Ok Ebay Sellers.. - What am I doing wrong?

Crystalina wrote: For some reason whenever I ship something to a buyer the shipping I put is less then what it actually costs me. Which means I pay the differance of course. I've even used the caculate so they can figure it out and it comes up less then what I actually have to pay. A friend of mine who has a store on Ebay says that she leaves everything at the same shipping price and charges a handleing fee just incase something like that happens. I don't want to charge someone more shipping then what it costs but at the same time I'm tired of putting a dollar or sometimes even $5 of my money to ship something. Any suggestions?

moped replied: Always happens to me

Our Lil' Family replied: No suggestions as I just got stuck too. I sold something for $14 with $10 shipping and I ended up paying $21 shipping!!!!! So I made $3 not counting the cut paypal took!!!

mom2my2cuties replied: My suggestion would be to get a scale and calculate exact shipping by weight, zipcode, and box deminsions.


And if you do a lot (heck or even a small amount) of shipping from sales, talk to UPS and FedEx and they will get you an account and that way you can print the invoices and they will pick them up at your house.

I prefer UPS because they have nice perks. Free computers and things like that, however, FedEx is cheaper...but you get no perks with them.

mckayleesmom replied: I would try the flat rate shipping boxes....

lisar replied: Get the flat rate boxes from the post office. That way no matter what you put in them and no matter the weight its always the same shipping. Thats what I do. its the same no matter what.

moonbeanmomma replied: I say revolt!


*peers about*


.... or go with the flat rate boxes or the whole S&H thing. That sounds good.

Crystalina replied: Omg! It just took almost 2min for this reply box to come up!



I will look into that. It's getting to the point where it's costing me money to sell something. I'm not trying to make an income with it , just get rid of some things, but I don't want to lose money while doing it. It's like here you buy this from me and I'll pay you to take it.

Ellie replied: I always round up by about 2-3 dollars when I sell something. It evens out (some are more than I calculate and some are less)

mom2my2cuties replied:
Then they aren't calculating in for the zipcode you sell too. I wouldn't set a shipping price until after the sale. If you can still do that. I know used to be, when I would buy items the seller could send an invoice after the sale that included the correct shipping costs. Since you don't know who is going to buy it and where they live, you can't figure it exact before hand. Also don't forget to also make sure you include the charge for your box and such if you use new boxes

mom21kid2dogs replied: Ebay has a built in shipping calculator that can figure it for you based on weight and zip code. It's in your seller's tools. Like someone else, I always add in a $1 or so extra for handling so I never screw myself.

FWIW, I think it's harder to sell if you aren't upfront about the shipping costs. Personally, I never bid on anything if they don't list the shipping costs upfront. I hate shipping suprise! Too many sellers make up their lack of high bid with inflated shipping after the sale. I set a minimum bid, set a shipping price (go high if you are not using the seller calculator) and hope for the best!

Crystalina replied:

I used that the last time I sold and got ripped. I sold some cards for my nephew and the shipping was only going to be $7 and change and when my sister took it to get shipped it cost her $16 dollars. Now some of that was her fault because it was supposed to be shipped in a large envelope and she paid for a box. But the shipping would have still been higher then what they said even with the envelope because I called the woman at the shop and asked her how much it would have been my way (with the envelope) and she said about $12. There is still a five dollar differance.

And I would never buy from a seller who didn't have the shipping either. No way.