eBay

dagr8_renaud · ‎03-16-2009

again , I have 4.9 to 5.0 in all my dsr , except S&H charges , as I need paypal protection ( my items are worth around 300 USD and my average sales vary between 150 and 400 USD ) so EMS is the only method I can use , eventho ALL my buyers know there shipping cost before they buy my items 1 out of 4 ppl rate me 4/5 stars in S&H ,result , I always have 4.5 or 4.6 E-V-E-R-Y month , before you ak my coms are currently at 5.0 ( so yes I inform them .. shipping my items with insurance via EMS internationally cost average of 50 to 70 $ CAD .. I posted many times here about this I always get the same response from the same ppl , some of the responses I got are deduct 20 $ from your profit and pay shipping .. others are dont use EMS . what you guys dont understand is my profit are already at minimal acceptable rate , I have no choice to use EMS I been burned twice by buyers claiming they did NOT receive items when using small packets international(we all know who paypal favors) so I decided : never again .

1_ paying 1/3 of shipping to save 10 to 20 % of my eBay fees ? not worth it

2_ not using EMS and losing 1 or 2 item a month , it would not be worth it to do business on eBay at this point .

3_ I dont mind not getting any rebate every month in fact I couldn't care less

4_ Lowering where my listing appears in search result directly affects my business .

5_ it is not fair for eBay to compare my S&H charges to U.S. sellers because they can ship the same items I ship internationally for 25 $ insurance and tracking included worldwide , no matter how many times I repeat this to my buyers 1 out of 4 still dont believe me and I cant blame them , I sure as hell can blame eBay , I wish eBay would rate every country differently about S&H charges as we do not have the same options from one country to another .

dagr8_renaud · ‎03-16-2009

oops posted too fast

other advice I received was to email all my buyers after each sales , witch I am still doing , the best I eve got doing this is 5 % ,

I also got other advice about my listing ( that they would not look good ) or about some stuff that was uncleared , or about using the shipping calculator .

I tried them all, the only one I am not using is the shipping calculator , simply because it charges more then my flat fee so that wouldnt help .

I am open to any additional advices as I been working on this problem since day one of the DSR and 'new eBay ' era

coxengines · ‎03-16-2009

I have no choice

You have lots of choices and you made some.

I doubt that you can use EMS and have a high shipping DSR at the same time.

So, if you are not willing to go any of the routes you mentioned, you might just have to accept a lower DSR.

C'est la vie, mon ami!

Bernie

power_batteries · ‎03-16-2009

Have you tried checking into a Purolator, UPS, or FEDEX account to get lower rates? You should call a rep and see if your volume would qualify. I find that our shipping costs are a lot lower using courier ground (which still gets to almost anywhere in the U.S. within 3-7 business days [only rarely takes 7] and there is actual tracking available [as opposed to just delivery confirmation]) than Xpresspost USA. Our S/H DSR isn't great but our overnight shipping rates for up to 3 pounds doesn't cost as much as you are paying for EMS.

C.G.

dagr8_renaud · ‎03-16-2009

power_batteries thx for your input UPS can probably give me better rates internationally and I will look into it , as for US sales I doubt UPS or any other ground courrier can give me same quality service as express post gives me but again I will do some testing and compare thank you again !

recped · ‎03-17-2009

My advice for what it's worth....

1 - Not worth it? Don't do it.

2 - Fine

3 - OK

4 - Are you sure?

5 - It's NOT eBay, it's never been eBay! Feedback comes from BUYERS not from eBay. Your buyers are comparing your shipping costs relative to the costs from other sellers both on and off eBay, where the seller is located is irrelevant to THEM.

Stop looking at your dsr's and if what you are currently doing is working for you then you don't need to change anything. If it's not working up to your expectations it has nothing to do with your dsr's. The effect of "raised" status is greatly overestimated. On the fairly long list of factors that go into the ranking order for Best Match "raised/standard" comes at the very BOTTOM of the list.

With your low volume of sales & feedback it will be IMPOSSIBLE for you to maintain much better than 4.6/4.7 for any length of time on either 12 month or 30 day ratings. You are already getting rating at or above the eBay average. For your current 30 days 5 buyers rated s&h 5 and 5 buyer gave you a 4. Your only real problem is that at your low volume you are susceptible to getting slaughtered if you have a bad transaction.

"What else could I do? I had no trade so I became a peddler" - Lazarus Greenberg 1915
- answering Trolls is voluntary, my policy is not to participate.

recped · ‎03-17-2009

UPS can probably give me better rates internationally

Without substantial volume I doubt it.

"What else could I do? I had no trade so I became a peddler" - Lazarus Greenberg 1915
- answering Trolls is voluntary, my policy is not to participate.

power_batteries · ‎03-17-2009

Hmmm... if your volume is low, you might want to see if you can have your items shipped using a higher volume shipper's courier account. (We do some shipping for a friend's non-profit organization once a month for a small fee. They get MUCH better shipping rates and our shipping volume increases. win-win-win. [Third win - courier company wouldn't get their business otherwise.])

Clarence.