Did eBay recently change the way they estimate and then charge buyers for shipping?

[marilyndd3]

For years, on every listing, I've entered the type of shipping I want (usually USPS Ground Advantage), size and weight of package, how much I may want to add for packing, and then eBay calculated the shipping cost for the buyer WITH the eBay shipping discount (I think). Now it seems that eBay is estimating the shipping charge based on the actual USPS charge (no discount), but then only charging me (the seller) the discounted rate when I buy the shipping label. In my situation today, that meant nearly $7 more to the buyer for shipping, which is way more than I want to charge my buyer. Has something changed recently? Am I now in the position of having to give a partial refund to all buyers if I want to pass along most of the eBay shipping discount to them?

[nobody*s_perfect]

Sounds like the eBay gremlins have un-checked your shipping option in your site preferences.  You can correct it here, under "Shipping discount settings":

https://www.ebay.com/ship/prf

eBay recently introduced "Cubic" rates for Priority Mail and Ground Advantage, which saves a lot of money on postage, but increases the gap between the online and retail postage prices.

[marilyndd3]

Thanks for the suggestion, but I looked and nothing was changed in my shipping discount settings. It still says: Offer buyers our negotiated carrier rates on all listings with calculated shipping.

I don't understand the "cubic" rate situation. If it saves a lot of money, then I want that discounted rate to appear in my listing when the shipping is estimated for the prospective buyer. How do I do this? It is a real disincentive to bidders if they see an astronomical shipping charge estimated when, in fact, the shipping cost will be much lower!! How do I deal with this? Thank you for any help you can offer.

[nobody*s_perfect]

if you have set your site preferences to show buyers the online (eBay) rate, then it should show the cubic rate when available.  eBay's policy for labels and for listings that show the eBay rate is that they will show the cubic rate when it is lower than the regular rate (based on dimensions and weight), but without specifying which, although IIRC the shipping labels do say Cubic on them.

Which listing resulted in the $7 overcharge?  It would be useful if you provide specific details, including package weight and dimensions, service used (e.g., Priority Mail?), both ZIP Codes, and both exact prices.  Here's the eBay shipping calculator where you can see the prices:

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