How much is TOO much for Shipping?
imwonderboy
Posts: 22
I personally feel that requested shipping costs are getting out of control. I have been burnt before and ALWAYS check the shipping fees before bidding on ebay items. It is crazy that some people are charging $6.95 or more to ship one card. Give me a break! What's worse is that these people usually ship the card in a standard envelop with 2 stamps. Personally I charge $1.00 for ungraded and $2.00 for graded cards and I think that it is a fair shipping charge. Anyone else here been ripped off from shipping charges?
PS - This doesn't include high end cards that require special care or insurance which obviously would be costly to ship.
PS - This doesn't include high end cards that require special care or insurance which obviously would be costly to ship.
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But overall, it's a free market. You can charge what you want for shipping. If you have a $10 card, you can put a "Buy It Now" of 1 cent on it and charge $9.99 for shipping. That's an extreme example, but eBay's rules allow this and some sellers take advantage. The market dictates whether they sell their item and for how much.
I too hate it when someone charges $4.50 for shipping and it arrives in a 60-cent bubble mailer -- or worse, in a toploader stuck into a 37-cent envelope! I think $3.00 for one graded card should be sufficient to cover regular postage, materials and "handling", whatever the hell that means. Your time and effort preparing the package and going to the PO, I guess. That's what I charge, and it ALWAYS includes delivery confirmation. (PayPal scammers will claim the card never arrived, unless you take this step) Insurace is an optional add-on, but really it only protects me, not the buyer, so I don't require it.
Anyway, we have the choice not to bid or buy if we consider the shipping fee to be excessive, and to cross certain sellers off our lists if they charge $4.50 for 60 cents worth of postage. It's like gas stations. If one has prices that are 20 cents per gallon higher than other places in town, you drive on by.
As a seller I charge 2.25 for shipping on single cards. I use bubble mailers and DC on all my packages. I once experiemented with 1.25 shipping and handling, but had buyers emailing me and saying they would pay more to get it shipped in a bubble mailer. My sales actually went up when I went back up to 2.25. Sometimes low shipping is viewed as inferior shipping.
I sell on another site that caps the S&H at 70 cents for single cards. Many buyers there feel the shipping is too high, so I have come to the conclusion that buyers will complain about something regardless.
On graded cards:
1.I have to package them, What costs are included here. at least, card saver, and buble envelope.
2. Go to post office and mail them, and pay postage and insurance. Sometimes I wait a 1/2 hr to do this.
3. Receive them. and pay postage and insurance.
4. Scan them
5. List them on ebay
6. Repackage them for sale
7. Go to post office and mail them.
I only charge 2.50, and .50 addittional but I think I am losing money. I figure on average it costs me .50/card (at least) each way to send and receive from psa. Bubble envelopes cost me .35 in bulk, .65 at office max, when I run out and need them immediately, Paper & ink & cardbaord for arguements sake lets say is .10 per package, postage is on average for me anyway 1.10. Card savers run @.05, I think. Forgetting the time factors. I am in to any given package for:.50 +.50 +.35 +.05 + 1.10 + .10 =2.60 , If an average package took me 3 minutes to prepare, scan, list, etc. (is this realistic try 5-10 minutes)and I make 12/hr thats another .60. Ok no big deal now multiply that by the number of cards you sell and be ammased.., What if I wanted to make 15 or 25 hr?
On raw cards you have all the above costs except send/receive from psa (steps 2-3). Perhaps a saving of 1.00, again not taking into consideration time.
That is too much buy them on Ebay and you can get them for as little as 7 cents each 100 ata time.
<< <i>This costs $3.85, plus i pay another .40 or so for delivery confirmation >>
Go to the USPS site and print your label....DC is then free!
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ANGEL OF HOPE
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TUSTIN CA
<< <i>...What if I wanted to make 15 or 25 hr? >>
Then you're in the wrong business.
You can't bill the customer for time waiting in line, packaging the card, etc unless you have a daily UPS/Fedex pickup and all the shipping materials at hand that you buy in bulk. In short, you have a modern shipping department like any small-medium sized business has. Why? Because anything else is inefficient, and you are going to lose out to the operations that have efficient shipping departments that don't charge alot for shipping.
As a buyer and seller, I too figure add in the cost of shipping to the bid. Therefore if you charge alot for shipping, expect a smaller bid from me. Likewise, when I sell I only charge the lowest price possible - usually what the postage is. Recently, I even took a hit on shipping because I underestimated the cost of shipping on a computer component. My bad.
If you want to make a serious business out of selling, you'll need to streamline your shipping process to minimize the costs to the seller. Things with low shipping costs are more attractive to me as a buyer, and I probably tend to bid higher than I would if the shipping charge is higher. I've even noticed people starting to advertise free shipping, and I've considered doing the same.
That said, a buck for 1 card raw, 1.50 for small lot and $2 for one graded seems reasonable to me - and will be reflected in my bid.
What if the package is lost or damaged? dc won't protect you.
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<< <i>I thought paying for priority $3.85 already includes delivery confirmation. I am not a seller, so I have no clue. I will go on The USPS website in case I do sell. >>
Delivery Confirmation is extra, on top of the $3.85. At the PO, they charge $0.55, but I use Stamps.com - it is only $0.13 on any level of mail service (and you can track delivery online).
This topic is so well worn - but clearly it still bothers many bidders. I hate to see the $5.00+ shipping sellers also, but I don't mind paying that for boxed Priority Mail service. Anything else just looks unprofessional, but you simply add it to what you want to pay for the item total. Simple as that.
I would not leave it up to the buyer to buy it, insurance protects you the seller not the buyer. I do it on high ticket items regardless of if they pay or not. Many times I build the insurance into the S&H.
<< <i>But overall, it's a free market. You can charge what you want for shipping. If you have a $10 card, you can put a "Buy It Now" of 1 cent on it and charge $9.99 for shipping. That's an extreme example, but eBay's rules allow this and some sellers take advantage. >>
Actually, no, ebay rules don't allow this. In fact, it's called fee avoidance and the very scenario you described is given as an example in their policies and rules as something that's forbidden.
Tabe
Going tot he post office, shipping them, the packaging...but I think $2 is fair!
Actually, no, ebay rules don't allow this. In fact, it's called fee avoidance and the very scenario you described is given as an example in their policies and rules as something that's forbidden.
Yes it is against the rules, but getting Ebay to enforce this is very hard. I have personally reported over 100 sellers for this and only seen 2 done anything about and both of them they made it clear they were doing this to avoid paying Ebay fees in the listing.
If the seller has something you like, most people will take the ship/handling into consideration when bidding. Every business has overhead and the bigger guys who make a living at this know that the same card or auto ball e.gt., will bring a "range" of prices - the ship And handling helps off-set that discrepancy. I don't think they are trying to be crooks or anything - just going about this in a business-like manner.
And also of importance - I would guess most who sell on ebay do not declare the earnings - our professional ebayers do and it's all a matter of public record.
If one approaches this from the point of view of a business rather than a part time hobby/diversion - things look a little different - perhaps?
Just a thought.
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Mike
As a seller: I do realize that there are a load of fees when selling an item. Do i increase my S&H above the actual cost to me? Probably. But not to the point where i am making significant profit over it.
I just won 5 1959 PSA graded cards. My total bid price: $15.53. Total shipping: $9.00. To send 5 cards. But, I am thrilled because even at $24.53, I feel I received a great price.
I see too many cards (mid 1950's graded PSA 5) where the shipping is $5 per card. That leaves about $1.00 for the bid.
But, we all have the chance to refuse to bid whenver we don't like shipping fees.
Just my opinion, but I feel a lot better about a seller who starts a card with a minimum bid of $5 and charges $1.50 shipping than someone who starts a card with a minimum bid of $1.50 and charges $5.00 shipping. I know it's the same cost to the buyer, but to me, there's a difference in the "integrity" of the 2 sellers.
<< <i>I'm sure we could debate this all day but it was just a topic I hadn't seen decussed here. >>
Use the search function and you'll find it's been discussed many times.
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TUSTIN CA
<< <i>Use the search function and you'll find it's been discussed many times. >>
All in all, you figure shipping cost into your bid. Its simple. don't beatch about it... just bid less or don't bid at all. Thats what I do atleast, and I have no complaints.
JERO
1. Bubble Mailer - 0.11
2. Packaging Materials - 0.10
3, Postage Cost - 0.37 plus 0.12 for oversize envelope ( Under 1 Oz.), 0.60 over 1 Oz.
4. Est. cost of Transportation to PO (per item) - 0.15
So my direct costs for mailing are 0.85 for packages under 1 Oz. and 0.96 for packages over 1 Oz. This still leaves from 0.54 to 0.65 for other costs. This is for First Class Mail - Not Priority.
So when I'm looking to bid I do check out the shipping costs. I recently refused to bid on auctions where the seller wanted $5.00 for S&H on the first card and $1.00 for each additional card.
R73 1933 Goudey Indian Gum - Series 288 - Nos. 118
Also looking for 1953 Parkhurst & 1953 Quaker Oats Ripley's BION.
If you have any available for sale PM me
If they over charge for selling, they are obviously very very cheap people who will go bonkers over a couple of bucks.
Why would I want to deal w/ a person like that? It raises the suspicion that other parts of the transaction may be less than desirable. Their customer service may also be cheap skate quality. In fact, the item their selling may also be questionable.
JERO
For me I saw a pretty large sales reduction when I lowered my shipping to 1.25, and had some ask me if they could add 1.00 to shipping to get it shipped in a bubble mailer, even though it said bubble mailer in the the listing.
I also have a regular buyer who will neg you if you ship his cards in a bubble mailer, he says he has had too much problem with them being ripped open by machines.
Just shows you cannot please everyone. You need to find a rate that is within the average (2 to 3.00) and stick with it.