large shipping cost

[barbara.taylor_6]

I     sold  a  collectible      to   somebody     in   Holland   on  ebay  from   Canada. It   cost  over  $100.Can         to  ship it . The   buyer    had   already   payed  for  it.  i   under  estimated  the   shipping   cost   and  already    took   a   big    loss      when    i  put it  up   for  auction  for 7  days.     I   am   taking   a  big   loss  on  the  whole  deal     can  i   recoup   any  of  my   shipping   costs.      i  could  have  made  more  money  at a garage sale,    ebay sucks

[esclyons · Accepted solution]

you need to only sell to north america,  Usa, and Canada... then your shipping fee, will more than cover your costs to ship..

[musicyouneed · Accepted solution]

Cancel the sale, take the defect hit.  You have only got 7 feedback to lose.  You can be honest with the buyer or not.  Also don't sell international until you get a little more experience with costs.  You can take the item to the PO and they will tell you what it would cost to ship.  Also for more expensive items you need to send tracked.

[reallynicestamps · Accepted solution]

By the way, if you cancelled that sale as Problem With Address you didn't get a Defect.

And the angry neg can probably be removed by Customer Service.

[reallynicestamps]

The technical term for this is "learning experience".

Before selling again, buy a digital scale (I got a Starfrit kitchen scale at Canadian Tire for under $20 that weighs up to 5 kilos) and a measuring tape.

With those in hand use this:

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

 to calculate the cost of shipping.

You could also, and probably should, use the Calculated Shipping option on the Sell Your Item form.

EBay defaults new sellers to an overSimplified Sell Your Item form. There is a link to the much easier and comprehensive Advanced form in the top right of that form.

EBay also defaults newbies into Auctions, when over 85% of transactions are Fixed Price, where you set the selling price.

And eBay encourages newbies to set Auction opening prices low, which is a Huge Mistake.

Always make sure your opening bid at least covers your costs, including packaging (bubblewrap ain't free) and labour (BC minimum wage is 18 cents a minute).

Best wishes on your new endeavour.

[reallynicestamps]

@15westcoast 

You should bookmark this:

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

[15westcoast]

My post office outlet is five minutes away.  I will ship overseas if the

buyer agrees to pay for tracking and I advise them of this.  I go to the

PO and get the actual shipping cost for the package and the amount for

tracking so I can advise the potential buyer.  If they do not wish to pay for

the tracking (usually a high cost for overseas) then I will not ship.  Better to

just stay with North America customers as tracking is reasonable.  Canada

Post costs have increased so it is best to check with them.