Why Are Mercari Shipping Labels Cheaper?

[fairdeal*lb]

I was told by eBay staffers that we have the "lowest possible shipping rates". I was also told in order to achieve this maximum shipping discount we need "300+ parcels a month", which we do. 

We've been moving most all of our listings over to Mercari.

Thank you in advance for your help.  

[martin2001]

I think the  right question to ask is Why are ebay shipping labels more expensive. (If they indeed are. Perhaps you could give an example of the Mercari and ebay rates.

For example pirateship.com's simple international package rate is 25-30% cheaper than ebay (for parcels yup to 4 lbs). They even have an explanation on their pages, why they are cheaper.

Personally, if I find a cheaper label service that does what I need, I don't care why they are cheaper.

[fairdeal*lb]

Very kind of you jumping in and I understand some of your points. Yet I still have the same question, I'll ask it in your words- "Why are ebay shipping labels more expensive"?  We just started with Mercari a few months ago and maybe 1/10th of the sales compared to eBay. Well one example is that they beat eBay on all 1st Class?    

[southern*sweet*tea]

You're comparing two different services.

Mercari labels are purchased in bulk by Mercari, not the individual seller. Some labels they lose money on. Others they make money on. For low weight items and media,  Mercari labels are vastly overpriced.  For higher weight items sometimes the labels are a better deal. Either way Mercari gets charged the rate that was set between them and the carrier.

On Ebay, labels are purchased individually, by individual sellers, who are charged the Commercial Base price rate for postage, which can be a little less, or considerably less, than retail prices.

[southern*sweet*tea]

Here's are a couple of examples:

I can ship a one pound book Media Mail, with tracking, for $2.80 using Ebay shipping, or any other shipping option such as stamps.com or Pirateship. Mercari wants $4.99 to ship that same one pound item.

I can ship a three ounce paper item First Class Mail for $2.74, or again $4.99 with Mercari.

For sellers AND buyers of lightweight items or books, Mercari shipping is overpriced.

[fairdeal*lb]

OK lets make this really clear: We've been making more (net profit) on (Mercari) because of shipping cost. Based on the same (exact items) carried over from eBay, (apples to apples).. Again this is incredible because we have very low volume so far on Mercari, like 10/1 vs. eBay.  

[fairdeal*lb]

Lets put it this way.. I do a (QUARTER OF A MILLION) a year on eBay.. It shouldn't even be this close.     

[divwido]

I don't know that they are.  I've sold here for a long long time and I found their labels to be annoying.  They  don't care what the weight and size are-if it's over a pound-it's $ 11.  Over two pounds-$ 17.  That's a stupid way to ship.

[divwido]

Asking that question here was dumb.  I like it there too, but the 99+ likes are stupid when no one buys.  Everyone likes everything, but no one has any money to spend.

[fairdeal*lb]

Kidding me! Your off topic and totally disrespectful. divwido move on please. 

[fairdeal*lb]

I know I'm just a grain of sand on eBay's beach. Let me ask a different question:

Say I'm asking for the best deal shipping basedon my volume? 40% 1st class, 40% 1-3 lbs and 20% over 3 lbs? We ship about 500 packages a month between a few platforms. I appreciate any ideas?

Thanks

[yuzuha]

They are cheaper because Mercari averages out the costs over their labels.  In other words, the sellers of lightweight items (who are paying more for shipping than the shipping for those items actually costs) are subsidizing the sellers who are shipping larger, heavier things, where the shipping labels cost less than the actual costs of shipping those items.

It's the same reason many online stores offer flat-rate shipping. They lose money on shipping heavy items inexpensively, but they make that up by overcharging on the shipping for the lighter ones.