Is it legit to select tracked shipping option and ships as mail?

[rocketscollectibles]

I would like to ship a +/- $80 item as mail because tracking and fees eating all the money. It keeps me from lowering my price and sell my item, but i'm too scared of premeditated INR scams... Lettermail and letterpost options are like a ''you can scam me'' sticker on our listings... For domestic it's very easy we can select CP standard shipping + free shipping and no one knows if it's tracked or not. No one can premeditate a INR scam if they don't know if they can scam you. Very simple anti scam

My problem is with the US shipping, ebay force us to select between either letterpost or tracked options. There's no generic options. I wonder if it's legit if we offer free shipping, select tracked packet, but ships letterpost? Is it against the rules? If we select a shipping option, are we in the obligation to ships with this option, even if shipping is flat free?

[ricarmic]

If you sell via free shipping you have lots of options about what you pick.

I definitely would not pick something "higher" than what you send so don't pick tracked then send letter, that will cause problems.

Everything* I sell is free shipping.

Everything I sell, including bankers boxes is flat rate shipping regardless what site it is on.

If I list on .COM for US folks (domestic) I use "standard shipping outside the US"

If I list on .CA for US folks I use "standard intnernational shipping"

*A few items are not free shipping domestically if the shipping cost is higher than the item price for example. This would be maybe 1% of my items.

[zee-chan]

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@rocketscollectibles wrote:

I wonder if it's legit if we offer free shipping, select tracked packet, but ships letterpost? Is it against the rules?

Yes, it is against the rule since it would be false advertisement. Select "economy shipping" or something similar if you plan to ship letter post or small packet air.

If we select a shipping option, are we in the obligation to ships with this option, even if shipping is flat free?

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Yes, you're obligated to ship "as advertised" by your listing.

[femmefan1946]

because tracking and fees eating all the money.

The buyer pays for shipping and tracking. If he cannot afford the total cost, he cannot afford your item.

You can only use LetterMail for items that are under 500g and under 2cm thick.

After that most* Parcel ratesare tracked.

Fees should be less than 20% of your costs.

If your costs are constantly higher, it's time to look at your business plan.

Some things are too cheap for mail order.

With very low value items like your $4.00 cards, you woud do better using Free Shipping and folding your actual cost of shipping into the asking price. Which is cheaper a $4 card with 50c shipping? A $4.50 card with Free Shipping?  or let's get radical and offer  a $4.99 card with Free Shipping.

*USA Small Packet is not tracked

[rocketscollectibles]

Select "economy shipping"

As i said economy shipping tell the buyers you use mail, and it's like having a sticker on the listing saying to buyers they can claim INR and have free items with absolute no risk

I feel like am alone to think that? Showing we ship by mail is scam incitative

I don't understand why ebay force us to show it and do not change that

If I list on .CA for US folks I use "standard intnernational shipping"

Is it normal i don't have this option? I don't have any generic option for US, it's all specific: letterpost, tracked packet, expedited, xpress, etc. Domestic .ca i have standard CP shipping, but not for US

Fees should be less than 20% of your costs

If i ship a $80 with tracking, there's like $50-55 left after. With mail $65-70, that's huge. It means i can sell my item $70 without tracking and end with the same amount than $80 with it. Makes a huge difference if you can lower your price by 10-15% and end with the same amount

Anyway i just don't want the buyer to know it's untracked, to not incitate to premeditated INR scams. As said for canada it's easy with standard + free shipping but i don't see any generic option for US. Not sure i'm clear when i explain this, i feel like no one else see that showing to buyers an item is shipped by mail is INR scam incitative

[lady.stark]

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@rocketscollectibles wrote:

Select "economy shipping"

As i said economy shipping tell the buyers you use mail, and it's like having a sticker on the listing saying to buyers they can claim INR and have free items with absolute no risk

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Economy shipping does not in any way tell the buyer you will ship lettermail. Sometimes I choose that option for lettermail items, and sometimes for tracked packages. The buyer never know until they buy and I mark as shipped.

Also, I use that option because the estimated delivery date is often at a later date with Economy than any other option.

[marnotom!]

What's likely going to be the "giveaway" for the shipping method you choose is not its description but its cost to the buyer.

[rocketscollectibles]

Economy shipping does not in any way tell the buyer you will ship lettermail

Economy shipping is literally a lettermail option, when you select CP lettermail 2-6 days, its shown as economy shipping on your listing. Tracked is not an economic option so economy shipping also kinda suggest to buyers it's untracked. But anyway for domestic i just use standard shipping so that's not problem, no one can know, it's for US that there's no generic options

What's likely going to be the "giveaway" for the shipping method you choose is not its description but its cost to the buyer

This is not the point of the topic. I just don't want buyers to know if it's tracked or not, then i can't be aimed for a premeditated item not received scam on my higher items if i ship untracked

[pjcdn2005]

If the generic economy shipping is chosen, then it will not show as lettermail, it will simply show as economy...just as standard shipping is showing for you now.  To see standard or economy international shipping you have to scroll down the list of international options..you may have to click on something like 'see more' if those options aren't already showing.

[rocketscollectibles]

Are generic options for international are the int'l ones? Like the economy int'l, standard int'l and express int'l shipping?

I don't know what's int'l means but thats the only possible ones i could see

[pjcdn2005]

yes int'l means international

[rocketscollectibles]

Awesome thanks! That's literally all i needed. I'm just gonna do the same thing as domestic and offer free shipping with standard shipping and ships letterpost

[femmefan1946]

If i ship a $80 with tracking, there's like $50-55 left after. With mail $65-70, that's huge.

Okay - a lot of sellers make this mistake.

Shipping cost is NOT part of the seller's costs.

The BUYER pays for shipping.

The seller uses the money to pay Canada Post.

For the seller the shipping is just a pass through. Not his money.

So you sell an $80 item.

You charge $20 for tracked shipping.

The buyer gives you $100.

You give the PO $20 for postage.

Your FVF are 10% of $100  or $10. Not $30.

(Yes it's more complicated than that and those numbers are massaged and rounded.)

If you sell for $80 with Free Shipping, your $20 shipping price is part of that $80. But if you weren't using "free" shipping you would be charging the buyer $60+$20 shipping. Right?

I want to add, while I might send an $80 item to my customers, I have a very very different demographic than you do. My customers are philatelists and readers and crafters. They LOVE to follow instructions.

Yours like to play games.

If your customer can't afford to pay for tracking, he can't afford to buy your cards.

Some sales are not worth having.

canada it's easy with standard + free shipping but i don't see any generic option for US.

All you do is choose Flat Rate shipping and then put the cost as $0.00.

[shinycorner77]

Hello,

Yes it's against the rules, will you be a happy customer if you order something that say a tracking number will be provided, but the seller never updated it? 

Don't think about the INR only, there is Negative Feedbacks and many other issues that can affect your seller level and account.

Ship with LetterMail or without tracking only what you can afford to lose.

[rocketscollectibles]

Okay - a lot of sellers make this mistake.

Shipping cost is NOT part of the seller's costs.

The BUYER pays for shipping.

The seller uses the money to pay Canada Post.

For the seller the shipping is just a pass through. Not his money.

Buyer pay but seller take the lost. Not a mistake at all, just a different point of view

If people are ready to pay exemple $80 for an item, your shipping can cost $5 or 50$, people are ready to pay $80, you'll list at $80. If your shipping is $5 you'll have $75, if it's $50 you'll have $30. So who pay for it at the end? There's no way that if you can sell at $80, just because your shipping is $5 instead of $50 you would list it at $35. Rude numbers but the idea is there. If we save on cost we can either lower our prices, or make more profit. It's the market that decide what we can do and what we should do. But at the end it's the seller who take the lost of shipping costs

will you be a happy customer if you order something that say a tracking number will be provided, but the seller never updated it? 

If been charged for it yes, if free shipping and not been charged why would we. Tracking has nothing to do with buyers it's a seller protection. Tracking do not provide any protection to buyers

As just said buyers won't pay $80 + $20 for a $80 item, it's the seller who have to sell $60 + $20 if buyers are ready to pay $80 for an item

[rocketscollectibles]

Topic is solved though. We can use free shipping + standard shipping as option and tracking/shipping method at the end is at the seller discretion. Way less complicated

[parts_and_diecasts]

Team racoons strikes again...

maybe your ASP is too low to sell on eBay. I personally don't sell anything lower than US$10 at a minimum (otherwise not economically viable). you might want to sell some of the cards as a lot for it to make sense.

I'll give you an example with diecasts: anything high end contemporary Japanese brands or rarer vintage that sells for double or triple digits goes on eBay; anything below $10, I dump on the local classifieds site also owned by eBay (starts with a K, end with an i).

my personal advice as a TRS on eBay.com, you can spend 24/7 of your time here asking zillions of questions to these fine folks (as you have been doing for the last 3 months), nothing trumps experience. you might lose on shipping 1, 2 or 3 time, even get an INR or 2, but you'll come on top faster than what you have been doing daily for the past 3 months. 

[rocketscollectibles]

Actually i'm not sure it's possible to hide if it's tracked or not to US buyers, don't they would have import fees to pay that i would hide? If i'm not showing them and decide to ship tracked

nothing trumps experience. you might lose on shipping 1, 2 or 3 time, even get an INR or 2, but you'll come on top faster than what you have been doing daily for the past 3 months

I need selling experience, but to sell i need to learn and improve, i won't come on top faster if it takes 2 years to face situations... I think sometimes you do not take into consideration that i'm selling in an insanely competitive category. And that i am registered since 2021, while you are since 2004

Everyone have their own learning process, and i'm learning way faster than the average people so i don't understand how you can point out my learning process. Makes 0 sense. You are basically telling me to stop to try to learn 

[pjcdn2005]

US buyers pay import taxes when the item is delivered IF the item is $800.  Sending an item to tracked or non tracked has nothing to do with import duty though you obviously would not send an $800 item via lettermail.

Honestly if a buyer wants to scam you they can do whether the item is tracked or not.  

[rocketscollectibles]

Thanks i did not knew it was $800 before they have import fees

Honestly if a buyer wants to scam you they can do whether the item is tracked or not

For sure. I just think that if the buyers can't know if it's tracked or not, this at least will remove the premeditaded INR ones. Someone having in mind to claim an INR before even buying won't aim me, he won't take the risk to pay and receive it tracked