eBay

helgafeichtinge-0 · ‎12-16-2018

Hello, I had my first sell on ebay canada. I had to cancel because of the shipping cost from Canada to Puerto Rico. What do you suggest to make my next sale a smooth transition when it comes to shipping.

thanks

Newbee from Canada

ypdc_dennis · ‎12-16-2018

@helgafeichtinge-0 wrote:
Hello, I had my first sell on ebay canada. I had to cancel because of the shipping cost from Canada to Puerto Rico. What do you suggest to make my next sale a smooth transition when it comes to shipping.

How are you shipping?

Puerto Rico is treated as part of the USA if you use the post office (use PR for the state).

van13sina · ‎12-16-2018

Go on the mailing companies website , they'll give you the rates before you post

reallynicestamps · ‎12-16-2018

'Sell' is a verb. The word you are looking for is 'sale'.

I feel better now.

Remember that you do not pay shipping. Your customer pays shipping.

Even "free" shipping, which just means the cost of shipping is included in the selling price.

You can use Calculated Shipping to set the shipping fee for your sales.

https://www.canadapost.ca/cpotools/apps/far/business/findARate?execution=e1s1

You need to know the weight and dimensions of the packaged items. You can do a bit of estimating, but digital scale is invaluable.

I got a StarFrit kitchen scale at Canadian Tire for under $20 that weighs up to 5 kilos .

Use metric measurements. Canada Post went metric in 1974 and everything else will be approximate and probably wrong.

Once you have set the dimensions and chosen the service, Calculated Shipping will show your customer the cost of shipping to their doorstep.

You could also use the link above to work out your own Flat Rate fees, if you prefer.

Are you signed up with Canada Post for a Small Business Solutions card?

This will give you a discount on most parcel services by presenting it at the counter.

You can also get discounts when you print a shipping label. You can get this through SnapShip (Canada Post), Paypal or Shippo.

Discounts will vary.

When you buy a discounted service, your customer is still charged the published fee. Most sellers consider the difference their packaging cost. Bubble wrap ain't free.

Some sellers buy discounted mint never hinged postage on eBay. You can get some reallynice deals on that.

Calculated Shipping is easiest to set up on the Advanced Sell Your Item form, which gives sellers a lot more options.

helgafeichtinge-0 · ‎12-17-2018

Canada Post would have charged around $78

reallynicestamps · ‎12-17-2018

Shipping is the hardest part of mail order.
I used the website above and your parcel must have been 30x30x20 and 12kg (or roughly equivalent) to cost $78.

Calculated Shipping would tell your customer that BEFORE BUYING and then he could decide whether the shipping is worth it.

And of course somethings are not suitable for selling by mail. Anything relatively low value and heavy. Well, obviously.

pjcdn2005 · ‎12-17-2018

If your listing is correct, it would have cost you under $20 to send that scrub top as postage to PR is the same as to the US. When you print the label you may have to change the country to United States and state to PR. Sometimes it will be formatted correctly, other times you will to change it.

I see that your other items are only have shipping to Canada. You may find that if you ship to the US your sales will increase as they have so many more people there. If you want to use a service with tracking you would have to use tracked packet for packages up to 1kg (up to 2 kg starting mid January). But you could also use small packet USA which doesn't have tracking but which is less expensive. Some sellers insist on tracking and others don't use it if the item is below a certain amount as delivery to the US is fairly reliable. If you don't have delivery confirmation and a buyer files an item not received claim, you will have to refund.