Options
What do you charge for shipping and why?
262Runner
Posts: 606 ✭✭✭
I am asking this question because of the vast differences you find on ebay. When I sell graded cards, I charge $3.50 plus $.65 for each additional and if a buyer purchases enough cards, I don't charge over $10.... enough for a flat rate USPS Priority Mail box.
I emailed a seller yesterday about some cards he has up for auction (about 30 or so) and I can use about 25 of them for my set. I asked if I won all 25 would he give me a break on shipping... His response was $4.00 for the first card and $2.00 for each additional.... I would be paying over $50 in shipping charges if he stuck to his charges. I will still bid on all 25, just not nearly as high as I would have if shipping would top off around $10 or $12... I guess in the end he ends up with the same amount of money from me but pays a little less in FVF's. Is this a smart way to make a few extra bucks or just limit limit repeat customers? Not to mention his star ratings are pretty low... 4.8, 4.8, 4.7, 4.3 and 100% feedback.
Any thoughts?
Dave
I emailed a seller yesterday about some cards he has up for auction (about 30 or so) and I can use about 25 of them for my set. I asked if I won all 25 would he give me a break on shipping... His response was $4.00 for the first card and $2.00 for each additional.... I would be paying over $50 in shipping charges if he stuck to his charges. I will still bid on all 25, just not nearly as high as I would have if shipping would top off around $10 or $12... I guess in the end he ends up with the same amount of money from me but pays a little less in FVF's. Is this a smart way to make a few extra bucks or just limit limit repeat customers? Not to mention his star ratings are pretty low... 4.8, 4.8, 4.7, 4.3 and 100% feedback.
Any thoughts?
Dave
Collecting all cards - Gus Zernial
Post Cereal both raw and PSA Graded (1961-1963)
0
Comments
Priority box, insurance included, with delivery confirmation if under $200, signature confirmation if over $200.
That is my cost give or take a few cents, with nothing for running it to the PO, time packing etc. If someone wins more than one card the cost stays the same or goes up a buck total, no matter how many cards. If it's over $900. in value it goes registered, and I eat the cost. I figure if someone buys that much from me the least I can do is subsidize the shipping.
The cards I buy on ebay the shipping is $4.50-$9, and often coming shipped in a way that half or more of that cost is pocketed by the seller.
Always looking for N690 Kalamazoo Bats and Newsboy Cabinets
if is sell something & it's over $400 +/-, I will throw in free shipping.
I shouldn't do that honestly, but I do, my wife doesn't like it either.
J
RIP GURU
<< <i>$3.00, plus $0.50 each additional card. I would say I break about even, sure not making but a few pennies on shipping. >>
Ditto
Sportlots FS
Normally if someone buys multiple cards I do not charge extra for shipping unless the actual price to ship goes over $2.50.
Anything that sells for over $50 I pay the insurance on.
Buying Vintage, all sports.
Buying Woody Hayes, Les Horvath, Vic Janowicz, and Jesse Owens autographed items
thats what i am changing on a ton of my military stuff and taking of $ orders and cash on 1000 more auction now
i love ebay and wasting 12 hours straight yesterday doing that,prob 12 more today
is $1.00. By the way, I also ship the item in small cardboard box for items over 25.00 in value, which
customers really like.
The reason I ship everything Priority Mail is because I can buy the Priority Mail stamps ahead of time and therefore do not have to weigh each item individually and calculate postage. This saves me time, becaue I can place the stamp on the item at my house and leave it with my outgoing mail, which saves me from having to make a trip to the post office.
Only time I have to go to the PO now is when people request insurance.
Matt
I'd like to say there was a method to my madness, but it really depends on how clearly I'm thinking during listing.
<< <i>
Only time I have to go to the PO now is when people request insurance.
>>
If going to the PO is a hassle, investigate PayPal shipping. It's easy for Priority. Free DC. Insurance available.
on most items; whatever it costs to cover the full cost of shipping and delivery confirmation. High dollar items ill charge a nominal fee for insurance and pick up the difference.
The cost is built into the retail price.
"Free" is given preference in search-results. In a few days,
"Free" will earn sellers a subtitle with the listing at no charge.
"Free" does NOT, in general, improve shipping DSRs.
Low S+H - 99-cents- does, in general, improve shipping DSRs.
On Sunday I was surfing while watching football and stumbled across someone offering $2.99 and shipping Free after that. If you bought 5 or more items you got shipping totally free. I had planned on only buying a couple cards, but ended up wth over 20!
I used to give free shipping if you paid by a means other than Paypal, but that policy goes out the window soon
<< <i>On BINs, I use "Free" Shipping.
The cost is built into the retail price.
"Free" is given preference in search-results. In a few days,
"Free" will earn sellers a subtitle with the listing at no charge.
"Free" does NOT, in general, improve shipping DSRs.
Low S+H - 99-cents- does, in general, improve shipping DSRs. >>
I disagree that Free doesn't boost DSR. Of course, he was speaking generally.
In my case, free shipping on all my items took my shipping DSR from 4.8 to 5.0. The 20% off final value fee more than offsets shipping cost. And, repeat business is up since I offered it. Of course, I tend to sell higher end cards, so I can the why sellers with low $ cards charge shipping. You might end up losing money on the overall transaction if you didn't charge.
I provide "free" shipping.
If you buy more than one lot - ya get a total discount of 75%
On the 3rd tues of each month - everything is FREE!
mike
///////////////////////
I think the problem with the numbers has been that there does
not exist a LARGE sample yet; because not enough folks have
offered "Free."
EBAY has found that buyers surveyed thought that "Free" meant
"Neutral" and earned the equivalent of "NA" or a "3." This has
accounted for the generally lower scores.
As more buyers are educated about the "stars," and more sellers
offer "Free," it seems likely that the general numbers should rise.
//////////
When Norrington was asked about removing the "shipping-cost star"
from sellers who offer "Free" shipping, she balked.
"We don't want to do that because some sellers might offer Free
shipping, but then try to charge for it after the sale."
I felt her response was idiotic. The bad seller in her example would
be NEGd; it is HIGHLY unlikely that sellers would run that risk.
As of this week, LN's position in the matter has not changed.
///////////////
When "30-days for 35-cents in CORE" rolls out in a few days, sellers
are going to find their items burried DEEP in search results. We
could quickly go from 13M+ listings to well over 20M+ on an average day.
(When the BIG BOX retailers load their entire catalogs, 100M+ listings
will not be uncommon.)
The "free subtitle" that goes to sellers offering "free shipping," may
help increase the visibilty of the listing. Also, obviously, the "raised"
search-standing that goes to "free shippers" will become more
important.
$2.00 (optional insurance) for all items under $50) graded/non-graded cards
$4.00 for cards that sell for $50-100 (includes insurance)
$5.00 for cards that sell for $101-200 (includes insurance)
Now that I am being forced to accept Paypal:
$4.00 for graded cards up to $50 (includes insurance)
$5.00 for graded cards valued $51-200 (includes insurance)
<< <i>I disagree that Free doesn't boost DSR. Of course, he was speaking generally.
In my case, free shipping on all my items took my shipping DSR from 4.8 to 5.0. The 20% off final value fee more than offsets shipping cost. And, repeat business is up since I offered it. Of course, I tend to sell higher end cards, so I can the why sellers with low $ cards charge shipping. You might end up losing money on the overall transaction if you didn't charge. >>
I offered free shipping for about a month earlier this summer, my shipping and Handling DSR dropped from 4.7 to 4.6
Currently my shipping is $2.25 for the 1st item and .50 for each additional. My shipping DSR is still at 4.6. I'm at 4.8 or 4.9 for the other 3 categories
I ship everything USPS Priority mail with delivery conformation, it ussually comes to around $5.45
accounted for the generally lower scores.
I don't know if that thought process comes from the mind of a genius or a moron. Since there wasn't a charge for shipping then I can't express an opinion on how reasonable or unreasonable the charge was, so I'm checking 3 because it doesn't apply.
with those that try to recoup fees etc via high S&H.
For single graded cards, we charge $1.95 for the 1st card, and each additional is 25 cents, with a cap of $5.00.
$1.95 includes the card sandwiched in between 2 pieces of thick cardboard, bubble wrapped, placed inside a new bubble mailer, and
sent USPS 1st Class with D/C.
Our packages are mailed the next morning following payment (except for holiday & Saturday payments).
We have maintained a 4.9 DSR to date, and our feedback has never fallen below 100%.
IMO: It's pretty obvious to most buyers, that sellers who charge unreasonable rates for S&H are probably doing so out of greed.
A long-time friend of mine, who recently retired, plays around with eBay as a hobby to pay for his golf addiction. His average sale per item is barely over $10.
He has money out his butt, and always brags to me about how his eBay/PayPal fees are paid for through S&H. His DSRs are as bad
as his golf game. Yet he fails to understand that maybe, just maybe, he'd get more bidders if he would just trim his S&H.
I always wonder if the sellers, that overcharge on S&H, buy from others that do the same, or instead do they disapprove and look for reasonable S&H charges?
Kind of ironic if they do!
PoppaJ
Kind of ironic if they do!"
//////////////////////////////////////
I find it reasonable that a murderer does NOT want to be murdered.
I have found that S+H-gouging sellers complain the loudest when they
are "overcharged" for S+H.
<< <i>"I always wonder if the sellers, that overcharge on S&H, buy from others that do the same, or instead do they disapprove and look for reasonable S&H charges?
Kind of ironic if they do!"
//////////////////////////////////////
I find it reasonable that a murderer does NOT want to be murdered.
I have found that S+H-gouging sellers complain the loudest when they
are "overcharged" for S+H. >>
People ask about combining shipping and I tell them that The most it will be is $4 and they are usually happy with that.
My DSR for shipping is 4.7 and my shipping time is 4.9 which is mind blowing because items go out the day after payment is received.
Buyers are spoiled by quick shipping sellers that are located near them. They expect everything to get to them in the same timeframe regardless of where it's coming from. If you're in the Boston area you'll get good marks in the DSR when shipping to the east coast, but you'll get hammered a bit shipping to the west coast.