eBay

carguy44 · ‎10-30-2014

This is my situation: I have a sizeable amount of plastic model kits (unbuilt) in my basement, that I will never have time to build. Most of them range from $15-$100 retail, not including sales tax/GST, of course.

The problem is, in most cases the shipping cost will equal or exceed the value of the model. As such, is it better to list the item at a lower price and calculate actual shipping? or list as free shipping, but with a higher price factored in?

I feel that Canada Post will be the only one making money from these sales. Take a model that retails for $25, for example. I mean, if a buyer can buy the same item at a local hobby shop for $25 (+taxes), why would he/she buy my item for the same price THEN pay an additional $30 for shipping?

I don't expect to make a lot of money from selling them, but I don't really want to give the models away while subsidizing Canada Posts' coffers...

mr.elmwood · ‎10-30-2014

Why would shipping be $30? That seems high. 500g-1K is only $16 to the USA. I charge flat rate to Canada of $11.

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carguy44 · ‎10-30-2014

@mr.elmwood wrote:
Why would shipping be $30? That seems high. 500g-1K is only $16 to the USA. I charge flat rate to Canada of $11.

Many weigh in at the 2kg mark after packaging. I'm more or less presenting a worst-case scenario.

atvds1210 · ‎10-31-2014

Tough place to be - decent dollar amount but not enough to subsidize shipping to be competitive, and over a kilo so you kick into higher tracked postage rates.

Can you do groups of the models into small lots so that you are selling 3, 4 or 5 together to minimize the shipping impact. Of course, you have to see if that will kill the value vs. individual sales.

ricarmic · ‎10-31-2014

For some of my product lines I have the same problem.

What I have done for a similar situation as you:

- the lower end ie $15 retail I list without shipping added

- the higher end ie $100 retail I list with "free shipping" (ie the shipping built in)

Experimentally, I tried listing some of the lower end stuff with shipping built in, which made my prices almost double the competition, and darned if they didn't sell still!

You may want to experiment, placing some low end with built in shipping and some without and see what happens....a lot will depend on how much time you have to experiment.....

My personal belief is that free shipping significantly enhances the visibility of items....due to cassini or whatever.....in my world (stamps)

pierrelebel · ‎10-31-2014

" is it better to list the item at a lower price and calculate actual shipping? or list as free shipping, but with a higher price factored in?"

The only ones with an answer to your question are potential buyers. What do they want? What do they buy?

When checking what your competitors do with similar products, what do you see? When checking "sold" (completed) listings for your competitors, what do you see? How many have sold? How many offered "free shipping"? For sellers adding a shipping charge, how much have they actually charged? (your shipping costs are irrelevant to this equation - only your buyers decide how much they want to pay after checking your competition).

On eBay today, over 54% of all listings offer "free shipping" (shipping included in price). Does this ratio apply to your competitors for your products?

And yes. listings offering "free shipping" get some advantage in search results (it does not mean they are all on page one; shipping is only one factor taken into account by the search engine).

mr.elmwood · ‎10-31-2014

Up to 2K, I still only pay about $22 to the USA, Canada is usually much less than that depending upon location.

It sounds more like you have already put road blocks in place and you have made a decision that it is too expensive, can't work, won't work, and it is the fault of the postal system. This before you have started.

A good listing will generate sales. People will pay good money for a well listed product.

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ypdc_dennis · ‎10-31-2014

Another approach for the less expensive models, is to offer bundles of related models. This would help improve the ratio of product cost vs shipping cost. For sales inside Canada using Canada Post this is especially true, to outside Canada, not so much.

mdf_jersey · ‎10-31-2014

As you are hearing from other posts it is a difficult question. I can only speak from my own experience and say that I had the same question. I decided to offer free shipping and add the price to the item. I actually added less to the item than the postal cost, so in actual fact the item ended up cheaper.

After this was done, I didn't receive a single sale, not even an inquiry. 2 weeks later I reversed it to where I started showing shipping costs and put my price back to where it was. Right away I got sales and inquiries.

Personally I feel buyers will look at your price. By raising the price to supplement the shipping cost didn't work for me.

I do think you need to see if you can reduce your shipping cost. I am not aware of the weight of your items, but $30 does seem high.

femmefan1946 · ‎10-31-2014

Although Free Shipping is popular with buyers, it does seem to vary with the category.

And of course with the cost of shipping.

If your product is easily available in the USA, the cost of shipping from Canada when added to the asking price of the item (which is, of course, what 'free' shipping really means) may make an American customer hit the back button. But if the product is hard to come by, or unique, then Free Shipping comes into its own, since the buyer does not have to think about any additional costs.

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