? for eBay selling experts!

[Mom2Madi]

Okay, I took all of you up on your advice to start selling on eBay - I started by selling the china I received from my first marriage... didn't need it anymore (lol!) Anyway... I have listed 4 - 5pc place settings. The first ends in 15 mins... all 4 have very good bids... all placed by the same person - and "she" joined eBay on Sunday... so she's very new with no feedback of course.

In my haste to "get started" I didn't put any disclaimers about "newbies"....

I did state in my auction that I would charge actual shipping charges - and will have the china professionally packaged and insurance would be a requirement.

Now, my question... should I have her pay for the face value of the place settings, then have her send me another payment for the shipping and packaging? Have you ever done this? I just don't want to package this all up - find out how much the shipping will be - and then have her back out.

Any help would be much appreciated!

Thanks!

Melissa (Mom2Madi)

 

[canwegosoon]

Not an ebay expert, but I know that I could ask my guy at the local UPS store for a price without sending it or fully packing it up. I know at different times I have dropped items off and he just has a packing service fee ready once he sees the items and knows where they are going.

 

[kashkdz]

As a ebay seller/buyer veteran I would do the following...before you reply back with the total price (item price and shipping), I would hop on down to the local post office (or whatever shipper you are using), and get a shipping price estimate of your package. Then I would reply back with the total amount to the buyer and state what the shipping charges are. I understand you'll have to go to the post office (or shipping place) 2x, but since you didn't state the shipping costs in your auction you want to be fairly accurate on the shipping costs since you stated 'buyer pays actual cost'. Personally I always state what the shipping charges will be in the auction, typically based on my best guess plus time, materials, etc.

 

[disneysteve]

I would agree that you need to reply to the winning bidder with the total cost including shipping. If that means you need to pack the stuff up and get it weighed, so be it. Even if the buyer backs out for some reason, you won't have wasted your time as you can offer it to the 2nd place bidder or relist the items and you'll already know the shipping charge.

As a buyer, I would think it very odd if the seller asked me to send 2 separate payements.