eBay

traditonalproducts · ‎08-10-2023

Based on the number of posts I have read, let me explain my position on whether this service is a benefit. Here is my example that played out this morning.

12" X 10" X 9" Box 3lbs headed to NY

FedeX - $14.78

UPS - $15.45

USPS - Priority Mail - $15.54

GA - $10.23

There is a possibly a 1 day longer time w/GA between both FedeX & UPS

My profit on selling one of these items was about a dollar without GA. Where I make far more is selling 2, 3, or 4 items.

My profit using GA now is $3.50 on this single item.

Conclusion, GA has helped increase my profit on certain single items based on the box size and weight. To me this is a huge benefit. I have the same delivery time as 1st class.

caldreamer · ‎08-10-2023

Yeah, I am real pleased with the new Ground Advantage. I shipped package on Saturday and it arrived on Monday (CALIF to NYC). Very surprised at the super fast delivery.

dbfolks166mt · ‎08-10-2023

You did not indicate whether the item you sold and are shipping was sold using free shipping or calculated shipping so difficult to assess your particular situation but I too have found that GA is cheaper than priority mail which I often used as the default shipping method simply because of the insurance on the priority mail. Now that GA comes with up to $100 in insurance I have switched my default shipping to GA but still offer the buyers priority mail if they wish to choose it. Not sure that is something you can easily do with listings that have free shipping since I am assuming you have baked the shipping cost into the price.

traditonalproducts · ‎08-10-2023

Free Shipping

dbfolks166mt · ‎08-10-2023

Free Shipping

You do appear to have a small profit margin or ROI but agree the GA has helped in most situations. The problem I always had with free shipping and baking the shipping cost into the price was I am on the east coast so I had to factor the worst case shipping situation into the shipping cost which was from VA to CA. In most cases that inclusion inflated the cost for the east coast buyers since the actual shipping for those buyers was considerably lower. You can always bump up your selling price with the free shipping to increase your profit margin a bit if you can do so and still remain within the competitive price range.

I seldom use free shipping these days unless I know for certain that no matter where the buyer is located domestically there is one cheapest shipping option. This is generally for heavier items that I can fit into a USPS priority mail flat rate envelope or padded envelope.

johnson_junk_company · ‎08-10-2023

It depends. If your item is traveling several zones over then ground advantage is definitely cheaper than priority mail. However, if the item is going to your zone or the next zone over, priority is going to be cheaper unless your item is massively large and heavy. I wouldn’t even consider UPS or FedEx as shipping options as they always end up “adjusting” the rate you pay through eBay making them the most expensive and often wiping out profit.