Ebay Sellers, how do you...

[jkmmah]

figure what you will charge for shipping? Do you just estimate how much it'll be? Or do you have a home scale that tells you how much the box will cost to ship?

I'm considering selling a few things and this issue has me perplexed!

Also, was it hard to figure out how to begin selling on Ebay? I'm not really technologically prolific. I can take and load digital pics, but worry that it'll be complicated to figure out how to start up the whole Ebay thing.

 

[CajunDixie]

I have a small scale that I purchased at WalMart. I package the item (but don't seal it) then weigh it. I downloaded Shipping Assistant from the US Postal Site . I then use it to give me an estimate of shipping by inputting the weight, a zip code in Calif. (depending on what state you are in use a state that is quite a ways from you), and the type of postage. For example media mail for books, first class, or priority mail. Remember with priority mail you can get free shipping supplies. Using shipping assistant I can also get delivery confirmation free or at least cheaper than in person at a post office. And also add in a "handling" fee to cover your packaging and gas to get to the post office. Sounds like a lot I know but it's fairly easy.
Ebay has a good tutorial in the Help area for beginners.

 

[rflorek]

What you should do is invest in a scale (at least 5 pound limit - I found 3 pound scales to be useless with larger items) and weigh your item, fully packaged, before you post it. What I do with my auctions is state in the description that the shipping cost will be for a _ pound package + delivery confirmation. They have a shipping calculator built in on eBay so a potential bidder can estimate shipping costs. On most of my items, I ship Priority Mail, but on others, I offer a choice of Priority, Parcel Post, and Media Mail. The shipping calculator lets the bidder figure out what's best for them.

Good luck!
Robyn