Using eBay to ship something cheaper

[ahyou_7364]

Hello, I am shipping somewhat large, but light package across the country to a friend. USPS/ups/FedEx/pirate ship all list the shipping cost around $20-$30, whereas when I used ebays calculator it came up as $9. So my question is can I just post this item for like a penny and have my friend buy it so that way we can use ebays much cheaper shipping? To make sure no one else buys it I can just list the item for like $300 and then have my friend put an offer of a penny or something and I can accept it. There may alternatives to get cheap shipping  but I am just asking if this specific way is possible or if I will get in trouble for doing this. Thanks 

[buyselljack2016]

@ahyou_7364 

How long has it been since you shipped the item?

Size costs have gone crazy.  larger items that could once ship dirt cheap have risen a whole bunch.

Now anything over a cubic foot will pay big $$  coast to coast.

[kensgiftshop]

@ahyou_7364 

I think it would be a lot easier to buy a shipping label through Pay Pal for the same price it would be on Ebay.

[debo3osu]

Everybody on here is wrong. Ebay offers enormous discounts, especially when sending large items UPS and Fedex. I got a 67% discount sending a bike via UPS the other day. Would have cost hundreds if I just walked in the store; I shipped it for $75. So yes this would work. I’m not sure if they monitor for this type of thing, however. I don’t think eBay would actually care (they’re not getting hurt), the shipping companies might. But I don’t see how they’d know, and they must still be making a profit regardless. Let us know how it goes.

[nobody*s_perfect]

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@debo3osu wrote:

Everybody on here is wrong. Ebay offers enormous discounts, especially when sending large items UPS and Fedex.....

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They were right, back in August 2021 when this discussion was posted.

Since then, eBay (and some other online postage providers) have indeed started charging less than the published online rate in some situations such as Priority Mail to some weight/zone combinations.  Nobody ever said that eBay charges the same retail rate that you'd pay as a walk-in.

[kh-vince]

Hi everyone,

Due to the age of this thread, it has been closed to further replies. Please feel free to start a new thread if you wish to continue to discuss this topic.

Thank you for understanding.