Shipping

[kkruegerlee]

What is the best way to determine what shipping fee to charge for an item?  I try to use flat rate shipping when I can or should I be weighing|measuring every package before listing it?  What are any benefits to offering free shipping?  Do you get taxed on the entire price when offering free shipping since you generally up your price to accommodate shipping charges?  So many questions. I am a new seller and struggling with this aspect of reselling. 

[nobody*s_perfect]

eBay's fee is a percentage of the buyer's total payment including what they pay for shipping. So you pay the same whether you charge $50 with free shipping or $40 with $10 for shipping.

Buyers do like free shipping. But most postage rates depend on distance, so if you offer free shipping (or if you charge a flat rate) then you will inevitably overcharge some buyers and/or undercharge others.

Postage costs can vary significantly by distance, so most sellers do set up calculated shipping based on the actual weight and dimensions of the package.  Even if you are offering free shipping or charging a flat rate, you need to know what the shipping will cost in order to charge the buyer enough to cover it when you set up the listing.

[martin2001]

It also depends on what to sell. I sell old prints, most of them below 8 ozs (incl packing), some larger are below 16 ozs, so I do have 2 flat rates. Some buyers get overcharged, but it is only a few cents. The story is completely different if you sell heavier, boxed items as the other poster mentioned.

[varebelrose]

Every seller will have different approaches depending on what they sell, how they package, etc. You really need a scale if you dont have one, and it helps greatly to prepackage everything so that your dimensions and weights in the listing are accurate. (This makes it much easier to ship as well).

We sell a variety of stuff so our shipping varies a lot. If an item is less than 16 ounces, I know it can go 1st Class (or "Little white envelope"). Thus I know pretty close what the postage will be by weight no matter where it is going, so I can list "free shipping" and build the cost into the item. Same for anything that will logically work with flat rate priority boxes.

For larger items that weigh more than 16 ounces and are too big for a Priority flat rate box, we use the option for calculated shipping and offer either parcel or priority. 9 out of 10 times, the buyer will choose parcel but we can upgrade to priority for about the same or slightly lower cost to us.

As far as the flat rate option on listings, I personally have never seen a purpose for using that when the above options work out so much better, at least for us. I used it for awhile for the 1st class items, but eBay incentivizes "free shipping" now so I go with that.

YMMV