How do I sell items with extremely high shipping costs, making the total price ridiculous?

[stevilimo0]

I recently tried to sell 20 pound dumbbells with little to no knowledge on how shipping and postage worked. I only ever sell very lightweight items so the shipping costs for me have always bee 2-8 dollars or something like that very cheap. I sold the weights for about $40 with free shipping expecting this to happen again and was greeted with a $55 shipping cost. This was very frustrating as I had just lost 15 dollars. It was pretty obvious I should not have offered free shipping but that would have charged the buyer $90. Obviously nobody would buy these because what confused me was that I see multiple other sellers selling the same dumbbells for 55 or 60 dollars with free shipping? Am I expected to believe that most sellers sell them for a profit of 10 dollars or less?  How am I supposed to sell heavier things with high shipping costs and make actual profit

[electrola_man]

First, before ever listing something for sale, it is critical to have a good sense of what it will cost to ship, and have that covered in the price structure somehow.  Before offering "free shipping," check your item out using a scale.  The one I use every day came from a thrift store for $20.  I see them pretty often.  It is easiest to just use the ebay shipping calculator, by entering the external dimensions of the box, the final weight of the box, and the shipping method.  Then it's probably a good idea to add a handling charge.  Ebay charges a fee on shipping (10% if you have no store), and PayPal charges 2.9%, and packing supplies are not usually free.  On high shipping costs, that 12.9% becomes pretty significant.

As to how to ship things with high shipping costs, it can be a struggle.  Eventually you will get some sense of what shipping various things costs, but there is always some uncertainty due to when "Dimensional Weight" takes over, and where, relative to yourself, your item is going.  I steer clear of big items unless I find something worth enough to make it worthwhile to buy and sell.  Customers will have a sense of what they're willing to have into something, and I generally have to figure out what that is, and back out the shipping cost, to set the price.  If that doesn't leave me enough money for the work involved, I won't buy that item for resale.  Big and/or heavy items typically need to be packaged really well to protect them during shipment, and that tends to make the boxes bigger than you might first imagine, and a lot of work.  In general, try to deal in small items that fit in boxes less than one cubic foot.  It's a whole lot easier.  

[autopartspuller]

In the case of Dumbbells, I would try to find a Flat Rate Box.   They have several different sizes, all with their own set price and can save you a lot of money.  You can order them free on USPS.com.

I also recommend regional rate boxes.  Regional Rate A is one of my favorite.  With an equivalent price of a 2 lbs box you can pack much heavier items in them at stay at a reasonable prices.  Regional rate A's do have a max weight of 15 lbs though.

[itsjustasprain]

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@stevilimo0 wrote:

Obviously nobody would buy these because what confused me was that I see multiple other sellers selling the same dumbbells for 55 or 60 dollars with free shipping? 

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Probably Chinese sellers who get a break in the postage when shipping to the US. 

Not everything is good to sell on Ebay and dumbbells would be a good example. I would hate to be the shipper whose packages just got squashed under yours when the dumbbells got tossed in the bin - but mainly you would have to pack the heck out of them to be sure that they dont burst out of their own box along the way. The fact that the postage would cost a lot is another factor. People looking to buy weights are going to look locally because they know how bad the shipping would be. List your weights for Local Pickup Only and then you can have a reasonable purchase price.

[electrola_man]

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@autopartspuller wrote:

In the case of Dumbbells, I would try to find a Flat Rate Box.   They have several different sizes, all with their own set price and can save you a lot of money.  You can order them free on USPS.com.

I also recommend regional rate boxes.  Regional Rate A is one of my favorite.  With an equivalent price of a 2 lbs box you can pack much heavier items in them at stay at a reasonable prices.  Regional rate A's do have a max weight of 15 lbs though.

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I have tried to make use of those Regional Rate boxes, and they are sometimes good, but it is hard to anticipate their use, as I understand it, when setting up a listing.  It seems the only way to use them is to list based upon Priority Mail, but then use a Regional Rate box if the price is better.  By then, though, the customer has already paid the price based upon regular Priority Mail.  It leaves a little bit of extra profit, if the sale gets made.  That would seem to still be a problem for the OP (and for me in similar situations) in that the buyer is presented the higher shipping price that might make for a tough sale.  Is there a better way to do that?

[nobody*s_perfect]

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@electrola_man wrote: ... I have tried to make use of those Regional Rate boxes, and they are sometimes good, but it is hard to anticipate their use, as I understand it, when setting up a listing.  It seems the only way to use them is to list based upon Priority Mail, but then use a Regional Rate box if the price is better. ...

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Anticipating use of a Regional box is not as challenging as you think.  Postage for the Regional A boxes is just a few cents more than the regular online postage for a 2-pound box.  So if your box weighs more than 2 pounds, it will always be cheaper to use a Regional A box. That's all you need to know!

Set up your listing to calculate postage for 2 pounds; and add a little handling fee if you're not willing to absorb the cost difference (which ranges from 22 to 34 cents depending on Zone).

[soh.maryl]

There are some items where it makes much more sense to list as local pickup only.  

[autopartspuller]

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@itsjustasprain wrote:

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@stevilimo0 wrote:

Obviously nobody would buy these because what confused me was that I see multiple other sellers selling the same dumbbells for 55 or 60 dollars with free shipping? 

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Probably Chinese sellers who get a break in the postage when shipping to the US. 

Not everything is good to sell on Ebay and dumbbells would be a good example. I would hate to be the shipper whose packages just got squashed under yours when the dumbbells got tossed in the bin - but mainly you would have to pack the heck out of them to be sure that they dont burst out of their own box along the way. The fact that the postage would cost a lot is another factor. People looking to buy weights are going to look locally because they know how bad the shipping would be. List your weights for Local Pickup Only and then you can have a reasonable purchase price.

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Selling Heavy Items are not an issue.  First if the item Does not fit in a flat rate box, I usually ship fed ex.

With items that are 15 - 30 lbs, I simply add a couple extra layers of cardboard to the inside of the box and make sure that the padding is firm and tightly placed.

With items 30+ Lbs I use Box in Box shipping.  This is a simple process that does take a little time to do. 

-First pack the first box like normal.  Make sure there is at least two inches of padding the whole way around the item.  The padding should be something that can hold the item firm during shipment.  I personally use shredded paper compacted down but, heavy duty styrofoam would also work.

-Then find a box at least 1" larger dimensions the whole way around. 

-Put a layer of the same padding on the bottom of the box.

-place the first box in the second

-than pad the rest of the box 

I ship 70+ lbs Pumpkin Gears this way and have never had an issue.

[lex-talon]

If it were me, would of offered free, local pick up only.

[southern*sweet*tea]

I would imagine those types of sellers are dropshippers selling new items shipped directly from their supplier. Those suppliers send out large amounts of packages per day and do their own sorting and palleting, so they get HUGE shipping discounts that regular ol' folks like us can only dream of.

[judydu2]

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@autopartspuller wrote:

In the case of Dumbbells, I would try to find a Flat Rate Box.   They have several different sizes, all with their own set price and can save you a lot of money.  You can order them free on USPS.com.

I also recommend regional rate boxes.  Regional Rate A is one of my favorite.  With an equivalent price of a 2 lbs box you can pack much heavier items in them at stay at a reasonable prices.  Regional rate A's do have a max weight of 15 lbs though.

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Great advice!

[nubian_treasures]

The best investment I ever made as seller was the $20 I spent on a digital scale that I bought on eBay. A scale is a must have tool if you plan to do more selling on eBay. 

[atikovi]

List with local pickup only and add a line in the listing that you could check shipping costs for those that can't pick up.