Postage calculator is always wrong

[tootiestoys]

Just getting back on EBay after a few years. I know everything has changed. Crash course!  
My weight and measurements are always exact. However, the shipping calculator is always $2-3 over on every package when I print my labels. My buyers are paying too much. I’ve always tried to keep it as affordable as possible. Has anyone had this problem??? 

One would think that if the calculator was correct/less postage it would bring more sales. Any way to remedy this?

[fern*wood]

I have yet to find the calculator be wrong unless I made in error when I listed with the weight/dimensions.   You are probably set up to charge your buyers retail rates and when you print, you are paying the online rates.  I prefer this myself to help cover my packing materials and the 13 or so percentage that ebay takes in fees of the postage paid.   You can change this in your preferences.

[dhbookds]

Yep......the buyers are getting charged retail rates and you are paying the commercial rate.......  If you want to adjust it.......you can do it here on the calculator  (2nd page). 

https://www.ebay.com/shp/Calculator

[tootiestoys]

That makes sense. I’m wondering if I should disclose a packaging fee. 🤔 

Although, it would be different for every package. I don’t want to receive a negative fb for overcharging on shipping but it sure would help with the expenses. 

[tootiestoys]

Thanks for the link! I’ll be checking it out. 😊

[tobaccocardyahoo]

Ebay has had a banner on the seller hub page encouraging sellers to pass the discounted rates to the customer.

There have been threads on this forum discussing it.

Many sellers think Ebay should go pound sand since most of the discount goes to pay a final value fee on the shipping.

[mtgraves7984]

That makes sense. I’m wondering if I should disclose a packaging fee.

@tootiestoys 

I'd not put a disclosure in my listings. It's called 'shipping & handling' for a reason. I make a small profit on each of my carefully packaged shipments... nothing wrong with that. Good luck to you.

[chapeau-noir]

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@tootiestoys wrote:

That makes sense. I’m wondering if I should disclose a packaging fee. 🤔 

Although, it would be different for every package. I don’t want to receive a negative fb for overcharging on shipping but it sure would help with the expenses. 

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I would not call simply charging the counter rate 'over charging' - as others here say, the discount covers your supplies, and it's not a huge discount, either.  Not like charging $15 shipping and then shipping it for $5 first class (that happened to me once).

ETA: Also, I would caution against letting feedback determine your decisions - let your own sense of ethics and good business practices do that and let the feedback take care of itself.

[dbfolks166mt]

Thanks for the link! I’ll be checking it out. 

     You can also go into your account settings under shipping preferences and click on the edit button on the following. 

Click on the eBay discount rates button and the buyer will pay the discounted rate the label is going to cost you. Be aware this means you will be paying the FVF's on the shipping as well as the FVF's on any sales tax associated with the shipping costs but your buyers may be happy or they may not even notice.