eBay

bitsofsiliconvalley · ‎03-01-2020

I searched this forum and found that eBay's shipping calculators have been missed up for a long time. I'm posting to ask what whether anyone knows reasonably efficient ways to get accurate shipping estimates.

I just had occasion to calculate the shipping charges for a recent sale with eBay's standalone shipping calculator instead of relying on the calculations in the invoice generator. The prices are wildly different.

I got these charges for a 6 pound package shipping to USPS zone 8. All charges include my standard $1.00 shipping fee.

Priority Mail: invoice $30.20, calculator $25.17.
FedEx SmartPost: invoice $25.17, calculator $16.13.
FedEx Ground/Home: invoice $0.00, calculator $13.82.

The calculator's charge for Priority Mail matches the charge I calculated from USPS's rate charts.

The invoice's charges for Priority Mail matches the calculator's result based on retail rates, although the invoice generator is integrated with eBay's postage printer, which charges discounted rates.

The invoice's charge for SmartPost doesn't match anything.

The invoice's "charge" for FedEx Ground not only doesn't match anything, it's absurd.

I read somewhere that the invoice prices are based on retail rates even though eBay charges the seller discounted rates. That seems to be true, but for Priority Mail only.

Bottom line: (1) By relying on eBay's invoice rates I have been overcharging my buyers for shipping without knowing it. (2) To charge them correctly I'd have to do a lot of extra work.

Does anyone know why this is happening? Does anyone know an efficient way to send invoices with accurate charges?

Perhaps I'll have to define my own shipping rate tables. I've been debating whether it's worth the trouble to do that so I can offer Priority Cubic shipping. I never dreamed that I'd have to do it for plain vanilla Priority Mail.

pjcdn2005 · ‎03-02-2020

I’m not familiar with how accurate the calculator on eBay works for FedEx but the rates that it gives for usps are rarely ‘messed up’. But...there can be a small learning curve in some cases.

The shipping cost given on the invoice is generated by the calculator in the listing and is based on the information that the seller gives it. The default is to give retail rates which is what some sellers prefer to charge to help cover fees,shipping supplies etc. If you want to charge your buyers the discounted rate you can set that up in account - site preferences - shipping preferences. Click on edit next to ‘offer carrier specific discounts’ and you will see the option to offer usps, fed ex and ups discounted rates.

nobody*s_perfect · ‎03-02-2020

@bitsofsiliconvalley wrote:
...
I got these charges for a 6 pound package shipping to USPS zone 8. All charges include my standard $1.00 shipping fee.
... The calculator's charge for Priority Mail matches the charge I calculated from USPS's rate charts.

The invoice's charges for Priority Mail matches the calculator's result based on retail rates, although the invoice generator is integrated with eBay's postage printer, which charges discounted rates.....

As noted in the other post, the shipping calculators for USPS services are extremely reliable, and if you prefer to share your online discount you can set that up in your site preferences (though many sellers prefer to charge retail so they have a built-in handling fee).

Posts about problems usually turn out to be operator error or a misunderstanding about USPS policies. The rates you quoted match the published rate for shipping 6 pounds to Zone 8 (but only if a $1 handling fee is added) for retail Priority Mail and for Parcel Select Ground.

http://pe.usps.com/cpim/ftp/manuals/dmm300/notice123.pdf

bitsofsiliconvalley · ‎03-04-2020

pjcdn2005, thank you for pointing out the discounted rate option in site preferences. It gives me what I wanted, although it's not a hidden case of good design: If a seller wants to charge an amount that covers fees and other expenses, neither of these options does it. Discounts are computed by one set of rules, and vary greatly depending on the service used; fees and expenses are computed by a completely different set of rules, and don't vary.

Everyone: What really concerns me at this point is the shipping calculator's rate of $0.00 for FedEx Ground. I just discovered that FedEx Ground now is by far the most economical rate available, at least in some cases, but I can't offer it if the shipping calculator forces me to ship for free.

Postscript: When I clicked Post, I got an error: "Your post has been changed because invalid HTML was found in the message body..." But there is no HTML in my message body, except the link in pj's name, which eBay created when I copied their name from their post heading. More bad design.

nobody*s_perfect · ‎03-04-2020

Yes, most of the user interface on eBay and on the community discussion boards is terrible. The red HTML message almost always shows up if you have merely quoted an earlier post. eBay staff have been aware of this for years.

When you set up calculated shipping in a listing, you can enter a fixed handling fee to cover fees and other expenses.

It's not clear to me where you are getting the "invoice" price of zero for FedEx Ground.

bitsofsiliconvalley · ‎03-11-2020

It's been a while since I did this, but I recall that I got the zero price when I added alternative shipping methods to a real invoice for investigative reasons. (It was an invoice I had already sent, and did not send again.)

I don't think the fixed fee is really useful except as a method of covering fixed expenses for packing. I can'Y use it to set a single fair price for shipping costs before the sale, when I don't know whether I'll end up shiping to the next town or to Tashkent.