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shipping charges - the precise CP cost or can you add for other costs re shipping?
Summary: In the discussion, heartovermind inquires about whether eBay sellers should charge only postal costs or if they can include additional handling fees to cover packing materials and other expenses. femmefan1946 confirms that sellers can add a 'handling charge' and that some sellers also include costs related to 'Cookie Jar Insurance' to handle potential disputes. ledisme expresses dissatisfaction, feeling that extra charges without transparency erode trust in sellers. reallynicestamps explains different shipping options, highlighting that calculated shipping shows the actual postage cost but not taxes or package costs, and suggests that flat rate or free shipping could be more manageable options for sellers. A participant notes that the thread is being closed due to its age, and a new one can be started for further discussion.
I'm thinking of selling a few things on ebay.
As a rule...
do sellers charge ONLY what the PO charges them as the 'shipping charge',
or is it ok to add a small amount ($1 or $1.50) per item, for things like
the cost of packing, tape, labels, printer toner, ... all of which are part of shipping costs... heard this discussion at an outlet the other day, someone was making the case for even the cost of getting it to the PO...
and have you paid for new printer toner or labels lately?
kh-leslie
·3 years agoHi everyone,
Due to the age of this thread, it has been closed to further replies. Please feel free to start a new thread if you wish to continue to discuss this topic.
Thank you for understanding.
reallynicestamps
·3 years ago@ledisme
For your reading pleasure.
https://www.canadapost-postescanada.ca/information/app/far/business/findARate?execution=e1s1
Toss in a few postal codes and zipcodes (90210 is easy to remember).
Most buyers don't do enough shipping to know what Canada Post charges, and usually Canada Post is the cheapest and most reliable shipper in Canada.
reallynicestamps
·3 years agoWhen we use Calculated Shipping the buyer sees the exact price that Canada Post would charge for postage stamps or labels, but not tax or fuel fees.
OTOH, buying labels often gives us a small discount (less than tax or fuel fees unfortunately) which slightly offsets the price printed on the label.
But then there is packaging. Bubblewrap is not free, nor is printer ink, envelopes, kraft paper, sticky labels, packing tape , or tissue paper.
Soooo- exact postage that you pay means you will lose money on shipping.
Calculated Shipping is better but you have to put your packaging costs into the asking price.
Flat Rate shipping can be used, where you either make up the cost of shipping or
DON'T PANIC!
Use Free Shipping-- which means putting all your shipping costs into the asking price for your items.
Which is cheaper: a $10 item with $5 shipping ? A $5 item with $10 shipping? A $15 item with Free Shipping?
Flat rate/Free allow you to massage your costs better than Calculated.
But Calculated makes allowances for destination, which cannot be done with Flat Rates.
femmefan1946
·8 years agoIt's called a 'handling charge' and you are allowed to add it when you make up the Sell Your Item form.
The customer only sees the total of the postage plus the charge, it is not broken down.
Note however, that most sellers also hold Small Business Solutions cards from Canada Post which gives us a discount on many services.
Our customers don't see that either.
So -- you may be charging your customer $10 for shipping made up of $1.50 for handling and $8.50 for postage.
But you may actually be paying $8.07 for postage.
Others will include handling costs in the asking price for the product.
And some (not all) shipping labels will have the postage printed on them. But you actually pay a fuel surcharge and taxes on that amount.
Don't forget Cookie Jar Insurance.
This is a small amount (a few pennies, maybe a dime) added to the asking price of every item to cover the (very) occasional cost of settling Disputes.
Maybe the buyer doesn't like the colour, maybe you sent the wrong colour, maybe the buyer ordered a size Small instead of XXL. Doesn't matter, you use the Cookie Jar to cover any costs and settle the problem before it becomes a Dispute or worse a Claim.
Shipping is hard.
ledisme
·3 years ago