Anyone use mainly small packet surface mail to the U.S.?

[shari_nat]

I'm just trying to figure out if it's possible to have high DSR for shipping if you use this method.

My shipping DSR continues to drop.

Most of my items are under 500 grams and are sent small packet surface to the U.S.

My buyers are pretty satisfied with the shipping time but ding me consistently on cost even though I have no handling fee and lose money on each shipping transaction.

If you have DSRs higher than 4.7 for shipping and handling cost and use small packet surface mail exclusively would you mind sharing your secret?

Thanks so much!

Shari

[cumos55]

First some realities...

(1) If postage is less than $5.00, GST is added.

(2) Buyers will be confused if they see a charge higher than postage on the parcel and you say no handling fee.

(3) Have you made an adjustment in relation to the exchange rate, US dollar versus Canadian dollar.

Here is what I do.

(1) Lettermail for items less than 2 cm thick

(2) Small packet for all parcel... have done so since I started selling on eBay.... Over 2 cm thick..

(3) I place S & H in the listing, and state handling fee will never be more than $1.50 US.

(4) I never mention that I use the Paypal exchange rate, US to Canadian dollars, for all conversions of Canadian to US dollars. The handling fee is more than enough to allow for any variation in exchange rate.

I do the following

Listing has some very specific information... surface mail,or airmail, handling fee maximum and the S & H.

Buyer buys, then pays. I respond to the buyer with a reply to the Paypal email ... lets buyer know payment has been received.

This email has the following for all airmail items...airmail is quite quick.

Thanks for purchasing _________________.
It will be in the mail on ________________.

Signed with full name and the eBay ID immediately below.

For all parcels, via surface mail..

the email in this reply states....

Thanks for purchasing ______________.

It will be in the mail on _________.

Should take about 10 to 14 days, perhaps longer if it gets hung up in customs.

----------------------------

The important part of this email are the words...

longer if it gets caught up in customs...

If there is a delay... customs is blamed.

US buyers will still be unhappy with the cost... but as long as you state everything directly and carefully as to information in the listing and that in the emails buyer will know ahead of time what to expect.

I did have my 30 day DSR up to 4.9-5.0 for all four until an unhappy buyer dinged me very deliberately across the board.

DSR can be raised... but do expect the unexpected.

We all must remember nobody likes the cost of shipping, and few realize that Canada Post is a lot different than USPS when it come to the cost of shipping.

Finally... Charge a handling fee... Your DSR will not be different with that fee.

And if you like me sell 800 items a year... a mere 50 cents per mailed item.. is $400, more than enough to make up for discounts never received.

[antiquesandarchives]

10-14 business days for air mail small packet is the norm.
AIR MAIL not surface...surface will kill your dsrs

I used to charge surface price but sent air and ate the cost and still had where is my item emails.

[coxengines]

We charge $6.95 for a small packet to the USA weighing under 250 grams and ALWAYS choose "Surface" as they end up in the same aircraft as "Air" anyhow (perhaps the Christmas rush aside).

For combined items, we add to that (even if the weight threshold is not exceeded. We make a buck a package (or more if items are combined) and our DSR's are 4.9 across the board.

We include a 1/2 page on coloured paper with this text:

Hello and 🙂 THANK YOU 🙂 for buying from us.
We trust that the merchandise you received fully meets or exceeds your expectations.

When you get a chance, could you please leave us some feedback on eBay? That would be greatly appreciated and we will certainly reciprocate in kind.

Shipping time: Please keep in mind that this refers to how quickly we have shipped after receiving payment (we ship within 1 business day) and NOT how long the package takes to arrive, as we have no control over postal delivery times.

Shipping costs: Canada Post does not permit the sending of merchandise as “Lettermail”. We therefore must use “Light” or “Small” Packets, which cost at least 2x what “Lettermail” does. Our shipping costs are almost equal to our real cost of postage, taxes, bubble-mailer, Paypal US/CA conversion rate and 3rd party insurance.

It has been a pleasure serving you, thanks again for your business and we hope that you will “visit” us again soon. Our store can be found at www.stores.ebay.ca/xenalook

Xena & Bernie

Hope this helps and feel free to plagiarize;-)

Xena

[coxengines]

And this is what we send via our email client the day we get paid:

Your package has been shipped via Canada Post; your merchandise carefully packed and fully insured.

Please let us know when you have received your package and that everything was to your satisfaction. Once that you have received your package, could you be so kind as to leave us feedback on eBay and we will gladly do the same for you?

Before you leave feedback, please have a look at this link http://www.leavingfeedback.com

It has been a pleasure serving you, thanks again for your prompt payment and we wish you a terrific day!

Xena & Bernie

Visit our store http://stores.ebay.ca/xenalook

[coxengines]

Then, right after, we send this through the eBay messaging system (because our email address has the word "eBay" in it, we seem to get a portion of our mail trapped in spam-filters):

Your package has been shipped!

A detailed email has been sent to the email address on file with eBay/Paypal.

We have gone to almost 100% stealth postage and make up the shipping labels same day we get paid, even if we don't actually ship until next day.

Seems to work 😉

[faerywishes]

Hiya Shari

Recently a seller came into the boards to inform us how he had turned his DSR's around. Here's a link to one of his listings.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=150263790620&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:PIC&ih=005

Just a couple of suggestions though. Tell the buyer what you want. eg. in this sellers listings "IS THIS IS A 5 STAR DESCRIPTION? Let us know..." instead of "Let us know" "Our buyers agree this is 5 Star* Service" or "We want you to feel confident you have all the necessary information before you bid or purchase. Please contact us with any questions and we promise to answer within 24 hours.

Sometimes it takes a bit of fiddling to get the best message across in the least amount of words. The buyers should receive all "necessary Information" but many won't read the item descriptions. You need to make it look attractive.

I like what the above seller has done but for myself it is too much info.

Another suggestion is every month take some of the info that you have provided in your listing and put on a leaflet that you send with your order. Make that eye catching as well.

I have started providing the Canada Post website on my emails to buyers as well as on the leaflet so they can actually see what I pay for shipping. I charge $1.00 for handling on all orders.

I used to provide an actual shipping chart on my listings, then a couple of power sellers suggested I take it off as my listing info was too wordy. But now that I think about it my shipping fee dsr used to be 4.8.

You can get your dsr's back up in a relatively short time. My shipping time dsr was 4.3 for june it is now at 4.6. The more you list and sell obviously your chances are better of the rate increasing.

I always make sure I put personal touches in my shipments. The more attractive you make your order chances also increase of receiving 5*'s. You could purchase colored tissue paper to wrap your item in. You can get that fairly cheaply at $ store or warehouse that sells that kind of thing. You can also use it as your back drop to make your pic's more attractive. Buyers feel if you care that way you probably cared about the entire transaction.

Don't let some in here discourage you by saving they are not going to jump through hoops for the buyer and their dsr's are great. What they do works for them it doesn't always work for all of us. I follow through on every promise I make including mailing my items every day.

I took a quick peak at your listings again and I see some of them have included shipping discount for more than 2 items, but some are more than 3 items. Also your shipping time frames may increase if you put more realistically time frames. Canada 1-2 weeks, USA 2-3 weeks. Being a buyer myself if I wasn't familiar with Canadian shipping time frames, I'd look at your listing and see 1 week then if I didn't receive for 2 weeks I probably would only give 3 or 4 stars. Most buyers rate based on how long it took to receive not when it was sent. We recently had 2 holidays July 1 & July 4 that would make the time frames longer. I say 2-3 weeks so it more than likely would include any delay in Customs. Even though we say beyond our control, buyers don't understand. US buyers don't seem to understand any of this and expect the same as they receive in the US. Then when they receive in one week they think you're fantastic.

A Ebay rep calls me every 2-3 weeks to help me with my store. Most of them have been really helpful If you're not getting that sign up for it.

I gave you more info than you asked for; however, I was only letting you know what has worked for me.

Please, please stop worrying about your DSR's so much. If your sales are where you want and lots of buyers are still coming who really cares if you get that discount. It's how I try to look at things. You need to enjoy what you're doing in here first. I was worrying myself sick. I can only do what I can do. I try to focus on my bottom line, if I'm meeting my personal goals, and my traffic reports. And the emails I have received from some of my buyers that think I'm the greatest.

I wish you all the best.
Colleen

[shari_nat]

Thank you everyone for all the wonderful help.

I'm doing many of the things listed above except I don't charge any Handling fee. The cost of shipping is the cost passed on to the buyer.

(Xena, I have and will continue to plagiarize your writings...thanks)

I spoke with someone at seller outreach (selleronramp) today. Most of her suggestions I was alrady doing but she did have one that she insists will be the most useful for me. She suggested adding a couple sentences at the very top of my auction description to educate the buyer about the DSR system.

Does anyone have anything in their description like this?

Thanks,
Shari

[shari_nat]

Colleen, thanks so much for taking the time to look at my listings.

It's still a work in progress as I changed all the auction listings to reflect the shipping discount for 2 items but I have yet to tackle the store items.

I do say surface shipping will take 2-3 weeks and airmail will take 1 week. I also have that right in my invoices going to U.S. buyers and ask them to choose their shipping choice. Do you think I should just leave it at 2-3 weeks and ignore the airmail option? I always thought it would scare buyers away if they saw minimum 2 weeks for delivery.

I've already incorporated a lot of Xena's ideas into my shipping notifications and thank you letter. I'm still working on making it better. I'm always searching for more succint ways of saying what I want.

I already wrap my orders in tissue paper but use white because I sell clothing and don't want any color bleed from paper to clothes.

It isn't so much the low DSR scores (but high scores would certainly be wonderful) that are bothering me but my lowered search placement. That just feels like a kick in the teeth.

Thanks!!!!

[lina-mallows]

shari_nat - you write "I'm doing many of the things listed above except I don't charge any Handling fee. The cost of shipping is the cost passed on to the buyer."

Something that is often overlooked here is the real cost of shipping. What do you consider the "cost of shipping"- the postage applied to the envelope/package?
If so- what happens to that nasty little PayPal fee we all pay when we receive the buyer's money?

Do we simply (as sellers) accept the almost 19¢ fee every time we accept that additional $6.45 (to US 250g MAX) payment for the SMALL PACKET rate- and likely much higher for parcels?
eBay provides for us including that as a REAL cost of HANDLING- so adding a DOLLAR makes sense- but how many of us simply 'eat' the cost, and not pass it on to the buyer?
And how many customers/buyers don't understand the real costs of doing business?
All they see is the VALUE printed on the postage meter impression, or shipping label. For those that use labels- or counter service- removing this information is not possible.

FURTHER- has anyone noticed that the FUEL SURCHARGE is not expressed on a CANADA POST LABEL when shipping from a Post Office- just the POSTAGE is stated? You pay the fee for the FUEL SURCHARGE (PLUS the taxes in Canada- depending on destination)- but the customer has no clue that it even exists. Last week we paid almost $4.oo for a fuel surcharge on one package going to TAIWAN. Without sending a copy of the ACTUAL postal receipt to the customer- how do you justify what would be perceived as an extraordinary handling charge, being put (as profit) into your pocket!

[lovebuguniverse]

Hi Shari,
I am a new seller and I have always sent small packets with surface since the Canada Post standards only say a 1-2 day difference.

My DSR's for Shipping time go between 4.8-4.9, the lowest was 4.77 but that was for 1 day only.

I am however going to be changing all my listings to offer both air and surface in the next month because I saw a seller doing that and her dsr for shipping time was consistantly 4.9.

For handling, I only charge a modest 50 cents which really only covers the envelope... The rest of the supplies I try to get for free (hubby will "borrow" tape from work lol) or I eat the cost.

For very large orders not using the flat rate box, I will add $1-2 dollars handling for that pesky paypal fee.

[lovebuguniverse]

sorry my dsr for shipping and handling has always been consistant at 4.8... I always try to point out my 50 cent handling fee and usually ship with the post office (as apose to paypal) so they see the actual cost on the envelope)