Using Business Policies vs Not Using them

[mreinsmith]

I've been wrestling with offering free shipping and using rate tables to compensate for big differences in shipping costs 

I'm OK with pricing in shipping to the east, south and mid west, but then a lot of times shipping to the west is a big jump in cost

So I'm wondering if opting out of business policies would somehow allow me be more flexible

But I admit I don't remember anymore what options you had without them

Thanks 

[frommichel]

Hello. I sell gemstones, mostly. So, we sell to very different groups. However, I also buy on eBay in just about every category. I find that an increasing number of sellers offer free shipping. Of course, the actual shipping cost will fluctuate depending on location of the buyer. I suggest taking a few of your items having a range of weight and box sizes. Then, contact your favorite carrier to get a range of shipping prices to different areas in the USA. Incorporate either the average or the highest amount into your price. Then, update your other listing prices based on their similarity to the items for which you got shipping prices. I hope this helps!

[mreinsmith]

Thanks, it does help 

The trend towards free shipping is my motivation.

I remember someone in an older post (which I can't find right now)

That they didn't use business policies and if needed they were able to adapt their pricing for each item

I've had that in the back of my mind ever since and I wonder how that would work

I don't want to turn off my business policies and then have to rebuild them if that doesn't work 

Sorry for being long winded, hard to explain

Thanks again 

[adkhighker · Accepted solution]

As long as you're doing Free Shipping listings with the Make an Offer option and with your BIN price set high enough to cover any shipping cost, you'll be able to accept offers from buyers depending on where they live and how much their offer is. Your west coast buyers, unfortunately for them, would have to make you a higher offer than your east coast buyers to cover the extra cost when shipping west.

[mreinsmith]

Thanks, very good approach, really appreciate your advice