Does eBay Standard Envelope shipping count just the item price or item + shipping for the $20 limit?

[bdawg923]

I want to sell a trading card and use eBay standard envelope which has a $20 cutoff price to ship it. The card is approximately $20. 

If I list the card for say $19.99 and then $1 shipping, the total is now $20.99. Does this still qualify for eBay standard envelope? Is eBay looking at the $19.99 item price or the $20.99 total for the $20 cutoff?

I know it won't allow me to print an eBay envelope label if I pass the $20 cutoff. And if I pass the cutoff, now my $1 shipping that I charged turns into like a $4 first class shipping cost so I lose money. I am trying to figure out how to price it out beforehand. Thanks.

[onefootflipper · Accepted solution]

Yes, you are fine. I price lots of items at 19.99 plus shipping.

[cards98765]

Just reiterating what tigerofhappiness said.  I post a lot of cards at 19.99 so that they qualify for eBay Standard envelope.  It is why I am trying to avoid any prices in the low $20's.

[bdawg923]

I see. What is then stopping people from selling a $30-40 card for $19.99 and charging $20 shipping to qualify for ebay standard envelope? 

[hartungcards]

The fact that no one is going to buy a single trading card with a $20 shipping charge attached to it usually stops this kind of thing.  Not to mention that your buyer ain't gonna be thrilled when they see that 73-cent postage charge on an item they paid $20 for shipping.

[bdawg923]

Fair enough. Thanks all!

[Anonymous]

---

@bdawg923 wrote:

I see. What is then stopping people from selling a $30-40 card for $19.99 and charging $20 shipping to qualify for ebay standard envelope? 

---

The $20 and $50 are due to the protection plan offered for the products. It would not be a wise tactic on the part of the seller to do this.

Also @hartungcards makes a couple good points. It would make the listing look very unattractive.

[gotta-have-it-collectables]

A Better Solution is...

Free eBay Standard Envelope Shipping on all orders up to $20!

[Anonymous]

---

@gotta-have-it-collectables wrote:

A Better Solution is...

Free eBay Standard Envelope Shipping on all orders up to $20!

---

eBay will just raise the fees for coin sales to compensate

[gotta-have-it-collectables]

Nonsense

[gotta-have-it-collectables]

Compensate what .57 cents?

Yesh

[onefootflipper]

---

@bdawg923 wrote:

I see. What is then stopping people from selling a $30-40 card for $19.99 and charging $20 shipping to qualify for ebay standard envelope? 

---

Nothing, the insurance on the envelope only covers the purchase price anyway, not the shipping cost. At a certain level it just stops making sense to increase the shipping cost in order to still use the standard envelope. The price limits are only there for the purposes of the insurance on the order anyway so ebay would have zero reasons to care about it. 

Smart sellers actually leverage the envelope price.  A seller who lists a card for $30 free shipping and pays $3.79 to ship it ends up with almost exactly the same money in hand as the seller who charges 19.99 for the card and charges $6 for standard envelope shipping, and the 19.99 + $6 card will sell much faster.