Selling Auto Parts - just started, already mad

[Deleted]

Just started listing. Sold one already. So when I was listing I would go to completed and use the sell similar as some of them had the info plugged in enough to populate all the makes and models for the part. 

I went to print shipping. I selected economy. Priority popped up with the weight and dimensions. It came up as 2 oz in priority. Unless I'm wrong, THAT weight came from my sell similar seller. Yes? 

I think that's how these other auto parts sellers are doing it. They're saving a bunch on shipping. The 2 oz came out around 6 something. The actual weight - 7 pounds came out around 24. Big difference. But if they go through a busy PO with a lot of customers, the postal clerks will see the priority label and go with it. Fedex came in around 14. 

Is my theory wrong? 

[57roses]

I think your theory is correct. I bought a pair of shoes awhile back. The seller was in NY. I think it was free shipping and I was wondering how they made money shipping across country.
When the shoes arrived they were shipped as 1 lb . The actual weight was closer to 2 lb.

I think it's true that a busy P.O. could easily miss that it says 2 oz rather than 2 lbs.

On the other hand I sent something out as 1 lb when it weighted 1.01 and sure enough the buyer contacted me with a photo of postage due and I had to shell out another $5.95.

[chapeaunoir]

On the other hand I sent something out as 1 lb when it weighted 1.01 and sure enough the buyer contacted me with a photo of postage due and I had to shell out another $5.95.

They may have nicked the buyer (and subsequently you) in error - I was told by one of the supervisors at my post office that there's .04 oz wriggle room due to simple uncalibrated scales. If you have a package at 1.03 lb, it should go through. She stated that this was USPS policy, though I haven't found it. She's incredibly sharp and knowledgeable, though.

[mythingsforu]

That's funny because I just experienced just the opposite.
On my scale it weighed 1.0 so that's what I printed the label for.
At the PO, the clerk said its 1.01 so I owe more money. I tried to
whine nicely, he said no.

I think it really depends on the mood of the clerk sometimes.

[Deleted]

There are a few items that I didn't list because after shipping I would make around 3 dollars if I priced similar to other auto part sellers.That doesn't include assigning the item some value.

[sunsetpainter]

I sell car parts too and sometimes it's just not worth it. Sometimes if you have a specialty part you have to wait a while for just the right person looking for it. Scammers in this department too. I sold a guy 4 brand new glo-plugs (spark plugs) and as soon as he got them he said they were all bad. Ri-i-i-i-ght. I politely told him to send them back and I'd have them checked out. Said he'd just keep them as it was too much of a bother to send them back. Uh, yeah. ::eye roll::

I sell some tires too. Those are fun to ship! LOL

[Deleted]

We use to sell so much stuff in Motors. I loved it until they made all the changes with Paypal.

Now - I'm doing these car parts and things have changed a bit. For larger items I use to ship with Amtrak and Greyhound. Not sure if you can still do that without getting dinged for tracking. Does ebay support greyhound and Amtrak?

[chapeaunoir]

Nov 17, 2016 2:28:15 GMT mythingsforu said:

That's funny because I just experienced just the opposite.
On my scale it weighed 1.0 so that's what I printed the label for.
At the PO, the clerk said its 1.01 so I owe more money. I tried to
whine nicely, he said no.

I think it really depends on the mood of the clerk sometimes.

Oh good grief!  Some people are real tin pot tyrants, aren't they?

I just sling my packages in a trolley where they have a hand-lettered sign tacked on saying to drop pre-paids there - my local PO station is pretty busy as there are a lot of small businesses in my neighbourhood, so stuff is continually being loaded into the trolley - I think they just about keep up with hauling it to the back, getting it scanned and on the loading dock and into the trucks to the sorting center.  They don't weigh anything unless the box looks too big and then they measure it and stick it back onto your front stoop if it goes into surcharge and you haven't paid for it. They'll give you a half inch wriggle room ONLY on that. I've have packages 1" too big stuck back onto my porch. At least they don't send them on and then ding the customer, for which I'm grateful to them.

ETA: @dantes I used to sell large, lumpy items - car top bike racks, sets of bike wheels, vintage audio equipment, a couple of full sized mannequins, etc. I swear, that stuff caused me more heartache than anything else I've ever sold, including the 45 pieces of Avon Cape Cod glass that people would buy in multiples (wrap up a double tier hors d'oeuvres plate, two huge goblets and a pitcher in one box and find it weighs about 12 lb because that stuff is so danged heavy).

[sunsetpainter]

Dantes, I never shipped anything that big because I didn't know how. We just did doors, hoods, and such on CL or local papers.

I did ship a few Harley Davidson motorcycle fairings. DH would wrap those in cardboard and they all just managed to get through with the maximum dimensions. Had the PO scratching their heads on how to measure them! They looked so lumpy and weird. lol

[Deleted]

We use Craig's List, too. But we may try Motors again for collectible stuff if we get around to it.

Ebay use to be fun with that stuff before all the Paypal (online payment) requirements and uploaded tracking. Buyers were happy we would drop stuff off at Greyhound for them. - Cheap shipping. And Amtrak, too. We really went out of the way for buyers. That's what made a cool buyer - seller relationship.

[Deleted]

I'm not positive on the weight because I've never done another sell similar from another seller.

However, If someone were to do a sell similar from one of my listings - if it works like that, they could very well get an incorrect weight that's much lower or higher than actual.

I do almost all flat rate shipping anymore. When I'm in a hurry, I don't even bother with putting a correct weight in (when listing), since it's flat rate. I just put in the actual weight when I pack & print the shipping label.