two on calculated Priority always makes me feel good and doesn't seem to impact sales, but $1.40 difference retail vs my cost on the listing I did today makes me feel like I'll be running folks off.  For instance at today's prices, a 13oz item shows as $5.50 when I look at it from my other ID, yet only costs me $4.10. Yeah, the excess pays for a box and bubble wrap, but it "feels" high to me. I actually lowered my item price from $12 to $10.

What I might end up doing is going to a flat rate charge at the midpoint between zone 1 & zone 9 instead, and then watching to see what percentage of my sales goes all the way to zone 9.  Lots of extra work because I never weigh anything ahead of time unless I suspect that by the time a box is added I could throw myself inadvertently into PM. Now I feel like everything should be boxed and weighed.

[18704d]

I have several hundred of a 10 ounce item which I send by First Class Package.

I also use Free shipping, which now costs me $3.50 for them.

I also have the lowest price already, on current and completed.

I'm not going to make changes ... for now.

I have a spreadsheet where I tally every listing and sale.  Broke down with my fees, the cost of my shipping, and final profit that item nets me.

If it remains close to the same with no major decrease in profit, I'll stay where I'm at.   If some listings make me less with higher postage costs, I'll see if the others average out to compensate for them.

Lynn

[yuzuha]

I have always charged calculated shipping for all of my listings, FC included.  It doesn't seem to discourage buyers from purchasing things.

I also always box and weigh things before I ever list them because then there are no unpleasant surprises when I go to pack something up.  I know that what I have charged the buyer for shipping is in fact what it is going to actually cost (with a few exceptions, like today-- when I listed the item, I didn't have a smaller box for it, but I acquired one in between when I listed it and when it sold, so the shipping cost ended up being somewhat less.  I'm just going to refund the buyer the extra in that case).  I have a few boxes of different sizes already put together; I simply put in the item and some packing material into the box and weigh that.  It really isn't much work at all.

[southern*sweet*tea]

No, no changes here since most of my stuff already ships w/ calculated shipping.

[nobody*s_perfect]

---

@pvcliff wrote: ... First thing I noticed in setting up my first calculated FC shipping listing today (at today's prices) was the big difference between retail charge to the customer and my TRS price....

What I might end up doing is going to a flat rate charge at the midpoint between zone 1 & zone 9 instead, and then watching to see what percentage of my sales goes all the way to zone 9.....

---

Not much will go to Zone 9: It's a group of islands in the South Pacific with a total population roughly equal to Indianapolis. Anyway, for most services (including First Class packages) it costs the same as Zone 8 so that's why you usually see people still refer to Zone 8 as being the farthest.

There is no "TRS price" for First Class packages; everybody pays the same online rate.  The current TRS discount is just for Priority Mail. And that will probably disappear when the rates change, since the new USPS rates for Commercial Base and Commercial Plus Priority Mail are identical.  There has been no word from eBay about this.

As for myself, it's just another year when I'm grateful that I use calculated shipping.

[18704d]

Oh,

I also live in the Midwest (IL)

so my rates should be better than a seller on a coast,

shipping to the opposite coast.

Lynn

[dtexley3]

I'm changing almost all my <1lb items back to calculated shipping.  Interesting thing is that I'm getting lots of orders for smalls that had sat on the shelf for months with "free shipping" and now their moving... at a higher checkout cost to the buyer!  Weird!

[sam9876]

I ship everything for free.

[m60driver]

I will probably just cost average it out at first assuming a zone 6 rate and incorporating that rate into my "free shipping" prices.  But I live at the corner, outside Seattle, so some may be able to cost average another zone.  But in the end I will have to stay competitively priced with most items and just take a small hit.  But most of my gross margins are pretty darn high so it is easily survivable to  adjust.

[hioctane62]

---

@sam9876 wrote:

I ship everything for free.

---

And how do you do that, Sam?

I have to pay the post office.

[sam9876]

I make the buyers pay for shipping.

[ryanrobyn]

 definitely as I liven Zone 8 Hawaii where we are hit with higher rates than the regular 48 States. Sad as Ebay could care less.

[sam9876]

You live in zone 1.

[kathieskorner]

I'm still debating this one.    I've always used a flat rate shipping figure for first class, but living in Florida means that most of my first class packages will be going to zone 5-zone 8.    Initially, I think I'm going to continue to use a flat rate for first class  packages - at least until I'm sure there are no bugs in the calculated rate calculations.  On March 1st - I'll test the calculated first class rate for fabric listings and see how it works before switching everything. 

[sam9876]

Why don't you use free shipping?