Ebay sellers - How much do you charge for "handling"?

[disneysteve]

Years ago, I was of the opinion that sellers should charge actual postage and nothing more, figuring that your costs should be covered by the profit on your sale. As fees rose, I gradually came around and started adding a small charge for "handling" to help cover costs. Now, with costs moving higher, I'm wondering what everyone else does. Do you charge a flat amount per auction? Do you base the charge on the value of the item, or how much the item cost you? Or some other method?

 

[Darcy03231]

I don't charge anything for handling. I price my items for the minimum I want for them and just charge actual shipping, insurance and delivery confirmation. I build the cost of packing materials into the items.

 

[cornjob]

i usually add 1.50 to the weight-determined shipping cost to cover the cost of shipping/packing materials & my time in taking things to the post office (or whereever). especially for larger items or ones that i need to purchase specialty-size boxes or excessive packing for. i also look back over similar, completed auctions to see what was being charged for successful auctions and sometimes make adjustments if i think it will help an item sell. if i have a reserve price set, i generally include free shipping.

 

[disneysteve]

I build the cost of packing materials into the items.

It really isn't packing materials I care about but auction fees. Packing materials are almost entirely free so that's not a big deal. But currently between ebay and Paypal, fees are about 9%. With the new fee structure, it will be more like 12%. Do I just raise my item prices and hope people still bid or do I up the handling fee to compensate or the higher fees? Or some combination of both, like higher starting bid and a $1.00/auction handling fee?

 

[keishashadow]

for most items i list low/min and charge $8.00 S&H for USPS priority mail

 

[mamalle]

nothing when I sell. just ship everything priority and charge the actual costs of that. The mailman picks it up right at my door..

 

[ClarabelleCowFan]

I think the safest way is to factor the fees into your starting bid. Some buyers are totally turned off by any type of "handling fees" even if they are clearly stated in the auction. The only downside to that is that the higher the auction ending price, the higher the FVF (final value fees).

If I am quoting a first class or parcel post I may add in an extra .50 to .75 to cover the packing materials but if I am shipping Priority I try to charge only actual shipping costs.

I recently won an auction for 3 lightweight baby items (total would be less than a pound with packaging) and was quoted $6 first class or $8 priority. That irked me a bit because being a seller I know that it would cost much less than that to ship but those were the terms when I bid so I factored in what I would bid with the shipping costs.

 

[rflorek]

I don't charge any handling fees. All of my packing materials are free - boxes, peanuts, bubble. I charge only actual shipping costs, and offer as many options as possible for each item (first class, media mail, parcel post, priority).

As far as fees, I figure that in when I set my minimum bid. I estimate fees and set the opening bid at the minimum I would accept for the item plus the estimated fees.

 

[snomofinn]

I don't charge a handling fee, I usually up the shipping a few bucks.

 

[sarahlovesmickey]

I do factor the fees into my shipping a bit. I put it in my auction that I do that. Basically if people don't like it, then they don't have to bid.

 

[sk!mom]

I only charge actual shipping when I sell but I don't sell often anymore.

I have no problem paying a resonable s&h fee. However, if you charge it then IMO you should be willing to pay it. I say that because of a heated exchange I had with a seller last fall. She thought her $9 S&H fee for two leotards was perfectly fair but when she sent me the wrong ones and then I needed to ship them back she balked at paying me $9 and wanted to pay the actual shipping charge only.

Most of the auctions I bid on in the past year or so seem to charge some sort of handling fee.

 

[tasha99]

It depends. For little things like dvd's, I charge a buck or 2. I sell electronics, for the most part, though, and I do put on a hefty handling fee that ranges from $20-30 per item. It's a high fee, but pretty much the standard in my category. I've noticed that my auctions don't go for any higher when I cut the fee, so I don't see a reason to lower it.

I've been selling a lot on Craigslist lately instead of ebay. Ebay fees are so high (especially since I was usually doing featured auctions), that I can sell something for $40-60 cheaper on Craigslist and still make the profit I would on ebay.

 

[Todd&Copper]

I charge a dollar or two for handling. Depends on the item and if I have to acquire a box or some special packing materials. Most of the things I sell are small (liquidating collectibles) and require some care in packaging, so I figure that if it will take me 15 mintues to carefully wrap somethign up and get it ready for shipping, I don't have to feel guilty about charging a buck or two.

 

[Kies99]

As far as fees, I figure that in when I set my minimum bid. I estimate fees and set the opening bid at the minimum I would accept for the item plus the estimated fees.

Same here. I charge only exact shipping cost and even refund if I overcharged for shipping. I try and factor in the fee's up front on the minimum bid. May not get the full amount covered, but at least it's something. Don't know yet what I'm going to do going forward.

 

[mountdew1]

Personally as a buyer, I would almost rather see any extra costs either built into the starting cost of the item, or split between the item and the S&H. Paying 10 bucks for S&H on something that was wrapped in bubble wrap and stuck in a USPS priority box irks me a bit. It's only what, 4 bucks to ship that?

 

[disneysteve]

I don't charge a handling fee, I usually up the shipping a few bucks.

I think most would call that a handling fee.

I have no problem paying a resonable s&h fee. However, if you charge it then IMO you should be willing to pay it. I say that because of a heated exchange I had with a seller last fall. She thought her $9 S&H fee for two leotards was perfectly fair but when she sent me the wrong ones and then I needed to ship them back she balked at paying me $9 and wanted to pay the actual shipping charge only.

But the seller had to pay ebay and paypal fees out of that fee. You only had to pay postage.

 

[disneysteve]

Most real companies, catalogs, online sites from big retailers, etc. base shipping charges on a flat-rate scale. For example, orders from $.01-$25.00 pay $5.00; orders from $25.01-$49.99 pay $10.00 and so on. That always bugged me because I could be ordering an expensive but small and light item and it could cost as much to ship as a cheaper, larger, heavier item. Has anyone adopted that kind of pricing format for their ebay auctions?

 

[Darcy03231]

Personally as a buyer, I would almost rather see any extra costs either built into the starting cost of the item, or split between the item and the S&H. Paying 10 bucks for S&H on something that was wrapped in bubble wrap and stuck in a USPS priority box irks me a bit. It's only what, 4 bucks to ship that?

This is why I build all fees into my starting price. I both buy and sell (although not as frequently as I used to) and nothing irks me more than to pay inflated shipping and handling fees. Unless it's something I really want I don't bid on those auctions.

 

[My2Cinderellas]

I hate seeing $7-8 shipping fees on something I know is under a pound. While I use the bid + shipping = total price, it annoys me to see rediculous shipping charges and given the choice I'll go for the lower shipping charge even if the total price is the same.

I just recently paid a $6.95 shipping charge, but I got the item (Hanna Andersson dress from last year) for about $4 so I was happy with the total price.

when selling, I charge exact priority rates, and round up first class $.75-1.00 to get to the nearest $.50. I am starting prices at what I want for the item, the days of the $.99 auctions are over for me.

 

[disneysteve]

I hate seeing $7-8 shipping fees on something I know is under a pound. While I use the bid + shipping = total price, it annoys me to see rediculous shipping charges and given the choice I'll go for the lower shipping charge even if the total price is the same.

I'm the same way for the most part. Even though I understand why sellers do it, it still seems a little dishonest to me because I know they are doing it to avoid ebay fees. I don't mind a small fee, like 50 cents or $1, but more than that seems too high.