Opinions on free shipping - advice needed.

JHS5120 · May 22, 2011 12:45PM

I recently decided to offer free shipping on my items across the board (have to say, I didn't see any increase in prices but that's besides the point). I have a generic auction format page that I use for most of my listings, I updated the price of shipping in the shipping section but neglected to update the "I ship my cards with a bubble mailer and DC... etc." The problem is I always intended to ship via PWE for the $.99-$5 or so listings but forgot to update the info and now I have about 20 $1-$3 items that I need to mail out and will take a loss if I ship bubble mailer and DC. My question, will ebayers get pissy if I now send the items in a PWE? Personally I doubt that anyone actually reads my shipping section and none of the cards are of any value or particular condition (everything is VG-EX). Most dealers who offer free shipping on $1.00 cards ship PWE anyway and I would ship it securely of course but opinions would be appreciated.

Also, if I do send the cards PWE (which I am leaning towards) should I email the buyers ahead of time and let them know that I need to update my policy?

Thanks,
Jason

scooperqpr · May 22, 2011 1:54PM

From experience if I have bought a card with free shipping I never get pissy about a PWE, But it wouldn't hurt just to e-mail them and say something like "your card will go out tomorrow in a plain white envelope.If this is a problem let me know now before you leave feedback"

HeritageAddict · May 22, 2011 2:22PM

On a low dollar item with free shipping it wouldn't bother me.

SidePocket · May 22, 2011 3:12PM

Ship bubble mailer without DC.

bobbyw8469 · May 22, 2011 9:52PM

I agree with Side Pocket. It is not worth risking negative feedback and star dinging over a $1-$3 card.

thedutymon · May 22, 2011 10:15PM

<< From experience if I have bought a card with free shipping I never get pissy about a PWE, But it wouldn't hurt just to e-mail them and say something like "your card will go out tomorrow in a plain white envelope.If this is a problem let me know now before you leave feedback" >>

Morning,

And you sound like a reasonable person.....Not like the Dickheads who populate E-Bay. You should ship in Bubble Mailer, take the shipping hit, its your screwup, and Never and I mean NEVER give a heads up that you would even consider going to ship at a lower level, just gives them a reason to be pissy!!!

YeeHah

Neil

storm888 · May 23, 2011 12:11AM

Speculating as to what will anger the mean and mentally-ill creatures that
constitute "buyers" on EBAY is a gamble that is NEVER worth taking.

Sending ANYTHING w/o DC is an invitation to theft and financial loss.

PWEs are disrespectful to the items purchased by good buyers. While we
think of the items we send as junk/garbage, our buyers do not; they want
the item, they pay for it upfront, and they want it to arrive intact, NOT by
chance but by design.

Bubble-Mailers are cheap; good buyers like them and they give the bad
"buyers" one less thing to gripe about.

The "psychology" of BMs is powerful in mailorder. Even the junkiest merch
receives added-value when packaged as tho it were "priceless."

These guys have small BMs that work well for single items. If you call them
and chat them up about your PSA/CLCT forum participation, they may give
you a little discount.

Bubble Mailers

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

"Free Shipping" is a science, not an art.

FS is NOT "free" at all; the buyer pays every cent of it, OR the seller is not
using the "science" correctly.

I have been using FS for YEARS; I do so to avoid discussing shipping costs
with demented cheapskate-EBAYers. With the newest EBAY policies, it makes
no sense to segregate shipping costs.

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

Mistakes on listings are costly. Misstating terms is expensive. When an error
is made, pay for it and NEVER do it again.

bobbyw8469 · May 23, 2011 12:18AM

..and Click N Ship makes DC more affordable than buying it at the local post office.

itzagoner · May 23, 2011 1:21AM

there is no amount of money which can buy back lost integrity. stand by the words you wrote. the problem we face as small-time sellers is that all it takes is one angry person to mess it up, even if the hundreds or thousands of others were perfectly fine with our efforts.

i'd also avoid suggesting that you use any particular materials in your shipping and just go with "safe and secure" or whatever derivative you choose.....you can use anything, even a PWE as long as you pack it tight, you've met your obligation.

jaderock · May 23, 2011 4:13AM

I agree with thedutymon and storm.

Buyers aren't always "reasonable" and PWE shows that you do not think what the buyers wants/needs is important. PWE is an invitation for trouble.

JHS5120 · May 23, 2011 4:20AM

Thanks everyone, great advice all around.

I decided to ship in a bubble mailer without DC. I figure even if 1 out of every 5 decide to complain about their card not arriving it would still be more profitable then paying for DC for all 5 of the packages.

I wasn't worried about the cost of the bubble mailers; I already buy kraft #000 in bulk so it comes out to around $.12. I was worried that two top loaders in a kraft #000 would qualify as a large envelope (which I found out today it does) and expensive shipping. So I guess you win some and lose some and I'll just learn from my mistakes.

On another note, I have arrived at the conclusion that free shipping is not at all profitable for <$3.00 cards. My previous shipping policy was $1.50 for raw cards and $2.50 for graded; which is more then reasonable and I have yet to receive a complaint. I also sold many $10-20 cards over the weekend and I think free shipping did in fact play a small role in the hammer prices. I have always offered free shipping for anything over $50 so that wasn't anything different. In the end, I think I am going to stick with my previous shipping arrangements for anything under $10 and perhaps free shipping on anything over.

Thanks again,
Jason

gameusedhoop · May 23, 2011 4:43AM

<< decided to ship in a bubble mailer without DC. I figure even if 1 out of every 5 decide to complain about their card not arriving it would still be more profitable then paying for DC for all 5 of the packages. >>

If those same one in five ding your stars or worse yet open a INR case, you will lose more $$ than if you put DC on 100 packages. Any discounts you have with ebay will go bye-bye and that can be a good chunk of money when it'll take a year to get them back. Suck it up, pay for the DC now with the cards that brought some extra $$ in, and rest easy for the next couple weeks not having to worry about future problems. Peace of mind here is priceless!

Now go spend some time cleaning up your auctions so it doesn't happen again.

JHS5120 · May 23, 2011 4:54AM

I'm not too worried about people dinging my stars for not putting delivery confirmation on a $.99 card that I offered free shipping for.

gameusedhoop · May 23, 2011 4:57AM

2 or 3 item not received cases can KILL any ebay discounts you receive. All the cases just have to be opened, even if you straighten them all out they count against you.

bobbyw8469 · May 23, 2011 5:01AM

<< I'm not too worried about people dinging my stars for not putting delivery confirmation on a $.99 card that I offered free shipping for >>

You should be.

JHS5120 · May 23, 2011 5:05AM

It is an irrational assumption to think that 3 ebay cases will be opened on the 15 packages sent out. I have sold on ebay for 7 years and have 100% feedback on two accounts. I have never heard of an ebay member complain about lack of DC on a $.99 card that was sent for free.

bobbyw8469 · May 23, 2011 5:23AM

You sell long enough, you will hear just about anything. I had someone who once complained about, and left a negative feedback, over how bad the movie was that THEY picked out!!! Like I was the director or something!

JHS5120 · May 23, 2011 5:32AM

<< You sell long enough, you will hear just about anything. I had someone who once complained about, and left a negative feedback, over how bad the movie was that THEY picked out!!! Like I was the director or something! >>

I'm not saying that it can't happen, I'm saying that the probability that it will happen is too minute for me to take precautionary steps. If someone is going to neg me for not providing DC on a $.99 card with free shipping then chances are they were going to neg me anyway for something just as dumb. I have always provided delivery confirmation and will continue to provide delivery confirmation but for this small group I will not, consider it an experiment, I will write down my star ratings before hand and if any of them went down or if I receive ANY complaints I will post my findings here, I am man enough to admit when I am wrong, but I am not too worried.

itzagoner · May 23, 2011 5:35AM

you're just lucky it ain't about selling Byrce Harper numbered rarities.....this band of hyenas would tear you a new one pronto.

JHS5120 · May 23, 2011 5:39AM

<< Byrce Harper >>

CrazyMind2017 · May 23, 2011 7:06AM

<< I had someone who once complained about, and left a negative feedback, over how bad the movie was that THEY picked out!!! Like I was the director or something! >>

Human beings are vile.

neilkneels · May 23, 2011 8:01AM

<< You sell long enough, you will hear just about anything. I had someone who once complained about, and left a negative feedback, over how bad the movie was that THEY picked out!!! Like I was the director or something! >>

There are angry people on eBay just like there angry people on CU. Sh$t happens.

Tabe · May 25, 2011 3:52AM

I'm with the OP on this one - I would ship the packages in bubble mailers w/o DC. It's simply not worth worrying about on items so low in price. Kudos to him for not shipping in PWE. Listing them as having bubble mailers was a mistake but shipping them in PWEs would have been dishonest and just not cool.

Tabe

earlycalguy · May 25, 2011 5:06AM

free shipping on a $3 card is fine to offer....you just need to charge $5 or so for the card

Aric · May 25, 2011 5:18AM

<< I was worried that two top loaders in a kraft #000 would qualify as a large envelope (which I found out today it does) and expensive shipping.
>>

Large envelopes are only 88 cents for 1 ounce.

KbKards · May 25, 2011 5:42AM

The problem is I always intended to ship via PWE for the $.99-$5 or so listings but forgot to update the info and now I have about 20 $1-$3 items that I need to mail out and will take a loss if I ship bubble mailer and DC.

You may need to recalculate your expenses if you think a PWE puts you in the black selling 99 cent items with free shipping.

Assuming no listing fee you have,
44 cents minimum shipping
9 cents Ebay final value fees
33 cents PayPal fees

That's 86 cents plus the cost of the envelope, top loader, printer ink & paper, etc. and oh yeah, the card.

You'd be better off going back to your buyer paid shipping charge of 1.50 when listing cards that are hard to attract a 99 cent bid.

Opinions on free shipping - advice needed.

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