Is it truly impossible for us to ship tiny items under 1oz for under 5$ these days??

[dirtcrasher]

Hello, I did look thru quite a few threads and it does seem that shipping is in fact this way these dayt, but. I was just wondering if we could ship tiny items under 15.99oz in any manner that is cheaper than >4$ with tracking?

Allot of us often have small items, such as a coin, a gasket, an oil seal, a dollar bill, a small nut or bolt, etc, and I'd guess ir was about 2 years ago that we could ship them  for between 1$ and 2$.

I forget the name of that service but things changed again, as they always do, and the higher cost is passed on to the customer. Who, incidentally doesn't seem to be buying much these days. I get the feeling people are only buying what's absolutely necessary. Anyhow, it seems like sellers cannot even offer small inexpensive items for sale anymore because the shipping is never less than 4$ So, the seller often has to offer multiples ofthe same item or add something to it to make the shipping cost worthwhile to the buyer.  

At one time I was putting small gaskets in a regular 9 x 4 envelope, which never exceeded 1/2" thick, for just the price of a stamp. But, with no tracking I had some dishonest people claim they didn't get the item and I'd have to send them another one; it's not worth the hassle. Hence the reason I must have tracking. Ebay gives us a discount so I assume going to the Post Office would only cost more.

The reason I ask is that I sometimes see sellers asking 1$ or 2$ for shipping on similar small thin items, which would fit in an envelope, and they do supply tracking. Either they are absorbing the extra shipping costs, or is it that they have a work around such as a LLC or something that I am missing? It's often the huge volume sellers which do that. Am I missing anything, or is this just how it is these days? Thank you...

[robbie31415 · Accepted solution]

You can ship untracked, however as you said you will be at risk for anyone who claims they didn't get it.

If the item you are selling qualifies you can use eBay's ESE. https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/shipping-items/setting-shipping-options/ebay-standard-envelope?id=...

If it doesn't qualify then you will have to decide if its worth it to ship untracked and take the risk, or sell for higher price.

Hard to say what the volume seller is doing without knowing specifics of service, etc. But volume sellers typically have negotiated prices that will be lower than you can find on platforms like eBay.

[12345jamesstamps]

To attract buyers we sellers sometimes have to offer .99 cents with free shipping.

And hoping a buyer buys more than one item at a time.

Yes, a good old forever stamp still works for shipping flat items like a coin, dollar bill, post card, etc. I sell stamps.

Tracking is a big money maker for someone.

You don't have to use tracking for cheapo items.

I haven't lost anything in years through the USPS.

I do tracking high end items using my own postage.

We don't use tracking for paying bills, senior getting social security checks, etc. etc.

One needs to have a business plan and also a source of cheap shipping supplies.

And understand the weight, width and thickness of mailing something.

Heck, has anyone ever mailed a Christmas or Greeting Card with tracking?...LOL

[mr_lincoln]

Hi @dirtcrasher 

No, as @robbie31415 points out is it eBay's Standard Envelope which is Metered Mail and only applies to specific items.  With items outside those categories you are right, it costs at or just under $ 5 to ship light weight items. 

For some items it is not sustainable to sell them on eBay unless one charges for the shipping cost.

[deserdog]

Shipping a 4 ounce package up to 4 ounces costs $4.09 to zone 1 up to $4.71  to zone 8. these are quotes from Pirate Ship for USPS ground advantage. Sounds like a lot for a little item. Where you make out pretty well is multiple purchases. I bout a bag of patches, 126 in the bag, for $4.00. I sold each one for $5.00, and wish I had hundreds more. At this time, 1 patch would ship to zone 8 for $4.71. But so would up to 8. I sold lots of multiple patch orders.

And this was competint with a few sellers of the same patch who had theirs at $7.00 with free shipping.  If any buyer bought 3 patches from me, it would be a better deal then 3 at $7.00 with free shipping per item. Most I sold to 1 buyer was 8 patches, it was to a smoke shop in Colorado.

[nobody*s_perfect]

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@deserdog wrote:

Shipping a 4 ounce package up to 4 ounces costs $4.09 to zone 1 up to $4.71  to zone 8. these are quotes from Pirate Ship for USPS ground advantage.....

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For an eBay label, it's $4.09 to $4.58. Since $4.71 is the published Commercial rate, I wonder whether you checked the rates using a Zone 8 ZIP Code that's subject to the 'rural surcharge"

[deserdog]

I just used a zone 8 zip code in TN, I live in CA.

[tobaccocardyahoo]

Question whether it is worth the time, effort and potential risk to your account for an inexpensive sale, especially if it goes bad.

Too many sellers find out that their inexpensive sales create problems for their entire account. Sometimes they do even of the seller is prompt and generous with their refunds.

[deserdog]

All of my sales, even lowvalue ones, have calculated tracked shipping. 

[dirtcrasher]

I appreciate all the replies. I will look into the Ebay standard envelope, slim chance probably. I was fairly certain sellers were just absorbing the extra shipping cost, but I had to check. Thing is, if you have 50 pieces of an item that cost you .50c and you want to list them each for 3 /4$ each ( which is still a good value for the buyer), you can't charge 4.50$ to ship them, or they won't sell nearly as well as they would for 1.50/2$ shipping. And people may only want 1 rather than 3 or 4. 90% of what I've sold were the same niche items for the past 3 years, and they sold a few times a week and sometimes daily. Beginning last summer it all slowly stopped, and it hasn't improved. It is as if spending finally caught up to people. It's just a hobby that allows me to buy the things I want, so it's not a big deal. I'm sure it's affected the products many sellers offer these days though. Thanks again.