posted on February 21, 2001 08:16:56 AM new
Changing TOS for shipping.
I'm really bumbed out. These new shipping rates are making me crazy!
Auctions ending this past weekend were the first run of the new Priority rate. Since the increase I was running auctions that could go 1st class.
Anyway...I was off on just about everyone of them.
How can something that I was sure would go for $4.30(old rate) now cost $6.35? I put on my auction page shipping $5.50(which would be $5.15 for postage). So I'm out $.85 plus all my expense for the ton of bubblewrap I use.
Sales were'nt even that good this round and I don't know if it was the added increase in shipping, e-bays funtionality(messing with my "picture gallery" or something else.
I'm thinking of changing my shipping TOS to this:
SHIPPING RATES:
Shipping will be accual postage by Priority Mail/1st Class/Media Rate(insurance upon request) and a $.75 material fee for breakables &/or Delicate items.
With the new shipping rates its to hard to estimate what the cost will be. Give me a day or 2 after auction ends to get your item/items boxed up to give you an accurate quote. Thank you!
posted on February 21, 2001 08:52:14 AM new
Packer, I know whaat you're talking about, and I have had to make myself a post-it note to refer to.
The weights of our items haven't changed...but our conceptions of "what they will go for" is part of the problem, compunded by the similarites in figures, which gets really confusing.
For instance, 5.15 was a 3 pound package (4.30) with insurance (.85). Now it's a 3 pound package before insurance, which makes it 6.25. (Whereas a 4 pound package was 5.40, and with insurance was 6.25.) It's just too easy to come up with the wrong figure.
I just keep reminding myself to think in terms of pounds, not item and not rate....and use my post-it note!
posted on February 21, 2001 08:54:43 AM new
Save yourself all the grief. Charge a flat rate and make some money on it. Don't get duped into the actual shipping trap.
posted on February 21, 2001 09:02:51 AM new
Since the usps rates went up so much I started doing a lot more ups for items weighing over 3lbs because the price is often better and includes insurance for up to $100. I was sending all my 5lbs & less parcels priority mail before, but now the cost is just too high. The purchase is often more attractive to the buyer if you can offer a better ship cost.
posted on February 21, 2001 09:17:19 AM new
Hi sharkbaby,
I like you was shipping UPS for anything over 5lbs. But with their new rate increase I haven't done a price comparison.
My PO is to darn handy to suit me, less then a 1/2 block away. Our UPS station is 6 miles away and don't open till 4:00pm. So for me and my scedule it is really inconvenient.
I really think this increase in postage has had a bad effect on bidding.
Its hard to get use to the fact that what once went for $4.30 is now going for $6.35(not including insurance).
I chewed my postmaster out yesterday over all the loss this has caused me...I really vented good on him. then I thanked him for letting me vent. I also work for him, so I felt justified! I told him If I got to go to our competitor(UPS), then thats just what I'll have to do.
posted on February 21, 2001 09:18:05 AM new
I'm thinking seriously about going back to an emphatic "We only charge ACTUAL shipping and insurance" instead of giving a figure.
Although buyers in this forum have said over and over that they want to see an amount, I'm not sure but what it's hurting me in some cases.
An example: A couple of weeks ago I had a heavy glass item listed for 24.95. I had a good description (with shipping charges) and a good picture.
Two days into the auction, while mine was setting there without a bid, someone else listed another one for 29.97. It had a dark, lousy picture and barely any description at all, ending with "buyer pays shipping"; the seller's feedback didn't compare to mine, and neither of us took Paypal (which I know makes a difference sometimes).
But guess who got the first bid? (I finally got my 24.95, but barely.)
The only thing I could think of was that my shipping charges sounded so high...maybe the bidder thought the other weighed less?
This isn't the only time I've noticed something like this, but I really don't know.
posted on February 21, 2001 09:23:39 AM new
Sometimes I forget how fortunate I am to work part time at a place that mails stuff. I have access to the UPS computer there & can bring my parcels in and key them in myself. It can be a hassle to go to ups in many towns, I imagine. I think that if I had to do that I would restrict my outgoing shipments to a couple days a week to make it more efficient.
PS...gc2: I think the main difference was your picture & feedback.
[ edited by sharkbaby on Feb 21, 2001 09:26 AM ]
posted on February 21, 2001 09:24:39 AM new"Its hard to get use to the fact that what once went for $4.30 is now going for 6.35(not including insurance)."
Packer, I'm your best friend, and I hate to tell you, but this statement is not correct.
The old rate for a package up to 3 pounds was 4.30, and now it is 5.15.
Maybe it really weighed more than you thought it did?
posted on February 21, 2001 09:43:21 AM new
I've been off my game for estimating shipping lately too. I just had two 5lb packages (sent to the same buyer)come to over $18 in Priority shipping with insurance. Frankly, I was so embarrassed by the shipping cost that I repackaged everything into one larger box that I compartmentalized. Took an extra hour to save the seller $6.
posted on February 21, 2001 09:44:36 AM new
hi gc2,
Its good to see ya.
Thats my point....I thought for sure that something that would list before for $4.30(old rate) would only be $5.15. But it turned out to be $6.35.
I'm talking about a lousy Cream & Sugar Set(no lid), that should have only gone for $5.15. It just totally floored me.
I thought putting $5.50 for shipping/handling in my terms was scary enough, I can't imagine if I'd of put $6.50 in there for shipping.
I thought I had a handle on the new rates, I guess I don't.
I can't box before putting them on because I have many that buy more then 1 thing....and if I put it in a priority box and they go international then I got to spend all that extra time reboxing finding a box.
I'm kinda leaning with you on the not putting the shipping price in....it just seems to scare many away. And if you can re-assure the buyer that there will be no shipping gouging then all the better.
taz,
Its not feasable for me to charge a flat rate, I sell a whole variety of things that come in all shapes & sizes.
posted on February 21, 2001 10:54:44 AM new
Hi mrhaneys,
Yes, I have a digital postage scale. And yes, I've done just what you have said. Put item in, some packing I think I'll need, weigh it, round it up. I've done all that. After a while you get a feel for it and all that shouldn't be nessesary. But this is so different...Just 1 or 2 oz. off and bam your hit with $1.10 more. I just this minute got done packing a serving bowl, not a big one, surely $4.50 postage is a gods plenty to ship this thing. WRONG! $5.15 it was over by 1.8oz. I open the box and start trimming cardboard, brought it to 1.2oz over. I GIVE UP!
I guess I'll have to relearn the whole postal system and there crummy fees all over again.
posted on February 21, 2001 12:18:02 PM new
Flat rate is the best way to go IMHO. Actual postage cost if a far cry from all my costs getting a package shipped. This is not a hobby for me but a business and I must get enough shipping to cover all my costs.
Perhaps, some buyers will choose not to buy from me becuase of smaller quotes from other sellers, but I find other customers like the simplicity of my up front flat rate which includes a formula for saving on mulitiple items.
Shipping is not a profit center for me. But, it is not a loss center for me either.
pcalton
Perry Calton [email protected]
http://www.pcalton.com
posted on February 21, 2001 12:48:09 PM new
A scale is the way to go. I use a online postage service and pay a flat monthly fee but I get to do all my postage at home. I figure out the rates before the auction and add a few ounces to be on the safe side. The problem with using "Actual shipping charges" is that you will lose money for materials and will have a hell of a lot more email to deal with. Also, if you don't already use Certificate Of Mailing, start using it! It serves as proof that your item was sent. I always require items to be signed over a certain dollar amount but for items under $50, I use the COM because PayPal, BillPoint and eBay accept that as proof that your item was shipped. Actually, since I started using it I have not had one complaint that an item has not been recieved!
Actually, that is not true. I did get a few complaints and after I sent a nice letter stating that I would kindly show the bidders proof that their item was sent, I never heard from them again, or suddenly they emailed me telling me they just recieved their item. Anyway, thats just my 2 cents...
posted on February 21, 2001 01:28:14 PM new
There should always be a fudge factor in your shipping charge...never more than a dollar or so to allow for whatever extra weight seems to tilt the scale at the Post Office forward.
posted on February 21, 2001 01:32:44 PM new
Hi digitalmaster,
Right now I try to be as accurate as possible when stating my shipping charges and if I think it is close to the next level I put that in to be on the safe side. But I also add that if I overcharge by a dollar or more a refund will be packed with the item. No mention that if you underpay me you have to make up the difference.
I think where I ran into trouble this time was I was going by the old shipping weight but putting in the new shipping price. At the time it seemed resonable. However it didn't come out that way.
I thought about the e-mails of asking HOW MUCH to ship such & such. I still don't think I could gain because I'd have to pack it and weigh it anyway to be able to tell them.
There is just no easy solution to this.
I know I don't want to have to mess with the stuff more then once when it comes to getting it ready for shipment.
I just now thought of another solution to this.
I try to use the 12" x 7" priority box on the majority of stuff. I could pack something up with all the nessesary packing, take the item out and then weigh the box & packing only. Then all I'd have to do when listing is weigh the item and add what the box and packing weighed adding a few ounces for tape and label. That might just work and then I'd only have to handle the item twice.
Its something to chew on.
posted on February 21, 2001 06:21:35 PM new
Think you guys have problems?
I am in Canada.
Canada Post did not change our rates, BUT they added a 'density volume' factor!
The formula which is L x W x H +DV (in ins)
and devide by 165 = the wt you will pay for.
I shipped a pair of snowshoes! Wt was actuall 3.5 lbs but they charged me eg 7 lbs.
Well I started getting used to their formula and things went smoothly for a while.
THEN they stopped my shippings. They said that I had oversized parcels!
The additional charge is $7.00 per parcel!
Now every time I go to the PO they take out a tape measure first!
When I have an actual heavy box (30 or so lbs) that costs what it actually weighs they break it.
Guess the postie mutters' D--m him, does he think I'm tarzan! I'll show him" Heave Ho--crash!
Do like I have done.
Down load the postal charts, and use a digital scale!
When I use an online postal calculator I print out the results and the postal clerk always accepts the printout!
or something else.
then I thanked him for letting me vent. I also work for him, so I felt justified! I told him If I got to go to our competitor(UPS), then thats just what I'll have to do.