eBay

dominick111 · ‎12-12-2016

how does the shipping work for single pokemon cards?they say we should write free shipping but some cards write 18$of shipping,whats that mean.you cant sell a card and pay 18$ to send it?help me understand how much it can cost a canadian person to sell pokemon cards online with eBay and paypal fees?

i.am.vivian · ‎12-12-2016

@dominick111 wrote:
how does the shipping work for single pokemon cards?they say we should write free shipping but some cards write 18$of shipping,whats that mean.you cant sell a card and pay 18$ to send it?help me understand how much it can cost a canadian person to sell pokemon cards online with eBay and paypal fees?

Those listings that show $18 are probably American GSP listings and nobody really buys them anyway. You are a Canadian so you use Canada Post.

The way to "write Free shipping" is to include the cost of mailing the item in the purchase price. You did know that there is no such thing as being able to mail items for "free"?

You also need to include in your asking price your profit, your eBay/PP fees, plus a bit of 'personal insurance' because if you send cheap items without tracking sooner or later someone will say it never arrived and you have no choice but refund. You do this by taking the payment out of your 'insurance' that has been building up.

For mailing anywhere this is the most handy link to have so you will want to "book mark" it and easily refer to it again and again:

https://www.canadapost.ca/cpotools/apps/far/business/findARate?execution=e1s1

i.am.vivian · ‎12-12-2016

There are also some things you need to know about fees and restrictions. Basically if you are going to make a go of it and be successful, you have some reading ahead of you. It's all pretty easy though, just takes a bit of time.

This one you need to see about selling fees:

http://pages.ebay.ca/help/sell/fees.html

This one explains the HOLD on new sellers. It is frustrating when you can only list a few items, or sell a certain amount. It is frustrating when PayPal hangs on to your money for 21 days. But that's the way it is for everyone when they're new:

http://pages.ebay.ca/help/sell/sellinglimits.html

http://pages.ebay.ca/help/pay/payment_hold.html

reallynicestamps · ‎12-12-2016

Free Shipping is not free.

The shipping cost is included in the price of the item.

Which is cheaper?

A $5 card with $1 shipping?

A $1 card with $5 shipping?

A $6 card with Free Shipping?

Which is going to attract the most buyers? (Trick question-- some will go for the low price, some for the low shipping, some (and I think the majority) will go for the 'free' shipping).

And that's only Free Shipping domestically in most cases.

Look at your US competitor's who are charging $18 shipping. Change your location to USA and use 90210 as your zip code. Voila! See how they are suddenly offering Free Shipping?

I sell a lot of inexpensive books. I use domestic (to Canada) Free Shipping a lot.

For my US customers I enter the shipping cost as $0.00.

It's my strategy. YMMV.

reallynicestamps · ‎12-12-2016

As a followup.

You also have to look at your demographic.

Are Pokemon gamers honest and trustworthy?

If you find a card that costs you only $1 (plus fees and other listing costs that's really about $5-- a discussion for another day) and it sells for $50, are you comfortable sending it out LetterPost/Light Packet for $2 without tracking?

Would you be more comfortable shipping ExpressPost or even Registered?

Here is the Canada Post rate card.

Play with it for a while.

You may find your US competitors are actually being reasonable in their charges compared to their costs and risks.

https://www.canadapost.ca/cpotools/apps/far/business/findARate?execution=e1s1

Shipping is the hardest part of selling online.

Do some buying to build your feedback before trying to sell. It not only gives you an overview of your future customers' experience, but also protects you against the scammers who prey on new sellers.

john7460141 · ‎12-23-2016

$18.00 for shipping one card?? Shipping usually goes by size and weight so that's strange for one Pokemon card? unless there is some restriction on Pokemon cards?? I have not heard of that causing shipping to go that high though? Dumb question but are you sure it wasn't an error on something you entered?? Where are you shipping from and to for that price? Who are you shipping through?