What is acceptable shipping cost?

DCanfield · September 22, 2012 9:16PM

One of my biggest pet peeves are sellers that way overcharge for shipping. You know, the ebay sellers that mail something for $2.95 but charge $14.95 for shipping. My question is; What is an acceptable amount to charge for shipping an item over and above postage costs. For comparison, let's say the item requires no special packaging (such as a custom built pallet), it just fits in a box with bubble wrap or peanuts, and the postage costs are $10. My question is how much is acceptable to charge the buyer for this item that costs $10 to ship? I'm curious where we draw the line as to what is excessive.

flash2 · September 22, 2012 9:47PM

What is an acceptable price is what you are willing to pay.too high,do not buy.

handyman · September 22, 2012 10:34PM

an acceptable price would be one that is clearly posted before I place a bid or purchase. I would pay $10,000.00 to ship a PSA 8 1951 Bowman Mickey Mantle even if it was sent without delevery confirmation if the card had a buy it now of 22.50 .

ChiefsFan1st · September 22, 2012 11:09PM

<< <i>an acceptable price would be one that is clearly posted before I place a bid or purchase. I would pay $10,000.00 to ship a PSA 8 1951 Bowman Mickey Mantle even if it was sent without delevery confirmation if the card had a buy it now of 22.50 . >>

I agree with this 300%!! When I bid on an ebay item I figure shipping into my bid. The only thing that ticks me off is when seller doesnt state shipping cost. Of course then i dont bid. I dont care what they charge to ship.

jay0791 · September 22, 2012 11:28PM

What is acceptable is variable.

Most these days feel that actual cost or just above is the standard.
however...was it sent with dc or insurance?

was it packaged very well. that takes time and $
Most of the sellers charging $10 to ship a card under $100 are gone. The 5 star system has been effective.

If a card has a higher shipping cost I always try to add more and reduce overall costs by combined shipping.

Normally a card under $50 and shipping costs at $5 or under is acceptable
for a $20 card I look for about $3.

But as a buyer I figure shipping cost into my bid.

CocoaBeachDodgers · September 22, 2012 11:36PM

<< <i>

<< <i>an acceptable price would be one that is clearly posted before I place a bid or purchase. I would pay $10,000.00 to ship a PSA 8 1951 Bowman Mickey Mantle even if it was sent without delevery confirmation if the card had a buy it now of 22.50 . >>

I agree with this 300%!! When I bid on an ebay item I figure shipping into my bid. The only thing that ticks me off is when seller doesnt state shipping cost. Of course then i dont bid. I dont care what they charge to ship. >>

I agree 400%!! To me, it doesn't matter what so ever! The only number I am looking at is the combined cost between product & shipping cost.

Years ago it was advantageous for a seller to sell his product low with a high shipping cost to avoid some Final Transaction Fees, but I beleive that has changed and they are taking a % of shipping also. Somebody can correct me if I'm wrong as I do not sell any longer.

DCanfield · September 23, 2012 12:12AM

I certainly agree with what everyone says as I too factor in delivery cost into my top bid or BIN. My first thought is how much I'm willing to spend to have it in my hand. However, since sellers can be dinged for cost of shipping on ebay, my question was meant to ask how much over the actual postage cost do you think a seller is fairly entitled to? For me, I think time and materials are worth a 40-60% premium over shipping cost (excluding insurance). In other words, if an item costs $10 to ship, I'm OK with a$15 shipping charge give or take. A higher percentage for lower cost items and a lower percentage for higher priced items Unless you ship for free, every ebay buyer has a say in the cost of shipping charged via the feedback left to the seller. I was just looking to see what others thought was a fair charge for time and materials. The cost of shipping also applies to retailers also.

handyman · September 23, 2012 12:19AM

There is no correct answer to this question.
Some people will ding you even if you charged only .25 to ship a complete set of 1988 topps baseball. Just set it at a number you are comfortable charging for your cards. If they sell they sell. If they dont they dont. If I were you I would charge the price it cost you to ship them and not worry about it.

mygotta · September 23, 2012 2:53AM

I make sure shipping costs are posted. But I still get questions from buyers asking how much. But this is a more of an issue with foreign customers, as I have switched over to free shipping for everything for domestic.

JoeBanzai · September 23, 2012 2:57AM

To me reasonable is the cost of postage, combined with the cost of packaging materials, and the care in which item is packaged, give or take a dollar or two for time and gas money to the P.O. I don't believe sellers are suppose to make money on shipping.

Your example of $2.95 for postage and $14.95 to ship seems excessive. What size was item? Was it insured? How much time and effort went into packaging?

On a single card sent in a bubble mailer the actual cost to ship can be fairly easily kept in the $2.50 range. I don't get irritated if seller keeps it around $3.50 and packages it securely.

Larger items can cost much more, I shipped some of my old "Tonka" trucks and the actual cost was in the $12.00 range.

A couple of weeks ago I received a $100.00 card in a small bubble mailer and a card saver, no cardboard, no top loader and no "do not bend" written on envelope. The card was undamaged, but I "dinged" the sellers shipping stars from a 5 to a 3 and left a note in the feedback that card should have been better protected.

I also hate when a card of any value comes in a PWE. If shipping is free, I can't complain, but I really hate PWE's

Joe

PSARich · September 23, 2012 10:52PM

I charge $3.00 S/H for one graded card, $4.00 for 2 to 3 cards and $5.00 for 4 or more cards. I package the card(s) between two pieces of cardboard and send in a padded envelope. Delivery Confirmation is included. If the card sells for over $100, I buy insurance at my own expense. Have never had a complaint and have had many compliments on my packagiong. Did get a couple four star ratings instead of 5-star for mailing costs though. I also drive 5 miles to our nearest post office to mail them as it normally takes one less day to deliver compared to when I just drop them in a mailbox or leave them for the postal carrier to pick up. Why? I do not know other than it must just skip a step in the process. I probably have about $2.50-$2.75 tied up in shipping/handling costs for one card (postage, cardboard, padded envelope, tape, printing paper and ink, gas, etc. I figure the rest is for the time I spend securely packaging the card and taking to the PO.

When I leave eBay feedback, I give 5 stars to any S/H costs of $3.00 or less for one card. Those that charge $3.95 for a card get a 4 and $4.95 or higher get a 3. I make exceptions though if the seller insures the card.

Quite frankly, if it is a high end example of an expensive/rare card that I really want, I don't worry too much about S/H costs. However, like many who have posted here, I consider the seller's shipping cost when I bid on most cards.

Mickey71 · September 24, 2012 3:10AM

PSARich,
You will ding someones feedback based on shipping costs that you know up front. If it's over $3 for 1 single card......I'm assuming you have handed out tons of low feedback scores. I don't agree with this at all; but it's your opinion.

PSARich · September 24, 2012 10:21AM

Hi Mickey71. Yes I leave a 4 for someone who charges $3.95 for a single graded card. I figure it costs them $1.64 via Paypal shipping plus hopefully a padded envelope and some time and effort. I don't consider it dinging them because a 4 is defined as "reasonable" shipping charges to the buyer and I don't consider a 4 a low feedback score. And yes if I am charged $4.95 for a single graded card I'll leave a 3 which is defined as "neither reasonable or unreasonable". Whether I know up front what the S/H charges are is not the issue in my opinion. The issue is whether or not the seller's S/H charges are very resonable, reasonable, or lower. I still bid on cards which have high S/H charges but that doesn't mean because I bid on or won a card that the S/H charges automatically rate a 5.

Now, to be realistic, I may have sounded too rigid in my previous post. If the cost is a little over $3.00, like $3.25 or so, I'll give a 5. I used $3.95 because that amount/range seems like a common costs in some cards I have won, as has $4.95 on a few. Anyway, I have not handed out tons of low feedback scores. I know that for some anything below a 5 is not good but according to the descriptors a 4 is a pretty good score.

Just my opinion and every person may interpret what "5 very reasonable" and "4 reasonable" mean differently. I just think that around $3.00 is a very reasonable charge to the buyer for shipping a single graded card.

The posting header referenced what are acceptable shipping costs. I suppose one could argue that if a buyer is willing to pay whatever cost is charged than it must be acceptable or they wouldn't have bid on the card.

custom352 · September 25, 2012 1:10AM

I have not shipped enough to have exact idea on what shipping supplies and postage will be (like $1.64 via Paypal ). I try to pick an easy round dollar amount for people to work with like $5 or $10. It seems overly picky to give bad feedback because the seller didn't know exactly what something would cost to ship, and that the quoted price is boldly shown.