Feedback - How To Get It

[tigergirl1]

I really go the extra mile when I sell something on eBay - I gift wrap all my items, I started a Gift-With-Purchase program and I include other extra gifts like genuine astronaut souvenirs of when my brother went into space.  I do all these things so the buyer remembers me, and files positive feedback.  It is very frustrating to me that even though I include a Thank You card with my item giving item number and my seller name etc, and politely requesting feedback, about half or more of my buyers do not file feedback.  This is even after they have emailed me and said they loved their item.  It is also even after I've sent, every two or three weeks, a polite friendly email asking for feedback and saying I will do the same for them.  I want to get as high a positive feedback number as I can get because I'm very ill and selling everything I own before it is too late.  I spend the money to buy nice gift wrap and ribbons.  I can't imagine that some people have a negative reaction to the souvenirs of my brother - about half of my buyers say they found it really neat.  I just can't understand why a lot of people don't file feedback - for example about half of my February sales did not file feedback even though some of them sent me emails saying they loved their item.  Does anyone have any suggestions for me?  And also on how to get more sales?  I'm alone, and really trying hard here.  Thanks.

[rose-dee]

Kathy, I just took another look at your store "Home" page, and it looks wonderful -- easy to for buyers to access what they want, clear, easy to read and streamlined.  Looks great!! 

And I see you've reduced/revised the categories -- this was an excellent thing to do, looks so much more compact and approachable.  Also, many people can't be bothered scrolling down, so they can access everything from the first look.

There will always be nasty people out there, they do seem to come in "waves", but don't let it make you feel you have to change your selling style to ward them off.  I think the vast majority are decent and friendly.  And hopefully having shorter, easy-to-read listings with the important info up front will cut down on complaints after the fact from people who are perhaps too lazy to read everything.

As for shipping, I have to say it's my absolute #1 headache in selling on eBay.  I can't say I've solved my shipping issues across the board -- I tend to look at types of items and value, and decide which approach I'll use.  Luckily many of my items are similar in weight, so they fall more or less into categories -- a) lightweight and lower price, b) lightweight but higher price, c) heavier weight, low price, d) heavier weight, higher price, etc. 

It's true that some types of shipping (like Light Packet Air, which I use a lot) don't seem to be any cheaper with online labels, but I know Xpresspost and Expedited are (it's fairly significant - 15% or 20% if I recall), and apparently Tracked Packet will have discounts soon too.  It is tough for Canadian sellers because US buyers are comparing our shipping rates to theirs. 

I personally use online labels because I can choose to pass on the discounts to my customers, the labels save me a lot of time and effort, and I can just drop the postage-prepaid item in any mailbox - no waiting in line at the P.O.  You'll find that you'll save money, maybe not on every type of shipping, but n over time you will save significantly.  In your situation, this could also mean you could show a 2 or 3 day shipping-out time, because you could "save up" a couple of days' worth of pre-labelled parcels and just make one quick trip 2 or 3 times a week (or have someone drop them in a local mailbox for you). 

By the way, depending on your volume of shipments and where you live, check with Canada Post to see if they will pick up from your location.  They won't from mine because I'm out in the countryside, but if you're near an urban centre, you might be on one of their regular routes -- I believe you can even arrange a regular pick-up day/time.  Again, it may depend on your volume and your location, but it's worth checking into - there's a link on the Canada Post website.  Less time spent going to/from the P.O. means more time for your store, and less wear and tear on you generally.

All the best to you - I hope some of the ideas here will help.

Cheers,

Patricia (I'm going off to study the Spring Seller Update - yuck).

[tigergirl1]

Hi Patricia,

Thanks for the good words.  I'm still working on updating my listings but I think I have about half done. 

Yes, it is true - some of the "nuttier" people did seem to come in waves.  I didn't keep a record of time of year, time of day, or what the weather or moon was like so I don't know if that had anything to do with it.  🙂

Yes, that is a good idea to look at categories for shipping 🙂  Don't you find, though, that your shipping cost varies per destination also? 

I'll take a look at eBay online labels for Expedited again, but as I said, I have a discount card and when I looked at it in the past, comparing what the post office had charged me versus what I saw online when I went to the page to check, I paid less. 

I used an online label once, it worked fine, but I was very nervous that the price I had paid might not be enough and the package would come back to me. 

For the past few days, I have been changing my Handling Time to 2 days instead of 10.  But I noticed something interesting - when I had chosen 10 days many months ago, there was no "warning" or "disclaimer" saying that customers would be advised of unusually long handling time if it was 4 days or more.  Now, I see that is there, and I never knew.  So I thank pierre for getting me curious enough to check into it.

Do you, or anyone, know if I can still use the eBay flat rate box?  I bought several of them way back when eBay was pushing them, and I've never used them, because again I've found it is cheaper for me to print my own address labels, and take the package to the post office.

Thanks so much, again.  (I'm going to read what the Spring Seller update says, also.)

Regards,  Kathy

[rose-dee]

Hi Kathy, I think Canada Post discontinued their eBay flat rate boxes some time ago.  You could check next time you're at the Post Office.

I see the main advantage to using online labelling as convenience, i.e. not having to spend time at the P.O.  If you have a weigh scale (they're about $15 at Walmart) and a tape measure, you can be sure you're paying enough on shipping when you do the labels. In all the years I've been doing this, I've never had a parcel returned to me for being short on postage.  When I first bought my weigh scale, I tried weighing a parcel at home, then took it to the Post Office to see if the weight matched -- when it did, I knew I could rely on my home scale from then on. 

I can usually group items that I know will fit inside a certain-sized box (or bubble mailer), and as long as they don't go over a certain weight, they're all the same shipping price.  For items that need to go in a box, I now use standard-sized boxes I get from Staples so I don't have to measure every single time. I factor the cost of the boxes into my prices. 

As I said, shipping represents 90% of my issues in selling on eBay.  There aren't a lot of easy answers for Canadian sellers where shipping is concerned.  I'll be trying out Tracked Packet though once Canada Post starts the discount for it through online labelling -- that might help a bit. 

All the best!

[femmefan1946]

I used an online label once, it worked fine, but I was very nervous that the price I had paid might not be enough and the package would come back to me.

The guys at the terminal are not looking for 5 gram / 2 cm differences. They might notice if a parcel had a Light Packet label and weighed over 10 kilos. The delivering postie might notice a smallish error, but again, which would he rather do, deliver the parcel or bring it back to the terminal after making out a Postage Due form?

Not to encourage anyone to cheat-- that would be stupid as well as illegal, but allow for human nature, your own and the guys on the terminal floor. (Most of whom are tired, have bad backs, are somewhat deaf and have a tension headache.) (Those places are NOISY!)

The discount you refer to is the VentureOne card? You get that discount automatically with any Paypal label. The big discounts are on Expedited and ExpressPost, and may be on Tracked Package in a few months. Those discounts run between 20 and 25%. Substantial.

Are you sure you were not comparing the basic postage cost given on the CP site with the postage +fuel surcharge+GST price on the PP label? Those surcharges add up quickly but are charged at the counter as well as online.

[tigergirl1]

Hi,

Yes, I have a VentureOne card.  I didn't check postage labels with PayPal, I had tried to use/print postage labels from/through eBay.  The times I did it, what I paid at the post office was cheaper than what I saw on my screen at eBay when I checked after returning from the post office.  I was checking out of curiosity.

Maybe it is different now.  I'll check again.  At the moment, I have ended up using Small Packet Air, because the rates on Expedited went up, even with the VentureOne card, and the rates on Tracked Packet are almost as expensive as Expedited.

While I absolutely hate sending things out without a tracking number, with small packet air I at least have the small packet paper that has to be prepared for cross-border shipments, and with that I can prove I sent the package.  I agree that this does not prove anyone received it, which leaves me open to claims, and/or scams.

If I try and build Expedited pricing into my listing, I find that in many cases it makes the listing too expensive.  For a lower priced item, like for example some sneakers for let's say $8.00 by the time I add $16 or more dollars for Expedited mail, if they are ordinary sneakers, the buyer doesn't want to pay $24.  And out of the $8.00 I have to pay eBay about $1 or so, so I am almost making nothing.

Thanks for your suggestions.  Kathy

[tigergirl1]

Hi,  You  make a good point, and I checked a package for which I already had the postal fee.  It turns out that the eBay/PayPal shipping label WAS cheaper!!  I think they changed something in the past years, because when I tried to use it a few years ago, it was not cheaper than my VentureOne Card.

Anyway, thanks a lot.  I'll use the eBay/PayPal on my next packages.  I did notice however that for a package that would go Small Packet Air, there was no difference in price between eBay and Canada Post.

I would like to confirm something - it is kind of a stupid question I guess - I hope no one will make fun of me - - when I put an item on my postal scale, set to grams and it says 186 grams, when I put that weight into the eBay/PayPal shipping label form, do I put it as .186 kg????   I'm sure it must be that way because it obviously is not 186 kg, and it isn't 1.86 kg.

???????  Thanks.  Kathy

[rose-dee]

Anyway, thanks a lot.  I'll use the eBay/PayPal on my next packages.  I did notice however that for a package that would go Small Packet Air, there was no difference in price between eBay and Canada Post.

I would like to confirm something -  when I put an item on my postal scale, set to grams and it says 186 grams, when I put that weight into the eBay/PayPal shipping label form, do I put it as .186 kg????   I'm sure it must be that way because it obviously is not 186 kg, and it isn't 1.86 kg.

Hi again Kathy -- I can answer both questions for you. 

There is no price break on Small Packet Air if you use labels, only Expedited and Xpresspost (and -- we're told -- soon also Tracked Packet).  As "femmefan" says though, if you do use Expedited/Xpresspost, the savings are substantial.  I use Small/Light Packet a lot, always via eBay-Paypal labelling for the convenience, not for any discount.  Of course now those services have no insurance, which is really sad...

As far as the weight goes, yes, 186 grams is entered as .186 kg (that's "point 186 kg).  Actually, if you try to enter 1.86 kg or 186kg when using Light Packet, you'd get an error message anyway, because the weight limit is 500 gms (for Small Pkt it's 1kg to US & 2kg internationally).  Don't feel badly about asking -- this tripped me up too the first time I used labelling.

Cheers!

[tigergirl1]

Hi rose-dee (Patricia),  Thanks for your kind and excellent reply.  As you do, I use Small Packet Air to USA a lot, and am very disappointed there is no longer insurance on it.  There is a big gap in price between that and Tracked Packet - I find Tracked Packet to be too expensive.

Maybe I will use the eBay/PayPal labeling for Small Packet Air, although I believe I would have to pay using PayPal (?).  When I go to the Post office I pay using my credit card and I get points.

For Expedited/Xpresspost I will use the eBay/PayPal and thanks for clearing up the grams/kilograms question.  I was pretty sure, but I wanted to be completely sure.

Thanks to you and everyone else who gave me answers and suggestions.  This is the first time I've used a Forum and it was worth it.  I'm about 3/4 of the way through re-doing all my listings.

Happy Easter everyone.  Kathy in Ontario

[tigergirl1]

Hi rose-dee (Patricia),

HELP!  It isn't working.  I have a box of wax I have to ship to zip 02072.  Dimensions (it is rectangular) are 6.5 inch x 4.5 inch x 4.5 inch or 17 cm length x 12 cm width x 12 cm high.  Weight is 2 lb 10 oz or 1 kg 190 gm.  The ebayPaypal form keeps telling me the Dimensions are invalid.  When I'm using inches I have it set to Inch, and lbs/oz and if I try cm I have it set to cm and kg.  What is wrong please??  Thanks.  Kathy

[pierrelebel]

From Belleville, I have a rate of $21.68 (including surcharge) for a parcel measuring 17 x 12 x 12 cm with a weight of 1.19 kg using Expedited Parcel USA.

The weight of 1.19 kg is too much for Small Packet to the USA (limit 1 kg)

[pierrelebel]

That was the regular rate from Canada Post website

Using PayPal, you should get a lower shipping charge.

[tigergirl1]

Hi, Thanks for your reply.  Yes, I get that too, when I use the Canada Post web site.  When I go to eBay and click Print Shipping Label, I'm taken to the Canada Post/PayPal form.  I choose Expedited and put in Parcel, Dimensions 17 cm length x 12 cm width x 12 cm height, and Weight 1.19 kg and click Continue and then I get a message at the top of the page saying You Have Entered Invalid Dimensions. Please Check Your Entry and Try Again.  I've tried putting the 17 cm in the width box instead and still get the same error message. ????

[pierrelebel]

Sorry I can't help you with the PayPal label as I do not use that system for postage.

I prefer to lick postage stamps on envelopes and parcels. 🙂

[tigergirl1]

Hi Pierre,  Yes I see what you mean :). 

But if you don't use the PayPal label system, you're not getting the discount, as far as I understand?  This is why some people in this thread have suggested to me that I print my shipping labels using the eBay/PayPal system - because of the discount.

[pierrelebel]

"you're not getting the discount..."

Correct, I am not getting the PayPal discount which applies on some Canada Post services.

However, I have been purchasing postage stamps at huge discounts, typically 30% to 40%, below face value. That is much better than the discount offered by eBay/PayPal as long as one

1) knows exactly how much postage to apply on each item (envelope or parcel)

2) does not mind taking the time to assort the stamp denominations to reach the correct amount needed

3) does not mind a bit of licking. 🙂

[ricarmic]

A wee  note to add to Pierre's - if you do your own posting, make sure the stamps you buy have all the gum on them! The "uncancelled" stamps are stamps being reused which is illegal and a federal offence...not the best way to meet your first Mountie......

If you search on "canada mint postage" or "Canada MNH postage" in the stamps category, some postage lot examples show up there - generally to get big discounts you need to buy big lots.....

[pjcdn2005]

Kathy, Expedited within Canada and USA Expedited do not have the same measurement requirements. Minimum measurements for an expedited package to the U.S. is 21cm x14cm x 1 cm so your package is too small.

Minimum for within Canada is 10cm x 7cm x 1 mm

[pjcdn2005]

If a package is only 1 cm or so short of the minimum I have "fudged" the numbers a bit. I haven't done that for 4 cm though which is what you would have to add to your first number. It might go through but for peace of mind you would be better off to repackage it. btw...that's a really small package to weigh over 1kg. I'm curious what you have in it.

[tigergirl1]

Hi,

Thanks for your replies.  Oddly enough, I took it to the post office and it went through fine, as Expedited to USA - exactly the same as I was trying to do on the eBay/PayPal site.

It is item 120855492852 on eBay - 2 pounds of aromatherapy wax and light plastic gloves.  I had sold one of these boxes about a year ago and had put way too little for postage, so I ended up basically giving it to the buyer.  This time I put $19.00 postage and it still was not enough. 

Thanks.  Kathy

[pjcdn2005]

Interesting. The measurements that I gave are from Canada Post so it's odd that the same measurements would work at the post office when they entered the information.