Online Selling and Shipping Costs

[mrstop]

I agree that ebay can be a pain. However, they have a greater reach than local listings. Also, you don't have to deal with the time waisters from Facebook or Craiglist. So many lonely people ask tons of questions, then ghost. My favorite are the no-shows.��

 

[dadu007]

I just had an auction sale on eBay. Winning bidder ghosted me on payment. So it was relisted as a "But it Now". Looks like it might have been a bot (2 purchases in their history, fairly recent account creation). I usually try to stay on top of my auction sales, since bots proliferate, especially in the used camera market, which is my jam... I watch near the end and will cancel and block suspected flakey/fake bidders asap...again, criteria for that is no history in eBay, brand new accounts, based overseas, etc. I'm still not sure how the overseas bidders leak through, since my default is sales to mainland U.S. only. This is why "Buy It Now" with immediate payment is so common and desirable these days; but often setting the price that will sell gets a little muddy (Yes, I use "Make an Offer"). Fun, no?!

 

[OldShooter]

... they have a greater reach than local listings. ...

It really depends on what you're selling. Local is better if packaging and shipping would be a hassle. It is also better if you're selling something with fairly wide appeal/lots of potential buyers locally. The extra hassle, which has not been an issue for me, is the cost of saving the 20% or so you'll lose by selling on eBay. I sometimes sell camera equipment; for that the specialist sites work just fine and are either cheap or free.

You'll find me on eBay when I have an unusual item that probably won't find local buyers and is not suited to the specialty sites I know of. But an eBay sale is my last resort.

 

[athena53]

I just jumped through hoops with e-Bay- listed a 6-DVD Great Courses set and sold it for $18.99. E-Bay calculated the postage at $4.45 with a 3-lb. estimated weight. I printed out the label, wrapped it all up, weighed it.. and it was 4 lbs.

Off to the Post Office where I had to cough up another $1.26. They printed a new label so I had to go back home and enter the new tracking number into the record.

After e-Bay and PayPal extract their pounds of flesh I'm not going to clear much. I think I'll get rid of the rest as Free Stuff on Craigslist. Put it at the end of the driveway, first to arrive gets it.

 

[mrstop]

I just had an auction sale on eBay. Winning bidder ghosted me on payment. So it was relisted as a "But it Now". Looks like it might have been a bot (2 purchases in their history, fairly recent account creation). I usually try to stay on top of my auction sales, since bots proliferate, especially in the used camera market, which is my jam... I watch near the end and will cancel and block suspected flakey/fake bidders asap...again, criteria for that is no history in eBay, brand new accounts, based overseas, etc. I'm still not sure how the overseas bidders leak through, since my default is sales to mainland U.S. only. This is why "Buy It Now" with immediate payment is so common and desirable these days; but often setting the price that will sell gets a little muddy (Yes, I use "Make an Offer"). Fun, no?!

Thanks for the heads up on ebay. I didn't know that bots and overseas buyers were an issue.

 

[OldShooter]

I just jumped through hoops with e-Bay- listed a 6-DVD Great Courses set and sold it for $18.99. E-Bay calculated the postage at $4.45 with a 3-lb. estimated weight. I printed out the label, wrapped it all up, weighed it.. and it was 4 lbs. ...

Yup. BTDT. Same story, Great Courses two-disc set, eBay allowed me to charge postage for only a single disk. No way to get around it that I found, at least. One of the many experiences that keep my eBay selling to an absolute minimum.

For a little while, it was possible for individuals to sell on Amazon. I sold a few collector-type books that way. Last time I looked, though, there was a monthly club membership charge to be a seller. I looked just now, though, and it appears they are allowing individual sellers for a 99 cent listing fee and a final value fee. Maybe I'll go back to them.

 

[disneysteve]

There is a great deal of misinformation about eBay in this thread. I’m at the hospital with my wife so can’t respond to all of it right now but I’ll try to tonight or later.

eBay definitely has its faults, but some of what has been stated here just isn’t correct. If you are new to eBay or considering doing it, please join some of the groups to get current and accurate information and assistance. Learn to do it right and you won’t regret it.

 

[disneysteve]

Yup. BTDT. Same story, Great Courses two-disc set, eBay allowed me to charge postage for only a single disk. No way to get around it that I found, at least. One of the many experiences that keep my eBay selling to an absolute minimum.

For a little while, it was possible for individuals to sell on Amazon. I sold a few collector-type books that way. Last time I looked, though, there was a monthly club membership charge to be a seller. I looked just now, though, and it appears they are allowing individual sellers for a 99 cent listing fee and a final value fee. Maybe I'll go back to them.

You can charge whatever you want to for postage. eBay doesn’t dictate that. You can use the calculated postage system which requires you to enter the weight and dimensions and type of service. But you don’t have to do that either. You can enter a flat shipping price instead. That’s pretty much what I do on all of my listings.

As for Amazon, I used to sell there. Unlike eBay where the fee is a percentage, Amazon had some fixed fees that occasionally exceeded my profit on the sale so I ended up losing money. I gave that up fast.

 

[OldShooter]

You can charge whatever you want to for postage. eBay doesn’t dictate that. ...

Sorry, they did when I sold those CDs. I did not make that up. I have no idea whether they still do or not. IIRC the prescribed shipping charges were on specific categories of product.

 

[disneysteve]

Sorry, they did when I sold those CDs. I did not make that up. I have no idea whether they still do or not. IIRC the prescribed shipping charges were on specific categories of product.

Half.com did that. eBay owned them at one point. Might you be thinking of that? I sold a lot there too and that was occasionally a problem.

 

[OldShooter]

Half.com did that. eBay owned them at one point. Might you be thinking of that? I sold a lot there too and that was occasionally a problem.

No. eBay. Why do you want to argue about my experience? I have been on eBay for over 20 years and have 800 range feedback with over 100 sales. I do know what I'm talking about.

 

[disneysteve]

No. eBay. Why do you want to argue about my experience? I have been on eBay for over 20 years and have 800 range feedback with over 100 sales. I do know what I'm talking about.

Sorry. Not trying to argue. I just wanted to give current info. Today on eBay you set your postage charge so the trouble you had before would no longer be an issue. A lot of things have changed on eBay over the years. I’ve been selling there since 1997 so I’ve seen the evolution as have you.

 

[OldShooter]

Sorry. Not trying to argue. I just wanted to give current info. Today on eBay you set your postage charge so the trouble you had before would no longer be an issue. A lot of things have changed on eBay over the years. I’ve been selling there since 1997 so I’ve seen the evolution as have you.

I wasn't trying to give current info. My point was the arrogance factor, telling sellers what they could charge for shipping. It sound like @athena53's experience may have been more recent and is another example of the arrogance.

They get their income from sellers, but they bury sellers in rules and treat the sellers like dirt. Strange way to do business. Their business, they get to decide. My sale, I get to decide the venue. Capitalism.

 

[athena53]

I wasn't trying to give current info. My point was the arrogance factor, telling sellers what they could charge for shipping. It sound like @athena53's experience may have been more recent and is another example of the arrogance.

Yes- I printed the label yesterday! There may have been a way to override the default weight (and I know I could have just included shipping in my ask price) but as it is, the extra postage was almost 7% of the selling price BEFORE e-Bay and PayPal fees are taken out. No, it won't kill my monthly budget but how many sellers does this happen to on an average day? Do the math.

 

[disneysteve]

Yes- I printed the label yesterday! There may have been a way to override the default weight (and I know I could have just included shipping in my ask price) but as it is, the extra postage was almost 7% of the selling price BEFORE e-Bay and PayPal fees are taken out. No, it won't kill my monthly budget but how many sellers does this happen to on an average day? Do the math.

I have had a few instances where I underestimated the weight and ended up having to pay the excess myself, but that isn't ebay's fault. I don't generally pack items until they're sold and ready to ship so there's always a bit of estimating involved.


It's also great that PayPal is no longer involved with the payment processing like they used to be. It's all done through ebay now and the fees are a bit lower. That's one change that I really liked.

 

[COcheesehead]

If you have a popular item that matches a template in their database like an iPhone or a book a down jacket or a CD, eBay will drop in the weight and suggested shipping service, but you should also have the ability to override the weight and ship method. I always double check shipping because you can get screwed if you do not have the correct weight.

 

[disneysteve]

If you have a popular item that matches a template in their database like an iPhone or a book a down jacket or a CD, eBay will drop in the weight and suggested shipping service, but you should also have the ability to override the weight and ship method. I always double check shipping because you can get screwed if you do not have the correct weight.

I never use calculated shipping. I always round it up. So for a 4+ pound DVD set, Media Mail would be $5.71 but I’ll make it $5.99.

 

[disneysteve]

One problem I have run into with eBay shipping is that I’ve listed items that are eligible for Media Mail but in a category that eBay thinks shouldn’t have that option. For example, I’ll list a book about cars in the automotive section so it doesn’t let me pick Media Mail when I go to ship. I learned the work around for that and print postage for those orders through PayPal ShipStation instead. A lot of people also swear by Pirate Ship. I have to open an account with them.

 

[sengsational]

I wasn't trying to give current info. My point was the arrogance factor, telling sellers what they could charge for shipping. It sound like @athena53's experience may have been more recent and is another example of the arrogance.

I remember being locked into a shipping method and price, but haven't seen it lately. I think it was a book, maybe.

I miss Half.com. This is an example where capitalism is slow to recover from a good thing, gobbled up so as to eliminate competition. Selling books on eBay doesn't work well, and selling on Amazon...talk about arrogance! They routinely just snuff my account without notice to then make me jump through innumerable hoops to get it going again. One time, they deleted all my inventory. But it's the only game in town...as you say, they get to decide. Although barriers to entry are low, getting traction would require something different/better. It's like Twitter... trivial to code and host, but the problem is offering something compelling enough to get people on the platform.

 

[mrstop]

It's unfortunate a good universal selling platform doesn't exist. People have seemed to move away from Craigslist and it hasn't really kept up with the times. I can't stand FB Marketplace. It' search and categorization is horrendous. Unfortunately it seems like everyone is there.

 

[dadu007]

My point was just that income has always been reportable whether a 1099 was issued or not. Now people are suddenly upset that they’re going to get a 1099. If they had been properly reporting all along, getting a 1099 makes no difference. This will be my first year getting a 1099 from eBay since 1997 but it’s a non-issue to me. I’ve filed a schedule C for 25 years.

Check your eBay messages today. eBay just send out a message with link to a form that will send a letter Congress asking them to do away with the 1099-K for casual eBay sellers. Takes less than a minute to fill out and submit.

 

[disneysteve]

Check your eBay messages today. eBay just send out a message with link to a form that will send a letter Congress asking them to do away with the 1099-K for casual eBay sellers. Takes less than a minute to fill out and submit.

I fully support sellers getting a 1099 so no, I won’t be sending that letter.

 

[pb4uski]

I don't cheat. It changes something.

I'd be selling old stuff and as I understand it, I'd have to do more leg-work to get an audit-proof basis. Admittedly, before I would do more of a basis estimate instead of the extra legwork of a researched basis. If that makes me a cheater in your books, then so be it.

Thou doth protest too much. You can still use an estimate of basis and you'll have no more or less audit risk than before.

If you reported all sales before with an estimated basis and now report all sales with an estimated basis then there is no difference.

 

[SunnyOne]

Generally, smaller packages are best by USPS. Larger by FedEx or UPS, or similar.

For my small business I use the USPS flat rate priority boxes. Lowest cost for my metal car parts. Plus easy for me to price since it's the same for all USA. Even international USPS is much easier than other options.

Thank you. As a very occasional seller, this was exactly what I was hoping to learn.