eBay

ron1347 · ‎10-08-2013

Hello

I am a newer seller and I am wondering how I can offer different shipping options at checkout?

Basically I have the standard free shipping

then there is shipping with a tracking number that cost a tiny bit

or there is express shipping.

I would like to give my buyers the option, so how do I set that up?

Thank you

Ron

femmefan1946 · ‎10-08-2013

I don't actually like to offer multiple methods of shipping on the basis that the buyer will go for the cheapest but expect the most expensive. Human nature.

If my buyer wants a different service, she can ask for it.

If I want to upgrade a service, I will pay for it myself. I do this with my larger discount postage orders, offering free shipping and using ExpressPost which is fast and requires Signature Confirmation.

However, take another look at the Shipping section of the Sell Your Item Form. There is a spot to add another service and another S&H fee there as a drop down option.

View solution in original post

rose-dee · ‎10-08-2013

@mr.elmwood wrote:
OP got spanked with a shipping time neg. That is why their question.

Yes, and I see the buyer in question was in Austria -- no wonder, if the OP is arranging for shipping from China and not handling the shipping personally.

To the OP -- femme-fan's advice is excellent (as always). I rarely offer more than one shipping service, but often upgrade to a higher (usually trackable) service at no cost to the customer. If you list more than one shipping service, I can pretty much guarantee your buyers will choose the cheapest every time, and as femme-fan says, they will then leave negative feedback/DSRs if shipping doesn't meet their expectations.

View solution in original post

femmefan1946 · ‎10-08-2013

I don't actually like to offer multiple methods of shipping on the basis that the buyer will go for the cheapest but expect the most expensive. Human nature.

If my buyer wants a different service, she can ask for it.

If I want to upgrade a service, I will pay for it myself. I do this with my larger discount postage orders, offering free shipping and using ExpressPost which is fast and requires Signature Confirmation.

However, take another look at the Shipping section of the Sell Your Item Form. There is a spot to add another service and another S&H fee there as a drop down option.

femmefan1946 · ‎10-08-2013

From your mix of items, I wonder if you are dropshipping. If so, I certainly would not offer multiple shipping services, because your supplier is the one who will be handling this and every time some poor soul on the shipping line makes an error, you will be the one the customer gets mad at.

If you are doing your own shipping of products you have in hand, this would not be a problem.

mr.elmwood · ‎10-08-2013

OP got spanked with a shipping time neg. That is why their question.

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rose-dee · ‎10-08-2013

@mr.elmwood wrote:
OP got spanked with a shipping time neg. That is why their question.

Yes, and I see the buyer in question was in Austria -- no wonder, if the OP is arranging for shipping from China and not handling the shipping personally.

To the OP -- femme-fan's advice is excellent (as always). I rarely offer more than one shipping service, but often upgrade to a higher (usually trackable) service at no cost to the customer. If you list more than one shipping service, I can pretty much guarantee your buyers will choose the cheapest every time, and as femme-fan says, they will then leave negative feedback/DSRs if shipping doesn't meet their expectations.

ron1347 · ‎10-08-2013

Thank you to all of you for your thoughts.

Yes I am drop shipping from china and do not handle the product.

For the record, if it matters, I was hit with that neg feedback about the shipping after I posted this. 😉
Hopefully I can work things out with that person.

I will do as you have suggested and just pay for the tracking number, seems it will potentially save a lot of headaches.

Again Thank you for your advice.

Ron

mr.elmwood · ‎10-09-2013

Save a lot of headaches? Not a chance. Maybe it might save one in a thousand. That is about my record. If yer paying for a trcking number from China, you are giving up direct profit to maybe save one headache. Not at all worth it.

Tracking does not, never has, never will work.

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rose-dee · ‎10-09-2013

Well, tracking can work if you're selling items with a fairly high value (say, over $75), which I do quite a lot.

But from China? For a $20 or $30 item -- it makes no sense, unless China has some pretty low-priced shipping rates for tracking that I'm not aware of.

To the OP: If you are shipping from China, then shipping complaints are likely going to be an ongoing part of the risk of your business that you'll have to accept (unless you're selling mainly to buyers within China). You will need to weigh that unavoidable risk against other factors (sales volume, item value, etc.) and determine if it can be managed to some extent.

The other problem is of course that no matter how well your sales do, those DSRs/FB regarding shipping are going to accumulate and may ultimately make selling on eBay more difficult for you.

I do have to say though that I've purchased a number of small, lightweight, easily-mailed and not very expensive items from Hongkong (not mainland China), and they arrived in Canada incredibly fast via airmail, and at very reasonable cost.

So in terms of management of shipping risk, you might consider, at least initially, limiting your shipping destinations to China, the U.S. and Canada for example, in the hope of avoiding the worst of the potential problems, and using tracking only for items of high value. This could be effective in reducing shipping delays if the majority of your sales are to those locations anyway.

Another thought might be to remind buyers up front in your listing descriptions that you are shipping from China, and give expected timelines for the areas you ship to. I realize this information may be under the "Shipping" tab, but since you have no direct control over shipping, giving buyers advance notice in a prominent spot could help reduce some of the complaints.