Ebay question

[jdtopgun71]

I am beginning to sell some items I have around the house on Ebay. I am new to this and was wondering how to go about figuring up shipping cost? I am starting with some DVD's and I went with what Ebay recommends as the max allowable and I am doing USPS first class. Is there a link someone could post for a place to start?

 

[annagirl]

I suggest that you do not sell until you have this resolved. Shipping is a big issues with buyers and if you don't have the correct shipping amount you will have problems.

I suggest that you get the boxes you intend to ship with, weigh the items in their boxes so you know how heavy it is and then work on deciding what to charge for shipping.

FYI - catagories such as DVDs are high volume and very competative. And also ripe for fraud and returns. I suggest you spend some time on the community boards and ask questions before going further.

 

[jdtopgun71]

Thank you for the tips!

 

[nunzia]

DVDs can go media mail anywhere in the country for about $2.60 including the confirmation charge that PayPal adds. If you have to buy enveliopes you can add for that, but I'd put that information in the description. Sometimes light things can go first class for cheaper than media..like CDs. Media rate can be used for books, magazines, cd's VHS, DVDs...that type of thing. I'm a long time buyer and seller and I know that many people have pet peeves about shipping that is excessive...including me.

 

[britfish]

quick question, if you sell on ebay, are you required to use delivery confirmation on your packages? I looked on ebay and paypal and could not find the answer.

 

[kristinlynn]

If you are nervous about shipping costs, you could use the usps flat rate envelopes and boxes. The envelope is only $4.95 to ship as much as you can fit in it. http://shop.usps.com/webapp/wcs/sto...toreId=10001&catalogId=10152&categoryId=13359

I think you can add features like insurance or delivery confirmation...I usually offer this as an add-on to buyers. So I say $4.95 shipping and you can choose to add $1.50 if you'd like me to insure.

 

[annagirl]

quick question, if you sell on ebay, are you required to use delivery confirmation on your packages? I looked on ebay and paypal and could not find the answer.

Paypal requires sellers to have some form of online tracking for their seller protection.

https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/w.../securitycenter/sell/SellerProtection-outside

 

[dtr_angel]

If you are going to sell online, I suggest buying a digital scale - I got one on ebay a few years ago for less than $25, and haven't been to the Post Office since! It's so nice to be able to figure up shipping (you can weigh, and then go to usps.com to calculate postage). You can print labels directly through paypal, with delivery confirmation. USPS also picks up your packages for free! With DVDs, and books, etc - media mail is usually the best bet if it isn't light enough to go first class (13 oz is the limit).

 

[chrismartinique]

Paypal requires sellers to have some form of online tracking for their seller protection.

https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/w.../securitycenter/sell/SellerProtection-outside

this does not mean you HAVE TO HAVE online tracking to use Paypal or sell on ebay. It just means if you want to be protected by Paypal seller protection you have to have online tracking. IMO ebay and Paypal error so strongly on the side of the buyer it is not critical - likely if there is a problem they will not side with the seller anyway.

also if you do want to offer online tracking it is worth doing your shipping and label printing through USPS online as they offer discounted delivery confirmation on parcel post & first class and free delivery confirmation on priority shipping. this is very easy to do - when an ebay sale is completed there is a link to you, the seller, to print a label. It goes right through USPS and bills to your paypal account.

 

[britfish]

this does not mean you HAVE TO HAVE online tracking to use Paypal or sell on ebay. It just means if you want to be protected by Paypal seller protection you have to have online tracking. IMO ebay and Paypal error so strongly on the side of the buyer it is not critical - likely if there is a problem they will not side with the seller anyway.

also if you do want to offer online tracking it is worth doing your shipping and label printing through USPS online as they offer discounted delivery confirmation on parcel post & first class and free delivery confirmation on priority shipping. this is very easy to do - when an ebay sale is completed there is a link to you, the seller, to print a label. It goes right through USPS and bills to your paypal account.

So if I have a buyer claiming they did not receive a package I shipped (without delivery confrim) should I just go ahead and refund the money or let it go to dispute?

 

[chrismartinique]

So if I have a buyer claiming they did not receive a package I shipped (without delivery confrim) should I just go ahead and refund the money or let it go to dispute?

I would let it go through dispute whether you have delivery confirmation or not. this happened to me right after Hurricane Katrina - I had 3 packages out there for the mideast and southeast US - it took almost 4 weeks for the packages to get where they were destined for. I was worried about my rep points and paypal situation backfiring. I kept in good communication with my post office and the buyers. Only 1 of the 3 became difficult. I refunded her money and suffered the negative feedback. However at that time I could also give negative feedback to her for her rude and nasty emails. Now the seller is unable to give neutral or negative feedback. Believe me there are buyers who take advantage of this tho I have been fortunate not to find any.

Even if you have the paypal seller protection.... they may not be able to say they did not receive the package, but they will come up with something else like whatever they received is broken, stained, smelly etc. You just kinda have to hope you are dealing with good honest buyers (and most are not a problem but I met a few through the years)

anyway I am rambling OT - the whole hurricane Katrina did prompt me to always use delivery confirmation for my sanity - very stressful.... I don't have any faith whatsoever tho that it would truly save me in a dispute. After that is when I began printing my labels online - it is really handy. All you have to do is drop your packages at the post office or make arrangements for pickup. and.... it does save a little cash.

 

[britfish]

I'll have to look in to printing at home, right now our printer really stinks so maybe I will upgrade.
I try to keep my shipping costs low (I'm only selling my daugthers clothes) so I keep my points good. Now adding d/c will kill that. Ebay is becoming so diffiuclt....
thanks for the advice, the buyer is very nice and has 100% feedback but at the same time, I mailed the dang thing and this is the third person to claim they never recvd. it after winning multiple auctions and I am kind of sick of just giving in. I am going to let it go to dispute, at least it will take some time.....

 

[pilesoflaundry]

Delivery confirmation is so cheap and it's worth it. Ebay is full of frauds and plenty of people will get the package, see no DC on it and file a claim because you have zero proof you mailed it. It's for you not the buyer. Ebay also sides with the buyers more and more because that is who makes them money. They can get new sellers every day but if they lose buyers...

If you ship through paypal, dc is free for priority or .19 for all other types of mail. Add .19 to your handling fees or build an extra quarter into your prices. Or only ship priority, then your supplies are free for the most part.

It also helps the post office track it in case it gets lost. Which can happen. I had a package take 29 days to get to me from 2 states away. It had all kinds of stamps on it and was beat up when it got to me, it got lost.

I have a postal scale and weigh everything before it goes out/before I set up the auction so people are aware ahead of time. I won't bid on auctions without a ship cost listed because then the seller can charge you whatever they want later, no thanks!

 

[Dancemom03]

So if I have a buyer claiming they did not receive a package I shipped (without delivery confrim) should I just go ahead and refund the money or let it go to dispute?

If a buyer contacts me and I can't find the delivery confirmation number, or in the case of non-priority mail packages worth less than $10 didn't add delivery conf, I respond with my sincere apologies plus the shipping date/method, and tell them I will refund in full if the item still hasn't arrived A) within seven days after being contacted; or B) twenty-one days after the shipping date --- whichever comes first, no paypal dispute needed.

Today's ebay is not like the ebay of years past. Any paypal claims/disputes are now counted against you in your buyer satisfaction rating which is a large factor (along with the DSR stars) in determining where your items are shown in the search process - or, worse case scenerio, if you're allowed to continue selling in future. It's not just a matter of positive feedback vs negative anymore - even a glowing positive comment can hide dissatisfaction shown in the DSR ratings that'll take you from raised placement to standard, or lowered, in what can seem faster than the drop at splash mountain.

Delivery confirmation is more important than insurance IMO, b/c it protects the seller and can also serve to keep people honest. If you've shipped items without delivery conf or some form of online tracking, you can't really prove that you've mailed them at all in a dispute and will always lose. I know there are those who might disagree, but why wait and chance negative feedback, plus risk your buyer satisfaction rating and lowered placement in search results for all your items, when there's no doubt pp is going to decide in the buyer's favor anyway?

 

[nunzia]

quick question, if you sell on ebay, are you required to use delivery confirmation on your packages? I looked on ebay and paypal and could not find the answer.

If you print your shipping through Paypal it is required and automatically added. If you just take it to the Post Office then, no, you don't have to.
I always use DC for my protection and it has come in handy.
I've run across some pretty lousy buyers, but some really great ones too. I generally ask for the item to be returned if they say something is wrong with it, but got dragged through a long dispute by someone even after saying I'd refund when the item was returned, which it finally was and I refunded the money, so why even start the dispute? Another person acted like I sent something with a part missing, which I didn't, so I sucked it up and just returned the $100..I guess the person miraculously found the part because then she said it could be repaired..but no mention of even a partial payment. I've also begun insisting that the paypal address is the one I ship to after a series of people who won who said they moved and could I change the mailing address...and then of course one who 'never got their package' and 'I told you I had a new address'. I'm sorry, but you are responsible for updating your Paypal information, not me.
I also don't hesitate to block buyers that have been problematic so that at least I only have to deal with them once.

 

[tinatark]

Buyers typically know how much it costs to ship things. I would go with either media mail or flat rate priority mailers. As a seller, I charge actual shipping - or very close to it, and state that in my auctions. As a buyer, I usually will not buy from someone who seems to have padded shipping to cover their paypal/ebay fees. I know people say "it costs me time to get my stuff to the PO"... but I think shipping supplies are the cost of doing business on ebay.

 

[britfish]

thanks for all the great info. Lesson learned, I think I need to start shipping w/ paypal since it is only .19 cents compared to .70 or .80 at the P.o.

 

[3boymthr]

I ship with a $1 S&H charge on top of my cost of shipping to cover the cost of my envelopes, tape and gas. I weigh the item with the box and packing materials to determine the cost of shipping. Also make sure to check if it is cheaper to send the item via priority flat rate envelope or box. Sometimes for heavy but small/moderate size items this is cheaper than using parcel post. I also offer in my listing the ability to use alternative shipping methods at my discretion (If I haven't heard of the shipper I won't use).

I do not use Paypal to ship as they charge a $1 fee to print the label.

I do not use DC as it is not necessary. I note in my listings that I am not responsible for items lost in shipment if the buyer does not purchase insurance (not delivery confirmation but insurance, big difference in price and services - per my local post office DC is basically a joke as it only tells you if the package is delivered it will not determine where the package is if it is lost.) I offer insurance as an option. I do save all USPS receipts for 90 days. I had an issue once and paypal honored a photo of my USPS receipt as proof of shipment - especially since I pointed out in my listing that I had noted I was not responsible for lost items if Insurance was not purchased. Most buyers will too. The receipt shows the weight of the item and the delivery destination.

 

[rflorek]

I do not use Paypal to ship as they charge a $1 fee to print the label.

I ALWAYS print my mailing labels through Paypal and have NEVER been charged $1 fee (I print at least 5-6 each week if not more.

I do not use DC as it is not necessary. I note in my listings that I am not responsible for items lost in shipment if the buyer does not purchase insurance (not delivery confirmation but insurance, big difference in price and services - per my local post office DC is basically a joke as it only tells you if the package is delivered it will not determine where the package is if it is lost.) I offer insurance as an option. I do save all USPS receipts for 90 days. I had an issue once and paypal honored a photo of my USPS receipt as proof of shipment - especially since I pointed out in my listing that I had noted I was not responsible for lost items if Insurance was not purchased. Most buyers will too. The receipt shows the weight of the item and the delivery destination.

Delivery confirmation is necessary in a Paypal dispute - they have asked me for the confirmation # in a couple of disputes so that they could check the online delivery confirmation (I won the disputes because of that proof), and it is a requirement for the Seller Protection to kick in (although I know that is not always foolproof). Delivery confirmation is just that - confirmation of delivery. It is not meant to be a tracking service and isn't sold as one. The only actual tracking offered by the PO is Express Mail.

 

[WendyLovesPeter]

I do not use Paypal to ship as they charge a $1 fee to print the label.

I do not use DC as it is not necessary. I note in my listings that I am not responsible for items lost in shipment if the buyer does not purchase insurance (not delivery confirmation but insurance, big difference in price and services - per my local post office DC is basically a joke as it only tells you if the package is delivered it will not determine where the package is if it is lost.)

Paypal does not charge to print labels - I have been doing it for years.

Ebay says the seller is responsible if item is lost in shipment