What is the least expensive way to ship items sold on Ebay?
I am in the middle of Ebaying a massive pile of things that I don’t want or don’t use anymore from around my house. I’m about 25% of the way through it all right now and am realizing that I am literally getting owned by both shipping and Ebay fees.
I know that the fees are standard and there is nothing that can be done about them, but my concern in this question is the shipping. I’m a frequent shopper on Ebay as well and constantly buy things like $1.50 cables with free shipping from China or books for $7.00 with free shipping from the US. However, when I go to the USPS (the place I’ve found to be the least expensive to ship from so far), I generally get charged much higher prices than what these people that sell to me must be getting.
I was recently charged $6.85 to ship a book in a bubble mailer envelope and $13.xx to ship a 5lb set of pool balls. I always tell the post office clerk that I would like to ship my items using the least expensive and slowest route possible. If the sellers that I purchase from are being charged these shipping prices, then they are making little or losing money on sales.
I’m hoping someone could give me some insight on how these sellers are shipping their items. There must be something I’m missing. I can’t continue to sell items such as books when I’m selling them for $5 if I have to ask $6.85 for shipping.
Thanks in advance!
for items weighing 13oz or less, use first class mail/parcel. it goes the same way as sending a letter and is charged per oz
for books, use media mail.
if you are shipping priority mail, and the package is heavy, look into using flat rate.
the reason why the chinese cables can ship free is probably because they send what is the equivalent of first class mail since the package is light. books are shipped media mail which is a lot less expensive than other services.
http://postcalc.usps.com/ use that to calculate prices for your listings (but you need a general idea of weight for your packages).
all you really need to do is not offer free shipping for now(until you become more familiar with postage). have calculated shipping in your listings so that the buyer pays for it and you dont worry about how much it will cost you. but you need to know the weight of what you are shipping
you have to charge the buyer for shipping expenses or figure that amount in your minimum price.
I haven’t sold much on Ebay, but I know you can charge for shipping expenses.
Other than that, I believe UPS or USPS are cheapest ways to ship. Whenever I buy something, that’s how it is shipped to me.
References :
for items weighing 13oz or less, use first class mail/parcel. it goes the same way as sending a letter and is charged per oz
for books, use media mail.
if you are shipping priority mail, and the package is heavy, look into using flat rate.
the reason why the chinese cables can ship free is probably because they send what is the equivalent of first class mail since the package is light. books are shipped media mail which is a lot less expensive than other services.
http://postcalc.usps.com/ use that to calculate prices for your listings (but you need a general idea of weight for your packages).
all you really need to do is not offer free shipping for now(until you become more familiar with postage). have calculated shipping in your listings so that the buyer pays for it and you dont worry about how much it will cost you. but you need to know the weight of what you are shipping
References :
USPS for now is the cheapest, despite them raising prices recently. I hope you are sending the books Media Mail. That is the cheapest USPS option as well.
References :
ღ Lola ღ
Hi, since you are buying on ebay frequently, why don’t you just contact a China freight forwarder who can lastingly help you deal with shipping issues.
Surely what you can is not only the convenience, also competitive shipping rates.
References :
http://www.mychinafreight.com