Postage charges leave me out of pocket

[kkatstuff]

By the time I've covered the cost of packaging, seller's fees and most of all Royal Mail postage charges ~ always use tracked and insured, 1st class as my postmaster advised me it was the only way to guarantee the item would arrive at all)~ I'm finding I'm often actually out of pocket!!!

It makes it virtually impossible to keep prices competitive. This is just domestic shipping within the UK. 

[12345jamesstamps]

It depends what you sell of course.

Shipping outside UK is very high...which I guess is why you don't do it.

Anything under $30. I use a stamp(s).   No tracking or insurance.

I find most people in UK rather honest by the way.

Insurance for me is if item is lost...so I don't pay for that.

Tracking delays most items...so if I can get around tracking I will.

We do major recycling in San Francisco...so if it looks good to use again I will.

We get Amazon boxes...wrapping and all that stuff every day in the recycling bin.

And I only have to walk down the stairs to find reusable boxes and such.

[mtgraves7984]

Here in the US, I ship with all the bells and whistles you mentioned through our Postal Service. I have to say that I won't scrimp on that, so I raise my s&h cost when needed. I might be less competitive, but I will not be out-of-pocket. 

[wastingtime101]

FYI @kkatstuff you're on the .com forum, not the .co.uk forum. You probably have similar capabilities on .co.uk such as using calculated shipping to charge buyer's enough for postage amount, adding a handling fee to cover insurance & packing materials, or upping your item price to cover fees/expenses.

I do agree with you that constantly rising costs on everything make it difficult to sell online with competitive pricing.

[soh.maryl]

Are your buyers not paying for shipping? 

[nobody*s_perfect]

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@kkatstuff wrote: ... always use tracked and insured, 1st class as my postmaster advised me it was the only way to guarantee the item would arrive at all)~ I'm finding I'm often actually out of pocket! ... 

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I am skeptical about the postmater's upsell of insurance. Very few packages are destroyed or lost; most sellers find that insurance is not a cost-effective investment.  Remember that your competitors are in exactly the same situation as yourself regarding shipping options and costs.

As noted in the other post, you're on ebay.com, which is the US site. You'll get better responses if you go to

https://community.ebay.co.uk/t5/Discussion-Boards/ct-p/13

[kkatstuff]

Yeah, I try to use Royal mail because I'm of a generation when that meant something. Lots of people here do still have more faith in them than the discount couriers. I know sellers in the US have their own issues trying to compete with the Chinese exports that pay little to nothing for postage. 

I wonder if buyers were more aware of the situation, if it would affect their choices and the market would thus be fair for all sellers? Or am I just an idealistic fantasist?

[nobody*s_perfect]

Most buyers shop by total of price plus shipping; a few get blinded by "Free" shipping.

[monroe67]

"Or am I just an idealistic fantasist?"

You could say you're a dreamer, and you're not the only one.