posted on March 29, 2006 11:51:56 AM
I am currently selling widgets on ebay for a VERY reasonable price...They are all different types of widgets...My shipping charges are in my auction...I charge $3 S/H for the first widget, and $1 each for any additional...One guy bought 6 of them, and the S/H came to $8...I can send them all for $4.05 Priority Mail, but I add all my fees (Paypal, Vendio, & Ebay) into my S/H...I'm kinda feeling somewhat guilty about the $8 S/H for these, but yet the other $4 covers my fees...All but one widget sold for $5 (my starting bid), the other one sold for $10.50...He sent full payment by Paypal and didn't complain (knowing full well they are light and won't cost $8 to ship)...Am I out of line here with doing it this way?
P.S. I have a feeling he may buy some others I have on now also...Was thinking of emailing him and tell him I will reduce his shipping on multiple orders in the future...
posted on March 29, 2006 12:00:58 PM
jefflh12
your shipping seems to be in line with being fair. I too have felt guilty with shipping at times but if they are good bargins he is willing to pay the shipping he is happy I believe. When you should feel guilty is when your shipping is high to begin with and you still charge more for more wigets. You know like $12.95 shipping on a small item that goes first class for about a dollar then charge another $6.95 for aditional items of same weight all going for that dollar. I see a lot of sellers that way overcharge for shipping and additional items also. That is when you should feel guilty, not with your charges though. That is my personal opinion FWIW.
**************
Some minds are like concrete,
thoroughly mixed up and permanently set.
It is nice to see someone here posting with concern for their customer as much as you do.
Your shipping terms are more than reasonable, they probably are a little shy of where they should be. I for one would have had the first item at $4.25 then $1.00 per item after that. Your buyer in this case probably got a bargain.
You can quit feeling quilty now.
SC
P.S. I have a feeling he may buy some others I have on now also...Was thinking of emailing him and tell him I will reduce his shipping on multiple orders in the future...
That is a great idea. Much of your sales will be from repeat buyers if you treat them right.
[ edited by stonecold613 on Mar 29, 2006 01:53 PM ]
posted on March 29, 2006 09:02:57 PM
I have NEVER had a repeat buyer, don't even think about it, but I have, had buyers who BOUGHT eveything I had in that particular item. $1000's.... of dollars for ONE auction for a $9.99 item....Worked a deal and it worked....
posted on March 30, 2006 05:02:11 AM
I have also felt like you did when I sold dutch auction items and if someone bought 20 sets of hinges shipping would be combined but I would be fair about the cost, for example if the shipping came out to 1.25 for each hinge that would make shipping 25.00, but I would lower the cost to 13.00. I figured shipping would cost 8.00 so the balance covers my fees and my time and the buyer is still getting a good deal.
In your case there is not a large amount left over for you to worry about because you are only charging a 1.00 for each additional which is very fair. Out of that dollar you figure your listing fee, FVF,PP fee and packing material so whats really left out of 1.00?........0 is left
People that charge 8.00 or more for shipping and they ship the item for only 0.85 cents to me that is overcharging but your not overcharging
posted on April 4, 2006 11:44:36 AM
Thanks for your take on things everyone...Just to update you...I wrote the guy and told him I'd work with him on shipping or send him something in return for all his purchases if it was especially high...Had some more wigets on auction that ended Sunday night...The same buyer bought 12 of the 20 I had on auction this time (I think somebody said they never get repeat buyers)...I added up all my fees and it came to within 48 cents of the $14 combined shipping fees Ebay, Vendio, Paypal), and that's without adding postage!...I wrote and thanked him for his Paypal payment and told him I'd be sending him 2 feebies along as appreciation for his business (He bought $95 worth this time)...
posted on April 4, 2006 02:58:28 PM
Repeat customers, especially those you convert from eBay to direct website sales, can be worth their weight in gold. I reward them with lower or free shipping (on larger orders) since it more than offsets the fees that would have been payable to eBay.
eBay sales are a different matter as our flat-rate handling often covers most of our eBay fees.
Jack!