Calculated shipping and fees... Wow ebay....

[chicweb]

Sorry, I have to vent.....

I sold an item 7.99$. Ebays fees were 3.30$.

Shipping: 8.43 (I added 0.50 of handling for shipping envelope + bubble packaging, etc). So 8.93$.

Now I know they are calculating the shipping and the taxes in their calculations... But I paid exactly what the customer paid for shipping... using Calculated Shipping. I'm being charged for this.

Why am I paying more for shipping that my customer paid for? Those fees added on the shipping is exactly that: paying more on shipping that I didn't even calculated. They KNOW the price was not manipulated... they provided the price themselve.

It would be easy to only charge fees on the only thing we can modify in the calculated shipping: handling fees (would be the 0.50$ here). That would take care of those who tries to manipulate the system... but I'm not. I'm trying to calculate everything and optimize.

Honestly... and seriously.... this is discouraging a lot for a new seller... I'm adding many items per day, bought a lot of stock to sell, just to realize that ebay will not be sustainable because of those fees alone.

It's incredible. I used ads on this item (never again). I just removed all promoted ads on all my items. That's on me, learned my lesson... but sold the item 7.99... I made 2.50 with ads added. Just... wow.  (I'm not even including the cost of the item, here, which brings me in the minus).

How do you all deal with this? Any hints or tips?

[flipistics]

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@chicweb wrote:

Well, there's more to it than just the tracking.

For sending lettermail, the dimensions doesn't fit the quality of our packaging. We send comics using Gemini boxes that are made for comics shipping. That, in itself, is more thick than the maximum for lettermail.

We prefer selling less but shipping the item carefully in respect of the comic book and the customer.

So yes, the customer will pay a bit more for shipping, but the packaging is 100% secure for the item with bubble wrap, gemini box AND a padded envelop.

For vinyls we will do the same. At the end, it's the customer decision to pay less for shipping but taking a risk with the shipping of their collectible or paying a bit more and being sure everything is done correctly to receive it 100% protected.

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I just sent this out using a Staples easy-fold mailer (8.5x11) that I scored and resized (it's a concert programme). This one is going to the States, but I measured it and it DOES fit lettermail and is probably equal in strength to the Gemini mailer.  There are certainly other options to ship them very safely by lettermail.

Also, you seem to have a number of comics up in the $5 range. Once the cost of the Gemini mailer and full eBay fees are factored in, are you sure you aren't losing money on those with parcel shipping? By my calculations (assuming the sale is in Canada and ignoring tax) the fees are going to be about $3 (or higher if going to a more remote location). The Gemini mailer is $1. Additional packing supplies (bags, board, bubble wrap, label, etc) are probably 40 cents. That doesn't factor in any promoted listings, your bubble mailer (which probably isn't necessary) or COG.

It's just something to think about with those kind of listings. 

[chicweb]

At first we were losing money on our first orders, because of the fact we didn't calculated the ebay fees correctly and were not using the handling fees at all.

I now use a calculator online that get all the fees, my cost, etc. Just search ebay Fees Calculator on google and select the Canada ebay site on that tool.

This allow me to pinpoint the amount I want to add as Handling fees to get around a profit margin I have chosen. You are right, it's about 1.50$ to 2$ of shipping supply with the Gemini Box, Bubble Wrap and Padded Envelop. We use the eBay padded envelop, it's the cheapest we have found, yet.

Playing with the handling fees and with the discount from eBay... we can provide a better shipping price than canada Post at the counter.

At the counter it's about.. what... 18$ for shipping domestically a package, minimum? That's the cheapest, I think ? We are under that by a few dollars with the new Expedited Lite + handling fees. So it's working great for us, that way, for the moment. 

We continue playing with the handling fees and have multiple policies set, depending of the competition on some items, etc. We lower our margin profit on some items and some other are higher. It all depend on how we want to sell a specific item.

[aviatorsparadise]

It really boils down to your pricing. You need to set your prices at a rate to make money at it.

I use a formula to set my cost price... Listing price plus $30 (I ship larger items so shipping can easily be that high but sometimes less) times 1.05 (for tax). Take that number and multiply by 20% (final value plus international fee plus promoted listing rate of 5%) then add to my original cost. I then add my desired profit to that number and round up. That gives me my listing price. I then turn on offers and can decide if I want to sell it for less or have enough margin to sell for less.

[ilikehockeyjerseys]

I am a proponent of shipping items safely, but your job as a seller is to deliver the most value to your buyers. If we're talking about low-end comics in the under 50 dollar range, shipping individual items in boxes with bubble wrap does not deliver value. The additional input costs (shipping, supplies, your own time or the time of your employees) vastly exceeds any additional value that someone would get from having a $10-$50 comic shipped in a box. Keep in mind, you can always offer a premium shipping option as an alternative for the rare customer who does not want their item shipped lettermail.

Comics are very easy to ship safely via lettermail. If you bag and board a comic and use two to three cardboard stiffeners inside of an envelope or bubble mailer, there is almost no chance that it will arrive damaged. In turn, you will be able to ship a comic for $1.84 + supplies instead of $9 with Expedited Lite. That will allow you to either lower your prices by $7 or so dollars, which leads to a lot more value for your customer than overpacking the item and charging more does. Or it will allow you to maintain the same price point, offer a comparable service (a safely shipped comic), and make a significantly greater margin on each sale.

With that said, you are absolutely right that certain items like vinyl records do not qualify for lettermail. I also agree that if we're talking about higher end comics or more expensive items, people then value the additional safety of over-protecting the item and adding tracking.

I admire your goal to respect the customer, but you can still achieve that goal through shipping lower priced items lettermail while at the same time giving them greater value with the sale because your lowered input costs allow you more freedom with your Buy It Now/Best Offer price. 

[reallynicestamps]

Does doing that allow you to get the SfSb discounts as well?

No, but I have an endless supply of mint postage stamps, which I also sell at a discount on eBay, as do other stamp dealers.  

It is sometimes more convenient to use a label, but if there is room on the parcel, stamps are just a prepaid receipt for shipping, after all.

And customers tend to remember getting the shipment.

[shino-6468]

Hi, USA here,

In the states we can't ship even a little snap in a letter.  We have to have it package (or so I've been told by my post master) due to the item getting torn apart or jamming the machines they use.   I have to use the ebay tracking, no choice.  I too sell items for cheap $2.35 and by the time ebay is done with me I profit maybe $1.00-1.30.  I use to charge flat rate shipping $3.80, but today I had to change everything to calculated shipping due to the higher cost of shipping here.  I was losing anywhere between 20-40 cents on each item.  

So I too am fed up with E-bay.  If anyone knows a better site to sell on, let me know.

[reallynicestamps]

Are you using Tyvek or poly envelopes? Those are close to indestructible.

And are you dropping the shipments into the post box, where they will not be seen by (possibly misinformed) human eyes until they hit the terminal, where they get treated like this:

[sparx_63]

"At first we were losing money on our first orders, because of the fact we didn't calculated the ebay fees correctly and were not using the handling fees at all.

I now use a calculator online that get all the fees, my cost, etc. Just search ebay Fees Calculator on google and select the Canada ebay site on that tool.

This allow me to pinpoint the amount I want to add as Handling fees to get around a profit margin I have chosen. You are right, it's about 1.50$ to 2$ of shipping supply with the Gemini Box, Bubble Wrap and Padded Envelop. We use the eBay padded envelop, it's the cheapest we have found, yet."

Hello

Don't know if you are near a Chit Chats or not, they have superb pricing on bubble envelopes , bubble wrap, sealing tapes and thermal labels.  The bubble envelopes are far cheaper thab EBAY, and they also ship 😉

Sparx

[marnotom!]

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@shino-6468 wrote:

Hi, USA here,

In the states we can't ship even a little snap in a letter.  We have to have it package (or so I've been told by my post master) due to the item getting torn apart or jamming the machines they use.   I have to use the ebay tracking, no choice.  I too sell items for cheap $2.35 and by the time ebay is done with me I profit maybe $1.00-1.30.  I use to charge flat rate shipping $3.80, but today I had to change everything to calculated shipping due to the higher cost of shipping here.  I was losing anywhere between 20-40 cents on each item.  

So I too am fed up with E-bay.  If anyone knows a better site to sell on, let me know.

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As you're using eBay International Shipping to get your items out of the US, @shino-6468, your Canadian buyers are looking at around C$20 (US$15) in shipping charges.  You may be fed up with eBay, but your problem seems to be more with USPS and shipping costs in general.  You may be better off offering several items in one listing rather than one.

[teenytrinkets]

I think everyone finds their "price groove" once they've been selling for a while.

I personally try to keep all listings ~$13+ to ensure a $10 minimum profit. I do take a hit on some items that are less popular and I need to clear out. Lately I've found I need to promote to sell anything, but I find I sell way more that way, so I take the hit.

[chicweb]

Unfortunately, no Chit Chats in my city. That would also be interesting to use for international shipping. I don't know much about them, but it would be interesting to try.

If we find cheaper than eBay bubble mailer, we sure will give it a try. It's all about cutting the cost without affecting the quality of service. 😉