Ebay sellers who like to lose money

Aric · January 14, 2010 3:56AM

I bought a small team lot of cards on ebay last week. I won with an opening bid of a mere 50 cents plus $3 shipping. The cards arrived yesterday and were shipped in flat rate priority box for $5 for a loss of $1.50. I checked the sellers feedback and he sold a bunch of similar team lots last week all ending for less than $5 with shipping. I'm betting he shipped them all in flat rate boxes. This was not a rookie seller, he has a feedback of over 900.

This reminded me of a purchase I made last year, it was large group of old becketts that I picked up cheap for bathroom reading. The total with shipping was less than $10. The box arrived priority shipping with the postage printed right on it, $18.50, a loss of $8.50.

Do you guys have any other stories of sellers paying more for shipping than the item cost?

bigjaco · January 14, 2010 3:59AM

I repeatedly fall victim to not charging enough for shipping. It's depressing.

bobbyw8469 · January 14, 2010 4:05AM

I have sold stuff for a loss before...sometimes we don't care...so long as someone will enjoy the item and it is out of our hair....

jimrad · January 14, 2010 4:05AM

When I see stuff like that it bothers me that someone might be laundering $$ which is more common than most people realize.

itzagoner · January 14, 2010 4:06AM

i have considered "Free" shipping, but i have yet to successfully encourage the Post Office to join me in support of this Special Offer.

VintageCardLover · January 14, 2010 4:07AM

free shipping is for suckers, charge a fair amount.

itzagoner · January 14, 2010 4:08AM

<< free shipping is for suckers, charge a fair amount. >>

k thanks i was still on the fence.

robbiegiggs · January 14, 2010 4:13AM

i charge $2.25 for shipping a single card and i ship thru Paypal w/DC. With all the listing, selling and Paypal fees, if it sells for 99 cents, i loose $$$ on the whole deal.

storm888 · January 14, 2010 4:19AM

I have long used "Free Shipping" on EBAY BINs.

Saves me from ANY discussions with buyers about S+H costs.

The buyer pays for all of my S+H expenses; they are simply
included in the BIN price.

...........

I still have not figured out a way to make it work with auction listings.

byronscott4ever · January 14, 2010 4:22AM

Couldn't you add the S/H to the opening bid on an auction to do the same Free Shipping?

OAKESY25 · January 14, 2010 4:24AM

I still have not figured out a way to make it work with auction listings.

don't run them unless you want pennies on the dollar ( mostly )

storm888 · January 14, 2010 4:27AM

<< Couldn't you add the S/H to the opening bid on an auction to do the same Free Shipping? >>

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

That would not work out too well, in most cases.

storm888 · January 14, 2010 4:35AM

<< I still have not figured out a way to make it work with auction listings.

don't run them unless you want pennies on the dollar ( mostly ) >>

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

I had some pretty good test results on high-opening-bid starts.

I started the five free-listing items at $99.

Two sold for $99. One sold for $105. Two did not sell.

Bad conventional STR, but I was VERY satisfied on the money side.

"Free" shipping was covered at the $99 level.

There was a seasonal-traffic skew and the items were not collectibles.

I may try it again with some collectibles, next month.

MULLINS5 · January 14, 2010 4:36AM

2.00 for first card and 1.00 for each additionl card up to 8.00 always works for me. Use paypl checkout and get DC for about .19 I may raise the Canadian shipping to 3 for the first and 1.50 for each additional as I have to physically go to the post office to send the package..instead of dropping it in the mailbox for US orders.

But to answer the original post, I have lost some in shipping, but I have other things to worry about, I don't eBay to make money but rather move items out at fair prices to help fund my personal collection. Losing a little on a transaction here and there isn't a big deal as long as it doesn't happen often and the amount isn't too much.

Patrick

bigjaco · January 14, 2010 4:44AM

I shipped a book to Spain once... my scale screwed up or something ended up weighing almost a pound more than I priced it at. Cost was something like $40 more than what I had quoted bringing my net profit on the transaction to like -$12.00 or something like that. It was lovely.

thedutymon · January 14, 2010 4:52AM

<< i have considered "Free" shipping, but i have yet to successfully encourage the Post Office to join me in support of this Special Offer. >>

LOL

Neil

hammered · January 14, 2010 4:55AM

His mistake was starting an auction at 50 cents. If you routinely do this, you have to expect many will only sell for the minimum bid, and money could be lost. Even if he broke even on shipping, it's hardly worth the time and effort to package up a .50 card. For items in high demand, there's no problem with starting it at .50. For low-demand items, he should put a BIN of say, $5.00 and let it sit until someone comes along willing to pay it.

I almost always use auction format for what I sell. But unless I'm certain about receiving bids on it, I'll start it at submission cost + a few dollars so I've at least made something on it. If it doesn't sell at auction, I just keep it.

Aric · January 14, 2010 5:04AM

<< His mistake was starting an auction at 50 cents. If you routinely do this, you have to expect many will only sell for the minimum bid, and money could be lost. Even if he broke even on shipping, it's hardly worth the time and effort to package up a .50 card. For items in high demand, there's no problem with starting it at .50. For low-demand items, he should put a BIN of say, $5.00 and let it sit until someone comes along willing to pay it.
>>

While I agree with what you're saying, I think his mistake was shipping them flat rate priority instead of first class in a bubble envelope.

scotgreb · January 14, 2010 5:10AM

Many sellers don't mind losing a buck here or there to bring in buyers to their store or to bring attention to their higher-priced/margin items.

Not saying this is the case in Aric's example but it's certainly a viable strategy.

Think McDonald's dollar menu . . .

Scott

EchoCanyon · January 14, 2010 5:17AM

An item I once sold cost me about $3 more than I had expected/charged.

After I sent the item, I notified the buyer that although we had agreed on shipping, it cost more.

A week later $3 arrived in the mail.

Good karma all around.

richtree · January 14, 2010 5:22AM

Also,

some people work in a business enviornment where the ship out from their company, I.e> free personal shipping.

Its a horrible thing to do, but low risk in some big companies. I see many people do it at my company and the company never inquries about out going shipping costs as long as they aren't insanely huge.

Just a side note

Zixx · January 14, 2010 7:25AM

<< I have long used "Free Shipping" on EBAY BINs.

Saves me from ANY discussions with buyers about S+H costs.

The buyer pays for all of my S+H expenses; they are simply
included in the BIN price.

...........

I still have not figured out a way to make it work with auction listings. >>

I want to do the same, but can't help but think that it's Ebays way of creating a higher profit. Case in point(assuming shipping cost is $5):
Ebay store item listed at $15 and $5 for shipping. Ebay and Paypal fees add up to $2.76
Same Ebay store item listed at $20 with "free shipping". Ebay and Paypal fees are $3.78

Multiply that by however many sales you might have in a year and that's too much to cough up with Ebay and PP encouraging sellers to offer free shipping so they can add that to the total charge instead of leaving it seperate. Or am I wrong somewhere?

storm888 · January 14, 2010 7:40AM

"...I want to do the same, but can't help but think that it's Ebays way of creating a higher profit. Case in point(assuming shipping cost is $5):
Ebay store item listed at $15 and $5 for shipping. Ebay and Paypal fees add up to $2.76
Same Ebay store item listed at $20 with "free shipping". Ebay and Paypal fees are $3.78

Multiply that by however many sales you might have in a year and that's too much to cough up with Ebay and PP encouraging sellers to offer free shipping so they can add that to the total charge instead of leaving it seperate. Or am I wrong somewhere? ..."

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

Simply add ANY and ALL EBAY/PP fees to the BIN.

.......

Also, for me, there is an added benefit for which I would galdly pay extra:

NOT having to talk to the cheapskate-SCUM about shipping fees.

Zixx · January 14, 2010 8:10AM

I guess I was thinking more of less expensive items. If I'm into something for $50 and it's listed in my ebay store for $100 and sells, I really don't care about any fees and wouldn't hesitate to offer free shipping and insurance.

But for something where your profit margin is thin, every dollar helps.

DeutscherGeist · January 14, 2010 11:17AM

I like Storm's approach. Easy and efficient.

Customers hate wasting time looking at shipping, handling, surcharges, insurance and any other extra fee. Just add it to the cost of the BIN and be done with it. Easy for everyone involved. Who cares if Ebay gets more money that way, just look at your own bottom line and make sure you are happy.

I do not sell on ebay, but I do run a small business. I stick with the same principle I just described in that endeavor. I do not nickel and dime customers. My prices are straight forward and the customer always understands what's going on. It prevents complaints, attitude problems, vengence, etc. In the end, I still make a living, so who cares about a few bucks here and there, all expenses are tax write offs anyway, so I look at the big picture. Getting into unecessary discussions with customers is extremely costly--that's the expense worth cutting.

As far as the seller losing money on his deals like the original poster described. Maybe he is sending it from his workplace at company expense. Or it could be what someone else stated earlier. Its just a way to gain a customer base and build loyalty. I am sure the seller would have liked to see the item sell for more, but he is honorable in sticking to the deal and providing you with what you earned. Chances are you will buy from him again and that's where he wins. Its all about the big picture.

Blacklabelsociety · January 14, 2010 4:26PM

<< I repeatedly fall victim to not charging enough for shipping. It's depressing. >>

Same here. Then there are still some idiots that will ding my star on shipping charges. Pathetic.

Ebay sellers who like to lose money

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