charged for shipping when using ebay USPS shipping label

[quercus6]

Hi there,

I listed an item for sale - having bought a postal scale- I measured + weighed the packed item and used the ebay USPS ground advantage amount for the shipping amount on my listing. Upon sale, I printed my ebay shipping label, delivered the package to USPS to be shipped to the buyer. 

Later when looking at my transactions, I realized that I paid for the label, not the buyer. I don't understand this. The buyer always paid for shipping (it was included in the buyer's total) when I entered it on the listing without using ebay shipping, and I would buy the label at the post office. This recent ebay label issue caused me to lose $11.70 on a ~$45.00 sale, since I was charged for the label, even though the shipping was included in the item description.

Can anyone explain this to me, is this the way that ebay shipping labels are supposed to work? If so, how do you charge the buyer for shipping and use this service?

Apologies if this is obvious!

Thank you,

Dashi

[robbie31415 · Accepted solution]

Buyers don't buy postage.

You charge buyers postage and eBay gives you the money that you requested on the listing for postage.

When you buy the label it comes out of your funds.

Same concept if you didn't use eBay to buy the label and went to the PO.

[albertabrightalberta]

@quercus6 

Your buyer paid YOU for the shipping as shown in the listing. 

You then use that part of their payment to purchase the shipping label. 

Note that if you offer "free" shipping, all that means is that it's free to the buyer and included in the item price they paid, but you pay USPS (or whatever service you use for shipping) for the label.

[albertabrightalberta]

@quercus6 

Is the item in question the "Nethy hand knit fair isle cardigan made in Scotland, 100% wool- Size M?"

It looks like you sold that item for $45 plus $13 shipping and did offer ground advantage shipping. 

So the buyer paid you $13 for shipping (which includes your handling charge) and you spent $11.70 of that payment for the shipping label. 

The buyer DID pay for shipping then you bought the label as shown in this screenshot. 

[monica-sells]

Sometimes a visual will help you understand better.

Look at your order detail page.

Buyer paid you for buying a shipping label You paid USPS (through ebay) for the label from the funds the buyer paid you....

[quercus6]

I understand now, thank you all so much for the clarifications, very useful.