I wish eBay got this kind of shipping discounts

[Shirley U Geste]

Just saw today on QVC that they are now charging only $3 shipping on all apparel, beauty, and jewelry.

And yes, that includes big heavy coats.  

Wish eBay could get discounts like that, but then they probably wouldn't pass them along to sellers.  

[SA]

I'm sure QVC is eating the cost on the additional shipping.

Charging their customers only $3, when they are actually paying $5.

[val2525]

I'm with Liz. EBay gets the commercial plus base rate, which is about as low as the USPS goes (AFAIK). eBay doesn't pass the savings on to everyone though.

[Shirley U Geste]

On the clothing yes, but on jewelry and many beauty items they can still be making a profit on the shipping.

Great for me as a customer. But they have a huge amount of buyers who I hope won't think that everyone can ship at those prices. 

It may make me reconsider free shipping, or at least just going to a cheap flat cost and putting the rest into the sales price. 

[SA]

Every website/company that I shop with all have their own shipping rates. Some are high, some are a low flat rate and some are always "free".

Just like on shopping on eBay.

I personally charge a flat rate on my first class and on my Priority. I make some on most, and lose on a couple. It just makes it easier for me.

[Pantlandia]

I believe Overstock.com has offered $2.95 shipping for as long as I can remember.

[val2525]

I get free shipping at Overstock, I'm in some kind of O Club.

But QVC's clothing prices are kinda high (for what I look at, anyway), so even with $3 shipping, I doubt I'll be inclined to buy.

I like it when retailers offer F/S on a minumum purchase, but lower the minimum. Avenue offers it all the time at $150, but I wait until it's F/S at $75 or $99 and then buy. Same with Macy's or Catherine's - I wait until the minimum purchase is a bit more reasonable, then I buy.

[val2525]

Feb 8, 2015 21:12:24 GMT Shirley U Geste said:

On the clothing yes, but on jewelry and many beauty items they can still be making a profit on the shipping.

Great for me as a customer. But they have a huge amount of buyers who I hope won't think that everyone can ship at those prices. 

It may make me reconsider free shipping, or at least just going to a cheap flat cost and putting the rest into the sales price. 

That's what I do, charge flat rate on everything so that the buyer sees a higher price on the shipping label, and add the difference to my item price.

[Shirley U Geste]

I've got lots of very heavy shoes (Dansko, clogs, wood soled things, etc) to list.  

Even with the RR boxes 2 lb is pricey shipping and makes people hesitate.   On those I may start to charge say $7.50 flat rate and roll part of the ship cost into the price.

Buyers end up paying basically the same price, but so many seem to hesitate when shipping gets over $9.   They don't think in terms of total cost.

I'm going to experiment with it and see what happens. 

[val2525]

eBay did a study a few years back and reported at one of the eBay live events that buyers didn't like paying more than $7.95 for shipping. For once, I have to agree with eBay and I think there is some truth in that, because if you notice, soft item shipping seems to be $6.95-$7.95, depending on retailer. I changed my heavy item shipping to $7.95 max after I read that, added anywhere from $5-$10 to the item price, and so far it's worked pretty well. The only time I charge more is my buy 3+ and shipping is flat rate $10. Buyers taking advantage of this often buy 5+ items.

[kritter]

I charge a flat rate for shipping too and just add a couple of dollars to the price of the item.

I do a lot of shoes and never go over $7.50 on my "charged" shipping. I also leave the total shipping price on the label so the buyer thinks they got a good deal on shipping.

[Deleted]

I did a flat rate that subsidized shipping a little (slipping it into the item price) so that I could put the price on the address label and have it less than the buyer paid. Val originally gave me the idea! It worked great for a long time.

However, with the new return request function, I have had to drop that method. With a return request refund, the refund minus shipping option will not deduct anything more than the shipping cost you charged. If you are not in the Hassle-Free system, you cannot deduct a restocking fee to make up for the difference. (If you are in the Hassle-Free system, you can do a fee, but you have no power to alter the fee.)

That would mean that the old way of charging shipping (a couple bucks in the item price) would result in my losing money each time I took a return. So I recently had to go to a higher flat rate on lighter items and calculated ship costs on heavier ones.

[val2525]

Go to no returns. Join us on the Dark Side.

[Shirley U Geste]

No returns is the dark side?   Cool

I'm trying out charging a flat $7.95 on stuff 2 lb or over that I can put in a RR box.

I will print the labels so it shows the actual shipping cost. 

When you do that do you highlight it on the label so the buyer sees it and knows they paid less?

[Deleted]

Feb 13, 2015 5:00:41 GMT val2525 said:

Go to no returns. Join us on the Dark Side.

Well, actually I do have something to add.  

I've been no returns and intend to stay that way! 

[Deleted]

I'm a no returns seller and also have free shipping. I went to free shipping when I was new and got dinged several times on my shipping stars. I felt like I was basically forced in to it. I am seriously considering charging a shipping fee on items over 13oz and like the idea of charging a partial fee and off setting the rest.

As a customer I hate when I feel like I'm being fleeced on shipping. I used to bid on a lot of items from shopgoodwill.com. Then they lost their mind and got crazy on the shipping. There is no way that I'm paying 12.95 on an item that will cost them $2 to ship.