new here and need help with shipping

[samamcca-4xueo5]

I have bought things on eBay and never paid attention to shipping except how fast I'd receive my item or how much itd cost me so i was listing some items for auction last week and let eBay guess the cost for priority mail shipping. I feel it'll cost more than i blindly without a clue assumed. These items im shipping are smallsmall childrens  dresses that don't weigh much. However, i don't know what to ship them in or if i can even ship using my own materials because from what I've seen online you have to order and wait for USPS shipping supplies. Hopefully im wrong. The buyer bought two of my items and wants me to send an invoice for combined shipping. I have no idea what to charge them or how to ship the package. 

[m60driver]

Just be aware that there is a steep learning curve to shipping and we have all made mistakes where shipping costs resulted in a net loss.  With experience mistakes will lessen, but I still blow it now and again.  Always keep a supply of the flat rate boxes around, including the regional rate boxes. These should be readily available at just about every USPS location.  Also invest in a 5lb digital scale.  Heavier items that do not fit into a flat rate box are not very viable items to sell on Ebay (unless you have a nice combination of high volumes and high margins)  with the buyers able to return for just about any spurious reason at your expense.

[abfabvintage]

@packetratville

Hi, hope I am not off topic..., but I had a 14 ounce FClassPackage knife set up for auction (it has ended, no sale). When I viewed the listing (I am zip 21804), it stated a First Class Standard rate of $6.70.  I use ebay labels exclusively. Even tho I didn't sell it, why doesn't the actual listing show the 4.66 rate. Am concerned buyers viewing the auction see the more expensive rate? I plan to relist it once I can figure out what is going on. And if it would sell, I use ebay labels exclusively. Thanks if you can help explain it to me. I do not want to go into my program and make it a Flat rate and input the 4.66 since ebay should be recognizing the weight I put in there to begin with: 14.0 ounces.

[abfabvintage]

Sorry...@packratville.

[sam9876]

You had your listing set to show retail prices.

 14 ounces at the retail level would have to be Priority Mail.

[nobody*s_perfect]

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@abfabvintage wrote:

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 ... I had a 14 ounce FClassPackage knife set up for auction (it has ended, no sale). When I viewed the listing (I am zip 21804), it stated a First Class Standard rate of $6.70. ....

The eBay shipipng calculator is set by default to show the retail price for postage.  There is no retail price for First Class packages over 13 ounces, so eBay plugs in a cost of $6.70 for weights above 13 ounces.

If you want to show the online rate rather than setting a flat price that matches the retail rate, you can re-set your Site Preferences under Shipping.

[buyselljack2016]

@samamcca-4xueo5

Getting your own scale is a great suggestion, but do not get a 5 lb scale.

You can easily exceed 5 lb. Maybe not at the moment, but you may find other things to sell when you get comfortable with selling/shipping.

get one that goes 30-40lb or more.  They are still accurate for lower rates.

I got one for less than $10 including the shipping.

When you get your items packaged, and weighed up you can use "send invoice" so your buyer can pay a realistic amount for "shipping & handling". Yo do not have to invoice the exact shipping amount. Remember, eBay is taking 10% of what the buyer pays you for shipping.

[abfabvintage]

Thanks for your help. Will just revise per listing at the flat rate and insert what I know the FCP will cost the buyer. Don't want to fool around with changing shipping preferences as all else works as is. And don't have many that go over the standard 13 oz. Thanks again.