Postage Discounts?

[oldskoolcollectibles_007]

Does e-Bay provide shipping discounts when buying postage. When I list an item between 1 and 4 ounces, e-Bay estimates 1st class postage to be between $4.75 and $5.25.

A friend of mine on another popular site says her charge is only $3.81.

It's impossible to offer buyers free shipping when the postage costs as much as the item. If there is a way to get postage discounts, please let me know.

[wastingtime101]

Current retail rates (purchased at the post office) for First Class range from $4.75 to $5.25 (link) for 1-4 oz packages.

Current commercial/online rates (purchased through eBay and other postage providers) for First Class range from $3.59 to $4.13 (link) for 1-4 oz packages.

The rate is dependent on how far away the ship to address is from the ship from address, and where you purchase your postage.

So yes, purchasing your labels through eBay (or most other online postage providers) will offer you the commercial discount you won't get when you pay for labels at the post office.

[nobody*s_perfect]

eBay's estimates ($4.75 to $5.25) are the retail price, not the eBay price.  The shipping calculator in eBay listings defaults to show the retail postage cost, but you can change that in your site preferences.  Most sellers leave it set to retail even if they purchase the discounted postage through eBay, because then the online savings serves as a built-in handling fee to cover expenses such as packaging materials and eBay fees.

$3.81 would be the online price to ship a package up to 4 ounces to Zone 5; the retail price is $5.05.

You can choose to see either retail or eBay prices when you use eBay's shipping calculator tool here:

http://www.ebay.com/shp/Calculator