Do you offer free shipping on auctions? If so, do you add the ship cost to the min bid price or not?

[lawrence_laptops]

New seller here, looking for advice: With buy-it-now listings you can incorporate the cost of "free" shipping cost into the price for a visibility boost, but for auction listings, does it still make sense to do that?

If you set the minimum bid to cover the ship cost, wouldn't the higher price discourage potential buyers from participating? Then again, if you start at $0.01 + free shipping, you'd have to hope it entices enough buyers to participate such that the final price is bid up high enough up to cover shipping costs.

Or is it better to just forget about free shipping and charge actual cost instead? For BIN listings I know free shipping helps visibility, but I don't know how that translates to auctions when most of their views come in the closing hours anyway. (I mean, most bidders will see it anyway when searching for auctions ending soon.) So maybe it doesn't make much of a difference.

Thoughts would be appreciated.

[wastingtime101]

Always charge the buyer for shipping, packing material, fees and expenses. Whether it's packed in to the item cost or a separate shipping charge, whether it's auction or fixed price. Always cover all of your expenses!

Your iPad auction shows free shipping from Canada to the US. No screen, parts only? You think it will be bid up high enough to cover international shipping?

[soh.maryl]

Wouldn't it be foolish for a seller to list with F/S and not roll the shipping cost into the item price?

When shopping on eBay, most smart buyers add the shipping cost to the item price before deciding to purchase.

Isn't an item listed at $15 plus $5 shipping the same as an item listed at $20 with free shipping?  

[lawrence_laptops]

I mean for the sake of auction visibility, does it help to have a higher bid price with "free" shipping included, or a lower bid price with charged shipping added on top? Are buyers more attracted to the "free" bidding price, or the seemingly cheaper one without shipping included?

As for the iPad, yes, it's actually priced just enough so that the minimum bid price will break even after shipping costs and eBay fees. I can ship for that cheap to the contiguous USA, and have a policy set to exclude/upcharge Alaska, Hawaii, etc. It might not be worth my time to sell for "zero" dollars but at least I would get to build up my feedback and transaction count.

[lawrence_laptops]

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@soh.maryl wrote:

Wouldn't it be foolish for a seller to list with F/S and not roll the shipping cost into the item price? 

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Yes, you are correct, I was just curious if a underpricing an auction with free shipping would be worth the gambit, especially if it's an item the seller has sold before and know will sell again at a profitable price. My reasoning was that maybe the increased bid activity at the lower price levels would increase the listing's traffic and/or encourage a bidding war that would carry on long enough to be successful. But I could be wrong.

[monroe67]

"Or is it better to just forget about free shipping and charge actual cost instead?"

Yes, it usually better to forget about free shipping and create your listings with eBay's "calculated shipping" cost.  You're in Canada and I don't know how it works there, but for sellers in the USA, when we sellers purchase postage through eBay, we usually pay a lower price than if we paid retail "actual" price at the counter at our local post office.  Obviously, this also helps our buyers save a little  money.

In your second post in this thread, you ask, "I mean for the sake of auction visibility, does it help to have a higher bid price with "free" shipping included, or a lower bid price with charged shipping added on top? Are buyers more attracted to the "free" bidding price, or the seemingly cheaper one without shipping included?"

Speaking for myself, when I am shopping on eBay I set the search for "Time: Ending Soonest", or sometimes by "Distance: Nearest First", AND I  know that "free shipping" means postage is included in what the seller is asking as the item price. 
As for other shoppers, potential buyers, their general awareness of "free" shipping not being really free -- that's all over the place.  

[worldcoinauctions]

I charge shipping on any "low start" auctions, but if I find something that may be worth quite a bit, but I'm not sure just how much, I'll start it higher and include the shipping cost. Most of my auctions start at 99 cents with $1 shipping and go in an ESE.

[fm2000]

If you are selling laptops, you should use calculated shipping, rather than trying to bake am arbitrary shipping cost into the price (which could cause the price to be higher than necessary and turn buyers off, or undercharging and incurring a loss on the shipping.) I am not sure about Canada, but in the US the cost to ship a laptop (properly) can vary dramatically depending on how far the package is going/zones crossed due to the weight (and possibly dimensions as well.)

Also might be worth forgoing the auctions and the risk involved with them, and just putting your items up a given price and let people make offers if you are willing to go lower.

[soh.maryl]

Why would any seller price any item so that he just breaks even?

[ajs_coins_and_alchemy]

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@soh.maryl wrote:

Why would any seller price any item so that he just breaks even?

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To build up transaction count and possible feedback on a relatively new account.

I did it when I first started. I had junk laying around the house so I priced it to break even at a minimum (i was unlikely to profit anyway) just to get some transactions under my belt and not have a (0) after ny name

[lawrence_laptops]

Sorry, I meant to ask about free shipping on small items that are easy to ship, I should have clarified that. Even as a laptop-focused person I still have plenty of parts like chips, keyboards, palmrests, etc., that are cheap to ship across North America.

Like what @ajs_coins_and_alchemy said, I'm fine with foregoing some profit in the beginning if auctions (and free shipping for that matter) result in more feedback and transactions. I believe top rated seller status gives you a discount on final value fees too, if you have enough in sales and transactions on eBay...

[powell-memorabilia]

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@soh.maryl wrote:

Why would any seller price any item so that he just breaks even?

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It is an auction.  If it sells for the min bid, seller breaks even.  Anything above the min bid is profit.  Seems to me that the seller is doing the right thing.