eBay Discounted Rates are Off The Rails

[vintage-rescue]

This may end up to be a bit of a rant, so apologies in advance. I'm trying to work through my shipping policies and ebay seems to have broken something.

For a good long time, UPS Ground Saver ebay rate and customer rate were the same. Not a problem. Manageable by adding a small handling fee for $1.50 for materials. That was our process.

As of recently (sometime in December I think), the customer rate is THREE TIMES MORE than the ebay rate. This is untenable. 
Here are the rates for a standard 2lb package 8x6x4 going to myself:

Buyers a much less likely to buy with outrageous shipping costs.

Trying to balance this rate through the Shipping Discount Settings is oversimplified. Only providing an all, nothing or blanket percentage option. 

How should I go about getting rates to acceptable levels of packing costs? I'm not trying to make any money off shipping. I'm just trying to have the packing materials covered. Is switching fully to ebay discounted rates for the customer, then tacking on a reasonable materials fee the only option? Or is there something I'm missing?

*Flat rate is a dangerous option for me. I'm on the coast and ship large heavy packages frequently.

[stainlessenginecovers]

It's not ebay rates; it's your size or weight or something you are doing because a 12 oz coffee mug should NOT cost $28 to ship from VA to NV. All of your (and only you) shipping costs are messed up. 

[vintage-rescue]

I literally used the ebay calculator for a 2lb package for 8"x6"x4" dimensions from my zip code, to my zip code. You're right. It shouldn't cost $21.14 to ship UPS Ground Saver retail rate. Something is imbalanced. You can try the calculator yourself.

https://www.ebay.com/shp/calc/rates

[bonanza125]

Here is how you correct the issue. Use USPS and the odds of getting adjustments are lower. So far I haven't received not 1 adjustment through USPS Ebay labels.

[ryry-jj]

Set up with calculated eBay rates and add $1-2 for handling, packaging, & FVF cost

[hotwheelsbum]

Wow. You are doing something seriously, SERIOUSLY wrong when you're creating your listings when it comes to Shipping Costs. Are you putting Pounds in the Ounces section? Feet in the Inches section? Majority are USPS Ground Advantage. You're doing something wrong. I just looked at a LOT of your listings. Shipping from Virginia here to Texas should not be in the $20-$30-$40 range for any, most of this stuff you're selling. Then I looked at the "Similar Items" there in your listings, Similar items with shipping costs in the $9-$12 averages. Half, a third of what you're shipping costs are. 

You need to check what you're doing wrong when making these listings. Figure out what that problem is, these rants and concerns will go away. 

[kibble-net]

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@bonanza125 wrote:

Here is how you correct the issue. Use USPS and the odds of getting adjustments are lower. So far I haven't received not 1 adjustment through USPS Ebay labels.

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I have received two adjustments for a USPS labels out of thousands.

The first was an underpayment - and this was due to my own mistake.

The second was an overpayment - I'm not sure how they determined this, but I got a few dollars back somehow.

One thing to keep in mind is that UPS and Fedex now require you to ROUND UP fractions of an inch, this is a somewhat recent change. USPS you can round down for up to 1/2 inch.

Regarding the issue of packing materials - a $1 to $1.50 handling fee per order ought to suffice. My average box cost is about $1, so I charge $1.

[simply-the-best-for-you]

@vintage-rescue  Yes, unfortunately, the last USPS increase affected Counter Rates, but minimally (if at all) our discounted rate, which I believe is Commercial Plus, resulting in this first time ever situation fo the buyer being charged more than ever before, while the seller is charged a more reasonable rate.   There has not been such a dispartity between the 2 rates in as long as I can remember & I've been selling since the beginning of eBay.  

If you're unaware, there is a flag in your Shipping Preferences that you can choose to keep the difference or give it to your buyer.  Unfortunately, many sellers are not finding that adequate.  When it was first implemented, lots of sellers were posting that they wanted to be able to split the difference or choose a percentage.   I still keep the difference but yes, there are a lot more buyers complaining abt the high rates & I think more sellers than ever before are choosing to give away the difference or choosing to use a flat rate.