How about letting sellers set own threshold for free shipping?

[mypostingid15]

I see many major retailers offer free shipping but if you buy $75 or more, why doesn’t ebay provide a feature like that to sellers instead of volume discount, who wants 17 rings? Or 29 laptops?

Many items that sell here cost less than $10 and some require $7 or more to ship, ebay would be smart to encourage volume buying this way…

[emerald40]

Be careful what you wish for.

Stores that do this - people just buy extra to meet the threshold to get free return shipping and then return the rest.

[mypostingid15]

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@emerald40 wrote:

Be careful what you wish for.

Stores that do this - people just buy extra to meet the threshold to get free return shipping and then return the rest.

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I think a policy would be written to account for all this, it shouldn't be that hard.

[coffeebean832]

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@mypostingid15 wrote:

I see many major retailers offer free shipping but if you buy $75 or more, why doesn’t ebay provide a feature like that to sellers

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They do offer that feature if you have a store. Go to promotions manager and create a shipping discount. Set up your preferences based on minimum order amount, then create rules to include all or some of your inventory.

[mypostingid15]

I don't see that. I have a premium store.

[coffeebean832 · Accepted solution]

Go to this link (seller hub marketing- promotions)

https://www.ebay.com/sh/mkt/promotionmanager/dashboard

On the top right click create a promotion then shipping discount.

[berserkerplanet]

eBay does provide that functionality.

You can set it up in Combined Payments and Shipping Discounts / Promotional Shipping rules:
   https://cgi5.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?SellerShippingPreferences

[emerald40]

A policy such as what?

[adkhighker]

Not that it ever will be, but I'd rather see free shipping done away with, period, since it's not free for anyone and since it often complicates things rather than simply it, and sellers are always on the wrong end of the free part. 

[goodluckselling]

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@adkhighker wrote:

Not that it ever will be, but I'd rather see free shipping done away with, period, since it's not free for anyone and since it often complicates things rather than simply it, and sellers are always on the wrong end of the free part. 

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Free shipping is a very important marketing tool, especially for online sales.  There really is such a thing as free shipping.  Many large businesses actually do offer free shipping at the item same prices they had before the free shipping promotions.  In other words they do not hike up the item price to pay for the free shipping!

I have used this in the past as well.  The cost to ship the item is part of the advertising budget and used in business taxes in that area.

Registered businesses that pay fees and taxes and have legal duties have some advantages over small sellers who are just selling off extra items.

Good Luck Selling!

[sharingtheland]

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@emerald40 wrote:

Be careful what you wish for.

Stores that do this - people just buy extra to meet the threshold to get free return shipping and then return the rest.

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Usually the buyer will have to pay return shipping.   

[emerald40]

I always use fee shipping.

At a certain price point it is almost a given.  And when you pack for extreme safety, it is not fai to charge the buyer for it.

[castlemagicmemories]

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@emerald40 wrote:

Be careful what you wish for.

Stores that do this - people just buy extra to meet the threshold to get free return shipping and then return the rest.

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Yes, I've read about that.  With the new return metrics, and buyers that might file a false SNAD to get their return shipping paid for, this could wind up being a very expensive proposition.

[ripcityresell]

Uh, they do. No store needed.

In your preferences under Shipping, you can set a promotional rate for free shipping over a dollar amount. See berserker's post. However, when you list, you have to make sure the Offer Promotional Shipping box is checked.

[adkhighker]

Free shipping is a very important marketing tool, especially for online sales. 

Yes it is but only in the sense that it's nothing more than a psychological ploy and not that it's really free. Advertisers know how naive the general buying public is, so they push things as "free" just to get buyers to take the bait. It's all psychological.

There really is such a thing as free shipping.

No there isn't. Either the seller is paying for shipping, or the buyer is paying. The USPS doesn't let sellers or buyers ship for free.

Many large businesses actually do offer free shipping at the item same prices they had before the free shipping promotions.  In other words they do not hike up the item price to pay for the free shipping!

Sorry but that's not free shipping; it's nothing more than a SALE where they're reducing the price through the "free shipping" ploy. Someone, either the buyer or the seller, is paying for the so-called "free shipping" no matter what, so how can it be free?

I have used this in the past as well.  The cost to ship the item is part of the advertising budget and used in business taxes in that area.

Exactly. So it's not really free. 😉