I've started doimg free shipping with all jewelry and smalls. I got the eBay message yesterday about this and I initially thought the same so now I'll just start doing free shipping on all.
No free shipping as I sell in a category where people usually buy more than one or buy multiples of like items in one order. Free shipping is more expensive in this case. I will be opting out of the new way.
I have started charging 99 cents for shipping my books. No one even notices. I always charge shipping on my comics. People like to know what the real price is. As far as my puzzles go there are too many variables to offer free shipping. There are 2 solutions the shipping cost showing on the label. Use a different shipping service, black it out with a magic marker.
I'll have to opt out because a lot of the time my listings are under-charging on the weight as it is with probably half my listings, and I have a lot of listings, so I won't even break even I will lose money if this happens
I mean seriously I can spend over an hour packing something sometimes, boxes, shipping supplies, my time, it will add up to a major loss and I know ebay doesn't give a shit but I do, so I have to get paid for what I do
Agree 150%... that is, unless you're a huge volume, high dollar seller... smaller resellers, like myself, really get screwed over by ebay.... in the last 90 days, they have kept 35% of my sales.... in fees! So sick of eBay's B.S... any recommended alternatives to eBay, besides Etsy, Bonanza, Mercari or Amazon?
If you charge shipping you do not have to refund the shipping fee on returns, however with free shipping you have to refund it so it is not the same, you would lose the $9 on a return with free shipping.
This... free shipping means more money lost over time (unless you believe that buyers are too dumb to sort by total cost and only see free shipping). Returns are a part of the business and not being prepared for it is literally just giving money away and the more you sell, the more money you're just giving away for free on every remorse return by doing free shipping.
If eBay wants to do this they need to stop charging fees on shipping. I will opt out. Buyers calculated shipping is varied anyway since things are sent from all over the country. And I'm already competing with folks who offer free shipping and up charge the product. EBay needs to start respecting sellers or they will start to feel it.
They can't and would never stop charging fees on the shipping. thats silly... we would all just do $1 items with $200 shipping.... see the problem. hence why it was stopped a decade ago
Ebay called me a couple months ago asking why I wasn't charging the lower cost shipping. I told them that originally if I'm correct, the difference in shipping was to offset the fact that Ebay charges the final value fees with the shipping included? I guess they didn't like my answer.
@@RockstarFlipper That's not what he is saying -- if you opt in to charging exact shipping to the buyer - then eBay should not charge fees on that shipping.
To me, that extra we sometimes made on the shipping offset the cost of packing/shipping materials. So yeah, it definitely screws us out of some money. It also helped cover the cost when the weigh was more than what my listing stated before packaged (accidentally underestimated). Ebay once again favors the buyers over the sellers, imagine that. I wish I could use flat rate shipping BUT living in Florida the shipping cost vary extremely depending on the location of the buyer. This new change pushes me closer to thinking about WhatNot for most of my inventory. Thanks for the update, always appreciate your perspective! 😊
I’m in CT and do flat rate for most items. I just price the shipping at the max it will cost. So my flat rate charge is whatever it cost in that tier to get to the west coast. Sometimes my labels are exact to the penny, sometimes I make a little but I find it works well.
I am in FL and always have charged flat rate, I charge the max for items below 1 lb, and I charge always extra when the item is heavier than a pound. So far so good.
Free shipping is not always the same when you have larger items. Yes I can calculate it closely, but when things go to CA or WA they are always so much higher from FL.
In my opinion, everyone should opt out. They gave us commercial rates in order to cover our fees and basically, now they’re taking it away. Personally I will be opting out. Thankfully I don’t have a whole lot of competition when I sell.
I've been doing fixed shipping costs from the beginning because eBay takes 15% out of whatever it actually cost you to ship so I'd be losing money every time I ship that item even if I'm charging supposedly what it cost to ship the item. If we don't charge a fixed fee that's actually a little more than what it cost to ship the item, we're all losing money.
@@jessicaday9196 I never did use calculate shipping.alway fixed rate And I don't buy my labels off eBay. I use pirate ship The problem is people don't. study up on their shipping zones I mostly charged the forest distance from me I never have any complaints about my shipping cost knock on wood Understand newer sellers don't understand but after you selling for a while, you should know your shipping
@@jessicaday9196 Depends upon what you are selling and what your buy in cost is and how much you get out of the item. You pay $2.50 for an item and sell it for $25.00, you can afford to pay the fee.
Anyone selling always takes returns for any reason. Sellers need to stop whining about fees. Taxpayers are covering those anyway. Ripping off unsuspecting people for profit is bad enough. eBay is designed to sell things you no longer need at a deep discount to the buyer.
@@Earthling247 no that a ridiculous assertion. Take returns for any reason. With this absurd ideology one could buy a white T-shirt...drag it through the mud and muck and return it for their money back. Come on 🙄. Furthermore eBay wasn't devised around a single idea to sell things cheap this too is a common and misleading assumption. Selling online has came a long long way and many of us sell brand new items in the box or off the self. Some also manufacture their own products new. Tax payers float the bill? Please expand on this nonsense... 😂.
Buying your labels on PirateShip is the exact same cost as what eBay offers. Shipping is not just the cost of shipping. People want you to package things as if they are brand new and still leaves you a neutral review. Just another way to screw sellers like usual with eBay. If you don't screw yourself out if shipping, then you can't sell your items. Honestly bro, you sound like you work for eBay. Nobody is cool with how they keep finding new ways to push sellers away.
I used to be all about the free shipping but recently changed to flat rates and I am SO much happier. I get much nicer offers from buyers now. They must not have noticed before that the shipping was free and sent stupid low offers.
That's what all these buyers don't understand. They literally tell me that I'm charging them too much for shipping because I add that 70 cents on because I'm not going to come out of pocket on something they're already paying me only $2 for and then I'm making $0.30 on the entire transaction to use all of my packaging and gas to drive to the Post office.
I find it weird when eBay already has the options to pass the saving to buyer, or not to pass it, etc.. Just them making stupid decisions and not fixing REAL issues.
But making stupid decisions and not fixing real issues is THE definition of political science in practice: eBay is a place where future political leaders learn their trade! :D
From all of the comments in Facebook groups and else where, at least 98% of the sellers are opting out of this. Ebay is basically getting the middle finger from sellers on this. I opted out as well. Ebay seriously needs to get its act together.
You say it is the same thing, I've seen, just adding the shipping cost into the cost of the item. And normally, yes it is, but in practice, it isnt. Unfortunately if you offer free shipping, if you're running a coupon discount, you're getting extra taken away as the discount usually wouldn't touch the shipping. And if someone returns an item for a remorse reason, you no longer have the ability to just leave off the original shipping when you go to refund. You're forced to a full refund, or in some cases, have to take 50% and it not even cover it if the item was a cheap one/ blowout item. That is why I never offer free shipping. Not even counting the cost of supplies. This just plain hurts sellers.
As a powerseller, I am able to not refund shipping cost on returns, I also deduct my 20% restocking fee; for most instances. Often the buyers will complain to ebay about that, ebay will give them their money back and not take it back from my business.
Thank you for the heads up! Not sweating it. Rarely use calculated unless its a heavy/bulky item. As long as you're competitive and know how to estimate your shipping properly, flat rate is the way to go! That's just my opinion and has worked better for me versus free shipping. Also, if you run any sales in your store, you're undercutting yourself with free shipping as the buyer also gets 10% etc off on those free shipping items! I learned this the hard way and have stopped using free shipping ever since. I add my supplies into the flate rate as well. I say do what works best for you!
I do not know why Ebay has decided to do this, but I have always seen the extra pennies as helping to offset the packaging and fee cost. Now I am trying to figure out what the subscription fee that I pay is for. The coupon that you get for shipping materials does not cover that cost anymore and now it is not going to give us a shipping cost advantage. Maybe I just don’t understand what the subscription cost is for.
The subscription cost basically covers your free listing fees and gives you the ability to run coupons and sales. It also gives you access to Terapeak. Most people with 300+ listings will benefit from the subscription vs not paying for the subscription.
i don’t pay for a subscription. I sell comics. The buyers don’t care whether i have a subcriprion or not. Sounds like just another way for ebay of make money
The heavier the item the worse this is for the seller.. ALSO what happens to a combined multiple purchase?? EBay presently just adds the combined weight of the separate items BUT FAILS to compensate for the SIZE difference this combined package needs to be. Many combined packages wind up being shipped in an oversized box which isn’t even taken into consideration…So this new idea could definitely be a fail for the seller!
yea I dont get it, they are going to display the shipping that I am paying I guess, there's a whole lot more to shipping than just a shipping label, its boxes, tape, packing, time...... that's where you break even when you get discounted shipping as a seller, if thats gone then that just makes it it like yea everything is free my time, my supplies, boxes, all that stuff is not free, they want to personally deliver things next? Ridiculous.
I use it as a buffer in case my package turns out bigger or heavier than I estimated. I do have a $2 handling charge added already. I sell expensive handbags predominately and always pack them extremely well and buy insurance. Use Pirate Ship unless buyers select Fedex
A lot of the time I use that extra to upgrade the customer's shipping. Like they pay for ground usps and I send it priority. Guess that's going to happen a lot less
Love how some of us didn’t even get the message on 4/17…. Thanks for including the link here as the eBay “agent” I spoke with today tried to act like they didn’t know what I was talking about…
I currently pass the eBay shipping discount onto the buyer and add a nominal handling change ($1.00) on top. So if people don't opt out they can increase the handling charge.
@@rebeccabarr2726 I looked at retail rates but didn't like how high the shipping looked, so pass on discount rate with handling fee to get a better looking shipping fee.
Not difficult at all. Simply weigh the item in the box you would use to ship in and add some weight for packing material then add that information to your listing.
I offer free shipping for items less than one lb, building that ship cost into my price. The same is for flat rate priority mail items. For heavier items I do calculated shipping because that cost can vary greatly, depending on where it’s being sent.
Opted out! I don't see how its gonna negatively effect anything by opting put. The shipping is always gonna be different because i may be closer or farther from a buyer than say another seller so there shipping would be cheaper than mine anyways if they lived closer and vice versa. Thanks for always sharing these updates for people like me who don't pay attention lol
@@RockstarFlipper You would think that they simply modify coding that only overage of actual shipping charges would be at 15%. If you are charging the buyer, what they are charging you, it should be zero. instead we are losing 15% on every shipping charge.
@@RockstarFlipperIf your buying the shipping label thru Ebay they know exactly what you paid for shipping,so yes they could stop charging a fee on the shipping label end if they wanted.
@@mikemcwilliams4361 ummm that’s not how that works. The buyer pays for the TOTAL amount of the transaction before any label is bought. This is why it is how it is. They did that before. For years. And people did exactly what I said and took advantage. Hence why it is now how it is
@@RockstarFlipper Yes this is how we got here before they did this but Ebay could easily refund the FVF on sales tax and paid shipping labels. They're making 100's of millions of dollars a year doing this so they're not going to stop.
So seller still has to buy label paper, and other shipping supplies, ink etc. And they used to have a tiny amount that helped pay for those things and now ebay wants to eliminate that right?
@@Auteric00 IF you bump up item prices by the appropriate amount to cover your increasing costs. Which is what sellers should be doing, otherwise sellers will be doing something else that's actually profitable in the near future. (The world is run by politicians - people who've never had a real job, or who've never been successful in a real job - and politicians will go to their graves believing and insisting that profitability and prices can be legislated.)
So you mean you run your business as a business? Making decisions based on using basic math and common sense rather than feelings and sensationalism? Crazy world you operate in my friend..... (sarcasm intended).
@@robsomething4435 Certainly is! :) One of my favorite Thomas Sowell quotes: "It is not merely that Johnny can’t read, or even that Johnny can’t think. Johnny doesn’t know what thinking is, because thinking is so often confused with feeling in many public schools." Likely he hurt many million's feelings with that one. And likely I'll be banned from Earth for posting it. :) I'll take that as a compliment though.
something tells me there’s more to this than me to the eye. Now I don’t do a lot of calculated shipping but last year I had an item that I put the exact weight and the exact measurements in and had it set for calculate shipping in case it went to Florida, which you did. and calculated shipping charged the buyer $150 for this item and when I went to buy my label I only had to pay $48. There was a huge discrepancy in the way that the calculated shipping was handled for the buyer. something tells me that this is where the problem is is somehow what the buyer is being charged is really off and there was no reason why it could not have calculated the exact shipping for them retail. And then charged me a discounted rate off of retail.
You hit the nail on the head. Too many listing have such high shipping costs with calculated. I see it a lot and think hey seller you are going to have a very hard time selling a shirt for $10 and charging $12 shipping. Many sellers do not really know how to save on postage and if they do they don't know how to display it correctly to buyers with calculated rates.
buyers may not notice a difference in shipping price if they see the sellers are from 2 different areas in the US. They may just think "they are further, so shipping costs more". That sort of thing.
I love doing free shipping, especially for hard goods that are different sizes. The time saved on posting package measurements allows me to list more items. If you've been doing this long enough you can guesstimate shipping costs and it works out in the end. I realize many have a different opinion but it works for me.
Depends item and location. It's just annoying for me as it varies drastically for some items for free shipping. And sometimes could cost more than I'd make.
I stopped doing that the first time I lost a lot of money because the buyer was on the West Coast. When you offer free shipping on heavy items you’re at target for buyers on the West Coast. And if you charge enough to cover shipping to the West Coast, you’re screwing your buyers in closer locations.
Whole system breaks down when sales ("when what buyers want") varies in quantity and variety. Built-in shipping cost is then multiplied, and buyers go elsewhere.
Just wait until somebody says that a perfectly good item that you sent is destroyed or you deal with some really horrible buyer that eBay always sides with. Not only will you have to pay to return the item, you will also have to refund the person who bought the item from you so now you're out all the shipping cost to and from and the item you get back is destroyed. You're one bad buyer away from having a different opinion. Trust me
@jessicaday9196 I saw that video too. Some of the people at eBay need to learn that the sellers are also "their customers" and use good customer service towards the sellers as well as the buyers.
The problem competition is so high on ebay buyers are constantly lowering their prices undercutting each other. Sellers should be reimbursed for packaging and handling time as well as material. Plus, the buyer never seem to get reimbursed for shipping when packages are damaged. I think sellers should charge handling fees.
I find myself thanking you again - so happy you put useful content out there. Thank you for giving me the info to opt out - the money I save helps offset the cost of supplies. Cheers 🥂
I recently got my daughter started in reselling in February and this method of the Buyer getting eBay discounted shipping was on her listings from the start. No email notification. I assumed it was something new eBay was doing with New Sellers and that at some point it would change to "normal". Guess this is the "new Normal" 😛
I've never tried to get more money out of a buyer with higher shipping costs. On another note: at least three times, eBay has sent me notifications for what they refer to as "adjusted shipping label charges". Every time, there has either been an error by eBay or the shipper on the weight and/or size of the package. Yesterday I received a notice from eBay stating I underpaid on a label by $57... which is entirely false. I have no idea where they're are getting this info... try to get ahold of CS and the bot replies in circles... HOW do I get ahold of a human being in Customer Service at eBay?
I bumped my prices on about 80% of my listed items to compensate for eBay's move. I also eliminated free shipping on everything. One strange thing I noticed: eBay will not let me stop volume discounts; when I turn off the two settings for volume pricing, they are still on when I check back--the only thing I can do is reduce volume pricing to 1, 2 and 3%.
This would be fine IF they didn't charge me fees on shipping and tax, and Promoted % on shipping and tax. I recently switched over to calculated shipping, so this is extra annoying : /
I have never ever used calculated shipping. I always do flat shipping and add $1 or more $ extra for shipping supplies. Never offer free shipping either, nothing is FREE in this life.
I usually do free shipping on smalls, and flat rate on heavier items. With flat rate I can blend in my cost of packing materials and time, especially with fragile items that require more materials and care with handling.
I have never done calculated shipping. We do fixed price shipping on all our items. Done it for years. Works well. If you have been doing eBay any amount of time you should know how much most items are going to cost to ship just by looking at them. Especially smaller items.
Hey Casey, I noticed this change too but honestly I'm not mad. We still get a discount and really as a buyer too I'm ok with it. Thanks for the update.
I like your thoughts on small items, shirts, pants, video games. But bigger items, vcr, golf clubs, baseball bats are a bit harder to calculate as the shipping changes drastically from one place to another on those bigger/ heavier options. Also like was said elsewhere I always considered it part of the bigger picture such as packing materials, handling, those things.
This actually came out about 6 months ago as an "opt in" thing. I kept mine off so that I still charge the retail rates and make a few dollars off of each sale. I have always had much better sales with full price shipping and lowering the price of the item instead. Helps to keep returns under control as well. I do keep a running promotion of "buy 2 or more and $10 flat rate shipping".
I agree...I'd rather charge a tad more in shipping and knock some money off the cost of the item. As you said, this protects your business against returns much better.
I have like a real question. Does ebay allow people to list the item as free shipping, then allow it to be sent in a flat rate box, with that cost calculated into the price of the item? Or does it go against rules somehow? Im unemployed & trying to make a buck & I keep hearing bad things on ebay, amazon etc. Im starting to think yard sales are better no strings attached. Your opinion?
@@2thankyou4watching of course. If an items worth $30 and is a $7 item to ship you can do anything you want. $35 free shipping. $39 free shipping These are eBay basics 101. You can price anyway you want
@@RockstarFlipper thank you so much. i just get worried lol ebay has bans all the time. im trying to find a job been unemployed 5 months now so i might have to turn to reselling. thanks a bunch.
Hi, I've always used calculated shipping and The buyer will pay the discounted shipping rate. I've had that set for years but what I do use is My own sort of flat weight system. So I still make a little on shipping to cover the cost of shipping materials.
I offer the discounted shipping rate to get the overall total of the item lower. When I buy something, I look for the lowest end cost. I do not just go for the free shipping. My goal is not to make money on shipping. Even with the discounted rate, I have people message me that the shipping is too high. I can be honest and reply that I make no money on shipping! I even print it on my label so they can see what they paid is what the postage cost.
Thank you so much for explaining this! I really didnt get it so looked to youtube and you popped up first! I do free shipping of things over $100 but i think i might just do it on everything now!
I really do not sell new items, used random so a bit less competition 5:20 good point I might do more free shipping, also why can not we just add extra pounds and box size to the item to bring the cost up a bit? Like I said I sell mainly used items. Many times I am willing to pay a few bucks more with someone with good feedback.
Selling for just over 6 months, I still use calculated shipping for all my listings. When I started, to speed up listing process, it was recommended to leave shipping Weight and Package Dimensions blank and accurately correct them when purchasing shipping labels. THEY MUST HAVE ESTIMATES! Always weigh and measure your unpackage item for listings. I learned, if left blank, the random amounts EBAY charged the customer barely covered actual cost for shipping and were especially off if item weight was over 3lb and almost always missed the mark for irregular packages. At a minimum, create a shipping policy for Calculated Shipping, because EBAY does allow sellers to add a “Handling cost" ONLY for Calculated Shipping. This is where sellers can determine a flat fee that is added to the discounted EBAY label cost charged to customers. Of course, you could opt out and over charge the customer shipping fees, but (I am no lawyer) heard this may be illegal.
UPS , USPS and Fedex are the ones who make the most here, ebay shipping is outrageous and I often find my calculated inputs somehow magically change from what I first entered to when I go to print label when an item has sold, and then I end up paying the diff in shipping cost
The extra that we were getting was covering some of the fee percentage we were paying on shipping. We pay the 12-18% on the shipping as well as the purchase. So now we are going to lose significantly more, especially if we are shipping heavy items. If you sell something for $30 and shipping is $10 and you have 15% fees, you're losing $1.50 just for the shipping... which the extra dollar or two would cover. Doesn't seem like a big deal until you're paying that on dozens if not hundreds of orders
6:00 I hear you, but at one point I just had to stop offering free shipping all together - which I hated doing because it absolutely works as a sales tactic. With the products that I generally traffic in though, USPS Ground Advantage gives me a range of something like $5.13 - $9.00. I mean, it just seems impossible to offer free shipping with an unknown gap like that. Any advice in this area is most welcome btw. I miss offering free shipping. ✌️
We spend tons of shipping supplies , detergent, paper, tape, boxes, bags, etc. .I opted out of this already ! I live in FL so I really need to use calculated. Flat rate charges fl buyers too much in shipping.
I think eBay is forcing sellers to price items more expensive and offer free shipping with no offers. Knowing the specific items’ selling prices will be key. That’s what I’ll be doing except on very heavy items.
@@RockstarFlipper i used to do offers. My store LITERALLY used to be called “the best offer17” lol but i don’t do offers anymore and changed the store name. I only do offers on items I really want to get rid of (older Items) because i found out that buyers still buy the item at full price. They tend to want to get it for a cheaper price with an offer, but they will know they’ll buy at a reasonable price. I know this as a buyer as well, not just as a seller. If the price is right, or close to it, and the seller doesn’t allow offers, well then too bad for me. Either I buy it or find another, but that’s the one i wanted. That’s why i clicked on the listing in the first place. The seller has their treason, it’s their store, their price. Look at all of their feedback and all other items they sell. Then make a decision weather they are reputable or not. Buyers know this. And they are savvy enough to look at recent sold prices. The “problem buyers” will usually send a message asking if you’ll accept their offer. Even if you don’t have offers on. Block and move on. I’ll answer back sometimes and politely say I don’t accept offers. MOST often times someone will buy that item at a full price a few days later, No questions asked. I’ve experimented this and can confirm it’s true. Buyers still buy without no offers on. I have confirmed this with a bunch of other sellers on Reddit. I’ve been selling on eBay since 2018 and have used eBay ever since i was a kid. Back in the real auction, selling an item “AS IS” days..as I’m sure you have as well. So it’s nice to see that different strategies work for different sellers 👍🏽thanks for the update video I’m always watching
@@RockstarFlipper Casey, I have been thinking of converting my items to free shipping as well but I also do best offers. For example if I have a polo shirt I know is worth $15 and will cost roughly $5 to ship, would you set your price at say $22-24 with best offer and free shipping to give yourself a little wiggle room for an offer?
Casey, if we sellers opt out, are you certain that buyers will be able see the discounted shipping rate that the seller is paying, alongside what, they, the buyers are being charged??
Wow, either UA-cam or Casey deleted my long explanation on why I don’t allow offers. Great job on blocking knowledge and other people’s opinions if they don’t line up with your own.
When creating shipping policies for calculated shipping you can add a "Handling cost". Now that eBay is making this change, I will be including a small charge in all of my Calculated Shipping policies to help pay for shipping supplies. This is much better than free shipping for 2 reasons: 1. Free shipping policies require the seller to pay shipping on returns. 2. Free shipping requires buyers who live close to the seller to pay higher shipping costs in inflated prices.
I only use calculated shipping on my vintage glass, or heavy items since I live on the East Coast and the cost can vary in a big way depending on where items like that are going. Since, I only do on those items, I am going to opt out. Often there are very few or no other item just like the items I am talking about listed. Other items I will keep at my normal flat rate shipping. Thanks for the video, I didn't pay much attention to my message from them (have a lot going on with health and family). Thanks Casey!
I never do calculated shipping. I pick a shipping price that will cover all my costs to the farthest destination, and if I sell it to someone nearby, I make money on shipping. That's a win for me.
Thank you Casey. I have switched back and forth between free shipping and reduced shipping. This change has convinced me that Free shipping with the cost built into the price is best for me
The only thing is encourage buyers to return for no reason and claim a refund , manipulate pictures and false claims! Or destroy the item and return it!
they can’t do that/ then foks would charge 1$ for the item and $80 for shipping. That’s why they started to to this. People found the relatively easy loophole
Sometimes I sell vintage tools and car parts, which are heavy, but I'll still use calculated shipping on those items. Most questions I get are related to shipping costs, usually to make a sale I will offer a discount. For my lighter, less expensive items I'll probably use an average shipping cost and post it as free shipping, but not accept offers.
The problem with free shipping is you don't know how much the cost is depending on the buyer's address, and I'm on the west coast so 95% of sales are always priced higher than the rest of the country. So I do free shipping with a higher priced item that gets pasted up because my cost is more, so either way the profits from eBay keep shrinking. And that postage wasn't really profit, it just helped off-set shipping supplies costs. It may of been just a little but everything helps. It's just not as enjoyable to be an eBay seller, at least for me anymore.
This just happened to me. I pulled all items under $20 because by the time they charge fees for the item, tax and shipping (with no extra in there for me) it was coming out at a 30% cost. For example, I was getting earnings of $6 for a $10 item. And when I put in the exact weight it actually is costing me a few cents sometimes, so now you almost have to overestimate weight and size to not have extra costs. It's gotten expensive for the seller. But it's better than donating it I guess. Thanks for explaining it so well. Have a great day.
People are complaining, but #1 it is just a setting. If you don't like it, change it back to retail. #2 it is a reaction to customer complaints over shipping cost. Unless you do free shipping you probably have a 4.9 for shipping cost because most sellers do. In my opinion buyers just need to get used to higher shipping cost. Everything cost more than it did a couple of years ago.
eBay charges the 13% fees( estimated), and that’s on the total amount. Then they “ discount “ shipping at around 8%. Approximately a 5% shortage. So you’re not making that profit on shipping, it’s off setting the eBay fees but not all of it.
Sounds like eBay is now just basing calculated shipping on the eBay discounted rate that sellers had the option to offer their buyers instead of the retail rate, but now the discounted rate will be mandatory. I assume the seller will still have the option to add a handling fee to the discounted shipping rate to cover fees, supplies, etc. and hopefully the actual shipping quote eBay will show the buyer will also include that.
i only do flat rate. but i only sell comics. So if im selling 1 comic i shipping costs 6.80 whether it’s going to cali or nj. sometimes i lose 20 cents sometimes i gain 20 cents. ebay calculations are way off so i don’t trust them
I hardly do free shipping on anything. I run sales and take offers often. So if I had free shipping, those sales would eat into my shipping. Especially on bigger heavier items. Usually I end up underpricing shipping anyway. I do offer free shipping on a few smaller, higher profit items that I can easily predict the shipping cost off.
I will opt out too because I already put a lower weight on my items so that the shipping is lower for the buyer and more in line with what I end up paying with the shipping discount. I dont want to have to go change 100's of listings.
Ebay has also started charging more for International. I pay more fees because I'd I sell an item for 10.00 and it cost me 7.00 in shipping it now it shows the order total at 25.00. I thought they did away with that.
I'm a long time Seller and I'm not 100% sure but will probably opt out. I also normally ADD $1.50 - $2.00 for Handling charges. to offset, buying tape, labels, boxes, bubble wrap, etc. I disclose this to the Buyer in my listings. And yes, I realize it's sort of "double dipping" lol. Now, I am not doing this as a side hustle or a business. I'm retired and I do this for fun, but of course want to make a few bucks as well. (Just pointing out I'm not a professional Seller with a store.)
Everyone should opt out. Shipping is only one part of the purchase process on eBay. It depends on your location and how your listing and product stands up to other sellers item. If you have a video showing item works and the other seller has less photos, details and no video your item is more attractive to the buyer because you put in the extra effort.
I got the email this afternoon and noticed the verbiage at the end "Please note that this change will only apply to sellers receiving this email." I have 5 eBay stores but only received the email for 2 of them. Looks like they are limiting who can opt out. Something sneaky going on 👀
My issue is, I always underestimate my weight on the items, so basically giving the buyer some of the cost back anyway. I would say I get .50-1.50 out of the shipping which makes up for fees. Now, if I stayed opted in, all those items will now be at a loss and I will have to pay the extra shipping on all of them because again, I underestimated the shipping weight. So, I opted out.
The discount on shipping is how I cover my material cost (box, bubble wrap, etc). Now I have to add that to my product price. Tital nit for the sellers.
If you read the email which I did not get, it only went to certain sellers, not everyone. I found the link and opted out to make sure it did not affect me and to let eBay know I am not happy with this change by opting out.
I use flat rate shipping. Takes a few minutes to get a rhythm but it has less headaches than calculated. I typically need to add more insurance or sinature required for items over $500. Flat rate allows me to cover my arse.
They have too many sellers and too much worthless inventory. I believe they are purposely driving all small sellers to their competition so they can only deal with enormous sellers. Less hassle for them.
Ebay is brave because, imho, they aren’t worried about the small sellers as the huge, cheap sellers in China are proliferating the platform. There’s no way to beat their prices. What the *customers receive is sometimes laughable! (Think WISH and the “what I ordered vs what I got” trend). *me… I was the customer!
I don't think this policy change benefits buyers much. Sellers can offer the discounted shipping rate, but price the item a higher or not budge on the listed price. Buyers look at total cost (purchase price, shipping, and sales tax). I don't think they care about the shipping fee as the long as the total cost is at or below what they are willing to pay.
Who does free shipping vs calculated? how many will be changing?
I've started doimg free shipping with all jewelry and smalls. I got the eBay message yesterday about this and I initially thought the same so now I'll just start doing free shipping on all.
No free shipping as I sell in a category where people usually buy more than one or buy multiples of like items in one order. Free shipping is more expensive in this case. I will be opting out of the new way.
I have started charging 99 cents for shipping my books. No one even notices. I always charge shipping on my comics. People like to know what the real price is. As far as my puzzles go there are too many variables to offer free shipping. There are 2 solutions the shipping cost showing on the label. Use a different shipping service, black it out with a magic marker.
I'll have to opt out because a lot of the time my listings are under-charging on the weight as it is with probably half my listings, and I have a lot of listings, so I won't even break even I will lose money if this happens
I mean seriously I can spend over an hour packing something sometimes, boxes, shipping supplies, my time, it will add up to a major loss and I know ebay doesn't give a shit but I do, so I have to get paid for what I do
I see it as handling, box , tape , time etc. Ebay constantly screwing over its sellers.
Agree 150%... that is, unless you're a huge volume, high dollar seller... smaller resellers, like myself, really get screwed over by ebay.... in the last 90 days, they have kept 35% of my sales.... in fees! So sick of eBay's B.S... any recommended alternatives to eBay, besides Etsy, Bonanza, Mercari or Amazon?
@@deedeelowe9231Poshmark is kicking eBay’s A
Me too, I always charge extra $ for shipping supplies cost and shipping and handing, etc.
If you charge shipping you do not have to refund the shipping fee on returns, however with free shipping you have to refund it so it is not the same, you would lose the $9 on a return with free shipping.
Exactly, this is why I cannot afford to do free shipping. I sell mainly clothing.
Exactly why I never do free shipping
This... free shipping means more money lost over time (unless you believe that buyers are too dumb to sort by total cost and only see free shipping).
Returns are a part of the business and not being prepared for it is literally just giving money away and the more you sell, the more money you're just giving away for free on every remorse return by doing free shipping.
If eBay wants to do this they need to stop charging fees on shipping. I will opt out. Buyers calculated shipping is varied anyway since things are sent from all over the country. And I'm already competing with folks who offer free shipping and up charge the product. EBay needs to start respecting sellers or they will start to feel it.
They can't and would never stop charging fees on the shipping. thats silly... we would all just do $1 items with $200 shipping.... see the problem. hence why it was stopped a decade ago
@@RockstarFlipper they actually could do no fee on calculated shipping.
@@Penjewels Exactly
Ebay called me a couple months ago asking why I wasn't charging the lower cost shipping. I told them that originally if I'm correct, the difference in shipping was to offset the fact that Ebay charges the final value fees with the shipping included? I guess they didn't like my answer.
@@RockstarFlipper That's not what he is saying -- if you opt in to charging exact shipping to the buyer - then eBay should not charge fees on that shipping.
To me, that extra we sometimes made on the shipping offset the cost of packing/shipping materials. So yeah, it definitely screws us out of some money. It also helped cover the cost when the weigh was more than what my listing stated before packaged (accidentally underestimated). Ebay once again favors the buyers over the sellers, imagine that. I wish I could use flat rate shipping BUT living in Florida the shipping cost vary extremely depending on the location of the buyer.
This new change pushes me closer to thinking about WhatNot for most of my inventory. Thanks for the update, always appreciate your perspective! 😊
I'm in minnesota and same alot of items can vary drastically
I’m in CT and do flat rate for most items. I just price the shipping at the max it will cost. So my flat rate charge is whatever it cost in that tier to get to the west coast. Sometimes my labels are exact to the penny, sometimes I make a little but I find it works well.
I am in FL and always have charged flat rate, I charge the max for items below 1 lb, and I charge always extra when the item is heavier than a pound. So far so good.
Free shipping is not always the same when you have larger items. Yes I can calculate it closely, but when things go to CA or WA they are always so much higher from FL.
In my opinion, everyone should opt out. They gave us commercial rates in order to cover our fees and basically, now they’re taking it away. Personally I will be opting out. Thankfully I don’t have a whole lot of competition when I sell.
I'm opting out of that. I bet most sellers that do calculated shipping will op out.
I almost always do fixed shipping, unless I need to use UPS.
I've been doing fixed shipping costs from the beginning because eBay takes 15% out of whatever it actually cost you to ship so I'd be losing money every time I ship that item even if I'm charging supposedly what it cost to ship the item. If we don't charge a fixed fee that's actually a little more than what it cost to ship the item, we're all losing money.
@@jessicaday9196 I never did use calculate shipping.alway fixed rate And I don't buy my labels off eBay. I use pirate ship The problem is people don't. study up on their shipping zones I mostly charged the forest distance from me I never have any complaints about my shipping cost knock on wood Understand newer sellers don't understand but after you selling for a while, you should know your shipping
I opted out too.
@@jessicaday9196 Depends upon what you are selling and what your buy in cost is and how much you get out of the item. You pay $2.50 for an item and sell it for $25.00, you can afford to pay the fee.
I know I saw this crap today and immediately thought eBay finds yet another way to screw the sellers, way to go!
Nah eBay screws sellers on the returns for practically any reason. Someone buys your item, destroys it, returns it for a refund, story of my life.
Oh it's EVERY SINGLE MONTH ANOTHER WAY TO SEND SELLERS PACKING..
Anyone selling always takes returns for any reason. Sellers need to stop whining about fees. Taxpayers are covering those anyway. Ripping off unsuspecting people for profit is bad enough. eBay is designed to sell things you no longer need at a deep discount to the buyer.
@@Earthling247 no that a ridiculous assertion. Take returns for any reason. With this absurd ideology one could buy a white T-shirt...drag it through the mud and muck and return it for their money back. Come on 🙄. Furthermore eBay wasn't devised around a single idea to sell things cheap this too is a common and misleading assumption. Selling online has came a long long way and many of us sell brand new items in the box or off the self. Some also manufacture their own products new. Tax payers float the bill? Please expand on this nonsense... 😂.
Buying your labels on PirateShip is the exact same cost as what eBay offers. Shipping is not just the cost of shipping. People want you to package things as if they are brand new and still leaves you a neutral review. Just another way to screw sellers like usual with eBay. If you don't screw yourself out if shipping, then you can't sell your items.
Honestly bro, you sound like you work for eBay. Nobody is cool with how they keep finding new ways to push sellers away.
I used to be all about the free shipping but recently changed to flat rates and I am SO much happier. I get much nicer offers from buyers now. They must not have noticed before that the shipping was free and sent stupid low offers.
personally, the psychological factor of a lower item price with a separate shipping cost is better than seeing one high number.
Don't forget that eBay charges you an extra 10% of whatever your label costs as well. i.e. label costs $7, you pay an extra $0.70 in fees.
I wish it was only 10%
Closer to 14% fee on your shipping
That's what all these buyers don't understand. They literally tell me that I'm charging them too much for shipping because I add that 70 cents on because I'm not going to come out of pocket on something they're already paying me only $2 for and then I'm making $0.30 on the entire transaction to use all of my packaging and gas to drive to the Post office.
That's what a handling fee is for.
@@patland1762 the last thing a buyer wants to see is a handling fee. eBay buyers have been trained to expect everything for practically no cost.
I find it weird when eBay already has the options to pass the saving to buyer, or not to pass it, etc.. Just them making stupid decisions and not fixing REAL issues.
But making stupid decisions and not fixing real issues is THE definition of political science in practice: eBay is a place where future political leaders learn their trade! :D
From all of the comments in Facebook groups and else where, at least 98% of the sellers are opting out of this. Ebay is basically getting the middle finger from sellers on this. I opted out as well. Ebay seriously needs to get its act together.
You say it is the same thing, I've seen, just adding the shipping cost into the cost of the item. And normally, yes it is, but in practice, it isnt. Unfortunately if you offer free shipping, if you're running a coupon discount, you're getting extra taken away as the discount usually wouldn't touch the shipping. And if someone returns an item for a remorse reason, you no longer have the ability to just leave off the original shipping when you go to refund. You're forced to a full refund, or in some cases, have to take 50% and it not even cover it if the item was a cheap one/ blowout item. That is why I never offer free shipping. Not even counting the cost of supplies. This just plain hurts sellers.
As a powerseller, I am able to not refund shipping cost on returns, I also deduct my 20% restocking fee; for most instances. Often the buyers will complain to ebay about that, ebay will give them their money back and not take it back from my business.
@@blown99how come it works this way for you and not us regular sellers? I apologize if I'm asking a stupid question here.
EXACTLY!!! Great points no one ever mentions!!!
Been watching Rockstar for pretty close to a decade now and a huge thanks for hundreds of times you have helped me!
No problem at all thank you!!!
@RockstarFlipper ...and you always reply, that's what separates you from the rest. That's real, believe that brother.
Just opted out!
Thanks for being so quick to post on this. I just received the eBay email and was looking for opinions!
You got it!! thanks for checking in so quick
Same. I was impressed. Always on top of things this guy
I didn't get the opt option email... where do i go to opt out too???
Thank you for the heads up! Not sweating it. Rarely use calculated unless its a heavy/bulky item. As long as you're competitive and know how to estimate your shipping properly, flat rate is the way to go! That's just my opinion and has worked better for me versus free shipping. Also, if you run any sales in your store, you're undercutting yourself with free shipping as the buyer also gets 10% etc off on those free shipping items! I learned this the hard way and have stopped using free shipping ever since. I add my supplies into the flate rate as well. I say do what works best for you!
Thank you. You’re always first with the important topics.
I do not know why Ebay has decided to do this, but I have always seen the extra pennies as helping to offset the packaging and fee cost. Now I am trying to figure out what the subscription fee that I pay is for. The coupon that you get for shipping materials does not cover that cost anymore and now it is not going to give us a shipping cost advantage. Maybe I just don’t understand what the subscription cost is for.
The subscription cost basically covers your free listing fees and gives you the ability to run coupons and sales. It also gives you access to Terapeak. Most people with 300+ listings will benefit from the subscription vs not paying for the subscription.
i don’t pay for a subscription. I sell comics. The buyers don’t care whether i have a subcriprion or not. Sounds like just another way for ebay of make money
The heavier the item the worse this is for the seller.. ALSO what happens to a combined multiple purchase?? EBay presently just adds the combined weight of the separate items BUT FAILS to compensate for the SIZE difference this combined package needs to be. Many combined packages wind up being shipped in an oversized box which isn’t even taken into consideration…So this new idea could definitely be a fail for the seller!
yea I dont get it, they are going to display the shipping that I am paying I guess, there's a whole lot more to shipping than just a shipping label, its boxes, tape, packing, time...... that's where you break even when you get discounted shipping as a seller, if thats gone then that just makes it it like yea everything is free my time, my supplies, boxes, all that stuff is not free, they want to personally deliver things next? Ridiculous.
its funny how they are providing a way to opt out, makes me thing what they are doing is not on the up and up
That is what the handling fee is for.
So while Mercari takes away fees ,eBay is giving away our small profits. Great job
Sellers should always pay all fees. No other situation is acceptable. Seller is always able to recover the fees, the buyer usually cannot.
@@Earthling247 that’s not the point of my comment.
@@classiccontroller8868 eBay is meant to be the modern day garage sale. Not a place to turn a profit.
@@Earthling247 only if you’re willing to price yourself out of a sale
@@wheretoplaygames what are you talking about? All business expenses are recoupable.
I use it as a buffer in case my package turns out bigger or heavier than I estimated. I do have a $2 handling charge added already. I sell expensive handbags predominately and always pack them extremely well and buy insurance. Use Pirate Ship unless buyers select Fedex
I opted out immediately... 💯
A lot of the time I use that extra to upgrade the customer's shipping. Like they pay for ground usps and I send it priority. Guess that's going to happen a lot less
Love how some of us didn’t even get the message on 4/17…. Thanks for including the link here as the eBay “agent” I spoke with today tried to act like they didn’t know what I was talking about…
I currently pass the eBay shipping discount onto the buyer and add a nominal handling change ($1.00) on top. So if people don't opt out they can increase the handling charge.
Yup. That is how an honest merchant does business.
Finally someone mentioned the HANDLING fee we sellers can add to the shipping cost. What you do is exactly what I've always done.
@@rebeccabarr2726 I looked at retail rates but didn't like how high the shipping looked, so pass on discount rate with handling fee to get a better looking shipping fee.
Hello, How do I set up a handling charge?
@@brettlott570 In the Business policies, you can select services, handling time and add handling charge.
It’s easy to calculate shirts, but not so easy for vases, tools, etc.
Not difficult at all. Simply weigh the item in the box you would use to ship in and add some weight for packing material then add that information to your listing.
I have also underweighed most of my listings to split the difference between label cost and shipping paid by buyer, which covers shipping material.
I offer free shipping for items less than one lb, building that ship cost into my price. The same is for flat rate priority mail items. For heavier items I do calculated shipping because that cost can vary greatly, depending on where it’s being sent.
Opted out! I don't see how its gonna negatively effect anything by opting put. The shipping is always gonna be different because i may be closer or farther from a buyer than say another seller so there shipping would be cheaper than mine anyways if they lived closer and vice versa. Thanks for always sharing these updates for people like me who don't pay attention lol
Yup could hurt in some instances, help in others
Then they really should stop taking the 15% out of the shipping...If we make no money on the shipping, ebay should not be taking it out.
They cant....otherwise... you, me and everyone else will charge $1 for the item and $99 for shipping.. hence how we got here
@@RockstarFlipper You would think that they simply modify coding that only overage of actual shipping charges would be at 15%. If you are charging the buyer, what they are charging you, it should be zero. instead we are losing 15% on every shipping charge.
@@RockstarFlipperIf your buying the shipping label thru Ebay they know exactly what you paid for shipping,so yes they could stop charging a fee on the shipping label end if they wanted.
@@mikemcwilliams4361 ummm that’s not how that works. The buyer pays for the TOTAL amount of the transaction before any label is bought. This is why it is how it is. They did that before. For years. And people did exactly what I said and took advantage. Hence why it is now how it is
@@RockstarFlipper Yes this is how we got here before they did this but Ebay could easily refund the FVF on sales tax and paid shipping labels. They're making 100's of millions of dollars a year doing this so they're not going to stop.
So seller still has to buy label paper, and other shipping supplies, ink etc. And they used to have a tiny amount that helped pay for those things and now ebay wants to eliminate that right?
Thanks for clarifying this. Appreciate the info!
Very welcome
I have opted in to passing the discount on to my buyers for years. I build the price of shipping materials into my items that I ship calculated.
Same here so If I understood this video it means nothing to us because that is what we already do?
@@Auteric00 IF you bump up item prices by the appropriate amount to cover your increasing costs. Which is what sellers should be doing, otherwise sellers will be doing something else that's actually profitable in the near future. (The world is run by politicians - people who've never had a real job, or who've never been successful in a real job - and politicians will go to their graves believing and insisting that profitability and prices can be legislated.)
So you mean you run your business as a business? Making decisions based on using basic math and common sense rather than feelings and sensationalism? Crazy world you operate in my friend..... (sarcasm intended).
@@robsomething4435 Certainly is! :) One of my favorite Thomas Sowell quotes: "It is not merely that Johnny can’t read, or even that Johnny can’t think. Johnny doesn’t know what thinking is, because thinking is so often confused with feeling in many public schools." Likely he hurt many million's feelings with that one. And likely I'll be banned from Earth for posting it. :) I'll take that as a compliment though.
something tells me there’s more to this than me to the eye. Now I don’t do a lot of calculated shipping but last year I had an item that I put the exact weight and the exact measurements in and had it set for calculate shipping in case it went to Florida, which you did. and calculated shipping charged the buyer $150 for this item and when I went to buy my label I only had to pay $48. There was a huge discrepancy in the way that the calculated shipping was handled for the buyer. something tells me that this is where the problem is is somehow what the buyer is being charged is really off and there was no reason why it could not have calculated the exact shipping for them retail. And then charged me a discounted rate off of retail.
You hit the nail on the head. Too many listing have such high shipping costs with calculated. I see it a lot and think hey seller you are going to have a very hard time selling a shirt for $10 and charging $12 shipping. Many sellers do not really know how to save on postage and if they do they don't know how to display it correctly to buyers with calculated rates.
buyers may not notice a difference in shipping price if they see the sellers are from 2 different areas in the US. They may just think "they are further, so shipping costs more". That sort of thing.
appreciate your insight and for always being there
I love doing free shipping, especially for hard goods that are different sizes. The time saved on posting package measurements allows me to list more items. If you've been doing this long enough you can guesstimate shipping costs and it works out in the end. I realize many have a different opinion but it works for me.
Depends item and location. It's just annoying for me as it varies drastically for some items for free shipping. And sometimes could cost more than I'd make.
I stopped doing that the first time I lost a lot of money because the buyer was on the West Coast. When you offer free shipping on heavy items you’re at target for buyers on the West Coast. And if you charge enough to cover shipping to the West Coast, you’re screwing your buyers in closer locations.
Whole system breaks down when sales ("when what buyers want") varies in quantity and variety. Built-in shipping cost is then multiplied, and buyers go elsewhere.
Just wait until somebody says that a perfectly good item that you sent is destroyed or you deal with some really horrible buyer that eBay always sides with. Not only will you have to pay to return the item, you will also have to refund the person who bought the item from you so now you're out all the shipping cost to and from and the item you get back is destroyed. You're one bad buyer away from having a different opinion. Trust me
@jessicaday9196 I saw that video too. Some of the people at eBay need to learn that the sellers are also "their customers" and use good customer service towards the sellers as well as the buyers.
The problem competition is so high on ebay buyers are constantly lowering their prices undercutting each other. Sellers should be reimbursed for packaging and handling time as well as material. Plus, the buyer never seem to get reimbursed for shipping when packages are damaged. I think sellers should charge handling fees.
I find myself thanking you again - so happy you put useful content out there. Thank you for giving me the info to opt out - the money I save helps offset the cost of supplies.
Cheers 🥂
I recently got my daughter started in reselling in February and this method of the Buyer getting eBay discounted shipping was on her listings from the start. No email notification. I assumed it was something new eBay was doing with New Sellers and that at some point it would change to "normal". Guess this is the "new Normal" 😛
I've never tried to get more money out of a buyer with higher shipping costs. On another note: at least three times, eBay has sent me notifications for what they refer to as "adjusted shipping label charges". Every time, there has either been an error by eBay or the shipper on the weight and/or size of the package. Yesterday I received a notice from eBay stating I underpaid on a label by $57... which is entirely false. I have no idea where they're are getting this info... try to get ahold of CS and the bot replies in circles... HOW do I get ahold of a human being in Customer Service at eBay?
I bumped my prices on about 80% of my listed items to compensate for eBay's move. I also eliminated free shipping on everything. One strange thing I noticed: eBay will not let me stop volume discounts; when I turn off the two settings for volume pricing, they are still on when I check back--the only thing I can do is reduce volume pricing to 1, 2 and 3%.
Free Shipping Is Ok If You Don't Have Best Offer Turned On
That's my question...how do you navigate free shipping with best offers, markdown sales etc.
This would be fine IF they didn't charge me fees on shipping and tax, and Promoted % on shipping and tax. I recently switched over to calculated shipping, so this is extra annoying : /
I have never ever used calculated shipping. I always do flat shipping and add $1 or more $ extra for shipping supplies. Never offer free shipping either, nothing is FREE in this life.
I usually do free shipping on smalls, and flat rate on heavier items. With flat rate I can blend in my cost of packing materials and time, especially with fragile items that require more materials and care with handling.
I have never done calculated shipping. We do fixed price shipping on all our items. Done it for years. Works well. If you have been doing eBay any amount of time you should know how much most items are going to cost to ship just by looking at them. Especially smaller items.
😆 it changes nothing. The seller will just increase the price of the item to cover.
Hey Casey, I noticed this change too but honestly I'm not mad. We still get a discount and really as a buyer too I'm ok with it. Thanks for the update.
I opted out yesterday. When you opt out they want you to tell them your reason..
lol I’d just write because I want to make money also
I like your thoughts on small items, shirts, pants, video games. But bigger items, vcr, golf clubs, baseball bats are a bit harder to calculate as the shipping changes drastically from one place to another on those bigger/ heavier options. Also like was said elsewhere I always considered it part of the bigger picture such as packing materials, handling, those things.
This actually came out about 6 months ago as an "opt in" thing. I kept mine off so that I still charge the retail rates and make a few dollars off of each sale. I have always had much better sales with full price shipping and lowering the price of the item instead. Helps to keep returns under control as well. I do keep a running promotion of "buy 2 or more and $10 flat rate shipping".
I agree...I'd rather charge a tad more in shipping and knock some money off the cost of the item. As you said, this protects your business against returns much better.
I have like a real question. Does ebay allow people to list the item as free shipping, then allow it to be sent in a flat rate box, with that cost calculated into the price of the item? Or does it go against rules somehow? Im unemployed & trying to make a buck & I keep hearing bad things on ebay, amazon etc. Im starting to think yard sales are better no strings attached. Your opinion?
@@2thankyou4watching if you list an item as free shipping you can ship it anyway you choose
@@RockstarFlipper Can we add the price of it to the items cost to cover it so it avoids pit falls?
@@2thankyou4watching of course. If an items worth $30 and is a $7 item to ship you can do anything you want. $35 free shipping. $39 free shipping
These are eBay basics 101. You can price anyway you want
@@RockstarFlipper thank you so much. i just get worried lol ebay has bans all the time. im trying to find a job been unemployed 5 months now so i might have to turn to reselling. thanks a bunch.
Hi, I've always used calculated shipping and The buyer will pay the discounted shipping rate. I've had that set for years but what I do use is My own sort of flat weight system. So I still make a little on shipping to cover the cost of shipping materials.
Why did you do that before? left money on the table day after day
I offer the discounted shipping rate to get the overall total of the item lower. When I buy something, I look for the lowest end cost. I do not just go for the free shipping. My goal is not to make money on shipping. Even with the discounted rate, I have people message me that the shipping is too high. I can be honest and reply that I make no money on shipping! I even print it on my label so they can see what they paid is what the postage cost.
What do you know another thing that eBay does to hurt a seller... Pathetic at this point. 🙄🤮
Thank you so much for explaining this! I really didnt get it so looked to youtube and you popped up first! I do free shipping of things over $100 but i think i might just do it on everything now!
I really do not sell new items, used random so a bit less competition 5:20 good point I might do more free shipping, also why can not we just add extra pounds and box size to the item to bring the cost up a bit? Like I said I sell mainly used items. Many times I am willing to pay a few bucks more with someone with good feedback.
Selling for just over 6 months, I still use calculated shipping for all my listings. When I started, to speed up listing process, it was recommended to leave shipping Weight and Package Dimensions blank and accurately correct them when purchasing shipping labels. THEY MUST HAVE ESTIMATES! Always weigh and measure your unpackage item for listings. I learned, if left blank, the random amounts EBAY charged the customer barely covered actual cost for shipping and were especially off if item weight was over 3lb and almost always missed the mark for irregular packages. At a minimum, create a shipping policy for Calculated Shipping, because EBAY does allow sellers to add a “Handling cost" ONLY for Calculated Shipping. This is where sellers can determine a flat fee that is added to the discounted EBAY label cost charged to customers. Of course, you could opt out and over charge the customer shipping fees, but (I am no lawyer) heard this may be illegal.
This is better advice than anything in this video. Thank you.
UPS , USPS and Fedex are the ones who make the most here, ebay shipping is outrageous and I often find my calculated inputs somehow magically change from what I first entered to when I go to print label when an item has sold, and then I end up paying the diff in shipping cost
The extra that we were getting was covering some of the fee percentage we were paying on shipping. We pay the 12-18% on the shipping as well as the purchase. So now we are going to lose significantly more, especially if we are shipping heavy items. If you sell something for $30 and shipping is $10 and you have 15% fees, you're losing $1.50 just for the shipping... which the extra dollar or two would cover. Doesn't seem like a big deal until you're paying that on dozens if not hundreds of orders
Thank you!
6:00 I hear you, but at one point I just had to stop offering free shipping all together - which I hated doing because it absolutely works as a sales tactic. With the products that I generally traffic in though, USPS Ground Advantage gives me a range of something like $5.13 - $9.00. I mean, it just seems impossible to offer free shipping with an unknown gap like that.
Any advice in this area is most welcome btw. I miss offering free shipping. ✌️
We spend tons of shipping supplies , detergent, paper, tape, boxes, bags, etc. .I opted out of this already ! I live in FL so I really need to use calculated. Flat rate charges fl buyers too much in shipping.
I think eBay is forcing sellers to price items more expensive and offer free shipping with no offers. Knowing the specific items’ selling prices will be key. That’s what I’ll be doing except on very heavy items.
Why would you do free shipping with NO offers... you still take offers.
@@RockstarFlipper i used to do offers. My store LITERALLY used to be called “the best offer17” lol but i don’t do offers anymore and changed the store name. I only do offers on items I really want to get rid of (older Items) because i found out that buyers still buy the item at full price. They tend to want to get it for a cheaper price with an offer, but they will know they’ll buy at a reasonable price. I know this as a buyer as well, not just as a seller. If the price is right, or close to it, and the seller doesn’t allow offers, well then too bad for me. Either I buy it or find another, but that’s the one i wanted. That’s why i clicked on the listing in the first place. The seller has their treason, it’s their store, their price. Look at all of their feedback and all other items they sell. Then make a decision weather they are reputable or not. Buyers know this. And they are savvy enough to look at recent sold prices.
The “problem buyers” will usually send a message asking if you’ll accept their offer. Even if you don’t have offers on. Block and move on. I’ll answer back sometimes and politely say I don’t accept offers. MOST often times someone will buy that item at a full price a few days later, No questions asked. I’ve experimented this and can confirm it’s true. Buyers still buy without no offers on. I have confirmed this with a bunch of other sellers on Reddit. I’ve been selling on eBay since 2018 and have used eBay ever since i was a kid. Back in the real auction, selling an item “AS IS” days..as I’m sure you have as well. So it’s nice to see that different strategies work for different sellers 👍🏽thanks for the update video I’m always watching
@@RockstarFlipper Casey, I have been thinking of converting my items to free shipping as well but I also do best offers. For example if I have a polo shirt I know is worth $15 and will cost roughly $5 to ship, would you set your price at say $22-24 with best offer and free shipping to give yourself a little wiggle room for an offer?
Casey, if we sellers opt out, are you certain that buyers will be able see the discounted shipping rate that the seller is paying, alongside what, they, the buyers are being charged??
Wow, either UA-cam or Casey deleted my long explanation on why I don’t allow offers. Great job on blocking knowledge and other people’s opinions if they don’t line up with your own.
When creating shipping policies for calculated shipping you can add a "Handling cost". Now that eBay is making this change, I will be including a small charge in all of my Calculated Shipping policies to help pay for shipping supplies.
This is much better than free shipping for 2 reasons:
1. Free shipping policies require the seller to pay shipping on returns.
2. Free shipping requires buyers who live close to the seller to pay higher shipping costs in inflated prices.
I only use calculated shipping on my vintage glass, or heavy items since I live on the East Coast and the cost can vary in a big way depending on where items like that are going. Since, I only do on those items, I am going to opt out. Often there are very few or no other item just like the items I am talking about listed. Other items I will keep at my normal flat rate shipping. Thanks for the video, I didn't pay much attention to my message from them (have a lot going on with health and family). Thanks Casey!
I never do calculated shipping. I pick a shipping price that will cover all my costs to the farthest destination, and if I sell it to someone nearby, I make money on shipping. That's a win for me.
Yup keep it simple
Thank you Casey. I have switched back and forth between free shipping and reduced shipping. This change has convinced me that Free shipping with the cost built into the price is best for me
The only thing is encourage buyers to return for no reason and claim a refund , manipulate pictures and false claims! Or destroy the item and return it!
This would be a non-starter if eBay would simply drop charging fees on shipping.
That wouldn't mean anything to the buyer which is what they are doing this for
they can’t do that/ then foks would charge 1$ for the item and $80 for shipping. That’s why they started to to this. People found the relatively easy loophole
Sometimes I sell vintage tools and car parts, which are heavy, but I'll still use calculated shipping on those items. Most questions I get are related to shipping costs, usually to make a sale I will offer a discount. For my lighter, less expensive items I'll probably use an average shipping cost and post it as free shipping, but not accept offers.
I’m opting out
The problem with free shipping is you don't know how much the cost is depending on the buyer's address, and I'm on the west coast so 95% of sales are always priced higher than the rest of the country. So I do free shipping with a higher priced item that gets pasted up because my cost is more, so either way the profits from eBay keep shrinking. And that postage wasn't really profit, it just helped off-set shipping supplies costs. It may of been just a little but everything helps. It's just not as enjoyable to be an eBay seller, at least for me anymore.
I've always passed the shipping discount on to the buyer so no changes for me I guess.
Opting out as soon as possible. Thanks for bringing this to our attention.
This just happened to me. I pulled all items under $20 because by the time they charge fees for the item, tax and shipping (with no extra in there for me) it was coming out at a 30% cost. For example, I was getting earnings of $6 for a $10 item. And when I put in the exact weight it actually is costing me a few cents sometimes, so now you almost have to overestimate weight and size to not have extra costs. It's gotten expensive for the seller. But it's better than donating it I guess. Thanks for explaining it so well. Have a great day.
People are complaining, but #1 it is just a setting. If you don't like it, change it back to retail. #2 it is a reaction to customer complaints over shipping cost. Unless you do free shipping you probably have a 4.9 for shipping cost because most sellers do. In my opinion buyers just need to get used to higher shipping cost. Everything cost more than it did a couple of years ago.
Yeah I'm changing, I'm opting out of ebay,
eBay charges the 13% fees( estimated), and that’s on the total amount. Then they “ discount “ shipping at around 8%. Approximately a 5% shortage. So you’re not making that profit on shipping, it’s off setting the eBay fees but not all of it.
Poshmark live auction shows are the new hot way
Sounds like eBay is now just basing calculated shipping on the eBay discounted rate that sellers had the option to offer their buyers instead of the retail rate, but now the discounted rate will be mandatory. I assume the seller will still have the option to add a handling fee to the discounted shipping rate to cover fees, supplies, etc. and hopefully the actual shipping quote eBay will show the buyer will also include that.
i only do flat rate. but i only sell comics. So if im selling 1 comic i shipping costs 6.80 whether it’s going to cali or nj. sometimes i lose 20 cents sometimes i gain 20 cents. ebay calculations are way off so i don’t trust them
Yeah never trust the calculated for sure
I hardly do free shipping on anything.
I run sales and take offers often. So if I had free shipping, those sales would eat into my shipping. Especially on bigger heavier items. Usually I end up underpricing shipping anyway.
I do offer free shipping on a few smaller, higher profit items that I can easily predict the shipping cost off.
I will opt out too because I already put a lower weight on my items so that the shipping is lower for the buyer and more in line with what I end up paying with the shipping discount. I dont want to have to go change 100's of listings.
Ebay has also started charging more for International. I pay more fees because I'd I sell an item for 10.00 and it cost me 7.00 in shipping it now it shows the order total at 25.00. I thought they did away with that.
I'm a long time Seller and I'm not 100% sure but will probably opt out. I also normally ADD $1.50 - $2.00 for Handling charges. to offset, buying tape, labels, boxes, bubble wrap, etc. I disclose this to the Buyer in my listings. And yes, I realize it's sort of "double dipping" lol. Now, I am not doing this as a side hustle or a business. I'm retired and I do this for fun, but of course want to make a few bucks as well. (Just pointing out I'm not a professional Seller with a store.)
Everyone should opt out. Shipping is only one part of the purchase process on eBay. It depends on your location and how your listing and product stands up to other sellers item. If you have a video showing item works and the other seller has less photos, details and no video your item is more attractive to the buyer because you put in the extra effort.
I got the email this afternoon and noticed the verbiage at the end "Please note that this change will only apply to sellers receiving this email." I have 5 eBay stores but only received the email for 2 of them. Looks like they are limiting who can opt out. Something sneaky going on 👀
No they are limiting who is OPTED IN to begin with... everyone can opt out
@@RockstarFlipper Ah ha, I see. I only do free shipping so doesn't affect me. Will still opt out in case I have occasional odd item go calculated.
My issue is, I always underestimate my weight on the items, so basically giving the buyer some of the cost back anyway. I would say I get .50-1.50 out of the shipping which makes up for fees. Now, if I stayed opted in, all those items will now be at a loss and I will have to pay the extra shipping on all of them because again, I underestimated the shipping weight. So, I opted out.
The discount on shipping is how I cover my material cost (box, bubble wrap, etc). Now I have to add that to my product price. Tital nit for the sellers.
If you read the email which I did not get, it only went to certain sellers, not everyone. I found the link and opted out to make sure it did not affect me and to let eBay know I am not happy with this change by opting out.
So will eBay be giving up the fees they charge on shipping to attract more buyers or will we now pay that out of our pockets?
That will never happen or people will charge $1 for an item and $99 for shipping
@@RockstarFlipper with calculated shipping they do?
How’s that work?
@@aarbar6615 they charge a fee on all transactions. Entire transaction
Got any tips on why my eBay “shipping label” costed me $95 when my item was listed for $90…I have my own label printer.
Not sure what I did wrong.
It's always been a loss to pass the shipping discount on to the buyers. eBay's fees are basically the same as the shipping discount.
Question, do you now have to update the cost of the items because of the calculated shipping?
You dont have to... your still paying discounted price
I use flat rate shipping. Takes a few minutes to get a rhythm but it has less headaches than calculated. I typically need to add more insurance or sinature required for items over $500. Flat rate allows me to cover my arse.
Why do they always want to screw the seller? I don’t understand!
Because silence implies consent.
They have too many sellers and too much worthless inventory. I believe they are purposely driving all small sellers to their competition so they can only deal with enormous sellers. Less hassle for them.
Ebay is brave because, imho, they aren’t worried about the small sellers as the huge, cheap sellers in China are proliferating the platform. There’s no way to beat their prices. What the *customers receive is sometimes laughable! (Think WISH and the “what I ordered vs what I got” trend). *me… I was the customer!
I don't think this policy change benefits buyers much. Sellers can offer the discounted shipping rate, but price the item a higher or not budge on the listed price. Buyers look at total cost (purchase price, shipping, and sales tax). I don't think they care about the shipping fee as the long as the total cost is at or below what they are willing to pay.