posted on May 26, 2002 12:27:24 PM
I SELL ABOUT 150 AUCTIONS PER WEEK AND LATER FIGURING OUT S&H WOULD BE A KILLER - I USE AUCTION WATCHES WINNING BIDDER NOTICE SPECIALLY TO HAVE S&H AND ALL INFO ALREADY DONE AND SENT WHILE I SLEEP ! (ONLY TO GET BACK THE COPIES OF THEM BEING SENT).
I HAVE MANUALLY DONE S&H NOW ON PACKAGES OVER 5LBS ONLY SINCE THAT IS WHERE THE ZONE RATES WOULD CHANGE THE AMOUNT.
I AM IN NEW YORK -ZONE 1 AND SHIPPING ESPECIALLY TO ZONE 80 CALIFORNIA ETC WILL BE VERY EXPENSIVE ...
I WAS THINKING OF USING ZONE 6 RATE AS AN AVERAGE- SOME BUYERS WOULD END UP PAYING LESS (HAPPY BUERS!) AND SOME WOULD PAY MORE (WON'T BE HAPPY WHEN THEY SEE THE POSTAGE ON THE BOX)...
ANY OTHER THOUGHTS IDEAS? WHAT ARE YOU FELLOW SELLERS GOING TO BE DOING?.... MY NEXT BATCH WILL COMES OUT FRIDAY JUNE 14TH AND WILL END ON JUNE 25- JUST IN TIME TO START SHIPPING THEM WITH NEW RATE FOR JUNE 30!!
THANKS FOR SUGGESTIONS.
posted on May 26, 2002 03:16:35 PM
how about adding 65 cents to every shipment/order??
i ship many small items via first class,so i am not affected,my issue is really the cost of packing .
posted on May 26, 2002 03:57:08 PM
I am in Florida. My stuff is usually under 5 pounds and have started using AW's 2 custom s/h/i fields to say, $x.xx Eastern US and $x.xx Western US. Thankfully, items are usually 30-75$ so my fixed shi can leave me a $ or so to work with. Hopefully buyers will consider the Mississippi as the dividing line, but if they are west of it and pay the Eastern rate, I'll live with it. If AW gave us a longer field for the shipping method, it would help! Any way you cut it, it's a pain and I'm sure will affect the amount of business we do.
posted on May 26, 2002 05:39:17 PM
I just charge everyone for the furthest zone away from my house. If they are closer, I consider it handling, and it goes toward shipping expenses.
posted on May 26, 2002 06:03:33 PM
Everything is Zone 8 from here in Alaska. Which is really unfair to us fellow Americans up here. We don't even have the option of Fed Ex or UPS ground. This may end up pricing me out of business. I may have to get a 9-5 job. Horrors!
posted on May 26, 2002 07:13:03 PM
Just charge a flat shipping and handling rate. I charge $7 priority no matter where and how much it weighs. I do pretty good.
posted on May 26, 2002 07:43:40 PM
Ebay has a discussion board for Power Sellers. On that board it appears that many high-volume sellers are saying they will be switching to UPS and FedEx ground, that they are in the process of doing so right now.
I only list 10 items or less each week. I am at least going to look into UPS and FedEx Ground, do some comparison shopping. I am a registered business, so both entities may pick up at my home, even though I am a business at a residential address. If so, that might be the deciding factor for me to make a switch.
One idea I am mulling over is to ship just once a week. I see others sellers are quite effective with that strategy. These sellers put up ten-day auctions to end Friday through Sunday, and they ship on Wednesday. That gives enough time for electronic payments to be processed, and anything being mailed gets caught up in future shipments. A once-a-week shipment would fit in nicely with a UPS or FedEx pickup at the home.
I liked fixed shipping rates. It makes for immediate electonic payments. I will probably do as others suggest, choose the cost for the highest zone, and whichever carrier I use, that will be the cost I quote.
Right now, I am leaning toward switching carriers. The post office is in a lot of trouble. The increased rates are going to reduce demand and use, and their revenues will drop despite the increased rates. Think what the post office's next step will be. My guess is it will be to start charging for those supplies. My thinking is that it will be foolish for me to stay with the post office just because I get free boxes.
posted on May 26, 2002 10:13:22 PM
I will stick with the USPS. I ship mostly small boxes with jewelry all weighing just a few ounces. I use 1st class shipping unless the customer requests priority. UPS is not a viable option for packages of this size and weight. The increase will not change my rates as the cost of boxes and supplies is built into my s/h fee. I charge from $2.00 - $2.50 for most items. Insurance is optional on items under $50.00. The shipping cost is listed in every auction. I have never had a complaint from a customer (even when the package showed .58 actual postage)or a damage claim. My customers get a bubble wrapped item in a stong clean box with white tissue paper. The addition of Delivery confirm for 1st class is great and will be a plus for me. I am quite happy with the USPS. I have a great post office with great clerks and I have had only 2 packages go missing with over 3000 items shipped worldwide and have never had a chargeback.
posted on May 26, 2002 10:21:39 PM
Most of my packages are also less than five pounds, so I did some comparison pricing between the new USPS rates and the UPS and Fedex rates. USPS still beats UPS when it comes to small packages (if you don't factor in the tracking and insurance, but those are optional for my packages), and I was already opting for UPS with my big/heavy packages. Fedex comes close to USPS - their prices are in fact lower than USPS's, until you notice that they charge a $1.10 fee for delivering to residential addresses, at which point their prices are comparable to the new USPS rates.
Another thing to consider is coverage - Fedex does not yet cover all of the USA, though they claim that they will be soon. From a marketing standpoint, I think Fedex should seriously consider creating their own nationwide fixed-rate package delivery system - a lot of sellers, both ebay and others, would flock to such a simple system. I don't think the USPS realizes that the fixed nationwide rate is what makes Priority Mail so appealing, even moreso than the free boxes.
Until such time, I'll be sticking with USPS just because of the free boxes and the fact that their locations are so convenient to me (I usually ship from a USPS substation located in the same building where I work).
When the USPS rate increase hits, I plan on taking a two week vacation, after which I plan on selling a lot of stuff that can be shipped via Media and First Class Mail. Let's face it, most ebay buyers have no idea what sort of price hike they're in for, so I'll let other ebay sellers break the news to them so I don't have to deal with the initial backlash. Then I'll check the message boards to see what's working for other sellers. I might go with one fixed rate, or possibly with the two fixed rates, depending on which side of the Mississippi the buyer lives. I currently charge only the exact postage rate, and I'd like to continue with that, but the new zone system might make that too much of a hassle.
I considered the "charge the highest rate to all and consider any extra money a handling fee" concept, but I quickly ditched it. That means when sending a three pound package, for instance, that I'd charge $8.55 for a package that might cost $4.75 to ship. I sell a lot of low to mid priced collectibles, and I can only imagine that charging a fixed $8.55 would drive away a lot of bidders. I also believe that handling charges should be fixed - it takes the same amount of time and material to ship a package across the continent as it does across town, doesn't it? I just don't think it would be fair to the across-the-town buyer to pay a $4 handling fee in order to give the cross-country buyer a free ride. Just my opinion of course...
posted on May 26, 2002 11:32:17 PM
ewora - Ouch! Guess that goes for Hawaii too, that really puts you at a real disadvantage.
For those planning to switch to Fedex or UPS, consider that they usually have annual price increases, and with USPS going up so much this time around, I would expect them to have a decent increase too. They already have USPS beat on service, so if they are a lot cheaper for a certain rate, they might not be so cheap next time around.
I am going to seriously consider parcel post - The new rates will be less than priority mail, it will be a shame to give up the free supplies but I think I can do it cheaper with my own boxes than using the "free" ones.
The annoying part will be not being able to list a standard shipping price - This means lots of email asking what shipping will be, and people bidding at the last minute may not bid without a shipping price.
It's going to be ugly! Glad I am on vacation from June 15-July 15, I just closed my last auction until late July...
posted on May 27, 2002 05:37:46 AM
Was at my post office on Sat morning. The clerk who waits on us told us to keep in mind that the post office is talking about no more free boxes. Something about at the end of the year. I am going to order more now and hold them.
posted on May 27, 2002 06:52:58 AM
No more free boxes? Gotta give the USPS credit - when they shoot themselves in the foot, they use a howitzer.
If we'll have to come up with our own boxes, then I'm with ahc3 - may as well ship Parcel Post and at least pass along a lower shipping rate to the customer.
What's all the more amazing is that they're currently running an advertising campaign crowing about how Priority Mail will save money for small businesses - even their website hits you with this message right on the homepage. I wonder if they'll pull that campaign when the change happens?
posted on May 27, 2002 07:03:04 AM
I switched to UPS 2 years ago after too many battles with the Post Office and too many hours wasted standing in line. I print my shipping labels off the computer, drop the packages off to UPS on Fridays, no standing in lines. Insurance is free under 100.00. (Which would cost 2.20 with USPS.) Every insurance claim I've had with UPS has been paid immediately. (I ate approximately 500.00 with the Post Office.) I solved the small package problem with UPS by charging a flat 5.00 for all packages under 2 lbs. I post the shipping in all of my TOS's, so the bidder knows what they will be charged. But, the insurance is included. So far no complaints!
posted on May 28, 2002 04:52:43 PM
I will stick with Priority Mail. I have a scale & weigh every item before I put up the auction. Everything I ship (with few exceptions) goes out Priority Mail Insured. I will continue doing this even if the PO doesn't give free boxes. I ship mainly china & pottery & in the past 2 years I have had 2 claims in over 500 shipments.
[ edited by sanmar on May 28, 2002 04:53 PM ]
posted on May 29, 2002 08:55:26 PM
I just re-started with E-bay after taking care of some personal issues along with issues I had with people working with me (resons for my negative feedback) and have been selling mainly used items I had around the house. Small value items most closed under $10.00 one closed around $23.00 and have used Priority Mail for everything. Even when the rates go up I'm going to stay with Priority Mail. I'm in New Jersey so I'll most likley do two rates one for east of the miss and one for west charging the rate for the highest zone. As a consumer I've had problems will all the shippers but the Postal Service so I'll stick with them. I do the free delivery confrimation off their web site.
