Since when does EBay have a ceiling for what you can charge for shipping?

MSUHitman

MSUHitman

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I hate to tell EBay this, but there's no fucking way I can ship ANYTHING Priority Mail for $4. It's $4.80 and EBay won't let me set any price above $4. I also have to do delivery confirmation for $.65, or any fucking douchebag can claim they didn't receive it and I'll lose any PayPal dispute so I'm down $1.45 just because I can't set my own shipping price. Not to mention the cost of the envelope.

It's been almost a year since I sold anything on it but no fucking wonder people are leaving in droves.
 
yea this is a new policy. You can list it under vintage games to charge more. Btw print your label with paypal to save on DC
 
[quote name='MSUHitman']How does this save on delivery confirmation?[/QUOTE]

I think its 18 cents or free depending on how you ship it.
But then you need to get a scale. If you ship a lot it's worth it.
And you can have the mail person come to your door and pick it up.
 
Yep, and no negative feedbacks against buyers either. I'm done with ebay; I rarely sell on there as it is, but with the fees on both paypal and ebay, plus this price ceiling on shipping, it is making not selling there an easy decision. Also don't want to forget, you need to keep above a 4.2 or so in each catagory of your detailed seller rating or else they'll block you from selling also. Go ebay.
 
The new policy is that you have to have an option for some kind of shipping for less than $4.00. Basically, they're forcing you to offer the option for First Class (or in some cases, Media Mail). After the first option, you can charge whatever you want.

It's pretty stupid though for sellers who only did Priority, especially since Priority starts at $4.75, potentially more if you get a DC# at a retail USPS location. I know a lot of sellers who used Priority because it was fast and gave you free boxes.
 
I'm just waiting for the class action lawsuit somebody puts together saying "Hey wait, ebay owns Paypal, ebay sets a cap for shipping that makes you pay more to actually be protected from chargebacks on the service they own and force you to use.

Just doesn't make sense to me.

I had already cut WAY back on my listings as it is difficult to sell things from Japan, but when they raised the fees of both services, I was pretty much out.
 
Sometimes I try to sell a guide with the game and eBay still puts the limit at $4. Since the guide has the most weight of the two, it pushes shipping over $4. I could ship it media mail but that would leave me open to a slow shipping negative feedback (even though I ship it out next day).
 
I agree it's unfair that they have a cap, and even worse that they basically require you to give cheap/free shipping these days, but there is in fact a way around the cap.

They still allow you to use "Calculated Shipping". In there you can set a "handling fee". Simply set the handling fee to $1.00 - $2.00 or so and then the buyer pays actual shipping plus the dollar or two, which means you don't lose out. Take it from a Goomba, it works well :)

For powersellers on some items it's worth giving free shipping, because you can get up to 40% off eBay fees (20% Powerseller bonus and doubled for free shipping bonus). Just a heads up.
 
All you have to do is go under shipping and choose "Calculated: Cost varies by buyer location" and choose "1 lb or under" under the weight part and priority mail under services. This will let you charge $4.80 for priority shipping (yes you still lose a little for delivery confirmation) and if something weighs more than a pound, you get actual shipping minus the delivery confirmation if you put the correct weight in there. I do this as well as put 13 ounces on single games so I can ship first class in a padded envelope and it allows me to get $3.21 and shipping is $2.xx WITH delivery confirmation this way. So priority shipping I lose a little with delivery confirmation, and first-class shipping I have a little left over even with delivery confirmation. Hope this helps.
 
[quote name='MSUHitman']I hate to tell EBay this, but there's no fucking way I can ship ANYTHING Priority Mail for $4. It's $4.80 and EBay won't let me set any price above $4.[/QUOTE]

I just learned yesterday it is possible to have more than one type of shipping as an option. Instead of having just one line/option under US shipping, use the "Offer additional service" option and you can indicate up to three types of shipping each at different costs. That way there is a choice of 1st class mail with the ebay limit, priority for $6 and Express for $15. And yes this is for a videogame.

Granted $4 does not let you ship priority, but you can ship first class/media mail/parcel post for less than $4 for a single item. If you are selling more than one item, just change the ebay category to some sort of lot or multiple option and I think shipping limit is removed.
 
If you need to charge more than $4, you have to choose "Calculate Shipping Cost" in the shipping section when you are creating your listing.
 
eBay's anti Seller policies are good in theory. The idea is to protect buyers from evil Sellers. Evil Sellers was posting negatory feedback to get even to negs about their evil ways. ebay wanted to help protect buyers from this. Which is good. Sadly, they decided to treta all Sellers as evil, and neuter them. despite people mentioining oh so kindly when it was first rumored this would happen that this new policy would elt buyers run rampant, right down to extortion for cheaper shipping. One canadian bitch tried this on me. I lost 7.50 buy choosing second chance to the enxt person. Afterlal,s he refused to apy. How cna ebay possibly refund my fees over that? Next, ebay went after Evil Sellers who overcharge shipping. $9 to ship a DS game sans case is sick. It betetr come in a box lined with gold. So, ebay, in it's infinite stupidity, decided to cap all shipeprs, and make all shipeprs undercharge. After all, if the Post office charges $4.80 for shipping, the Post office is wrong. ebay knows better. Soon, ebay shall become Amazon: Crud. Then they can wave bye bye to their stock price as everybody abandons them. Brand name (The key to their new buiness model's success) means nothing when you hate the brand name. I will ship priorty for les when ebay drops all their fees, and PayPal stops taking a percent of my income. Which they should be willing to do, seeing as how ebay hates selelrs and wnats us gone. No selelrs equals no buyers, equals no money. eBay's heart's in the right place. Sadly, their execution is shooting a fly with a bazooka. Overkill, and too much collateral damage. And now bees are getting inthrough the holes the bazooka made.
 
Delivery confirmation with Priority mail is free if you print the label online. (ie via paypal and usps.com) Also if you go directly to usps.com and print the label, pay online you get a discount on priority and express shipping plus you can do a Scan Form to show proof of acceptance at the PO versus paypal shipping which doesn't update many times until it is delivered.
 
Not only that, but Paypal holds your funds and makes you ship out the item and wait until the buyer gives you positive feedback is just ridiculous.

fuck ebay.
 
[quote name='dv8mad']I'm just waiting for the class action lawsuit somebody puts together saying "Hey wait, ebay owns Paypal, ebay sets a cap for shipping that makes you pay more to actually be protected from chargebacks on the service they own and force you to use.

Just doesn't make sense to me.

I had already cut WAY back on my listings as it is difficult to sell things from Japan, but when they raised the fees of both services, I was pretty much out.[/QUOTE]

I never thought of that. It's like they're trying to build a monopoly. Bastards. :bomb:

And yeah, just do what I do, put the shipping calculator on your page, then when they win the item, find out the ACTUAL shipping price, then send them an invoice for that much.
 
Half.com has always been this bad in reimbursing shipping. Even the lightest textbooks cost like $2.60 for medial mail plus the cost of an envelope. Now try shipping a 1500 page medical textbook and getting reimbursed like $3 for the shipping. You basically have to eat the $5 loss.
 
[quote name='goomba478']I agree it's unfair that they have a cap, and even worse that they basically require you to give cheap/free shipping these days, but there is in fact a way around the cap.

They still allow you to use "Calculated Shipping". In there you can set a "handling fee". Simply set the handling fee to $1.00 - $2.00 or so and then the buyer pays actual shipping plus the dollar or two, which means you don't lose out. Take it from a Goomba, it works well :)

For powersellers on some items it's worth giving free shipping, because you can get up to 40% off eBay fees (20% Powerseller bonus and doubled for free shipping bonus). Just a heads up.[/QUOTE]

Interesting... very, very interesting.:whistle2:k
 
First class isn't bad at all. If you set the expectation at 7-10 business days in your auction, then get the item out same/next business day as the payment, even across the country the buyer should have it in about 4 days.

eBay's new policies have motivated me to create a better customer experience, and they reward me for it. My customer's are happy, and more likely to come back to both eBay and me, and eBay does things like double my ps discount.

And Non-Paying buyer's CAN'T neg sellers.

Best bet, if you don't want to do free frist class or media shipping and just add $2-3 to the price, which i say is worth it b/c of better search results is do $3.00 for FC, $6.00 for Paypal. I ship MOST everything FC, and I get constant praise about my shipping time b/c I make sure to GET IT IN THE MAIL fast.


My eBay life may be different than most - I have a full blown eBay business, so I have the luxury of buying envelopes/labels in bulk, and the responsibility to do my mail every day.

EDIT: I'm not playing devil's advocates, and I don't LIKE eBay's policies - but with 400 games listed (600 before Christmas season hit me), as much as I WOULD love to go somewhere else - I have bills to pay. eBay provides me the traffic I need to do that, so when they instate shitty policies, I have to make the best of things or close up shop and stop eating. They DO have a monopoly, and NO OTHER SITE can drive the traffic to a seller that eBay can (Amazon's great if you're selling books, just useless if it's anything else.)
 
From a buyer's perspective, eBay's policy has drastically increased the number of people marking shipping as free, but stating in the description that it's really $10 or something. It has also increased the number of single games in the "wholesale lots" category.

From a seller's perspective, I've ranted about this before, but the height of stupidity in this matter comes in the form of a maximum shipping charge in the wholesale lot category.
 
[quote name='pfp']
And Non-Paying buyer's CAN'T neg sellers.
[/QUOTE]

They can if they replied to the unpaid item dispute.
 
I just list everything as Standard Shipping so they won't limit what I list my costs as, but I am not sure if there is a limit or not by listing it as standard. Have not ran into one yet.
 
[quote name='pfp']First class isn't bad at all. If you set the expectation at 7-10 business days in your auction, then get the item out same/next business day as the payment, even across the country the buyer should have it in about 4 days.

eBay's new policies have motivated me to create a better customer experience, and they reward me for it. My customer's are happy, and more likely to come back to both eBay and me, and eBay does things like double my ps discount.

And Non-Paying buyer's CAN'T neg sellers.

Best bet, if you don't want to do free frist class or media shipping and just add $2-3 to the price, which i say is worth it b/c of better search results is do $3.00 for FC, $6.00 for Paypal. I ship MOST everything FC, and I get constant praise about my shipping time b/c I make sure to GET IT IN THE MAIL fast.


My eBay life may be different than most - I have a full blown eBay business, so I have the luxury of buying envelopes/labels in bulk, and the responsibility to do my mail every day.

EDIT: I'm not playing devil's advocates, and I don't LIKE eBay's policies - but with 400 games listed (600 before Christmas season hit me), as much as I WOULD love to go somewhere else - I have bills to pay. eBay provides me the traffic I need to do that, so when they instate shitty policies, I have to make the best of things or close up shop and stop eating. They DO have a monopoly, and NO OTHER SITE can drive the traffic to a seller that eBay can (Amazon's great if you're selling books, just useless if it's anything else.)[/QUOTE]
Exactly. It is too bad yahoo auction ended up failing here cause it is actually more successful in some countries.
 
I usually just offer Free Shipping. More often than not, if it's a item that's in relative demand people will bid up higher than other auctions since I'm offering Free shipping. I realize that Ebay eats into this a little bit with their fees, but the majority of items I sell, I'm not turning over profits of $1 or $2. Instead, the profits are $15-30 per item and a dollar here and there, it isn't that big of a deal to me.
 
[quote name='62t']Exactly. It is too bad yahoo auction ended up failing here cause it is actually more successful in some countries.[/quote]

It's all anyone uses here in Japan.
 
[quote name='evilmrhenry']From a buyer's perspective, eBay's policy has drastically increased the number of people marking shipping as free, but stating in the description that it's really $10 or something. It has also increased the number of single games in the "wholesale lots" category.[/QUOTE]

The wholesale lots thing is lame.

If it's not more than 10 games (and I'm being generous, I buy collections of 50-100 normally), it's not a lot.


And if you see people doing what you're describing of saying shippings' free but adding information in the notes, FLAG THE SHIT OUT OF THEM. Search for all their auctions, check each and every one for that kinda thing, and flag every one, then e-mail friends and have them do the same.


THAT'S THE KIND OF CRAP THAT MAKES IT HARDER ON HONEST EBAY SELLERS!
 
Just a general question for eBay sellers:

What's the general range of fees for selling a game about 30 bucks or so? How much do they take out? I'm more of a buyer than a seller so I have never looked into it. All I saw was percentages.
 
[quote name='PenDynasty']Just a general question for eBay sellers:

What's the general range of fees for selling a game about 30 bucks or so? How much do they take out? I'm more of a buyer than a seller so I have never looked into it. All I saw was percentages.[/QUOTE]

Depends on how you sell it.

There's Auction style or Fixed price (a.k.a. Buy it Now) listings and each have their own fees. All the fees are listed here: http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/fees.html .

In general, if you sell it Auction style, you are looking at around $2.50 in total fees for a $30 game. Fixed price would be more, probably around $4.50 or so.
 
First class mail is terrific. I have had almost no problems using it. Much cheaper than Priority and just as reliable in my opinion. I also like how I can drop the package in a blue drop box saves me a trip to the post office.:)

If an item weighs 13 oz or less it goes first class unless the buyer requests Priority or Express.

I have a lot of strategy guides I would list them on Ebay but I am worried about using media mail to ship I do not want to get my stars dinged or get negative fb for slow shipping.:(
 
I sell a fair number of games/movies on eBay. Being a powerseller I now sell them all with free shipping and just raise the price by a couple dollars to cover it. That way I save with my 30 or 40% discount depending on luck during the month.

If you want cheap delivery confirmation download Shipping Assistant 3.5 from the USPS. That way you can print labels at home and get either free DC with Priority or $.18 DC with First Class. You do not need to pay for the postage until you get to the post office. This is great for me since I do not weigh packages in advance. I use label stickers to print but you can just use plain paper and tape it on the package. I have done that also many times before I started selling alot and needed ease of use over cost savings
 
Being a Buyer I welcome the Shipping changes... why should I have to pay $6-9 shipping a game? Sellers liked to jack Shipping charges... so eBay is enforcing shipping that is reasonable...
 
[quote name='UjnHunter']Being a Buyer I welcome the Shipping changes... why should I have to pay $6-9 shipping a game? Sellers liked to jack Shipping charges... so eBay is enforcing shipping that is reasonable...[/quote]
As much as I can understand how sellers feel, I have to agree with this. It was always annoying to find a game that seemed to be reasonably priced only to find that some jerkoff thought he could charge $8.99 for first class shipping.
 
[quote name='UjnHunter']Being a Buyer I welcome the Shipping changes... why should I have to pay $6-9 shipping a game? Sellers liked to jack Shipping charges... so eBay is enforcing shipping that is reasonable...[/quote]


I can ship a DVD game for like 1.40 through Paypal with DC for Goozex. The game gets there within a week.

I don't see why the community of ebay needs to charge 6-8 on a game... when I'll still get it as slow or slower. I'm glad for this ceiling. I don't want Priority if you can get First class and DC.

I can look at when it was printed and shipped, so if you're sitting on it for 4-5 days before shipping you better fucking expect a knock on the stars rating. / rant

Really this is what Ebay needs to fix... Tie into USPS to labling and shipping, and note on the auction for Handling fees. Allow for higher shipping but still offer first class.

DC and responsible shipping times shouldn't affect anyone in a negative way.
 
Wow, lots to reply to!

Being a Buyer I welcome the Shipping changes... why should I have to pay $6-9 shipping a game? Sellers liked to jack Shipping charges... so eBay is enforcing shipping that is reasonable...
Click to expand...

When I set my prices, I go through recently ended items, look at what the "going rate" is for "price+shipping" and set it at that, but label it "free shipping". I don't see what the big deal is with this, especially since they now list the shipping price on the search page. You can see the total.


If you want cheap delivery confirmation download Shipping Assistant 3.5 from the USPS. That way you can print labels at home and get either free DC with Priority or $.18 DC with First Class. You do not need to pay for the postage until you get to the post office. This is great for me since I do not weigh packages in advance. I use label stickers to print but you can just use plain paper and tape it on the package.
Click to expand...

Best way I've found is to use Paypal's multi-order shipping, and buy a scale for $40.00 from the post office. I still get the same prices you do, but the money comes straight out of my Paypal account and I don't even drive to the post office. Print it all out (I do it on labels, but if you don't have the quantity I do you could do it on paper and tape it on), drop it in the mailbox out front of my house, flip the flag up, mailman takes it. During the holiday season, he was even making an extra stop at my house before doing his walk down my street b/c he knew he didn't want to carry the load of games.

$40.00 for the scale was worth every penny in the time and gas I save going to the post, I only go on the occasion that I have a package. If a customer wants just a single game upgraded to priority, that goes in the mailbox out front with the proper label. Mailman has told me he can't touch anything not IN THE MAILBOX (legally) which is why packages get driven in.
 
Paypal shipping is amazing and saves me having to spend 30 min in line at the psot office. i have noticed in the last 50 sales or so peopel trying to scam me. Claiming brand new sealed games dont work to which I reply try it again and they usually leave me alone.
 
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