Those using calculated shipping, how are you calculating your final sale for fees?

[rtmendez]

Like the title says, since the price can vary depending on buyer location based on the item weight and dimensions inputted, how are those using calculated shipping calculating your final sale amount to have an idea of the fees and profit per item. I hate eBay includes shipping in the final sale amount for the fees.  I used to use a fixed shipping amount but that can also go south real quick. 

Any ideas or help would be greatly appreciated, thank you!

[slippinjimmy]

If you want an "idea" of the fees just use an rough estimate. there isn't much point in trying to come up with an absolute amount on every individual listing.

In addition to variations in shipping there is also variation in Sales Tax rates which affect your final percentages.

[rtmendez]

For taxes ive been using my own since its already high, at least itll give me a ball park and its usually off a few cents, at least thats how its worked for me thus far. 

[tsme35]

When I use calculated shipping and print with ebay labels, the discounted label pretty much covers ebay's fee on shipping. The only major advice is to make sure you use the correct weight and dimensions when listing, only takes an inch off and it'll cost you.

[sapphire_studio]

Make sure you price your item so you are profitable at the furthest distance they may buy shipping and consider anybody that buys shipping closer a bonus.

[tdrake]

I only concern myself with setting a price where I'll make a good profit after all fees including "average" fees on the shipping and sales tax. I use calculated shipping for everything except records and anything else media mail.  Aside from that, I use Priority about 50% of the time and I DON'T pass the discount on to the buyer. The discount goes towards my fee for shipping charges.  Same as the few 1st class items I ship.

The key is to have enough margin on your items to pay the fees, not to mention run a sale now and then.

[djvp53]

Most of what I sell weighs less than a pound and costs between $4 and $5 to ship. I know that's not the situation for most but it makes calculating profit reasonably easy for me. I have gambled on free shipping or larger items. In that case, I just assume the worst case scenario and hope for the best.

[stainlessenginecovers]

Using a 'flat rate' is actually awesome and quite easy. 

For LIghter Weight 1st Class- I charge $5.95. Covers the shipping materials and 14% FVF (with Promotions)

For heavier (9 oz up) 1st Class- I change $8.95. Covers the same

Priority, $11.95 flat rate envelope, $14.95 or $19.95. Covers most all the above (box being free)

A person can do 'free shipping' and just bundle all shipping costs with fees into the price, or do the above figuring what shipping cost with fees and package- and cover it that way. 

[nobody*s_perfect]

Like a couple of the other posters, I leave the shipping calculator set to the default which is retail pricing, so that the eBay discount on Priority Mail and First Class packages provides a margin to cover expenses like FVF and packaging. For Media Mail, I'll charge a flat price and add a handling fee into either the postage cost or the asking price.

[coolections]

I decide what I would like to get for the item. Make sure the listing asking price is within the sold listing price range for the same item. I then add 20% above (approximate Ebay charge) to my want price. No need to worry much about the ship cost because calculated shipping charges the buyer for that. Sometimes the Ebay fees is more than the 20% but it offsets in the long run and averages around 20%. I stopped selling anything weighing more than 4 pounds as Ebay charges waaay tooo much fees for heavy items.

[rtmendez]

How are you getting 20%? I have an excel sheet i created where I just plug in the numbers of cost , sold amount, taxes etc and I use 12.9% fee rate and its always been close by cents to what eBay shows after a sale is completed, this was using the flat rate shipping option though so i knew my shipping cost. 

[rtmendez]

you mean for example when it says shipping is between "$7-$12", you usually go based of of 12 as its the highest? 

[sapphire_studio]

Well I personally set my prices according to comps so my profitability varies quite a bit I just try to get the most that I think I can for an item. But if you are setting your prices based on your total cost, definitely use the highest shipping cost in your calculation.

When I do my taxes I let eBay tell me what I spent total on shipping (I don't break it down item by item).

[femmefan1946]

Ever since we started selling back in 1998, we've figured that our "fees" would be 20% of selling price.

That included Ontario and Canada sales taxes as well as listing fees (since that was before Free Listings and Free Pictures) and monthly subscriptions once those became available.

Usually we figured too high, which meant bookkeeping had pleasant surprises. ''

BTW in addition to variations from Calculated Shipping and various sales taxes, we sell on both eBay dotCOM and dotCA.

At the moment, our greater sales on dotCOM mean that in the last 30 days we paid 12% of our customer payments to eBay for various reasons but 15% to dotCA . (My eBay-> Selling-> Performance-> Selling Costs.)

Even those who sell only to the USA, will have the occasional overseas customer which adds another few pennies for International Payment fees. We pay those on every US sale, so there's that.

[femmefan1946]

Rather than working it out sale by sale, it's probably more accurate to look at your month end figures. If your shipping costs are consistently higher than your shipping charges, you have some hard decisions to make.

And remember on taxes, you are not paying those taxes, you are paying only fees on those taxes. Most posters here understand that, but we do see frantic posts from sellers who haven't managed to grasp the difference.