eBay

beardedbovine · ‎01-05-2020

Hello brian@ebay and Happy New Year! As sellers work out their business planning and strategies for 2020, can you advise on a USPS question?

As we discussed last year, will eBay continue to offer Top Rated Sellers & those who qualify for Commercial Plus pricing a 3% discount on USPS Comm Plus when new rates go into effect this month? Currently that discount is the only reason I give a part of my shipping business to eBay labels.

I am also interested to hear from other sellers what some of your financial concerns are for the upcoming year as far as business expenses go.

I've had a heck of a time with remorse returns this past holiday season which is making me reconsider pricing and/or continuing to offer free shipping on most items... and whether or not that should be a year-round or a seasonal concern. Those are some of the biggies I'm in the process of re-evaluating.

It's too bad eBay does not allow us to withhold shipping on remorse return refunds when "free shipping" is offered on a listing. Maybe Jordan Sweetnam is interested in re-evaluating that as he says returns will no longer be OSFA and instead eBay will announce changes based on category. I guess that's wishful thinking...

Sellers need to strategize their business solutions for 2020. As this post is about business expenses and 2020 planning... not solely about shipping... please don't move this thread to the shipping board. Thanks in advance.

gwzcomps · ‎01-05-2020

Once I get through tax season I will be looking into third party shipping suppliers. The eBay shipping discounts are a joke and aren't any better than basic online rates.

brian@ebay · ‎01-06-2020

Hello brian.t@ebay and Happy New Year! As sellers work out their business planning and strategies for 2020, can you advise on a USPS question?

As we discussed last year, will eBay continue to offer Top Rated Sellers & those who qualify for Commercial Plus pricing a 3% discount on USPS Comm Plus when new rates go into effect this month? Currently that discount is the only reason I give a part of my shipping business to eBay labels.

I am also interested to hear from other sellers what some of your financial concerns are for the upcoming year as far as business expenses go.

I've had a heck of a time with remorse returns this past holiday season which is making me reconsider pricing and/or continuing to offer free shipping on most items... and whether or not that should be a year-round or a seasonal concern. Those are some of the biggies I'm in the process of re-evaluating.

It's too bad eBay does not allow us to withhold shipping on remorse return refunds when "free shipping" is offered on a listing. Maybe Jordan Sweetnam is interested in re-evaluating that as he says returns will no longer be OSFA and instead eBay will announce changes based on category. I guess that's wishful thinking...

Sellers need to strategize their business solutions for 2020. As this post is about business expenses and 2020 planning... not solely about shipping... please don't move this thread to the shipping board. Thanks in advance.

Happy New Year to too @beardedbovine! We don't have any plans to remove the Top Rated pricing for USPS labels when their new pricing goes into effect. You will continue to see the discount going forward 🙂

Brian,
Community Team

beardedbovine · ‎01-14-2020

Thanks, Brian - that's great.

@gwzcomps- I've used a few different shipping suppliers. What functionality are you looking for, what carriers do you use the most and what kind of volume are you managing? I can probably recommend a company or two to try out.

gwzcomps · ‎01-14-2020

@beardedbovine

I average 20-30 packages a week 60% of those being FedEx. I would like something that would auto-import my sales and automatically upload tracking. I don't mind paying for the service as long as it is as good as its fees.

beardedbovine · ‎01-14-2020

Do some research into ShipWorks... they're a pretty inclusive service provider that offers multi-carrier options. A friend of mine uses them and loves them. I can't speak for their FedEx rates so you'll have to do some research on that.

I used to send FedEx packages every day but that was about 15 years ago. These days I use primarily USPS with a small percentage going UPS. You should also keep an eye on stamps.com because at some point in the future (not sure when) they will be expanding to include additional carriers.

gwzcomps · ‎01-14-2020

Ok thanks I will look into it. I think I have gotten mailers from both of them in the past. Stopped using UPS once they lost the contract with eBay. I do like FedEx as they seem to be a bit faster. I have no real evidence to prove it though.