Free shipping or not?

[verovintagetreasures]

Hello Canadian sellers! I need advice!

My sales are slow so I am reviewing my store. Also, I had more complaints recently about my shipping fees, which are always exactly the amount that I have to pay to ship the item with Canada Post, so no profits there. Those complaints are mostly from US clients. They don't undertsand why it's so expensive, USPS it's so cheap if we compare. Since the pandemic I only ship with tracked service, so it's a little more expensive too...

Anyway, here are my thoughts:

-Should I put everything "free shipping" and adapt my items' cost in consequence?

-Should I stop offering "best offer" option  if I offer free shipping? 

-Should I Use a flat rate shipping cost for everything, let's say 8$, then keep "best offer", and level up my items price a bit?

What are you guys doing? I sell a large variety of items, from paper ephemera to dinerware. So enveloppes to large heavy boxes. 

Thanks for your help!

Véro

[mcrlmn]

https://community.ebay.ca/t5/Search/free-shipping/qaq-p/447857

[verovintagetreasures]

Thank you! Very useful!

[femmefan1946]

-Should I put everything "free shipping" and adapt my items' cost in consequence?

If you can ship using Flat Rate without too much trouble and expense, yes.

You already know that Free Shipping means the cost of shipping is included in the asking price.

But this doesn't work in your favour with very bulky items.

-Should I stop offering "best offer" option if I offer free shipping?

No.

Just adjust your asking price to allow for "free" shipping and then set your parameters for accepting Best Offers.

-Should I Use a flat rate shipping cost for everything, let's say 8$, then keep "best offer", and level up my items price a bit?

Dear Flying Spaghetti Monster NO!

We have to cover our costs.

Some sales are not worth having.
Offering Free Shipping should already have leveled up your asking prices.

Flat Rate works best for LetterPost items and for small items under 400gr.

What are you guys doing? I sell a large variety of items, from paper ephemera to dinerware. So enveloppes to large heavy boxes.

I list my books and sewing patterns on dotCOM and use Flat Rate/Free Shipping because these will move LetterPost.

I list anything over 500gr and 2cm thickness on dotCA and use Calculated Shipping.

Remember that with Parcel Rates the destination is part of the calculation. Put some Nunavut postal codes and Florida/Hawaii zipcodes into the Canada Post rate sheet and consider how much you can lose using Flat Rates for parcel shipping.

In my opinion, Calculated Shipping is better than Flat Rate if the FR is going to be a large amount. Calculated looks more official.

Also, your buyer sees the Canada Post rate, not what you pay. There are some small discounts available through Paypal and Shippo.

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

@verovintagetreasures 

Don’t worry about complaints about shipping price , good buyers know how much it costs. "complainers will complain!" 

Free shipping is not that good in my opinion attracts a lot of bottom feeders .Some buyers only choose this option most choose lowest price + shipping, which will get you top views if your comparable in cost to similar items.

The best part about charging shipping is when it comes to promoted listings eBay only takes a percent on the price and not the shipping.

I use bulk listing and flip back and forth between charged shipping and free it really seems to make no difference. 

PS eBay is making tons of catalogue changes this could be effecting your sales it is with mine and its normally a slow time of year after Xmas.

[verovintagetreasures]

Thank you so much, I feel relieved! And I haven't thought about promoted listings! 

[snoopwiz]

Have you looked into one of the Cross Border companies such as Chit Chats or Stallion Express to see if either has a location anywhere near you?  I know Chit Chats had a drop spot in Ottawa but unsure if they are open (pandemic) at the moment. Literally thousands of eBay sellers use one of these or other Cross Border companies, helping them compete with their U.S competitors more so than by using Canada Post. 

[verovintagetreasures]

Thank you so much! Great advice! 

[verovintagetreasures]

I will definitly look at those companies! I'm a little far from Ottawa but it can be worth the trip once a week. Thank you so much!

[intimewithmusic]

My suggestion is NO to free shipping particularly if you use "Best Offer". I tried that and it drove me nutz. the answer depends on the ratio you have of sales to the USA, Domestic and overseas. My ratio is 2/3rds US. If you sell high domestically there are a lot of great Sellers here with good advice about things like "Regional Shipping". 

 I don't worry about domestic costs but for the US I recommend you figure out how much of the cost you can absorb to compete with your US competitors based on your size and weights. For example if your average  Tracked Pack weight is under 60 grams (sports cards, post cards, ephemera etc) then continue with calculated shipping. You may want to sell the light stuff in lots because you'll never sell a $10 sports card to the US if the S& H is $15. 

   If your US Tracked Pack is 60 to 2000 grams ( the max for TP) then decide how much you can absorb to still profit. Then set a Flat Rate to the US for items between 60 & 2000 grams. Be careful to just implement this on the items your're in competion with. 

  For example magazines. Each weighs out between 300 & 400 grams. A tracked pack to florida may cost $23 incl packagine so create a "shipping business policy" for all of your magazines. 

  If you sell rare coins do not do this as if you have a coin that someone really can't get anywhere they will pay the standard Tracked Pack rate. 

   Best wishes

[intimewithmusic]

Due to the Covid caused closed border Order the cross border companies in Washington have shut down. They are advising British Columbians who can't retrieve their packages they may be forfeited. Some postal lockers in Washington are having essential trucking co's move the goods that otherwise are overflowing to warehouses on the BC side of the border. Maybe it's different province to province but I would guess that the cross border companies are charging a premium if they are managing to operate. 

[pjcdn2005]

As far as I know some sellers in Canada are still using cross border companies like chit chat in Alberta, BC (Vancouver)  and Ontario to carry  packages across the border and mail them with USPS.  I think that you are referring to companies that hold your parcels for you in the US which is different than what snoopwhiz was referring to. 

[teenytrinkets]

I'm a huge advocate for offering free shipping and building it into the price - especially for Canadians. Why? It's a competitive edge. I find i sometimes sell better than people offering the same product when I charge $14.99 + free economy shipping, than someone who lists at $11.99 + $3 lettermail shipping. Canadians hardly EVER get "free" shipping on ebay. They love it! (I know I love it!).

When I do charge for tracked shipping, I don't use calculated shipping and always charge a flat rate. This is easy for my US buyers, since I ship with ChitChats and the shipping rates are fairly consistent throughout the country (around $6 for my small items). I charge $4-$5CAD for those, because that's what Americans are used to spending (in my experience they will rarely spend more). But with Canada, even the ChitChats rate can be $10-$17 depending on location! So it sometimes gets complicated for me.

So I try to build $10 into the sale price for Canadian tracked shipping, when I can, but list as "economy". Then the buyer is less likely to complain about shipping timeframes or that they paid 'extra' for shipping and it's taking too long. Most times it works out because I ship to major cities with ChitChats. The odd time, I get a remote town and I have to eat a shipping loss. But, I've found that this works best for me and I attract more buyers this way.

[rosscd57]

"Free Shipping": - there is no such thing as Free Shipping - it is hidden in the purchase price - a buyer could be over paying for shipping and not really know it.

"Best Offer": means that you know that your listing price is no good and you are expecting to recieve  less for it - how much depends on how much you get beat down - don't use it.

"Flat rate shipping": is the only way to go for anything in the US and Canada that weighs in over one kilo. You can juggle the shipping and purchase price to compete with the American competition.

One last thought on 'Free Shipping" it should be outlawed, as anyone with half a brain knows there is no such thing - the seller pays for shipping on everything shipped and passes it on to the buyer. So - the buyer does not know the real price of the item nor the price of the shipping. How dumb is that?

[a51split]

".... 'Free Shipping" it should be outlawed, as anyone with half a brain knows there is no such thing "

Never underestimate the stupidity of the average person.

A toll-free call is the telephone's version of free shipping.  A friend owns an online store.  Back before the internet, he would advertise his toll free phone number, and his regular number, because sometimes people would pay for the call on their own dime.  One time he had to call a customer to clarify something with an order, and called using the regular line.  When the customer answered, he recognised by his call display that it wasn't the toll free line, so he offered to hang up so he could call back on the toll free line.  This customer truely thought the call would be free if he used the toll free number.

[imbuzzy]

"Best Offer": means that you know that your listing price is no good and you are expecting to recieve less for it - how much depends on how much you get beat down - don't use it."

Maybe not for your widgets.  As I have stated before to your comment...

Offering best offer is certainly better than advertising that your price is "no good" and that you won't take something lower.

"Best Offer" is a powerful tool, especially if you have a few thousand listings...

1) It allows the seller to identify bottom feeders and act accordingly

2) Flexibility in pricing gives a competitive edge

3) It entices multiple purchases per transaction

4) It reveals what buyers are willing to pay for your item

5) A buyer's time spent hemming and hawing on your item is time taken away from your competitors

6) Buyers like to haggle and feel good when they succeed

7) It moves your stock faster

Maybe it doesn't work with pricey antique radios, but it sure the heck helps sell common postcards where the competition is alive and well.

[imbuzzy]

I can tell you that the free shipping model does not work with postcards.  I tried it for a couple of years.

The amount of combined purchases droped dramatically since each item has shipping incorporated into the cost.  Even giving discounts to additional items added to the cart did not help at all increase sales.

Having S/H charged separately really helps in combined purchases and move my stock a lot quicker.

I'd never go back to offering free shipping, and also, best offers did not work well in conjunction with free shipping.

[38e_avenue]

Unfortunately, this is not true what was said about the PL fee calculation. It definitely INCLUDES the shipping fee. 

See below:  

[38e_avenue]

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@imbuzzy wrote:

Having S/H charged separately really helps in combined purchases and move my stock a lot quicker. I'd never go back to offering free shipping, and also, best offers did not work well in conjunction with free shipping.

---

I do not offer free shipping for the same reason. It complicates the combined purchases, adding multiple S/H charge to the order.  It also causes troubles with best offer - I got many offers where the buyer offered a price which barely covered the cost of S/H only.  

However, I think about lowering of the shipping cost, because the weird and steadily changing CP fuel surcharge makes me sick.  ChitChats recently opened a new branch just around the corner. The comparison: I printed with them a label for 110 g package to the US. Paid 7.66. The same at CP - 11.70 (SP). 

Yes, I had several issues with ChitChats in the past (lost packages, and - above all - their HORRYFYING return politics), but maybe it's time they get another (the last one) chance? 

My business is not going well - I had the worst November since 2001 - and I am looking for a solution. 

[pjcdn2005]

Unfortunately, this is not true what was said about the PL fee calculation. It definitely INCLUDES the shipping fee. 

Promoted Listings did not calculate shipping when that information was posted in 2021.