eBay

bpl521_sell · ‎02-08-2020

Couple shipping questions as a seller

If you offer free shipping. How are fees handled, does Ebay not collect fees on shipping when shipping is free?

I don't see UPS as a option when creating a listing. How does one notify the buyer that this is the carrier that will be used. Do I just mention UPS shipping in the description.

How do you specify a delivery standard if UPS is not a option when creating a listing, again do I just mention it in the description?

ricarmic · ‎02-08-2020

Ebay gets their fees for domestic shipping no matter what you do.

I generally offer free domestic shipping no matter which site (.CA or .COM), and irregardless of what I sell (stamps) this is on parcels up to bankers box size.

I also only offer flat rate shipping on both .CA and .COM, again even for the bankers boxes*.

If you offer free domestic shipping (which ebay collects their fees on) anything above domestic shipping charges they do NOT collect fees on. So for example my free domestic .CA item has $10.50 international shipping charges. I only pay fees on the item (with the free shipping built in) when someone international buys, I do not pay fees on the $10.50 shipping because the item was a free domestic shipping listed item.

On .COM I use:

(Free) "Standard Shipping from outside US (5 to 10 business days)" for Americans

(Free) "Standard International shipping" for Canadians

($$$ Added) "Standard International shipping" for everyone else

On .CA I use:

(Free) "Standard shipping (1 to 10 business days)" for Canadians

($$$ Added or Free) "Standard Int'l shipping" for USA

($$$ added) "Standard Int'l shipping" for everyone else too

In over 20 years here I've never offered calculated shipping so I can't offer any help if there are questions around that.

I've never that I recall had anyone ask which carrier I'm using, I'm not sure you need to worry about that.

Having said everything above, what works for me might not work for you or others so you'll have to balance out what you hear from me and from others to figure out what works for you.

*As a note, because I'm a "stamps on the box kinda guy" I have all the rate sheets here so I know how much an item is going to cost to send to anywhere and I've devised an "averaged out" formula that has worked well for a long time. As well, 99% of the time I use one of 4 standard sized boxes, up to a bankers box size so I know the volumetric impact of all of them automagically too.

teenytrinkets · ‎02-08-2020

I didn't know about not getting charged fees on my international shipping if domestic is free!! I'll have to make some adjustments where I can.

I usually offer free shipping on everything. It's psychological! It's the only way I can sell anything - especially to Canadians who usually get hosed on shipping want to avoid the shipping charges from the US.

I've started to use ChitChats and now I'm seeing the importance of listing everything "standard shipping ". The domestic shipments took 4 days just to leave BC!!!!

ricarmic · ‎02-08-2020

That's why these boards are such a plus!!!

There is so much going on all the time, it is hard to stay abreast of everything happening.

Today (so far) I learned about a promo I would not have known about otherwise and the "My ebay selling overview" which I've never visited before.

pjcdn2005 · ‎02-08-2020

Sellers who have ‘free’ shipping generally have the shipping cost in with the item price. Since you pay fvf on the item price, you are paying fvf on the shipping as well. That’s actually one of the reasons why ebay started charging fvf on shipping....so that people who included the fvf in the price were paying the same fvf as someone who had a lower price but charged fir shipping.

UPS is an option if you use a flat rate but you can’t use it for calculated shipping.

bpl521_sell · ‎02-08-2020

@pjcdn2005 wrote:
Sellers who have ‘free’ shipping generally have the shipping cost in with the item price. Since you pay fvf on the item price, you are paying fvf on the shipping as well. That’s actually one of the reasons why ebay started charging fvf on shipping....so that people who included the fvf in the price were paying the same fvf as someone who had a lower price but charged fir shipping.

UPS is an option if you use a flat rate but you can’t use it for calculated shipping.

Thanks everyone for the replies.

Aah that's right I forgot about the low selling price and outrageous shipping to avoid paying fees. So basically makes no difference, if my shipping fee is built into the selling price the fee is the same.

Reason I want to state UPS is because I was going to try netParcel on some heavier items to the US. They offer very good rates on UPS, but don't want to get caught in a trap where the buyer is a PO box and UPS can't deliver.

But I just discovered on the exclude location list I can exclude a PO box so think I good on that front now, so really don't need to be specific on UPS other than maybe mention in the description .