posted on December 12, 2004 01:46:30 PM
I'm wondering how the people who ship flat rate decide on what to charge as a flat fee. For example: Do you take the highest shipping fee possible to cover someone from a higher zone? Or, do you take the "average" fee for shipping?
Also, if you have people winning multiple auctions do you combine the weight for all the items and then come up with a new rate?
When combining multiple auctions do you just lose out on all the extra fees per auction (insertion fee, Final Value)?
posted on December 12, 2004 03:11:43 PM
Not sure I know what you mean about losing fees when selling multiple items.
But I'm glad you asked your basic question here. I would like to know if people on the far West Coast or far East Coast use a flat rate. Seems to me we could be out a lot with a flat rate, shipping, say, priority to the east coast from our here in the west.
Although there are people here who say they come out even. . . .
I base my flat rate shipping on Zone 8 for Priority or FedEx. For Priority I charge postage only, FedEx I add in for my packing materials.
First class is, of course, not zone-based. I also add a moderate amount to cover my packing materials for First Class.
Sometimes with FedEx, if the person is on some mountain top in the Applechain's or somewhere else equally obscure , the residential surcharge is higher than normal but it evens out on the shipping to people who are closer than Zone 8. Dang - that's a long sentence!
I've had no complaints ever on my shipping costs.
If I lived in the Midwest I'd base my S/H on a middle zone.
posted on December 12, 2004 04:47:50 PM
I have always used flat rate and my method works perfectly with combined shipping and eBay's checkout.
I set my rate for Zone 8 as I am in California and 65% of the U.S. population is located within 750 miles of Philadelphia, PA which is Zone 8 for me. For combined shipping I charge the stated shipping on the highest item won and then deduct $3 from each additional item purchased.
posted on December 12, 2004 05:16:21 PM
Hi, Lucy: I'm amazed that you've gotten no complaints on your zone 8 flat rate. A 4# package from SLO to, say, Nevada then would be $10.35 instead of $7.05, right? I suppose most buyers don't know how to use the domestic rate calculator, but still that seems like a huge difference. Not questioning your judgment, of course, just thinking that, if buyers don't complain about the flat-rate, I may consider doing that myself. If an item will ship at over a pound, I always tell the buyer something like "priority shipping weight is 2#; no further charges."
I just need some encouragement to try this, I guess! Tell me it'll be okay.
[ edited by Roadsmith on Dec 12, 2004 05:18 PM ]
Well, no, a 4-pounder wouldn't go Priority. I'd send it FedEx for $7.50, which includes insurance.
Personally, I think one reason I have no complaints is because I spell it out. "Insured shipping to your street address will be $7.50." Or: "For First Class mail, S/H will be $2.75." That would be for a 10 ounce package.
Occasionally I'll give a couple of options but generally I don't.
No mention of Priority unless that's how it's going to be sent, which I try to avoid. I think bidders get hung up on Priority thinking it's way more expensive or the seller is making some huge profit because they know the boxes are free.
posted on December 12, 2004 06:39:15 PM
Thank, Lucy. Your way makes sense. The difference for me is that I can't use Fedex--no drop-off site in our whole town, and I'd have to drive 35 miles off the mountain to a Fedex place. However, I know there's a Fedex truck that comes up to town to deliver packages, so maybe I could look into that for a home pickup. Hmmm.
I like your wording and may borrow it sometime, with your permission.
posted on December 12, 2004 07:04:04 PM
Lucy: I kinda liked "Adelke." When I'm in a hurry and type my own name, it often comes out "Adlee." Adelke sounds, um, vaguely Scandinavian.
No, we have no Kinko's! I know it's hard to believe, but our town of 2500 or so has NO chain stores whatsoever--sort of a town rule. No fast food chains, no grocery chains, no any store chains. We have two independent grocery stores, a general store, secretarial services, lots of arts and culture shops, small businesses, many very good restaurants. Nothing like Kinko's (and we love it anyway). It's 35 miles downhill to Kinko's. A lot of us get our hill dress-up clothes (read: jeans and tee shirts) from sites like QVC. I haven't worn a dress in 3 years, since moving here. Idyllwild formal is "men must wear shoes." The women all wear pants outfits and bless the day that became a reality.
We hill people go to the flatlands about every couple of weeks for heavy-duty grocery shopping, errands like Kinko's, Wal-Mart, etc., and resent every second we're off the hill. Coming back up we can breathe again!
Anyway, a long answer to your question. Seems to me, though that my husband has sent things via Fedex overseas and they were picked up right at our door. I'm going to look into what that would cost got my bigger items, which don't come along very often at all.
posted on December 12, 2004 07:56:09 PM
Fed x has an overnight box at the post office here, as part of there cooperation thing on using the same planes for transport.
Which ever one has the cheapest weight depending on how heavy go for it. Most of my items are 1 to 2 lb thing and I state shipping/h $4.00 international rates vary, have never had a problem.
when you state shipping in the auction body their is no guess work they know what they are buying and getting. It is more than fair.I do not gouge people either on shipping to make up for the cheap price of an item. I think this is what gives mini-merchants like us a bad name are those that try to make the profit on the shipping instead of the item.
posted on December 12, 2004 09:01:17 PM
Trying to determine a flat rate to charge for a shipment before knowing the destination can be quite difficult, especially if you live either on the west or east coast. You have no way of knowing if the winning bidder will be 100 miles away, or 2500 miles away. The most accurate and fair way that I have found is to print up charts showing the rates to all zones for various weights of the items I sell. Then when I'm writing up the description, I pick the chart with the appropriate weight and throw a dart at it from 25 feet. Wherever the dart sticks, is what the shipping will be for that item. You win some, you lose some, and some are called on account of rain.
A $75.00 solid state device will always blow first to protect a 25 cent fuse ~ Murphy's Law
posted on December 13, 2004 05:33:12 PM
Thanks everyone for all your valuable information.
FYI: I'm sure this has been mentioned before BUT . . . there is a new flat rate Post Office shipping BOX. I think there are two sizes of these flat rate boxes. They are free from the PO, just like priority boxes are free. They ship at $7.70 per box no matter what the weight is.
, the residential surcharge is higher than normal but it evens out on the shipping to people who are closer than Zone 8. Dang - that's a long sentence!
Aebleskiver it is! However, I'm half Swedish, not Danish. Adelke