Newbie questions about shipping from Pirate Ship import

[djoseph05]

I just listed my first 10 items. I set up Pirate Ship to automatically import eBay order info. (EBay charges 9.88 and Pirate Ship is 9.29  on the same pkg to Los Angeles.)

How do I set this as the default on eBay? 

Do most sellers ship to Alaska and Hawaii? If it just calculates the extra, then I would do that.

Also, same question about International Shipping—I read that it's no hassle to do that, and I've been choosing no International.

Thank you for your help!

[wastingtime101 · Accepted solution]

You cannot easily do what you're asking. You'd have to set up flat rate costs with rate tables and it would be a ton of work and a nightmare to keep up with as opposed to just charging the buyer less than 60 cents extra.

The lowest rate you can charge the buyer when using calculated shipping is the eBay discounted rate - not another shipping provider's discounted rate. Something to keep in mind when you charge buyers the online discounted rate: you are losing money.

The setting to offer buyers discounted rates can be found on your shipping preferences page under the carrier specific discounts setting: https://www.ebay.com/ship/prf

Since eBay charges a fee on total cost buyer pays (item + ship + tax), by charging commercial rates you are losing money on every single package. If you want to make up for that you can add a handling fee or increase your item costs - or simply charge retail rates for a built in cushion instead of passing on the discounts.

[djoseph05]

Wow! Thank you for the explanation. I'll just set it for eBay then; I didn't want anything complex, which could bite me somewhere. I have another use for Pirate Ship too, which will help me separate where sales are from. Much appreciated, Thanks