? for all you Ebay selling experts

[cwnhokie]

I am trying to declutter my house while earning some money for my Disney trip fund. I have sold one item on ebay and would like to do some more. My question is, how do you know how much to charge for shipping? Do you pack the item and take it to the post office to weigh it before you post it for sale? Thanks for your help. I am going to go around my house and take pictures of everything and sell it all! Just don't know how to handle the shipping.
Chrissy

 

[tazleiten12]

I am trying to declutter my house while earning some money for my Disney trip fund. I have sold one item on ebay and would like to do some more. My question is, how do you know how much to charge for shipping? Do you pack the item and take it to the post office to weigh it before you post it for sale? Thanks for your help. I am going to go around my house and take pictures of everything and sell it all! Just don't know how to handle the shipping.
Chrissy

Pack it and weigh it, and then you can put the weight on ebay in the shipping section. You will get a shipping calculator on your listing were people can put in there zip code and get the cost. You must specify which carrier's you want to use, which class of mail (priority, parcel, UPS ground, ect), if you want to offer insurance. There's also a place for handling, if you want to add that. You can save these setting so you don't need to put it in each time you list something.

 

[Colinsmom]

If you don't already have a postal scale, it is a good investment before selling a lot on eBay! Then you can use the usps.com site to estimate postage, or even use the eBay postage calculator (built into your auction if you want).

 

[DazedandConfused]

I sell mostly toys and collectibles on ebay -- to pay for Disney too. A lot of times I will do a search on the item and see what other sellers are charging for postage then I go from there. I have started adding a bit to my auctions for handing because of the increased paypal and selling fees from ebay. I usually come pretty close when I estimate this way. I am getting a postal scale this month though because I will be selling a lot in the coming months to finish paying for our trip! Happy selling!

 

[tinksmygal]

Buy a postal scale!

It was the best investment I ever made. That way you can take the guessing out of it. Just pack your item and weigh it. I printed off first class, priority mail and media mail rate charts off the USPS.com site. Just glance at that and I know exactly how much to charge for shipping. I do usually add a small fee (< $1) for most items also.

Good luck with your ebay selling, hope you make some big $$ for your Disney fund.

 

[grlpwrd]

Yes, buy yourself a postal scale. Eventually you may want to subscribe to an electronic postage service from places like stamps. com or endicia.com .

I have started adding a bit to my auctions for handing because of the increased paypal and selling fees from ebay.

Technically, that is against eBay rules. From http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/listing-surcharges.html:

Not permitted:

Charging an extra fee to use a credit card instead of a check.
Charging an extra fee to use PayPal.

However, you can add a surcharge for a shipping/handling fee which covers "the seller's reasonable costs for mailing, packaging and handling the item," an escrow fee, or currency exchange.

Some sellers are hush-hush about their shipping/handling fee as they are often added to cover PayPal fees in reality, but just wanted to point it out.

Also, there are times when a seller can be charged for fee avoidance by charging high shipping yet very low cost for the item, like .01 for the item yet $10 for shipping.

HTH and GL!

 

[IStoleMyKidsPins]

Yes, you should definitely get a scale. It doesn't have to be a postal scale. I recently bought a nice on Ebay for $25. You can get them cheaper I'm sure. Plus, what you really should do is check-out the USPS section of Ebay. After your buyer pays, you can print shipping labels right from Ebay. You pay for the shipping using your PayPal acct. Then you go on-line at USPS & arrange to have your packages picked up when your regular mail is delivered. It's great. You don't have to leave your house.

 

[ceecee]

Yes, you should definitely get a scale. It doesn't have to be a postal scale. I recently bought a nice on Ebay for $25. You can get them cheaper I'm sure. Plus, what you really should do is check-out the USPS section of Ebay. After your buyer pays, you can print shipping labels right from Ebay. You pay for the shipping using your PayPal acct. Then you go on-line at USPS & arrange to have your packages picked up when your regular mail is delivered. It's great. You don't have to leave your house.

I have really been wanting to do this and estimate my shipping correctly 95% of the time. What happens if you put the wrong postage amount on the package?? My scale isn't exact with the ounces.

 

[DazedandConfused]

Hi, just wanted to respond to the above post by grlpwrd. I have been selling on ebay for over 6 years and would not do anything against the rules or policies of ebay. Ebay has helped me pay for 2 trips to disney and thensome. I would never risk my status or reputation on ebay. I am a very honest seller with perfect feedback record. Anyway, when I posted that I have added a handling fee to cover some of the expenses maybe I didn't explain enough --- it is against ebays policies to add any handling fee that the seller wants to charge. Yes, is is against the policies to add extra for paypal or credit card payments. That is not what I do. I have now started adding .50 - 1.00 to all my shipping prices for "handling fees" that can cover my packing materials, time, etc. I never used to charge a handling fee however since paypal and ebay haved upped their fees, I do charge a handling fee to help cover all the increases. There is absolutely nothing against ebay rules or policies to do this. Ebay and paypal are just not what it used to be but on that note, there is nowhere else like it. It is great to be able to get the opportunity to sell items from your home however, the fees can be outrageous depending what types of items you are selling. Sorry, I will get off my soapbox now. I hope you will find success on ebay!

 

[cwnhokie]

Thanks for the tips. It still seems daunting. I just want to make sure I don't lose money. My DH will kill me. Lord knows I've had enough get rich quick schemes to lose our money. I don't want to spend a bunch on supplies and a scale and not recoup. But then I guess you have to spend money to make money.
Chrissy

 

[IStoleMyKidsPins]

I have really been wanting to do this and estimate my shipping correctly 95% of the time. What happens if you put the wrong postage amount on the package?? My scale isn't exact with the ounces.

Ceecee, I'm not quite sure. I had a "pound" scale & didn't want to experience any problems. That's why I bought one with lbs & ozs.