Research Results Shipping Pricing not accurate

[nyvaluecomics]

When I use the research tool , why are the SOLD shipping pricing results not always accurate?

I noticed this when I click on the actual listing and compare to the listing itself.

(I understand that if a best offer was accepted it will reflect that best offer price.)

But many times the shipping price will show a random number like $0.92 when the listing will show $6.99

[wastingtime101]

Typically what I've seen is the Product Research tool shows the shipping price the buyer paid, while search results may be different, especially if calculated shipping is used since your zip will be different from the buyer's zip.

$0.92 vs $6.99 sounds odd, though. Can you post a screenshot or a listing number so we can check it out?

At this point my best guess is perhaps a multi-item purchase where shipping was combined so eBay is displaying the prorated ship cost on Product Research.

But more info would help so we can look into it.

[tobaccocardyahoo]

Since shipping charges differ by the destination of the shipment, it is usually not applicable to determine price history,

.92 vs 6.99 suggest some seller decided to use ESE for the item.

ESE is another reason to trash any shipping charge data.

[nyvaluecomics]

Whats ESE stand for?

[nyvaluecomics]

Example:

Item 235844239668 - shipping is $6.49

search results show $0.45

I include free shipping in my store. So when I list a new item, I do comparison to sold sales - I add the item price + shipping price, to gauge how much i should charge for an item. 

[lisa5768]

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@tobaccocardyahoo wrote:

Since shipping charges differ by the destination of the shipment, it is usually not applicable to determine price history,

.92 vs 6.99 suggest some seller decided to use ESE for the item.

ESE is another reason to trash any shipping charge data.

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If you are using calculated shipping the added shipping does not factor as much. I offer free shipping and knowing the total item+shipping will tell me if I can sell profitably.

[wastingtime101]

Freaking pain in the butt. Hey kyle@ebay, that lovely redirect problem is back.

Go to: https://www.ebay.com/itm/235844239668 and you are redirected to the product page with no link back to the original listing at the top of the page. You helped us to get this fixed a couple months ago, hoping you can work your magic again to restore that link back to the original sold listing.

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Here's your answer @nyvaluecomics . Look at the listing by going here:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/235844239668/?nordt=true

Now click on "see details" next to ship cost.

Remember how I mentioned combined shipping as being the most likely answer in my first post? Now we have confirmation. Seller has automatic shipping discounts applied.

Shipping discounts : $0.45 shipping for each additional eligible item you buy from [this seller].

P.S. ESE stands for eBay Standard Envelope. It's a shipping service that does not apply to comic books. It's for things like trading cards, coins, stamps, and other small flat-ish objects.

[nyvaluecomics]

Thanks @wastingtime101  So its really not accurate.

If this customer purchased 2 books , he paid $6.49+.$0.45 ($6.94)

Why should only $0.45 be attributed to this book?  Maybe it should be divided evenly ($3.47 each)?

[wastingtime101]

For all we know, the buyer could have purchased 20 books meaning they paid 78c shipping per book.

The system is taking the literal ship cost for the item instead of prorating it and the reason is because the seller had a flat shipping rule.

I'm pretty sure when sellers use combined shipping based on weight, that the system prorates the ship cost per item. I'd have to do more research and testing to know for sure.

Bottom line: if the shipping looks suspiciously low, assume it's a multi-item ship situation. Either look at the actual listing or figure average separate ship cost for the item which is typically what - $5-7-ish for a single comic book shipped Ground Adv with tracking?

[kyle@ebay]

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@wastingtime101 wrote:

Freaking pain in the butt. Hey kyle@ebay, that lovely redirect problem is back.

Go to: https://www.ebay.com/itm/235844239668 and you are redirected to the product page with no link back to the original listing at the top of the page. You helped us to get this fixed a couple months ago, hoping you can work your magic again to restore that link back to the original sold listing.

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Here's your answer @nyvaluecomics . Look at the listing by going here:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/235844239668/?nordt=true

Now click on "see details" next to ship cost.

Remember how I mentioned combined shipping as being the most likely answer in my first post? Now we have confirmation. Seller has automatic shipping discounts applied.

Shipping discounts : $0.45 shipping for each additional eligible item you buy from [this seller].

P.S. ESE stands for eBay Standard Envelope. It's a shipping service that does not apply to comic books. It's for things like trading cards, coins, stamps, and other small flat-ish objects.

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Hey @wastingtime101 thanks for bringing this to our attention.  I have passed this along to the appropriate teams for review!