Shipping calculater

[pinetreecottage]

I've been using the shipping calculater lately, to be completely fair to my buyers, as postage varies.  I add exact weight and measurements to the listing.  I find the calculater consistantly under charging the buyer.  Not just by a few cents, it's several $.  I know I can change the invoice, however, that seems deceitful to the buyer, as ebay sends them a notice, so they already know the initial charge.  Does anyone know how the calculater works?  Is it attached to Canada Post?  I just sold an item.  The actual cost for this is $20.03 (small package tracked) from Canada to the US.  The calculater charged $17.01.  Thanks for any input.

[femmefan1946]

The actual cost for this is $20.03 (small package tracked) from Canada to the US.  The calculater charged $17.01. 

USD or CDN? Are you being confused by the exchange rate?  Today the xe.com site is showing a mid-market rate of 87 US cents to the loonie. But that rate only applies to huge multi million dollar transactions between banks. Your own bank would charge you more.

If you sell in USD this is an easy mistake to make. And most of us do sell in USD.

Are you using metric measurements? Are you making an allowance for the size and weight of packaging? Did you know you can add a handling /packaging fee to your Calculated rate which is not broken out to the buyer?

[pinetreecottage]

Even with the conversion, there is no way $20.03 converts to $17.01. That would mean a rate of $ .84.9. I've been doing this for over 10 years, so yes I'm quite familiar with the process. I think it's probably better to just quote a postage and hope it's about right.