is free shipping still a desired (must have) for buyers?

[lloydsteventaylor]

I have been thinking of converting my listings all to free shipping. when my wife and I shop the internet we always seek free shipping first. but don't know if that is a game killer for others.

I sell mainly collectibles. and when I look at other sellers I find many do not offer free shipping and they all seem to have decent sales. but others who offer free shipping also have decent sales.

does anything know if free shipping will give a boost in sales?

also, the biggest question about converting to free shipping is: how do  you keep up with changes made to elements of you price when those things increase in cost ?

usps is always increasing rates. how do you keep up with that and adjust your sale price if you offer free shipping.

also another example is silver prices. silver has increased in price recently. if you are selling items which have a major silver component ie silver coins, silver jewelry, silver ware, silver dinnerware. how do you keep up with the price increase if you offer free shipping?

it seems like you have to continually monitor your prices if you offer free shipping?

[lacemaker3]

No, free shipping is not desirable for everyone.

Anyone who lives in a state that does not charge sales tax on shipping, would prefer to have shipping stated separately. It costs less, for both the buyer and the seller. That's roughly half of all states.

#NoFreeShipping

[toysaver]

Most buyers have the basic math skills to assess if free shipping on a $25 item or paying $5 to ship a $15 item is worth it.  Buying an item with calculated shipping can be cheaper if the item is close to home.  

[luckythewinner]

is free shipping still a desired (must have) for buyers?

It is desirable for some of eBay's 135 million buyers.

It is a must have for some of eBay's 135 million buyers.

It is not a factor for some of eBay's 135 million buyers.

IMHO it is waste of time trying to generalize the wants, needs, and expectations of 135 million different people looking at 1.5 billion listings.

usps is always increasing rates. it seems like you have to continually monitor your prices if you offer free shipping?

The USPS announces rate changes in advance, and so does eBay. And listings can be edited in bulk.

[dhbookds]

No doubt you increase the cohort of possible buyers if you offer free shipping.......since there are those who seek that...........  downsides are, as you mention, trying to keep up with increases in postal rates........  and buyers who think the price is too high in comparison to those that offer shipping. 

[steady2304]

It also depends on your selling strategy. Are you planning on just selling single item sales or offering combined/ discounted shipping for multiple sales.

Buyers who buy multiple items from the same seller usually would like a shipping discount, but if it is free shipping the price of the shipping is already baked into the selling price so there is usually no discount available.

It is also easier to adjust shipping prices when the rates go up rather than having to go in and change all your item prices to account for any increase.

[dbfolks166mt]

     In addition to what lacemaker3 mentioned about the sales tax on shipping anytime I am searching for an item on eBay, which is seldom these days, I rack and stack the search results by price + shipping lowest first. I generally assume that those sellers offering free shipping have baked the shipping cost into their price and in doing so have factored in the worst case shipping cost. In a lot of search results the lowest cost + shipping is where the seller is utilizing calculated shipping. 

     You already mentioned the complexities of keeping up with USPS rate increases which can be cumbersome if you have a LOT of listings. About the only time I utilize free shipping is when I know regardless of where the buyer lives there is only one lowest cost shipping option. This usually involves heavier items that I can ship in USPS flat rate envelopes or boxes. In those cases I do offer free shipping and bake the shipping cost into the price of the item. 

     One of the drawbacks to calculated shipping lately was eBay's unilateral modification to some sellers selling preferences where the changed the sellers account settings over to pass along the discounted shipping rates to the buyers. Obviously if you are using free shipping this would not impact you since eBay has no insight into the shipping costs. 

     There is no silver bullet when it comes to shipping it's a matter of finding what works best for you. In general I am speculating that it makes little difference to most buyers they are either happy with the total price and make the purchase or they are not happy with the price and don't. 

[onefootflipper1]

Free shipping is one of the worst possible choices an everything seller can make. 

Free shipping has one good thing going for it.

1. Ranks better in best match search, which is only important to the tiny percent of customers who buy the first thing they see.

Bad things.

1. Impossible to safely run sales.

2. Impossible to safely send or accept offers.

3. Impossible to have a regular markdown schedule. 

4. Cannot charge return shipping when people return things.

5.  You have to manually refigure all your prices every time USPS changes their rates.

6. Customers close to you will never buy, they will get a better deal from someone with calculated shipping.

7. Customers in the furthest possible location from you will buy constantly as you will likely have a better price than anyone with calculated shipping.

8. You will pay more in fees as some states don't tax shipping.

9. Customers who don't pay for shipping are more likely to file returns.

10. If you do dare send an offer then the minimum offer sent is effectively a much higher discount since that offer is also discounting the shipping.

[itsjustasprain]

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@lloydsteventaylor wrote:

it seems like you have to continually monitor your prices if you offer free shipping?

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Yes indeed - because of course you are eating that shipping cost. Over in my selling account I always offer free shipping on small lightweight items that the buyer knows will not cost a ton to ship anyway.

If the thing will weigh a pound or more then I charge Calculated shipping instead. I think the average buyer understands that and I have never thought that an item with a shipping charge was not selling just because of that charge.

I have occasionally bumped up my minimum price for free shipping items over the years as expenses go up but it is not something that I follow down to the last nickel.

[tobaccocardyahoo]

IMO you have some items which might benefit from free shipping and others that will not. It is a decision you should be making based on the item.

[redlinear]

IMO:
It's not must for MANY buyers. 
BUT, it's not a bust for ANY buyers.
  And I find it just flat out faster and easier when listing items.
If I'm listing an item, and a ($20 item + $9.50 shipping) is the cheapest I see on eBay? 
I'll just make mine $28.50 (My shipping is already set at Free)

Nobody thinks I'm gouging them on shipping
And if I can't sell and ship my item for less than the competition?  I don't list it
Buyers no longer ask if I can "Cut them a deal, or Combine multiple orders and reduce the shipping cost" if they buy more than one item.  (I've not had that request since I went to free shipping).
SO, when buyers buy several items?  I combine and ship however I want.

[worldcoinauctions]

I offer free shipping on my fixed price sales. it just simplifies things for me. If I allow best offer I take the shipping (which is part of the price) into consideration when setting my automatic accept price. 

Yes rates change but not by that much at a time, if I make say $1 less because the rates went up that isn't going to panic me, not selling that close to the edge. If  you are, you will lose in the end. I usually have to adjust pricing after 2-3 USPS rate changes. I do figure in how much I pay for paper, toner, packing materials, envelopes, sticky labels, etc, and time.

A mix of methods is just fine. The one thing I don't use is calculated shipping. I know before I list how much it will take to ship to the furthest point in the US and that is what I base my shipping price on.

[onefootflipper1]

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@redlinear wrote:

IMO:

If I'm listing an item, and a ($20 item + $9.50 shipping) is the cheapest I see on eBay? 
I'll just make mine $28.50 (My shipping is already set at Free)

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When you do that you are almost certainly undercutting a calculated shipping item that is close to you with free shipping which can lead to selling items at a dead loss.

[chariot_badges]

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@lloydsteventaylor wrote:

I have been thinking of converting my listings all to free shipping. when my wife and I shop the internet we always seek free shipping first. but don't know if that is a game killer for others.

I sell mainly collectibles. and when I look at other sellers I find many do not offer free shipping and they all seem to have decent sales. but others who offer free shipping also have decent sales.

does anything know if free shipping will give a boost in sales?

also, the biggest question about converting to free shipping is: how do  you keep up with changes made to elements of you price when those things increase in cost ?

usps is always increasing rates. how do you keep up with that and adjust your sale price if you offer free shipping.

also another example is silver prices. silver has increased in price recently. if you are selling items which have a major silver component ie silver coins, silver jewelry, silver ware, silver dinnerware. how do you keep up with the price increase if you offer free shipping?

it seems like you have to continually monitor your prices if you offer free shipping?

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Full disclosure:  I have not read the other replies.

I am a big believer in testing.  And, this is what I would do.

Wait till the beginning of the month.   Switch everything over using a bulk edit.

Do it for 30 days.

Compare it to the previous month.

Compare it to the same month last year.

Make a decision to stick with the change or go back.

I did it a couple of years ago - I now charge fair price for shipping, and I'm about to raise it the first of next month by $1 to $5.95 -- because that's what it costs me to ship.