do u guys make any sales with handling cost

[iamcara]

i had free shipping on for a month or so. sales increased. but my inventory also increased so not sure what to make of it. thanksgiving sales was good regardless of the calc shipping + handling cost

want to hear your experiences

anyways it feels nice to profit more than what the item is listed for, you guys should try it

[chevymontecarlo88]

Personally, i add any handling/material cost into the shipping (flat rate) or the item itself. There is a case to be made for FREE SHIPPING as some customers are attracted to it.

[johnrj1226]

always used the usps counter  price plus a handling charge total shown on each listing for my items sold, never did a free ship listing.   only sipped via priority service.  no problems.  shipped 1665  packages.

[kandf_vintage_finds]

No handling cost here but I would like to reply to your last comment

"anyways it feels nice to profit more than what the item is listed for, you guys should try it"

It does feel nice.  I don't try it I do it on each and every sale.  Why would I waste my time if I don't profit more than what its listed for?   Or did I read this wrong? 

I do wish you luck!

[12345jamesstamps]

Free domestic shipping...makes it easy for buyer to know the cost of item + tax while not having to add shipping charge.

A lot of sellers offer free shipping...I go with the flow.

[iamcara]

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@chevymontecarlo88 wrote:

Personally, i add any handling/material cost into the shipping (flat rate) or the item itself. There is a case to be made for FREE SHIPPING as some customers are attracted to it.

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Sometimes u hab to do what is right even if it doesn’t help u at first. A dog should know 

[lux.ra_14]

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@iamcara wrote:

Panyways it feels nice to profit more than what the item is listed for, you guys should try it

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Looked at two of your listings. There's no description in the description field, apart from info about your store and policies. That includes a strange bit about asking military personnel to send a "short essay" if they want a shipping discount. 

How do you sell stuff without descriptions? If buyers don't read them, then they're also unlikely to review the Item Specifics.

[iamcara]

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@lux.ra_14 wrote:

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@iamcara wrote:

Panyways it feels nice to profit more than what the item is listed for, you guys should try it

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Looked at two of your listings. There's no description in the description field, apart from info about your store and policies. That includes a strange bit about asking military personnel to send a "short essay" if they want a shipping discount. 

How do you sell stuff without descriptions? If buyers don't read them, then they're also unlikely to review the Item Specifics.

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Oh you know what I literally had 10 paragraph descriptions on all of my listings for a while until a few days ago. It’s really difficult to keep up with bulk editing with html so I just got rid of all my descriptions. As in I end up messing up the html one way or another as I am not a professional web developer and I would like to list policies as well as descriptions which usually entails bulk editing at some point. Unfortunately eBay does not have the option to section off descriptions into two so that the html editing for one section does not harm the other , so here I am wondering if I should really go back and edit all of my listings one by one. Still debating it. I have no interest in hand writing descriptions and seems like a lot of people are actually detracted by ai descriptions (even though my ai descriptions are from a fairly complex pre prompt based on images using the paid version of chat gpt and meta ai in combination). There lies the conundrum.

as for the military discount I do not believe that I have the right to request proof of residence in a us/apo zone or whatever it’s called (military bases across the world) and the shipping rate tables do (out of necessity) separate that category and this gave me the idea of giving military discounts. 🙂

[meme6253]

I usually figure in packing material & handling into the shipping cost, You really need to packing material has increased drastically.

[tarotfindsandmore]

I don't offer free shipping and I don't charge for handling.  I tried free shipping for a month and it was a disaster.  There's just too much variability in my shipping costs for it to be worth the time or effort.  I use calculated USPS ground advantage for most items, a flat rate of 2.50 for cosmetics, and media mail for books.  The shipping cost is clearly displayed on the listings so there is no concern about surprises for either the buyer or myself.

Most buyers are savvy enough to know that free shipping is not free, and this current incarnation of the eBay platform sorts low to high with shipping included (if the buyer is actually looking for the lowest price), so there is absolutely no confusion.  I know what I've paid for my items and my asking prices are based on a combination of that and the average of "solds".  I've never had any complaints about shipping so far, and frankly, if my prices are good and the buyer passes me over because I don't offer free shipping, it's their loss. 

[fern*wood]

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@iamcara wrote:

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...so I just got rid of all my descriptions. As in I end up messing up the html one way or another as I am not a professional web developer and I would like to list policies ...

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All I can say about those "policies" is wow.  I never have the need to list any rules, but I think at least a little description is important and a measurement here and there never hurts either. 

[2010byandsel100]

I have a short description that varies with each listing (of course)

then, under a ==================

standard info about shipping methods, international customs fees & combined shipping. 

I always do 'sell similar' and only have to change the 'above the ========= line' description info for each new listing

[femmefan1946]

Do you have any of your older (perhaps Sold) listings available?
Open one as Revise or Sell Similar.

Scroll down to the Description.

On the top right of the box , change to let you see your HTML coding.

Now.

Cut and paste that Description to a desktop document.

Go through it and wherever you see the actual description (not coding) remove it and hit the space bar and the return.

Now what you have is the template for your Descriptions.

Each time you make a new listing, you can paste that template into the Description box and fill in the new description for the listing.
Obviously you do this with HTML view enabled.

Then close the HTML enabled switch and you will see what your buyer will see.

And drop all of this bushwah.

• We ship on the day of purchase for items bought in the morning and we ship the next day for items bought late afternoon and nighttime. 

• Orders with no payment are automatically cancelled in 4 days or 96 hours after purchase. This may affect your account rating.

• USPS Ground does not move packages on Sundays.

• There is a 5 dollar handling charge for domestic orders and a 10 dollar handling charge for international orders. This additional amount is already calculated into the shipping cost that you see on the page.

• We appreciate your business. We want customers who want to be involved with our lives. We hope to keep in contact with repeat buyers.

• We will never respond to special requests on shipment and packaging or questions about item measurements or weight.

• Keep your opinions to yourself, do not contact us about how you think a particular item is overpriced.

• Please contact us directly if you want a special discount on a particular listing due to economic hardship.

• Military personnel please contact us directly with a short essay for shipping discounts.

• We will provide free return shipping only if we find that you have just cause.

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Either this is covered by eBay policies, contravenes eBay policies, is asking for problems, or is rude and condescending.

[gloryglorygifts]

and the ebay shipping padded envelope quality has decreased drastically. They come in a box marked made in China and are rubbish compared to the ones I got 2 quarters ago. 

[tarotfindsandmore]

Totally agree on the recommendation to remove all of the bullet-pointed stuff.  If people read descriptions at all, it's generally to get more information about the item (measurements, clarification on condition, edition size, etc.), rather than a whole lowdown on your policies. 

Also, some of the points may be inviting trouble unnecessarily. Let people ask the questions they want answered, and answer promptly and politely when they do.  We all understand the inclination to preemptively fend off obnoxious or annoying customers, but telling people to keep their opinions to themselves comes off as combative and offering discounts for "economic hardship" invites all kinds of parasitic behavior.  

Basically, cover all of your bases with concise, professional descriptions and leave it alone.  When you get the same question 50 or more times ("is that the actual item for sale?" or "when will you ship?") include the answer in a line or two in your description. Less is definitely more when it comes to verbiage. Say what you need to with your photos.