eBay

cyber_akuma · ‎08-04-2022

I am getting zero views on some of my auctions, I wanted to retool them to make the shipping cheaper in hopes that will help. Would I suffer any consequences for cancelling the auction early if nobody is bidding on them?

Anonymous · ‎08-04-2022

If an item doesn't have bids, there are no consequences to ending an item. That being said, I would just edit it rather than cancelling and re listing (as long as it is within the time permitted to do so).

My opinion...

Making the shipping "cheaper" won't affect your views.

You need to do free shipping and incorporate that into your price.

Many buyers use the "Free Shipping" filter so even if you lowered it, it won't make a difference.

It's very slow right now so even that might not make a difference.

Finally, some of your shipping charges are grossly inflated. Are you shipping next day air?

cyber_akuma · ‎08-04-2022

No, I just grossly over-estimated the size of the boxes I would need. I asked USPS about it and they said that boxes over 16 inches tend to cost a lot more to ship. When I tried checking shipping costs of the same item if I managed to put them in a smaller box they went way down.

nobody*s_perfect · ‎08-04-2022

@cyber_akuma wrote: .... I asked USPS about it and they said that boxes over 16 inches tend to cost a lot more to ship. ....

There is a surcharge of $4 if a package has a length over 22 inches; and $15 if the length is over 30 inches. There is also a "dimensional weight" for packages with a volume over 1 cubic foot (i.e., 1728 cubic inches). I have never heard of any 16-inch threshold; do you have any further details about that?

Anyway, the best way to reflect accurate shipping cost in your listings is to set them up with calculated shipping that is based on the actual package dimensions and weight. I do see two auctions with excessively high calculated shipping, but I can't figure out how those were set up. What weight and dimensions did you enter for them?

Since the auctions have no bids, you can end them with no penalty. Since they have more than 12 hours left, another option would be to just revise the shipping section in the listings.

cyber_akuma · ‎08-04-2022

I told them my package was 22 inches on one side, so they might have just recommended 16 inches to keep it below 22. That would also explain why the price goes down if I can reduce it below 22.

And that's what I did. I packed the items and measured the boxes they were packed in, as well as weighed them, and used the calculated shipping option in my listing. Those expensive ones are about 22 x 15 or so inches and 3-5 pounds. Again, I realize I screwed up and massively over-estimated the size of the box I would need, which I am sure is contributing to the high shipping costs. That's why I want to try to get smaller boxes and re-list the auctions.

Another is that I mis-timed them, they end on Monday, I heard it's best to have them end on Sunday, which is why I wanted to end them early to re-list them and have them start this Sunday.

Anonymous · ‎08-04-2022

There is NO WAY an empty Xbox or Wii box costs $70 to ship.

coolections · ‎08-04-2022

You can cancel and lower the price, but you should just leave it and if it ends with no bids then relist at the lower price. When conducting an auction never assume it will end without a bid until it is over. Many buyers snipe at the last second, so you never know.

cyber_akuma · ‎08-04-2022

Yeah, I was shocked when I realized the insane price the shipping was. I don't think anyone will want to bid on that, I had to have screwed up.

And I know that many people bid at the last second, but I am doubtful anyone will with shipping prices this high. Plus even if they do, many would probably bid a lot less due to how much shipping would cost.