Ebay shipping charges - what is reasonable

frankhardy

Would you not agree that $2.95 for the first card is reasonable?

What would be reasonable after that? Would $0.50 for each additional be ok? Ebay does state that it is ok to charge a small handling fee if not excessive. What should the limit be is one person buys a bunch of single cards?

I ask this having sold much before, not really worrying about it, but now I am doing something different. I am consigning for a friend. We have agreed on a 20% / 80% split. However, the catch is that I have to take care of the Ebay and Paypal fees. So, basically, I am sending him 80% of the gross sale, but then I have to pay for all of the fees out of my 20%. I am finding out that that can be kind of tricky. The "break even" point for me is somewhere between $6.00 and $7.00, depending on how much I charge for shipping. I am figuring that if an auction ends at $0.99, I have to pay him $0.73, and with my fees, I end up losing about $0.50. Is it reasonable to charge an additional $0.50 per extra card on shipping to cover my fees?

fiveniner

Absolutley!!!!!You are very reasonable. I often see $5 charges for 1 card plus insurance optional.I usually charge $2 to 2.50 per then .50 additional. insurance optional based on USPS rates unless its high ticket then insurance is required. This is for PSA only.I havent sold raw singles in quite some time I think I charged a $1.50 for up to 3 cards.

BunchOBull

Good luck with this, I hope it stays pretty.

To answer your question, those shipping charges would be fine. I'd allow combined shipping on items that end in the same 3 day period, but you may try to split the individual transactions up, where as items that would likely be bid upon by the same person don't end in that kind of window. At that point, every 4th day list a new grouping of auctions.

This may sounds trivial, but it may cut down on the likelihood of multi-orders and out of pocket loss due to shipping and fees.

leathtech

$2.95 seems a little high and would make me think twice if I thought I could get the card later (and I would not give 5 star shipping). Normally I like to see shipping no higher than $2.50. $.50 per extra seems reasonable to me but I don't understand why people do this, you should be able to ship 3 PSA cards out for under $3.00.

I personally do not believe in passing insurance along to the buyer. I don’t do that much ebay selling but I always use d/c and pay out of my own pocket to insure anything over $75.
Using paypal to ship 1 or 2 graded cards will cost under $2.25 with d/c, add in a bubble mailer and you are right around $2.50.

frankhardy

See, this consignment deal brings a whole new equation to this for me. In the past, I have charged $1.95 for up to 5 single cards, which I think is better than 99% of all sellers on Ebay. However, this consignment deal absolutely requires me to rethink this. I have to be able to get some of those fees back on those auctions going for less than $7.00. I see no way around this. I personally think $2.95 is lower than most sellers. I was mainly wondering about any extra cards. I sell cards from Sunday night to Sunday, with rarely any variation to that.

What if someone buys 10 cards? That would technically be $2.95 plus (50 cents times 9) making the shipping $7.45. How is that going to be viewed, even if stated in the auction? What should the limit be?

nam812

<< <i>$2.95 seems a little high and would make me think twice if I thought I could get the card later (and I would not give 5 star shipping). Normally I like to see shipping no higher than $2.50. $.50 per extra seems reasonable to me but I don't understand why people do this, you should be able to ship 3 PSA cards out for under $3.00.

I personally do not believe in passing insurance along to the buyer. I don’t do that much ebay selling but I always use d/c and pay out of my own pocket to insure anything over $75.
Using paypal to ship 1 or 2 graded cards will cost under $2.25 with d/c, add in a bubble mailer and you are right around $2.50. >>



The seller never said that the cards were graded.

thedutymon

Good Morning,
.50 cents for each additional card is rediculous if you are talking Raw. It costs no more to ship 10 Raw cards then it does 1 Raw card, and the shipping should be the same. If it is PSA's, then yes that is what I charge.

My rates are follows:
Raw cards: 1-10 $2.50
10-50 $3.00
50-up $3.50-$5.00 depending on final quantity.

PSA cards First $3.00 each additional is .50 cents. Up to max of $10.00, then they go in the Flat rate Box.

Shipping should not be part of your Profit Plan, Period, it is a cost of doing business and should be factored in just enough to offset that cost.

Neil

BunchOBull

I'd honestly tell your buddy that you'll take 10% off of net profit and you'll probably still do better and he won't really know the difference. I ship "free" almost exclusively, that includes DC. I give the buyers the option of purchasing insurance on any item, but I purchase it no matter if they pay for it or not on items of $50 or more...or lower for potentially troubling buyers.

nam812

Shane, forget thinking about the shippings costs (but they do count in the paypal fees) when deciding if the percentage you're charging the consignee is fair. You have to figure out what percentage of the final price will be yours after fees. Here's how I see it if you do auction format style, and not fixed price listings:

If you start the auction at $0.01 to $0.99 the insertion fee is $0.15
If you start the auction at $1.00 to $9.99 the insertion fee is $0.35

Final value fees are 8.75% of the closing price from $0.01 to $25.00

Paypal fees are 2.9% (item + shipping charge) + $0.30

If you started the auction at $0.99 or lower, and using a $20.00 sale as a guide, you would give your consignee $16.00, and of the $4.00 left you would have to pay $0.15 + $1.75 + $0.97 = $2.87 That leaves you $1.13 profit for a $20 item which is 5.65%

Also, any sales over $25 will have slightly less of a final value fee percentage which puts a little more in your pocket.

Unless the consignee has a collection worth a few thousand dollars for you to auction, it seems like a lot of work (as well as responsibility and risk) for you with only a modest return.

GOODLIEU

<< <i>$2.95 seems a little high and would make me think twice if I thought I could get the card later (and I would not give 5 star shipping). Normally I like to see shipping no higher than $2.50. $.50 per extra seems reasonable to me but I don't understand why people do this, you should be able to ship 3 PSA cards out for under $3.00.

I personally do not believe in passing insurance along to the buyer. I don’t do that much ebay selling but I always use d/c and pay out of my own pocket to insure anything over $75.
Using paypal to ship 1 or 2 graded cards will cost under $2.25 with d/c, add in a bubble mailer and you are right around $2.50. >>




Can you let me know where you get Bubble Mailer envelopes for 25 cents a piece? I have been buying them in packages of 12 and the lowest I have averaged out to in the last 5 years or so is about 60 cents a piece.

slantycouch

I usually charge $2 for first and combine most raw card purchases up to 100 or so cards. $3 first for PSA with the same deal up to about 10 PSA cards. I offer optional insurance but usually purchase it regardless to avoid potential problems.

I assume that shipping will never quite break even and I may lose $.25 here and there. But I think people are more willing to bid on items with reasonable shipping fees so it probably works out in the end.

frankhardy

<< <i>Shane, forget thinking about the shippings costs (but they do count in the paypal fees) when deciding if the percentage you're charging the consignee is fair. You have to figure out what percentage of the final price will be yours after fees. Here's how I see it if you do auction format style, and not fixed price listings:

If you start the auction at $0.01 to $0.99 the insertion fee is $0.15
If you start the auction at $1.00 to $9.99 the insertion fee is $0.35

Final value fees are 8.75% of the closing price from $0.01 to $25.00

Paypal fees are 2.9% (item + shipping charge) + $0.30

If you started the auction at $0.99 or lower, and using a $20.00 sale as a guide, you would give your consignee $16.00, and of the $4.00 left you would have to pay $0.15 + $1.75 + $0.97 = $2.87 That leaves you $1.13 profit for a $20 item which is 5.65%

Also, any sales over $25 will have slightly less of a final value fee percentage which puts a little more in your pocket.

Unless the consignee has a collection worth a few thousand dollars for you to auction, it seems like a lot of work (as well as responsibility and risk) for you with only a modest return. >>



nam812,

The problem is that I have already made a deal with him, and I am a man of my word. At least, the deal is for only what I have at my house now. I have about $6,000 to $8,000 worth (Ebay value) of vintage baseball and vintage hockey at my house now. I have already listed most of the baseball (with $1.95 shipping for 5 cards, which is going to kill me on the lower end auctions). I am working on the hockey and should have them listed by next week. There are many $1 to $10 individual cards that he wants to sell individually. I can charge $2.95 for shipping to help some, but where I will get killed is buyers buying multiple auctions, unless I charge a few cents for each additional card. After doing a little research and stating my problem to him, he said that I could list those as lots, which would help. He has been great to work with, but since I made an agreement with him, I hate to not do it like he wants. Bottom line is that I should have researched the specifics before I agreed to it.



theduymon,

As far as you comment about the extra $0.50 being too much, I do agree, if you are dealing with "actual shipping cost". Again, the problem that I have is that if I don't do that, I will get killed on the auctions less than $7.00. With the hockey cards, there will be a bunch of auctions that go for less than $10. However, there are several Gordie Howe's, Bobby Orr's, etc that will do very well, so hopefully, those will make up for it. I agree that as far as "actual shipping cost", it does not cost any more to ship 5 cards as it does 1 card. But, Ebay does allow for a "small handling fee as long as it is not excessive". Would $0.25 per card be an excessive handling fee?



GOODLIEU,

Go to esupplystore.com and you can get 4 x 8 bubble mailers for around $0.10 each. I usually buy 300 at a time. It's great to always have them and they are much cheaper that way.

KbKards

I am figuring that if an auction ends at $0.99, I have to pay him $0.73, and with my fees, I end up losing about $0.50. Is it reasonable to charge an additional $0.50 per extra card on shipping to cover my fees?

Obviously you'd have to be doing this for a really good friend and not with any intention of making money. If you were to try to make money selling 99 cent items on consignment then your profit will have to come from overcharging for shipping. If you overcharge for shipping your DSR ratings will get whacked and you'll lose the final value discount that applies to everything you sell. The 20 cents you think you're making from above also has to pay for envelopes, labels, your time, trip to PO, printing and other supplies. Group the garbage together to make $10 lots so 20% is at least something. If you have to sell 99 cent items then I don't think 50% or more is out of line. But you'll still have to increase your shipping charge which will end up impacting everything else you sell.

frankhardy

<< <i>I am figuring that if an auction ends at $0.99, I have to pay him $0.73, and with my fees, I end up losing about $0.50. Is it reasonable to charge an additional $0.50 per extra card on shipping to cover my fees?

Obviously you'd have to be doing this for a really good friend and not with any intention of making money. If you were to try to make money selling 99 cent items on consignment then your profit will have to come from overcharging for shipping. If you overcharge for shipping your DSR ratings will get whacked and you'll lose the final value discount that applies to everything you sell. The 20 cents you think you're making from above also has to pay for envelopes, labels, your time, trip to PO, printing and other supplies. Group the garbage together to make $10 lots so 20% is at least something. If you have to sell 99 cent items then I don't think 50% or more is out of line. But you'll still have to increase your shipping charge which will end up impacting everything else you sell. >>




Grouping bigger lots together is something we have discussed and he has agreed to let me do that. I just hate to do it because it would be changing (a little bit) our original agreement.

Also, I don't want everybody to think that this collection is just overloaded with $0.99 cards because it is not. But it does have quite a few that will go for less than $10 along with several that will go for $20 to $50 and a few partial sets that will go $50 to $100.

That is with the hockey. I have already listed 90% of the baseball with $1.95 shipping for 5 cards. I guess I will find out Sunday night how it will all pan out. To get an idea of what I am dealing with, you can look at my auctions here shanehardy . (Please dont' think this is spam. You don't have to look if you don't want to). There are 291 auctions listed right now - all baseball. I would like your opinion on "how I will do". What I mean by that is - do you think "You'll do fine", or will it be, "It wasn't worth the time". You will see that a lot of work went into it.

mtcards

<< <i>$2.95 seems a little high and would make me think twice if I thought I could get the card later (and I would not give 5 star shipping). Normally I like to see shipping no higher than $2.50. $.50 per extra seems reasonable to me but I don't understand why people do this, you should be able to ship 3 PSA cards out for under $3.00.

I personally do not believe in passing insurance along to the buyer. I don’t do that much ebay selling but I always use d/c and pay out of my own pocket to insure anything over $75.
Using paypal to ship 1 or 2 graded cards will cost under $2.25 with d/c, add in a bubble mailer and you are right around $2.50. >>




Obviously you do not or have never owned a business. $2.95 is not a little high in my opinion, it is average. If the seller makes anything at all on shipping here, it is maybe a quarter profit if that. Heck PSA makes money on their shipping, the last sub I did, I was charged $20.85 for shipping and the box came in, it had a label that showed the price of shipping at $15.75, thats a $5.10 profit!! and we have people who are honestly trying to get close and ship for $2.95 and have people say thats a little high?

Paypal shipping is a risk, using the USPS with one single card in a top load and bubble mailer cost $2.13 with DC to send. Large sellers may have access to .17 cent bubble mailers, but not everyone sells bulk, they buy their stuff at K-Mart or Wal-Mart and pay .35 cents for a bubble mailer. Add in a top load and penny sleeve and the cost to ship this is already over $2.50 and youre saying that $2.95 is too high? Ridiculous!!

Businesses ADD costs into their product. Buy a set of knives or some other crap that Billy Mays sells on TV and you pay $6.95 for shipping and have to wait 4-6 weeks to get it. Bottom line is, if you dont like the cost of shipping...DO...NOT...BUY... THE...ITEM!!! Dont buy it and then whine and cry and then neg/low star the poor guy because you disagreed with his terms that were listed up front.

Sorry for the long rant, I just get tired of reading these whiny, crybaby posts about shipping costs that may actually allow the seller to only break even on transactions. And mainly from the same people who probably buy $4 cups of coffee and then complain about it too.


Edited to Add: As for the original post. Getting 20% and having to pay related costs is WAAAAAAY to low. I have seen many ebay consignment stores take as much as 30-40% AFTER costs. He may be your buddy so, 20$ is ok, but I would definitely make him pay all related costs since you spending your time to list them. If he wanted to avoid the fees, let him do it himself a while and listen to people complain about petty things and he will think 20%+costs is a bargain.

StopYurWhining

"$2.95 seems a little high and would make me think twice if I thought I could get the card later (and I would not give 5 star shipping). "

I dont that's too high for shipping, I would just bid less on the card. I know how much it costs to ship, the time, the gas, the supplies. I would never begrude a seller making .50 cents or $1 on shipping to help defray the thieves at the post office, ebay and paypal. Those are your real villians.

Also if you selling stuff on consignment the deal should be you get 10-20% after all cost, fees and expenses. you listed how many auctions? nearly 300? a lot of the cards are low to mid grade condition correct?

leathtech

<< <i>

<< <i>$2.95 seems a little high and would make me think twice if I thought I could get the card later (and I would not give 5 star shipping). Normally I like to see shipping no higher than $2.50. $.50 per extra seems reasonable to me but I don't understand why people do this, you should be able to ship 3 PSA cards out for under $3.00.

I personally do not believe in passing insurance along to the buyer. I don’t do that much ebay selling but I always use d/c and pay out of my own pocket to insure anything over $75.
Using paypal to ship 1 or 2 graded cards will cost under $2.25 with d/c, add in a bubble mailer and you are right around $2.50. >>




Obviously you do not or have never owned a business. $2.95 is not a little high in my opinion, it is average. If the seller makes anything at all on shipping here, it is maybe a quarter profit if that. Heck PSA makes money on their shipping, the last sub I did, I was charged $20.85 for shipping and the box came in, it had a label that showed the price of shipping at $15.75, thats a $5.10 profit!! and we have people who are honestly trying to get close and ship for $2.95 and have people say thats a little high?

Paypal shipping is a risk, using the USPS with one single card in a top load and bubble mailer cost $2.13 with DC to send. Large sellers may have access to .17 cent bubble mailers, but not everyone sells bulk, they buy their stuff at K-Mart or Wal-Mart and pay .35 cents for a bubble mailer. Add in a top load and penny sleeve and the cost to ship this is already over $2.50 and youre saying that $2.95 is too high? Ridiculous!!

Businesses ADD costs into their product. Buy a set of knives or some other crap that Billy Mays sells on TV and you pay $6.95 for shipping and have to wait 4-6 weeks to get it. Bottom line is, if you dont like the cost of shipping...DO...NOT...BUY... THE...ITEM!!! Dont buy it and then whine and cry and then neg/low star the poor guy because you disagreed with his terms that were listed up front.

Sorry for the long rant, I just get tired of reading these whiny, crybaby posts about shipping costs that may actually allow the seller to only break even on transactions. And mainly from the same people who probably buy $4 cups of coffee and then complain about it too.


Edited to Add: As for the original post. Getting 20% and having to pay related costs is WAAAAAAY to low. I have seen many ebay consignment stores take as much as 30-40% AFTER costs. He may be your buddy so, 20$ is ok, but I would definitely make him pay all related costs since you spending your time to list them. If he wanted to avoid the fees, let him do it himself a while and listen to people complain about petty things and he will think 20%+costs is a bargain. >>



So you have no problem paying $3.00 to ship raw cards when the seller just puts .79 stamp on the bubble mailer? I'm just not a fan of making money of shipping and handling, but I also don't make a living off selling on ebay nor do I sell cards raw cards that sell under $5.00.

As for the bubble mailers just make one bulk order for mailers and you have a large stock of them - I bought enough to last me a year or so and do not have to worry about running to wall-mart to over pay for them and waste gas.

I will continue to give poor star ratings to shippers that obviously are just out to make money off shipping.

Also I don’t drink that crazy $4.00 coffee

StopYurWhining

"I will continue to give poor star ratings to shippers that obviously are just out to make money off shipping.

Also I don’t drink that crazy $4.00 coffee"

Do you drink the $2.59 coffee at Dunkin? lol
I dont think anyone here is advocating gouging or ripping off their customers with a reasonable shipping cost. Get real.

leathtech

<< <i>"I will continue to give poor star ratings to shippers that obviously are just out to make money off shipping.

Also I don’t drink that crazy $4.00 coffee"

Do you drink the $2.59 coffee at Dunkin? lol
I dont think anyone here is advocating gouging or ripping off their customers with a reasonable shipping cost. Get real. >>



How is charging $3.00 plus to ship a few raw cards not drastically marking up the shipping process when most sellers just put the cards in a bubble mailer with a .79 cent stamp on it?
Figuring in the bubble mailer and the top loaders the shipper has double his money on shipping. I guess that fits my definition of gouging … but to each their own. I know a $1.50 or so is a trivial amount but it still annoys the heck out of me.

jradke4

<< <i>

<< <i>"I will continue to give poor star ratings to shippers that obviously are just out to make money off shipping.

Also I don’t drink that crazy $4.00 coffee"

Do you drink the $2.59 coffee at Dunkin? lol
I dont think anyone here is advocating gouging or ripping off their customers with a reasonable shipping cost. Get real. >>



How is charging $3.00 plus to ship a few raw cards not drastically marking up the shipping process when most sellers just put the cards in a bubble mailer with a .79 cent stamp on it?
Figuring in the bubble mailer and the top loaders the shipper has double his money on shipping. I guess that fits my definition of gouging … but to each their own. I know a $1.50 or so is a trivial amount but it still annoys the heck out of me. >>



I have never gotten that postage rate ($0.79) on a bubble mailer at the window from a clerk. Nor have I gotten that through one of the automated kiosks. I like to send everything DC. I almost always pay more for shipping than I have charged especially with insurance. I have a $5 flat rate plus Insurance for certain items. However the Ebay caluclator and the USPS dont add up to the same insurance price. Yet people have had the gall to knock me on the shipping charges. I am not making any money on the shipping and I always have metered postage on the package not stamps.

frankhardy

That is exactly right. In order to get Paypal seller protection, you have to send it with DC. What I do is if the item sells for over $30, I get DC. If it is under, I risk it. With that being said, DC cost (what?) $0.75? That is something to consider.

Also, as I said earlier, Ebay does not mind a "handling fee" if it is not excessive. I don't think $2.95 for shipping and HANDLING is excessive.

gosteelers

<< <i>That is exactly right. In order to get Paypal seller protection, you have to send it with DC. What I do is if the item sells for over $30, I get DC. If it is under, I risk it. With that being said, DC cost (what?) $0.75? That is something to consider.

Also, as I said earlier, Ebay does not mind a "handling fee" if it is not excessive. I don't think $2.95 for shipping and HANDLING is excessive. >>



It's not excessive at all. Some people just like to whine about something. He sounds like one of those guys that doles out 1 or 2 stars for shipping on a regular basis. It takes time, effort, and gas money to ship an item. Don't buy the item if you don't like the shipping amount being charged, simple as that.

RonBurgundy

Ah, what a subject. I can never get it figured out what seems reasonable to charge for shipping. I've tried to think about it like this:

.50 - cost of bubble mailer
1.30 app. - first class mail to send graded card (assume we're talking about graded cards here)
.75 - DC.

Total: $2.55

Now, should I charge anything for the gas to the post office and/or time to pack, packing material, etc.? IDK. I go back and forth. In general, I think the time to pack and get shipped, i.e., handling, is worth something. But I don't know what's proper and what isn't. Bottom line is, I don't think anything between $2.50 and $4.00 is inherently unreasonable. Once it goes about $4, I think questions are justified. Sellers should not use shipping as a profit center but they shouldn't get whacked either.

In regards to the whole consignment issue, I recently sold a nearly completely graded set for a friend of mine. I did the scans and listings, collected the money, and did the accounting on it. He shipped the cards. It was way more time and effort than I anticipated, and I don't know if I'll ever do it again.




Ron

leathtech

<< <i>

<< <i>That is exactly right. In order to get Paypal seller protection, you have to send it with DC. What I do is if the item sells for over $30, I get DC. If it is under, I risk it. With that being said, DC cost (what?) $0.75? That is something to consider.

Also, as I said earlier, Ebay does not mind a "handling fee" if it is not excessive. I don't think $2.95 for shipping and HANDLING is excessive. >>



It's not excessive at all. Some people just like to whine about something. He sounds like one of those guys that doles out 1 or 2 stars for shipping on a regular basis. It takes time, effort, and gas money to ship an item. Don't buy the item if you don't like the shipping amount being charged, simple as that. >>



I have no problem paying for shipping if get first rate service... I'm talking about the shippers that charge $3+ and just stick the card in a bubble mailer and buy a stamp for it at the PO. If a seller buys insurance and uses d/c then I have no problems with the higher rates. (But I do not pass insurance costs on to my buyers but that's just me)

I also think we are confusing small purchases with ones over $50+. IMO, There is no reason to charge $3.00 for a few raw cards that cost under a few bucks!

ezyshooter

2.95 seems high ??? You are on drugs !! I charge 4.00 dollars but i use delivery confirmation and a bubble envelope etc... By the time i buy the bubble envelope and extra bubble wrap pay for the cost to ship and then delivery confirmation and don't forget the paypal fees. Yes paypal fees on the shipping. I'm lucky if i break even. This doesn't include my time,gas extra.
Excessive shipping is when people charge 3.00 dollars or more and ship the card in a card saver in a white envelope with a single stamp on it !!
Had this happen recently twice !! Guy charged me 3.00 dollars for the first card and a 1.00 for the second card. 4.00 dollars for a stamp ?? Guy turns around and says it's to help cover his e-bay,paypal, and time fees ?? Told him he can't charge buyers this. I gave him a negative and i get called all the names in the book !!
I left appropiate feedback to let people know what kind of delivery to expect for the money.
I had a person charge me 1.35 insurance for a 3.05 purchase !! To boot, i never recieved the cards and then i get sad e-mails from this guy saying how i was out to get him for such a small amount and that i was the jerk ??? Filed a paypal claim for under 8.00 dollars !! Charged me more for shipping then actual purchase. Asked him for the tracking number since he charged me insurance.
I've been asked why so much for shipping so many times in my auctions it's not funny. I charge 14.00 dollars for a set in a binder. Why so much? I get asked. Because this is what it's going to cost !! Sometimes it costs me more depending where it's going. Then to boot if a set sells for 3,000.00 or more you would like to put insurance on, some buyers request it. But when you add 31.80 to the bill they say you are ripping them off and your pocketing the money !! Not !!
Some people have to go to the post office and find the rates out and get a clue !!
People want there items securely packaged but don't want to pay for it !! This is sad but true. I mention shipping costs in all my auctions with the exception of insurance. Can't quote something i don't know until auction ends !!
This is my 2 cents !!
If you can ship a card securely for under 4.00 then i'll tip my hat off to you !!
Steve

Ahmanfan

I would not bid on multiple auctions in this shipping fee format. I don't want to pay your ebay fees by adding another .50 per card when it has little to no extra cost to mail it. I charge $2 for as many cards as buyers buy from me, so I dont make them pay MY fees. why should I pay yours?

John

Mickey71

$2.95 is way to high. It should only be $2.90. "JUST KIDDING". $2.95 is very fair and .50 extra for additional cards is totally reasonable. I charge $3.00 for the first graded card and $1 for each additional up to $10. I package really well with ind. bubble wrap sleeves on each card and put in a sturdy box with more bubble wrap and rubber bands to make sure the wrap is secure on the cards. I routinely pay a minimum of $5 for graded cards when I buy. They usually say insurance extra. I'll buy a 67 PSA 7 Mantle and shipping will be $5, and then insurance is like $5. I don't totally agree with this but I know this up front and have no problem with this. Also, something else to add is that most people do not buy bubble wrap envelopes in bulk for 35 cents apiece. Most sellers are just selling a few things here and there and pay over $1 for each envelope.
Mickey71

leathtech

This thread is interesting to see how different people feel about shipping. I firmly believe the small time eBay seller can ship 1-2 graded PSA cards for under $3.00 with d/c with little or no effort. If you are paying .50 or more for bubble mailers you are just lazy and passing along your laziness to your buyers. Buy 100 in bulk for under .20 cents and you'll have over a year's supply.

For raw cards you should be able to ship stuff out for much less...

Now I think there are 2 different kinds of sales - auctions that sell for over a set amount (what ever you consider expensive) and let' say auctions for under $30. For auctions under $30 is insurance needed, IMO probably not. As a seller I always pay for the insurance on anything over $50 and I have always felt it's the seller’s responsibility to make sure the item arrives.

Now I’m not trying to start a war of words with anyone these are just my opinions – it’s obvious some people can justify their higher shipping prices than mine and that’s fine with me – just don’t expect a 5 star rating from me if I’m paying you $3.00 or more to ship.

ezyshooter

Honestly i don't know your pricing but when i ship from Detroit it costs .75 cents for delivery confirmation. If bubble envelope is not wrapped thick enough and fits through the mail slot you cannot get delivery confirmation. Then it has to go out as regular mail. Bubble envelope has to be thicker then 3/4 of a inch for a person to get delivery confirmation.
This just got changed this year, so if you are shipping without having to wrap the package to exceed 3/4 of a inch then your post office is not up to date with the new policies so consider yourself lucky for now. A package never cost less then 2.80 before delivery confirmation from the Detroit USPS.
Yes, it's cheaper if i don't ship it with delivery confirmation and have the package fit through the 3/4 inch slot but then that just leads into paypal trouble !! Don't care if you sell 12,000 cards or 12 cards a year. Without DC you will eventually get burned in the long run. So for me the minimum cost is 3.55 (2.80+.75 DC) for shipping, plus the cost of the bubble envelope and the extra bubble wrap. Therefore i came up with 4.00 dollars.
Cheers,
Steve

storm888

"Free" Shipping ROCKS!!!!!!!!!!

StopYurWhining

if you wanna make your package fat enough for D.C. real simple. throw a packing peanut or two in there to fatten things up. works like a charm and never had a problem.

ezyshooter

Maybe i should try that, but what if that person is alergic to peanuts !! LOL
Steve

WinPitcher

. A package never cost less then 2.80 before delivery confirmation from the Detroit USPS.




?? I have been paying 1.51, you are getting ripped off.


Steve

Morgoth

I think its funny in this climate where a guy can get a card at 50% of value from just 2 months ago and whine about 50 cents in excess shipping fees.

I also love the guys who will bid on someones auctions knowing their shipping fees and then neg or give them low stars anyway. We may need to start a list of buyers who do this because really they either have poor reading comprehension or they just love to give people negs and low stars. Either way I don't want them bidding on my auctions.

Storm mentions free shipping, well I am sure he has shipping costs factored in with his minimum bid amounts. This is fine but in the low end card world it's hard to get someone to see a card for $3.50 as the same price as a card that is at $0.99 with $2.50 added for shipping. People I guess do have low reading comprehension skills.

Think about it this way if you bid in a major online auction you are getting gouged a buyers fee and their shipping costs are usually outrageous as well. Someone trying to make 50cents off their shipping isn't worth enough to start a holy war against.

Brick

My perspective on shipping rates is as a buyer. ( I do sell some dups every couple of years or so). What I do is note the shipping charges and bid accordingly. If charges are too high I simply don't bid. I feel it is bordering on unethical to purchase cards that have the charges listed just to be able to give low ratings and harm the seller. I have never seen so much crying over what amounts to at most a couple dollars. The poster who said if you don't like shipping charges, don't bid hit the nail on the head. I have recently passed on cards from a seller who did not note in his auctions if he combined shipping. I can also tell everyone some of the best deals I have done on more expensive cards had what some may have felt too high shipping charges. I have lived long enough to have much more pressing problems than worry if someone charges $3.00 when $2.50 is what is fair.

ekardz

I am not a big time seller, sell maybe 10-20 cards a month if that. I bought a bulk lot of 4x8 bubble mailers on eBay for 15.00 for 100 of them. I paid 15c an envelope and have a bunch sitting in my closet waiting. I charge 2.00 shipping to the united states or canada, and will occasionally charge .50-1.00 more per card at my discretion. If the person buys a few, I won't charge them extra at all. Shipping is usually 1.54-1.91 area, and to canada believe it or not is usually cheaper, 1.49 area. I think it is nuts when people charge the Canadians 4.00. I think 2.00 is a reasonable shipping charge and that's why I tend to get more bids I think. If the item is expensive, I will splurge the .75 for dc. I will never buy from anyone charging more than 3.25 shipping on a card, and only do so if I want more than one item from them and they offer shipping discounts. 2.95 turns a 1 dollar card into a 4 dollar card, and that's a big difference. If you could get the card in a common box for 1.00 why wouldn't you hold out and not buy on eBay, and that's why those auctions end with so few bidders. Funny enough, if you charge lower shipping, your cards will sell for more than the same card from a different seller who charged more, with fees added up. Buyers pay a premium for low-cost shipping items, a premium that would've made the higher priced s&h items cheaper for them, but it's easier to bid when you don't feel like you are being ripped off.

DeutscherGeist

When we talk about big ticket items that are above $100, I never leave 5 stars for shipping unless its free. Think about it. Even if a person charges $2 to ship a Rickey Henderson rookie card graded by PSA--that does not deserve 5 stars... Free shipping deserves 5 stars first.

gosteelers

<< <i>When we talk about big ticket items that are above $100, I never leave 5 stars for shipping unless its free. Think about it. Even if a person charges $2 to ship a Rickey Henderson rookie card graded by PSA--that does not deserve 5 stars... Free shipping deserves 5 stars first. >>



Some of you guys are very unrealistic, IMO...

StopYurWhining

let's face it Ebay wants you have free shipping so they can squeeze every nickel and dime out of you on the final value fee. on fixed priced listings whats that up to now these days 12-15%? Outrageous.

Mickey71

DeutscherGeist,
I was going to not read this thread any more until I read your post. If you buy a $100 card from a seller you will not leave 5 stars if he charges you $3 for shipping and the card arrives safely and packaged real well. And the shipping charge was stated in the auction description. Everyone has their opinion, but that is simply bad business (un-ethical). What if the card never arrives and you paid $4 for shipping on the $100 card.... do you contact the secret service, unsolved mysteries, FBI's 10 most wanted etc.

Mickey71

storm888

"...Funny enough, if you charge lower shipping, your cards will sell for more than the same card from a different seller who charged more, with fees added up. Buyers pay a premium for low-cost shipping items, a premium that would've made the higher priced s&h items cheaper for them, but it's easier to bid when you don't feel like you are being ripped off. ..."

///////////////////////////////////////////

NEW anecdotal results of test-listings indicate that STR of items - delivered pricing being equal -
are identical in both commodity and OOAK categories. The samples are small, but I have some
confidence in the reach of the results.

EBAY has long been aware of the numbers. Their inclusion in SORT of "price + shipping," indicates
that many buyers are sensitive to TOTAL COSTS. This sensitivity allows "Free" shipping to work well
on many EBAY BIN-items.

The "acceptance problem" comes when we try to move 99-cents items on a venue that is both
greatly-suited and VERY-poorly suited for the pricing scheme. The millions of eyeballs are great,
BUT the EBAY-fee structure simply does not work on cheap items; UNLESS we "give away" the
shipping by including it in our retail prices.

Large sellers - like burbank - can deliver multiple single-cards for $2.00. Notwithstanding claims
that "their EBAY-fee structure is the same" as mine, they ARE NOT. The fee-differential allows
for the $2.00 rate to work just fine. $2.00 will not work for small sellers of cheap cards, unless
they ship their cards in an unsafe manner.

...............

While collectible-buyers are among the most honest EBAYers, there are equal numbers of
cheapskates in EVERY category. That is why "complaints about high shipping" were, at
one time, the number ONE buyer complaint across categories.

WinPitcher

This is fine but in the low end card world it's hard to get someone to see a card for $3.50 as the same price as a card that is at $0.99 with $2.50 added for shipping. People I guess do have low reading comprehension skills.



That really does not work as most of those .99 sellers allow you to buy as many cards as you want and shipping remains 2.50 or 3.00.

If a guy is selling those types of cards for 3.00 with free shipping it is NO DEAL.


Steve

WinPitcher

charge the Canadians 4.00. I think 2.00 is a reasonable shipping charge and that's why I tend to get more bids I think. If the item is expensive, I will splurge the .75 for dc



Ever try and purchase DC to Canada? Costs like 20.00 minimum now.



Steve

ezyshooter

Actually for Canadians it is rediculous. Myself being one, i cannot ship a card for anything less then 8.00 if i want to use tracking. In Canada they don't have DC, just signature which cost a 1.00 more but it has to be sent as a package. Well packages start at 7.00 for delivery. I'm glad i live across from Detroit because i can ship majority of my items from there seeing how the majority of people buy from me are Americans. Besides i get to fill my van up with gas and do some shopping !!
Steve

Morgoth

To get past this Ebay at some point is going to have to start putting mins and maxs in for shipping costs. If it costs X, and they live at Y, with DC and insurance you get this number. That way there can be no more crying about shipping fees. Sellers will just have to adjust their minimum bids accordingly if ebay sets it too low.

Also the stars for shipping should be for how it was packaged and if it arrived in a timely manner not for the price. You agreed to the price for shipping when you bid. I gurantee that most people get PO'd about shipping costs is when they bid on a card for like $5 and when they do their checkout they are shocked at a $7.99 S&H fee. This however is all their fault and due to their poor reading skills. Anyone leaving bad feedback or low stars for shipping (unless hidden fees come into play) costs should be banned.

jimq112

<< <i>

Also the stars for shipping should be for how it was packaged and if it arrived in a timely manner not for the price. You agreed to the price for shipping when you bid. I gurantee that most people get PO'd about shipping costs is when they bid on a card for like $5 and when they do their checkout they are shocked at a $7.99 S&H fee. This however is all their fault and due to their poor reading skills. Anyone leaving bad feedback or low stars for shipping (unless hidden fees come into play) costs should be banned. >>



I don't have any problem with paying listed shipping/handling prices, but I don't like paying a high shipping price and then getting PWE or plain bubble mailer. I recently bought a 3 card lot, shipping was $5. They arrived all 3 in one toploader, they were refractors and now have scratched up surfaces and one dinged corner on all 3.

For the $5 if I got 3 toploaders with penny sleeves, wrapped in cardboard in a bubble mailer I'm happy. When I complained the guy said I should take into account his supplies, time, and ebay seller fees that are all supposed to be included in shipping costs.

WinPitcher

Also the stars for shipping should be for how it was packaged and if it arrived in a timely manner not for the price. You agreed to the price for shipping when you bid.


I disagree with that somewhat. Suppose I agree to a price say 5.00 and it arrives with 42 cents worth of postage on it?


Did I agree to that? Did I agree that he has to spend the entire 5.00? No, but I'd think his costs should be closer to 5.00 then 1.00


Steve

Morgoth

If he didn't package and ship the item properly Steve, fire away. If he used a PWE to ship a graded card give him a 1 star. If the item comes in damaged due to his packaging neg and 1 star him. If he made you pay for DC and insurance but did not buy them fire away. If he stated $3.00 flat shipping in his auction but then adds a fee on top of that, neg him.

But if he packaged it properly and it arrived in good condition but his shipping fee was $2.00 and he charged you $5.00 I think that is petty on the buyers part as you knew it was $5 before you even bid. You might choose to leave no feedback or stars but to rip him for overcharging you when you knew the cost is to me bad.

Now we are sophisticated ebayers and know how much the stars hurt sellers. And I think we can all judge when someone is being slimy about shipping costs to the point of being abusive (PWE guys, guys stuffing one small bubble mailer with 100 cards etc.). Ebay's new system will weed these guys out fast but I don't think good sellers should be harmed in the process. To get mad over 50 cents or a couple of bucks just doens't make much sense especially if it is all spelled out and the item is always shipped well. Just adjust your bids or find another buyer.

thehallmark

I'm terribly confused by all of this.

We can all agree that to protect yourself, DC is a must, right? I was told that I cannot get DC on a package without sending it Priority. And Priority with DC is $5.45 here in my burb.

Am I just being lied to by the post office? Should I be able to ship single graded cards cheaper than that with the same security??

gosteelers

<< <i>I'm terribly confused by all of this.

We can all agree that to protect yourself, DC is a must, right? I was told that I cannot get DC on a package without sending it Priority. And Priority with DC is $5.45 here in my burb.

Am I just being lied to by the post office? Should I be able to ship single graded cards cheaper than that with the same security?? >>



If the bubble mailer is more than 3/4" thick, you can add D/C for $0.75...as others have mentioned, a stray packing peanut here or there can accomplish this.