Ebay Shipping Label and Discount

[aalo-2738]

I'm selling books so I would probably be using Media Mail and not 1st Class or Priority.  Does their discounted rate include media mail or is it only on the more common rates ie 1st Class, Priority? 

[stainlessenginecovers]

You can verify by checking on ebay and then checking same weight/size/zip (use furthest) on USPS website. Then, you'll know. 

[ebooksdiva]

There is no commercial discount for Media Mail. Services such as Priority, First Class , UPS etc..have a commercial discount when purchased online. 

[buyselljack2016]

@aalo-2738 

eBay extends a small discount (~ 3%- the old Commercial Plus discount) to Top Rated sellers on "Priority", but other than that eBay label prices are just "online" prices

There is no discount for Media Mail (or Parcel Select)

[nobody*s_perfect]

There's no discount for Parcel Select Ground because it IS the online discounted price; the retail equivalent is called Retail Ground. Both services used to be known as Parcel Post.

For packages up to 5 pounds going to Zones 1 - 4, the eBay label price for Priority Mail is lower than the USPS published Commercial rate.  For instance, shipping a 4-pound package to Zone 4 costs $8.78 through eBay although the published USPS rate is $9.83.

Announcement re: lower Priority rates:

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Announcements/New-lower-rates-for-USPS-Priority-Mail-labels-effective/...

eBay prices shipping calculator:  http://www.ebay.com/shp/Calculator

USPS official rates publication:  http://pe.usps.com/cpim/ftp/manuals/dmm300/notice123.pdf

[buyselljack2016]

Thanks for the clarification on those Priority rates.  I don't do a lot of Priority and forgot about the exceptions.  

[12345jamesstamps]

I usually walk my stuff into a post office and give it to a clerk if it going "Media Mail". I also notified buyer this is a  little slower in delivery. And I always put the words "Media Mail" on the package (of books).

[whimsyonthewinetrail]

i have found that for smaller / lighter books (under a pound) -- many times the cost for first class package is within a few cents of media mail ... depending on what zone you are mailing to ....

and with media mail costs rising again soon ..... may happen more 🙂

[pargran3]

Media is not discounted but there is an advantage to printing a label and putting it on the package and mailing it. Do NOT mark media rate all over the box. Just put the label with tracking on it an away it goes.

[pargran3]

And just a suggestion, but you are going to run into big trouble with your listings. Perfectly acceptable to state in the listing you have other books for sale. Big mistake to have four or five books in the photo that are NOT included in the listing and devoting more space to specifics of books in other listings is a very bad idea.

Keep it simple.

Your listing needs to show what you are selling for the amount of money stated. Period.

[nobody*s_perfect]

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@pargran3 wrote:

And just a suggestion, but you are going to run into big trouble with your listings. ... Keep it simple.

Your listing needs to show what you are selling for the amount of money stated. Period.

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Oh my, yes! I hadn't looked before but that is absolutely correct. The images in the listing should show ONLY the item(s) that the buyer is going to get if they win the auction.  Showing other items is misleading and eventually you'll get a buyer who expects to receive everything shown in the images.  Even listing your other upcoming book listings in the item text is technically an eBay violation called keyword spamming.

[suzysemporium]

Heads up, everything is going to change this summer I believe sometime in July. USPS is going to combine media mail, 1st class packages, ground retail, and ground select into ground advantage.

Thy haven't announced pricing yet. According to the introduced bill that passed last year, ground advantage will have insurance up to $100. 

They will not be inspecting ackages like they could with meia mail to make sure you were shipping media mail items. I do not know how much slower it will be than priority.

[nobody*s_perfect]

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@suzysemporium wrote:

Heads up, everything is going to change this summer I believe sometime in July. USPS is going to combine media mail, 1st class packages, ground retail, and ground select into ground advantage.

Thy haven't announced pricing yet.....

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The proposed prices to go into effect on July 9 were included in this announcement, last February, and seem to be the same as current prices:

https://www.prc.gov/docs/124/124455/Notice%20CP2023-113%20GA.pdf

AFAIK, the new category of "Ground Advantage" will absorb the services currently known as First Class package, Retail Ground, and Parcel Select Ground. I have not seen any indication that Media Mail is also affected.

[suzysemporium]

You are right. I thought the article from freight waves included media mail. When I went back to it, there was no mention of media mail.

The government article you posted seven pages down said that prices were going to be revisited in their May meeting. In other words, subject to change. Hopefully they won't change too much.