Why shipping cost are so high

[florines4]

Seller why your shipping cost are so high

and why ebay never statu on shipping cost

example 3 x 25¢ ship as a letter cost all over Canada $2.

some seller ask $2.  $3.  $4. so on foronly one coin

exception when its a registred letter with tracking number

Im asking both Ebay and seller to statut with the shipping cost

in regards with Post Office

thanks

[femmefan1946]

Postage is not the only cost in shipping.

There is also packaging. It is for example hard to find a small poly envelope for less than 10 cents. Bubble envelopes are the same or more expensive.

LetterMail and LightPacket cannot be more than 2cm thick or 500 grams in weight. After that, the seller must use Parcel rates.

The seller may be moving part of the shipped cost of the item from asking price to shipping price.

Which is cheapest?

A $5 item with $10 shipping

A $10 item with $5 shipping

A $15 item with Free Shipping.

The seller pays fees on both the selling price and the shipping price. Sometimes the fee on shipping is lower than that fee on selling, or vice versa.

At one time shipping did not have fees to be paid by the seller. So some would list at $1 with $99 shipping.

Some sellers are putting an insurance premium into their shipping cost. (Others put it in their asking price.) This is more likely in some categories (coins, electronics, trading cards) than in others.

What it all comes down to is : Don't fuss about the details. Look at the final cost to you.

If that final price (selling +shipping) is reasonable, buy.

If not, don't buy.

[higgswtop12]

Also some sellers factor  the paypal per transaction fee into shipping. This is especially so for sellers of things like stamps and collector cards when they offer combined shipping.

This can benefit the buyer of multiple items a lot. Let's say the seller puts $.40 into the price of 15 items costing an average of $3.00 each. The buyer would pay $6.00 in built in fees. On the other hand if the seller adds the $0.40 to the shipping and combines the items at no additional cost (often the case with single stamps) the buyer saves $5.60!

Femmefan puts it very well, " Don't fuss about the details. Look at the final cost to you."

The same goes into paying things like HST. I don't care if a seller charges it, does not charge it, or hides it in the price. I just look at the final cost and ask if it is a good deal. If it is an auction I decide the maximum I will pay and deduct shipping and any potential taxes from my maximum bid.

[dark_phoenix9273]

Shipping costs are so high because Sellers have to buy tracking and signature required now for every package because its very easy for buyers to make claims and get free items.  I remember the days where sellers used to be able to offer free shipping.  Now your often paying more in shipping the the value of the item, so theres no real incentive to buying it online anymore. 

[dmil8030]

Hello 'dark_phoenix', 

<<Shipping costs are so high because Sellers have to buy tracking and signature required now for every package

because its very easy for buyers to make claims and get free items.>>

You're right, it is waaay too easy to file false claims and get freebies.  Some parents should be ashamed for raising such 

audaciously amoral sneak-thieves.  However did they manage it?  

But thievery is as old as humanity, and some of the earliest writings describe encounters with bandits.  So yes, the online 

version of preservation and protection is the tracking number.  

<< I remember the days where sellers used to be able to offer free shipping. >>

On what planet?  Many sellers continue to list with "Free shipping", but you knew that it wasn't really free, right?

Even an expensive tracked service can be listed as "Free" because all costs (postage, packaging, insurance) are 

rolled into a single listed cost.  There never was a shipping service that was free, and Canada Post has always been 

expensive, even before all packages were tracked.  

<<  your often paying more in shipping the the value of the item, so theres no real incentive to buying it online anymore. >>

Hmpph, speak for yourself.  If you live in a city you will be surrounded by cracking shops and thus online shopping 

will not have the same appeal.  I get that.  But for those of us who do not live anywhere near a mega-mall, the higher 

cost of online shopping is just part of life.  

Like the violin case I bought a while back.  The item price was about 40 bucks, and the shipping fee was over 50, 

because it had to come Priority due to the size.  The alternative was drive 4 hours each way to a city where I can find 

one in a shop.  Nearly everything in my home came in here from online.  

That is the real incentive to buying online, -- a person could live in Antarctica and never have to do without, not anything 

that can be bought and shipped, anyway.  

If you are just in a fume about ebay no one will be able to change your mind, but you might find most folks are quite 

happy with it.  Sure, everyone risks the occasional loss, and to ease the sting of it sellers add a pinch extra to every item 

they sell.  It is known as "self-insurance", - since most people feel it is the wisest form of insurance to use for day-to-day 

small items.  

Then, when they have to make a refund, they take the money from the virtual insurance fund and they hardly feel a thing.

It enables them to move on to the next sale.  

[dark_phoenix9273]

Actually I have bought many things on ebay in the past that had free shipping.

And it's great you can simply dismiss the concerns of others simply because you don't agree with them, but that doesn't make those concerns simply go away.

The fact remains that shipping costs are so high because sellers have to go to extreme and expensive lengths now in order to protect themselves from getting scammed.  

On many other sites, they're able to offer cheaper shipping because their rules give the seller more protection.

[afantiques]

The fact remains that shipping costs are so high because sellers have to go to extreme and expensive lengths now in order to protect themselves from getting scammed.  

They do not have to do it, they merely think they have to do it. Comes to much the same thing as far as buyers are concerned but insurance plus basic shipping is almost always the cheapest way to go, and self insurance is no problem for those able to quantify risk unemotionally.

The average amateur selller is unaware of the maxim that if it costs more to prevent something than it would cost if it happened, do not waste money on prevention.

[dark_phoenix9273]

Actually they do have to do it, in order to protect themselves as best as they can.

[marnotom!]

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@dark_phoenix9273 wrote:

Actually they do have to do it, in order to protect themselves as best as they can.

---

I think AF's point is that how much "protection" does a typical seller need overall?  It's not as though every single eBay buyer is set to rip off every single eBay seller.  It often makes more sense for a typical eBay seller to factor in a small amount of "shrinkage" into their sales plan.  For sellers of modestly-priced items, those sales usually account for less than half a percent of overall sales.

[dark_phoenix9273]

A seller needs all the protection they can get, a buyer can easily scam a seller with little effort and sellers are left at their mercy.  Its extremely hard to get seller protection and even then your waiting over a month to get paid while the buyer has your item.

[marnotom!]

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@dark_phoenix9273 wrote:

A seller needs all the protection they can get, a buyer can easily scam a seller with little effort and sellers are left at their mercy. 

---

And how often does this happen?  Just because a buyer can easily do it doesn't mean that buyers often do it.

Not too many brick and mortar merchants keep the stuff they sell under lock and key.  It just deters sales.  Using expensive trackable shipping for modestly priced items accomplishes the same thing as a storekeeper keeping their merchandise behind locked cabinets.

[reallynicestamps]

Actually I have bought many things on ebay in the past that had free shipping.

Your punctuation is wrong.

Actually I have bought many things on ebay in the past that had " free " shipping.

There you go. Fixed.

As stated by others above, there is no such thing as "free shipping".  That's just adspeak for "the cost of shipping is included in the asking price".

Which is cheapest?

A $5 item with $10 shipping?

A $10 item with $5 shipping?

A $15 item with Free Shipping?

There are advantages to both buyer and seller , but shipping never is cost-free.

And all costs are eventually covered by the buyer.

[afantiques]

A seller needs all the protection they can get, a buyer can easily scam a seller with little effort and sellers are left at their mercy.  Its extremely hard to get seller protection and even then you're waiting over a month to get paid while the buyer has your item.

You may be much better off not selling online at all. For most selllers the risks are both small and easily managable.

[reallynicestamps]

A seller needs all the protection they can get,

I agree. With this caveat.

A seller needs all the protection they can get, in your category.

You sell to gamers, a demographic that includes a large percentage of 18-30 males. (Most of the gamers I know are women*) . That group includes a very high percentage of aggressive and entitled people.

Anyone selling games related material is selling in a high risk category and must take more precautions than a seller of stamps, dress patterns or even automobile parts.

*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpB3NiAFAsk

[andyandted]

I do not know what some people are doing, but I for one, knowing I have to compete in the vast American market and with very reasonable USPS domestic rates. Offering free shipping to enhance the chance of selling an item makes sense to me. I do not factor shipping costs, nor handling fees, I'd be shooting myself in the foot and defeating the purpose of offering free shipping. I put a fair price on the item and/or do an auction listing. The bonus for me has been increased sales and prices when I offer free shipping, if it ain"t broke I"m not tinkering with it!

[femmefan1946]

The items you have up just now all have a Flat Rate Shipping cost.  (The same to BC and ON although parcel rates differ to these.)

Do you mean you are subsidizing shipping?

Whether you think you are or not, if you are taking less profit than your US colleague, then you are subsidizing.

When you offer 'free shipping' and add the cost to your asking price, you are making the same profit as the American.

[dark_phoenix9273]

But your point of view on that would change if a buyer put out a false claim against you.  And i've never been to any store where higher end items aren't kept under lock and key and I've never seen it deter people from buying.

The fact remains that in order to feel even a little safe, sellers have to use tracking and signature required on shipments.