What's best practice on shipping charges for an item costing a few hundred?

[pithecanthropus4152]

I'm selling an item that I intend to ask about three hundred for.   For this price range, what's considered typical and reasonable with regard to shipping charges?  Free standard, but charge the difference for second day air?  If so, does eBay's platform support this arrangement?   

Or should expedited shipping always be free if I expect to be paid two or three hundred for the item?  My concern here is that I don't want to drive away a potential buyer because they typically expect free shipping at this price point.

[chapeau-noir]

I've not heard of buyers 'typically' expecting free shipping at any particular price point. However you charge shipping, you just need to cover your expenses.

So for $300 I'd just send plain old priority. You can add insurance against package loss/damage.  If you want to offer expedited you can list that as a secondary method of shipping when you list, with also shipping price.

So for example, if you rolled the shipping into the item price for priority, you could charge the price difference between priority and expedited in your secondary method.

[fyeo20000]

most buyers will take the free shipping option, & you can offer multiple [expedited or not] shipping options in the listing ... buyers won't be put off with reasonable shipping cost;  try to estimate within ± 10%

[mam98031]

Shipping charges has NOTHING to do with the price of an item, EVER.  It has to do with the size and weight of the item when packaged and the carrier you plan on using.

Expedited shipping is NOT free, there is a cost to it and if you offer your buyer Free Shipping, make sure you roll the cost of that shipping into the price of your item to include fees and packaging supplies.

Something that sells for $10 could cost $5 to ship.  Something that sells for $10 could cost $10 to ship.  Sometimes something that cost $200 could cost $5 to ship or it could be much more than that, depending on the size and weight of the item.

Just looking at the items you currently have listed, shipping on them look a little low.  Did you allow for Ebay fees and packaging supplies?    You have expedited shipping on the tennis shoes, but you aren't going to get that for $7.20.

The link below is for Retail prices, not the discounted prices we get by purchasing shipping on the internet, but it give you an idea.

https://postcalc.usps.com/

[inhawaii]

I never set  my shipping charges based on what an item sells for ("a few hundred").

I set my shipping charges based on what it will cost me to ship.

[laststopgeneralstore]

Just charge calculated and add a handling fee for the box. This way you'll recoup your shipping cost's and fee's associated on the shipping. Just because the item sold for more doesn't have anything to do with the shipping at all. Never charge the exact amount it costs you to ship an item or you effectively lose money on every transaction.

[dbfolks166mt]

     As a buyer I never focus on the shipping cost but on the total cost of the item regardless of whether the seller uses free shipping or not. There is no such thing as free shipping and I fully realize that if the seller is stating free shipping that they have baked the cost of the shipping into the price. 

     As a seller I only use free shipping when I know there is only one possible cheapest way to ship something regardless of the domestic destination. Otherwise I use calculated shipping. On occasion I will add a handling charge if the item requires extra insurance or packing. Since I am on the east cost this gives some buyers an advantage and probably explains why most of my sales are in the eastern portion of the US. 

[nobody*s_perfect]

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@mam98031 wrote: ...   You have expedited shipping on the tennis shoes, but you aren't going to get that for $7.20.

The link below is for Retail prices, not the discounted prices we get by purchasing shipping on the internet, but it give you an idea.

https://postcalc.usps.com/

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If you use eBay's shipping calculator, you can choose to see the discounted online prices.  eBay gives sellers a significant discount on Priority Mail for many weight/Zone combinations; Priority Mail can be as little as $7. Sometimes, it's cheaper than Ground Advantage!  You can even ship 5 pounds to Zone 2 for $7.20 with an eBay shipping label; for GA the price would be $7.64.

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

In your Site Preferences, you can choose to have the shipping calculator in eBay listings show the eBay postage price, but most sellers leave it set to the default, retail pricing, so they have a built-in margin for handling fees.

Several of the above posts imply that "expedited" service is faster or more expensive than Priority Mail; but if you look at the list of services, you'll see that eBay puts Priority into the "expedited" category.  There's no difference.

[nobody*s_perfect]

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@pithecanthropus4152 wrote: ... what's considered typical and reasonable with regard to shipping charges?  Free standard, but charge the difference for second day air?  If so, does eBay's platform support this arrangement?   

Or should expedited shipping always be free if I expect to be paid two or three hundred for the item?  My concern here is that I don't want to drive away a potential buyer because they typically expect free shipping at this price point.

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I don't think buyers "expect" free shipping on pricey items.  I would offer free shipping only for lightweight items.  

Unfortunately, eBay's shipping calculator does not have a way to charge just a postage cost difference  increment, for instance if you want to offer Ground Advantage for Free but charge an increment for Priority Mail. And sometimes due to eBay's postage label discount, GA costs about the same as Priority or even more. I would not offer GA for a pricey item unless it was very heavy.

When you offer free shipping, you have to add the potential shipping costs into the item price. For heavier items the price range can be significant; for example, an eBay Priority Mail postage label for a 5-pound package can range from $7.00 to $24.97.  How much would you add to your item price if you offered free shipping? Whatever price you choose, you're going to overcharge some buyers and/or undercharge others.  The overcharged buyers (i.e., the closer ones) will shop elsewhere.

I recommend that you offer only Priority Mal for your item, and if it's heavy offer calculated shipping rather than free shipping.

[pithecanthropus4152]

Thanks for the tips.  With regard to USPS rates, what I've done so far is to weigh the item including all packaging and wrapping, and use that to calculate the rate on the USPS website.  Up to now, I've always found that the estimated rate from eBay is close enough not to matter.

[mam98031]

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@pithecanthropus4152 wrote:

Thanks for the tips.  With regard to USPS rates, what I've done so far is to weigh the item including all packaging and wrapping, and use that to calculate the rate on the USPS website.  Up to now, I've always found that the estimated rate from eBay is close enough not to matter.

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All we can do is offer you information and advice.  It is always up to you whether to use it or discard it.

Keep in mind, most that are trying to help you have many years of experience as active sellers.  In time you will learn more.  Like most of us old timers did.  We didn't have any place like this to come and seek help.  We learned by trial and error.  

I wish you the best.

[pithecanthropus4152]

"Something that sells for $10 could cost $5 to ship.  Something that sells for $10 could cost $10 to ship. "

This is certainly true, and I would never consider offering free shipping unless I added it to the price.  (In a situation like that, I'd think an auction would be unwise. because in an auction you could end up having to sell that $10 item for $5

[mam98031]

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@pithecanthropus4152 wrote:

"Something that sells for $10 could cost $5 to ship.  Something that sells for $10 could cost $10 to ship. "

This is certainly true, and I would never consider offering free shipping unless I added it to the price.  (In a situation like that, I'd think an auction would be unwise. because in an auction you could end up having to sell that $10 item for $5

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If you auctioned the item, stated shipping would be the best way to go.

Keep in mind that in many cases, buyers are moving away from wanting shipping included.  Especially if you sell things that buyers tend to buy multiple items and want combined shipping savings.  So Free Shipping isn't the best for everything sold here.

I use to have many things with Free Shipping.  Several months ago I moved to stated shipping and it increased my sales.  But then I sell things that people like to buy multiple items, therefore they want a shipping discount.

Here is a recent article on the subject.

https://www.ecommercebytes.com/C/abblog/blog.pl?/pl/2023/10/1698091498.html

[pithecanthropus4152]

"Just looking at the items you currently have listed, shipping on them look a little low.  Did you allow for Ebay fees and packaging supplies?    You have expedited shipping on the tennis shoes, but you aren't going to get that for $7.20."

Thanks for catching that; I meant to offer Ground Advantage.   I'll have to check my site preferences; it must have done that by default.  I do see, though, that eBay is offering steep discounts on Priority Mail if I print their label, which is what I do anyway.   So if they want Priority Mail, I believe the calculated shipping will cover it.

[mam98031]

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@pithecanthropus4152 wrote:

"Just looking at the items you currently have listed, shipping on them look a little low.  Did you allow for Ebay fees and packaging supplies?    You have expedited shipping on the tennis shoes, but you aren't going to get that for $7.20."

Thanks for catching that; I meant to offer Ground Advantage.   I'll have to check my site preferences; it must have done that by default.  I do see, though, that eBay is offering steep discounts on Priority Mail if I print their label, which is what I do anyway.   So if they want Priority Mail, I believe the calculated shipping will cover it.

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You may want to recheck that.  Tennis shoes have a bit of weight to them.  GA is by zones.  

For example I'm on the west coast.  If I ship something that weight 6 oz to someplace in my state it cost about 4.10 via GA.  But if I ship to Florida it is 4.44.  So make sure you learn about zones.  Always price your shipping to be the most expensive zone or close to it so you are covered.

If you are using Calculated shipping, it doesn't do stuff by default.  You have to enter the info so be very careful it is all correct.

Ebay has discounts on shipping, not sure I would call the steep, but they certainly are helpful.  FYI prices will go up in January as USPS has changes coming.

In Calculated shipping you can also put in a reasonable handling charge so that you can cover your Ebay fees and packaging supplies.

https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/shipping-items/setting-shipping-options/using-shipping-calculator?...