Newbie Seller

[motivoonline]

Hi all!

I am new to selling on ebay and looking at other people selling the same things as me, either i'm doing something wrong or other people are shipping using pigeons.

I have lots of stuff selling, where my shipping can double or even triple the price. I have heard that canada post is very expensive, but I was thinking maybe I'm not using the right shipping options?

Here is how I break down my sales to figure out prices and shipping:

Price: (My cost + my profit margin + 0.50$ (bubble enveloppe) + 0.50$ (ebay fees)) X 1.1 (to cover for ebays 9% final value fee)

Shipping: actual shipping cost X 1.1 (to cover ebay fees so it doesnt end up costing me money)

The shipping for most of my things falls into regular parcel for canada which seems to be 13$ for anywhere in the country. For the US i get mostly small packets or expedited parcels which go for around 6-7$ ...

The only ones that make sense are when im shipping stuff that doesnt weigh anything and fits in an envelope so it passes as lettermail and costs under 2$.

Any input is appreciated as I'm really lost here 🙂

Thanks everyone!

[pocomocomputing]

Here is an eBay/PayPal fee calculator to help pricing.

http://www.newlifeauctions.com/calc.html

Use PayPal shipping and get 25% off regular over the counter rates for Expedited parcel within Canada and the USA.

Use discount postage (Google search discount postage Canada) to save up to 35% on postage stamps for mailing items Lettermail and even Light Packet/Small Packet.

Get a postal scale to weigh your packages at home so you can mail from home and drop the small items in the corner mail box to save trips to the post office. Saves gas and time.

[pocomocomputing]

Expedited Parcel within Canada for items under 750 grams will cost under $10 to most place in Canada because of the discount. Compare to Regular Parcel st $13 as you mentioned.

Expedited also include $100 insurance included in the price where Regular Parcel at the Post Office will cost you $1.50.

[inuk_the_polar_bear]

I looked at a couple of listings. Your Cdn shipping is $17-$18. That is way out of line. You will get dinged on shipping cost.

I charge actual shipping cost or less. I use price plus shipping to set a price-point.

While your math for figuring out pricing on shipping and widgets is fine, it is backwards. You are starting from cost and moving forward to "try" to make a profit.

There is an old saying on eBay "You make your profir when you acquire your widget". Everything I "acquire", I know what it will sell for before I list. I have my profit ahead of time.

I know that ALL of my costs are no more than 30% of my selling price. That includes all fees, percentages, FVF, supplies, and the cost of the widget itself.

[motivoonline]

Thank you all for you replies!

@pocomocomputing:

I did print my labels directly on paypal and I did notice that sometimes it was slightly cheaper than what I had planned, 1-2$.

For the discount postage, I found it online, however its for stamps and that's not really my issue. The shipments I can make using lettermail format are the only ones I have no issue with as I can ship for around 2$. The problems arise when I try using Parcels or Packets, which I dont think I can use stamps for?

I do have a scale, and that does save me some time...

BTW on Canada Post when I do find a rate, I never see Expedited Parcel, its always Regular Parcel. The only way Ive found Expedited Parcel is in their Business section.

@inuk:

Do you think I should just lower my shipping cost and add the difference to my price? So my shipping doesnt look as high? Because that is the actual cost of the shipping, well the price X 1.1. What do you mean by widgets? Applications that will run my sales? Or decide on good pricing?

Thank you both, very helpful so far!

[pocomocomputing]

On Canada Post, there are two sections, Personal (green tab) and Business (orange tab). 

Expedited Parcel Canada is a business service. So that is why you only find it on the Business section.  You have to use the show savings link to see the Expedited Parcel rates. You can get a venture one card from Canada Post and save 5% for some services when going to the Post Office. Then you can use Expedited Parcel Canada at the Post Office.

When using PayPal shipping, you can use Expedited Parcel for Canada without being a business.

There is no Regular Parcel service to the USA, only Expedited parcel.

Expedited Parcel using PayPal is about 20-25% cheaper than regular Parcel over the counter. It also includes free $100 insurance where Regular parcel charges extra $1.80 at the counter. So Expedited Parcel is less expensive by 20-25% and cheaper by the $1,80 for insurance. 

It also includes a guaranteed delivery time within Canada. The guaranteed delivery time is not met enough times so you can make a claim and get a refund for late delivery...

The discount postage is stamps. On you $2 Lettermail item, you pay $1.50 saving a few cents which adds up over time. You have to put stamps on anyway so you may as well save a little money.

You can also use the discount postage on Light Packet and Small packet saving some money. Now you have to pay sales tax on the discount postage while there is no sales tax on most Light packet and Small Packet services over $5. Thus the savings is not 35% but around 20%. Still significant but using many stamps and manually filling out the CN22 form takes time.

[inuk_the_polar_bear]

Charge actual shipping or less. eBay wants sellers to do "free" shipping, or, shipping included in the price. Anything that shows the customer that they have paid more than actual postage they get mad at. Customers do not even like paying actual cost.

It is not as simple as raising your prices, you still have to be able to sell things (widgets). I know squat about bacon flavoured candy, I know car parts.

Work backwards from what you can realistically charge, not forward from cost.

[motivoonline]

@pocomocomputing

Thanks for the VentureOne info, just signed up for it! 🙂

Can I use VentureOne through Paypal also?

When I ship to the US I use small packet USA surface or Expedited Parcel, depends which options they offer me for that specific package. I will try using expedited parcel whenever I get the chance. Thanks also for the heads up on making claims for items not delivered within time frames 😉 

For the discount postage, I will wait to see if I use enough stamps because right now I only have a few items I can ship using stamps, however those seem to be the ones selling the most… Shipping price or coincidence? 😛 

Light Packet and Small packet use stamps? What do you mean use discount shipping on those? Kinda lost me on the last paragraph… CN22 form?  O.o

@inuk

I will try including the shipping fees on my price and shipping "free". It could change the way customers look at my items, but it wont change my fees and the total price will still look the same. 

What do you mean by widgets (be able to sell things?) … I see widgets as little applications that simply stuff, like autogenerated listings or whatever, but I dunno if maybe it’s a term used for something im not aware of ?

I don’t know much about bacon candy either, im helping my boss empty out our storage from their old business 😛

the new business is more of the silicone iphone accessories and stuff, however I don’t think thatll work on ebay, since the Chinese manufacturers are selling those directly on ebay, so something I would sell 9$, which will need a 12$ shipping fee (probably because of weight or thickness of envelope) … a Chinese seller will sell for 2$ free shipping. Which is impossible for me to do.

At worst we will concentrate on selling lots, so the shipping fee is not as bad, since shipping 1 or 10 will cost the same. 

Im afraid to work backwards from what I can actually sell it for and in the end, lose money because of all the hands feeding that I may have miscalculated

Thank you both very much, very appreciated input! 🙂

[wenrath]

WIDGET

Hmm, have we a generation gap here? Or just a difference in what we studied at school?

Before programmers appropriated the word for their own purposes, widget was used in business schools as a generic name for "whatever it is that your factory produces", or "whatever it is that you are selling".

I thought the meaning used to be known to the general public as well, but perhaps not.

In this thread, Inuk just meant "whatever it is that you intend to sell on eBay."

[pocomocomputing]

CN22 form is the manual Customs form for International shipments using Light Packet and Small Packet. You need to fill one of those out if you mail an item using discount postage stamps or at the post office and pay for the package there.

PayPal shipping has the customs form built into the shipping label produced.

If you use Small Packet with discount postage and manual CN22 form, then you have to go to the post office and get the copy of the CN22 form stamped for insurance purposes. So it is inconvenient to save a bit of money. If it is Light Packet, there is no insurance anyway so you can drop in the corner box and save a trip to the post office.

For now, use PayPal shipping for the convenience of printing the labels and being able to drop in the corner box. For Lettermail items, keeps stamps at home so you can mail from home without going to the post office. If you have enough volume of Lettermail, consider using discount postage to save on the Lettermail.

Once you have enough experience using stamps from home, consider using discount postage for Light Packet. Same as Lettermail but the rates are higher so more savings using discount postage. But you have to fill out the manual CN22 form.

From there, you may want to try Small Packet with discount postage. Big saving possible since these are the highest rates. But you have to go to the post office to get the CN22 form stamped for insurance purposes.

it is a trade off of time saved versus money. Just be aware of discount postage and that it can lower shipping costs to you.

[motivoonline]

@wenrath

Yea, in my head a widget is a program 😛 hehehe thanks for clearing that out 😄 

@pocomocomputing

Thanks for the details! I didn’t know we could pay Light Packet using stamps! Things are starting to clear up!

Thank you so much! 🙂

[doumb21]

Hi motivoonline.

You say " 0.50$ (bubble enveloppe) ".

I don't know what are your plans as a seller on eBay, but if you intend to sell a lot, you might want to buy your bubble enveloppes wholesale from China. 

They will cost about 0.06 to 0.08 a piece when buying bulk (800-1000 envelopes).  It represents a huge gain on the long run.

I think you already know about buying wholesale as several of your items are novelty items.

[motivoonline]

Hi thecardcentral!

Does it come out to that low even with shipping? I would look into that... Do you have any recommendations on sites/companies with envelopes at such low prices?

Thanks for your input!

[motivoonline]

I just finished sending the first batch of our sales using mostly lettermail and regular parcels for canada, and lettermail and small packets for USA. Now I noticed some sellers are having problems when sending products without tracking, since there is no proof when people claim they havent received them.

So I looked into the cheapest shipping options with tracking info. For canadian buyers its not so bad, going from regular parcel to expedited parcel is only costing about 3$ more.

But for US buyers where it was cheap before, small packet was usually around 6$, expedited is around 20$.

I havent found a solution yet for the products I was sending using lettermail, because lettermail was normally under 2$ anywhere in NA. But the registered lettermail, which from what I'm understand is the lettermail with tracking, is around 10$ minimum...

Any suggestions? Am I doing something wrong?

Thank you 🙂

[theafkgamer]

When sending to the States, stick with Small Packet even without the tracking. You will be covered with $100 insurance against loss, damage, etc. CP is very easy going when it comes to filing a n insurance claim. All they really ask for is the value of the item, the destination address, and the cost of shipping. In the long run, you'll be better off using Small Packet and advertising lower shipping costs without tracking, vs higher shipping costs with tracking.

But if the item is worth over $100, then you may want to go Expedited to the US. But from a quick glance at your items, SP or lettermail/light packet for the really cheap items is the way to go.

[toff3]

Motivo,

You don't seem to be aware that sending commercial goods outside Canada using lettermail contravenes Canada Post regulations. You are being very naughty.

This is why Canada Post invented the Light Packet (trademark reg'd), which requires a customs declaration.

Although size specifications and weight limits are identical for both Letter-post and Light Packet, the postal rates are different.

Please do not ask why.

Tom 

[reallynicestamps]

But the registered lettermail, which from what I'm understand is the lettermail with tracking, is around 10$ minimum...

Well, technically yes. But Paypal apparently does not recognize Registered Mail as being electronically visible confirmation of delivery, so it should be avoided.

Instead, go with ExpressPost envelopes for Delivery Confirmation and $100 insurance. Which are more expensive.

Or go bare.

Add to your Handling charge a small amount for self-insurance. If you lose one $10 item out of 100 to "non-delivery", the loss would be covered by a ten cent charge on each mailing. And your losses are likely to be less than that.  (Still bloody annoying).

[motivoonline]

Thanks for all your replies!

Man this Canada post is really complicated 😛

@nickmercurio

I didn’t think about that, I guess since all my items are under 100$ I could just use small packet and if anything happens, claim it. But what happens if a buyer claims he didn’t receive it but CP knows they deliver it. Can I still make a claim? Because if this happens I guess I wouldn’t be backed up by ebay, since I wouldn’t have a tracking, nor CP?

@toff3

Oops :S Did not know that… But I cant seem to find anything on light packet on the Canada post website… Also is it a lot more? Because I mostly use lettermail for the cheaper stuff that I sell under 10$, it would suck if I had to charge another 10$ just for shipping. The lettermail are the only ones I am actually including in my price and marking as free shipping because it is max 5$.

@reallynicestamps

I guess that’s a good idea 🙂 I never thought of self insuring myself 😛

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

Also while we on Canada post’s case, I’m still trying to figure out if there is a difference between Regular parcel and Expedited parcel, for Canada, other than the delivery time?

[buster1-cdn]

motivoonline (1)  Newbie Seller

You are “New” to eBay.

I have been with eBay since Dec. 1999

I have always had 100% Feed Back.

Never = Neutral

Never = Negative

Even with the help from eBay, I won a fraud case from a U.S. eBay seller.

(CPU Motherboard)

Only recently did I receive (x14) Neutral Feed Backs, (Canadians) from my last sales, on eBay.

Even though, I had (x2 Locations), clearly stating, my extra shipping costs, per extra purchase, these eBay buyers (Mostly Canadian Buyers),  gave me the  = Neutral  Feed Backs.

These Canadian eBay buyers , could NOT give any “Negative”  Feed Backs, because:

-           I had followed eBay’s  = selling rules

-          I had followed eBay’s  = multiple shipping rules

-          I had clearly stated  = my total shipping costs / per extra item purchased

I could “Not” receive any “Negative” Feed Back,  because  I had clearly stated my “total shipping” costs

As per eBay’s “new” Feed Back rules, I can and could have had these “Neutral” Feed Backs removed.

Since I will “no” longer be selling on eBay, I do really do not care.

====================================

Warning:     Give up while your ahead:  (Fact)

You Have:   You are totally finished selling on eBay  (x4) Feed Backs

Negative = 1

Neutral = 1

Excellent = 2

===================================

At least, none of my Canadian eBay buyers, complained about the contents, that I had shipped.

They could only complain about my shipping costs, that were clearly stated, on my eBay listings.

Ha Ha:  (Just Like Me)

 You now have two (x2) Canadian buyers that did not like your “Products”.

===================================

Special Notes;

Being new to selling on eBay, you actually made very little to no ($’s) on your eBay sales.

I do not have the “actual” values to calculate, but you lost ($’s) in every transaction.

#1)

BACON AIR FRESHENER HANGING SCENTED AUTO CAR ROOM HOME LOCKER WEIRD GIFT GAG FUN

Sold = $5.95

Shipping = Free (Unknown ?) = Your Extra Cost

Your eBay Listing Fee = $ (Unknown ?) = Your Extra Cost

Your eBay Selling Fee = $ 0.54

Your PayPal Fee =   Handling Charges (+) .029% Transfer  Fees.

……

[reallynicestamps]

But what happens if a buyer claims he didn’t receive it but CP knows they deliver it. Can I still make a claim? Because if this happens I guess I wouldn’t be backed up by ebay, since I wouldn’t have a tracking, nor CP?

CP knows it was delivered if you use Expedited shipping, which is Delivery Confirmed. Paypal will not accept a loss claim and you will be covered.

If you go with Small Packet, you can't Confirm Delivery (at most you can suspect) but Canada Post will cover you up to $100. You pay out promptly, avoiding a PP claim and go to CP for repayment.