E-bay shipping pricing formula, what has changed?

[is it windy yet?]

With extra time on my hands I have been looking on eBay to help me figure out current market prices.  I am thinking of selling a few things, likely on modelling sites and not the ‘bay’. I have sold things there over a decade ago, but the shipping is now beyond stupid. What is different?  I guy in Australia is selling a bottle of paint for close to the same reasonable price as an Asian supplier.  But the Australian guy wants $55 for shipping and the Asian place it is free. Many photo-etch frets are saying $75 for shipping. I can mail P.E. for around $5.  Is the shipping quote determined by a faulty algorithm? Or just clueless sellers or guys trying to gouge on shipping?

Edited May 16, 2020 by is it windy yet?

[habu2]

57 minutes ago, is it windy yet? said:

... or guys trying to gouge on shipping?

 

 

This.  They only have to get a few buyers to not notice the shipping fees before they click 'buy' and the the seller profits.  It's not about sales volume, it's about hooking those few casual buyers.

[Specter1075]

Those few would have to be particularly careless since you have to click at least a half dozen times to confirm the order, each time with the total cost displayed on the screen. Scammers suck, but they are usually not difficult to spot.

[ElectroSoldier]

Asia almost always uses surface shipping which is why it is so cheap. In some cases its government subsidies that keep it so cheap.

 

Then you have sellers in places like Australia, USA and Canada, they are the ones who really screw you down on international shipping. Ive said about it before on here. an item im interested in costs $29.99 + $24.99 for shipping.

I was sent an offer of $17.99 + $24.99 shipping...

 

Is the shipping calculated by ebay? last time I sold on there the shipping cost was just a number I put in as the cost of shipping.

[Andrew D. the Jolly Rogers guy]

There is another possibility, beyond the folks who are out there trying to gouge with shipping.  

I sell occasionally, and have always made the effort to provide the lowest possible shipping (1st class, comes with tracking, much cheaper than Priority).  

Yet early on, I was surprised by a foreign buyer asking why my shipping was so high, an exorbitant price probably similar to the $55 quoted above.

 

Seems in the International shipping part of all auctions, is a default to use something called the Ebay "Global Shipping Program".  It says "Ship to the US Global Shipping Center and customs forms, shipping, and tracking will be taken care of for you."  What it DOESN'T tell you is what she shipping cost will be to your buyers, because it doesn't show the seller what it is!  It's a total scam, Ebay-created, which means you send the parcel to their special shipping center, and then they dispatch it out of the country for you.  At a HUGE profit.  

 

All I do is de-select this option on every one of my auctions, and select First Class International.  I also input my own shipping cost instead of just going with Ebay's calculations, using a mail scale and the USPS online postage calculator.  Problem solved.

 

So, I would suggest contacting the buyer and asking them, because they might not even be aware of it!

 

Edited May 16, 2020 by Andrew D. the Jolly Rogers guy

[ElectroSoldier]

9 hours ago, Andrew D. the Jolly Rogers guy said:

There is another possibility, beyond the folks who are out there trying to gouge with shipping.  

I sell occasionally, and have always made the effort to provide the lowest possible shipping (1st class, comes with tracking, much cheaper than Priority).  

Yet early on, I was surprised by a foreign buyer asking why my shipping was so high, an exorbitant price probably similar to the $55 quoted above.

 

Seems in the International shipping part of all auctions, is a default to use something called the Ebay "Global Shipping Program".  It says "Ship to the US Global Shipping Center and customs forms, shipping, and tracking will be taken care of for you."  What it DOESN'T tell you is what she shipping cost will be to your buyers, because it doesn't show the seller what it is!  It's a total scam, Ebay-created, which means you send the parcel to their special shipping center, and then they dispatch it out of the country for you.  At a HUGE profit.  

 

All I do is de-select this option on every one of my auctions, and select First Class International.  I also input my own shipping cost instead of just going with Ebay's calculations, using a mail scale and the USPS online postage calculator.  Problem solved.

 

So, I would suggest contacting the buyer and asking them, because they might not even be aware of it!

 

Is that the one means the buy doesnt then have to pay import duties when it arrives?

[strikeeagle801]

I've been looking at buying some kits lately, and have seen some truly outrageous shipping prices....55, 60 bucks or more for shipping a 1/48 kit. I had thought that E-bay had included shipping in the price of the fee structure they charged sellers for listing to try and get away from that, is that no longer the case? 

 

Aaron 

[Dafixer]

I have contacted some sellers that have these crazy $40-50 dollar shipping fees and asked about their high shipping prices. Sometimes I get the "you want me to ship it in a padded envelop?" response but sometimes I've been surprised when they reply saying they've adjusted the box specifications and suddenly the shipping is now a reasonable price. I'm not sure if some sellers are just entering oversize dimensions or weights to be safe which drives up cross-country shipping prices. I don't think as a seller they can see the shipping price if they select the "calculate shipping" option when they list.  

[airmechaja]

Caveat Emptor 

[Flyboyf18]

As stated if you use the evil bay you MUST pay close attention to what you click on!!!!

The Post Office (PO) at least here in Canada, measures parcels and the size determines the cost! It could be full of well feathers, and the cost stays the same?? I got ripped off by an amazon seller on a DVD (wrong region) so tried to return it, and the cost to return a DVD to England was more then I paid for it!!!??? The seller had access to bulk shipping so lower cost, I don't!!!

Global shipping as stated is a joke, to us. So packages get sent to the center(???) and a ? financial company (can't remember name) IMHO guesstimates your duty & taxes, and then off it goes. Well if they are wrong I notice there is no published way by the evil bay to challenge the amount, and do they send a notice of what they are taking from your paypal account and when = NOOOOOOOO. The money just disappears!!! This is some convoluted way that the evil bay thinks it is helping Govt's collect lost duty & taxes - I say let the experts, for me Canada Customs, figure it out, then it gets done right!!!!

And the evil bays tracking is totally useless!!! I have one kit that I started to build and evil bay's tracking still had in the post!!! Their estimates are always on the long side, I think, to help the seller, so I started to walk away slowly from that evil bay, don't want to go cold turkey!!

 

Again as mentioned RTFL, very carefully!!!

[Helmsman]

10 hours ago, strikeeagle801 said:

I've been looking at buying some kits lately, and have seen some truly outrageous shipping prices....55, 60 bucks or more for shipping a 1/48 kit. I had thought that E-bay had included shipping in the price of the fee structure they charged sellers for listing to try and get away from that, is that no longer the case? 

 

Aaron 

It doesn't really matter, they charge 10% fee on a total whether shipping is included(usually means higher price unless seller is a relatively large business) or not (for us occasional sellers).

Edited May 17, 2020 by Helmsman

[skyhawk174]

I don't buy much anymore on eBay but when I do I have few favourite sellers with reasonable shipping, I also set my searches with "price with shipping lowest". Also that duty and customs add on is a scam. If that is there in the listing I walk away. 9 times out of 10 it comes to my door without any customs. Duty should be zero.

[hemspilot]

The problem is most likely that eBay and Paypal both take a cut of the shipping charges.

I used to charge shipping at cost, however I was losing money to eBay doing that, not to mention that the "calculate" option is offering the same discounted prices to the buyers as it is to the sellers.

So now, to at least break even I charge a fixed price that shall guarantee me a little margin over the eBay theft and almost always offer a partial refund after the transaction is complete.

Also, a fixed amount for shipping is easier for the volume sellers.

 

And don't get me started on eBay's estimated tax charges...

[ElectroSoldier]

 

5 hours ago, hemspilot said:

The problem is most likely that eBay and Paypal both take a cut of the shipping charges.

I used to charge shipping at cost, however I was losing money to eBay doing that, not to mention that the "calculate" option is offering the same discounted prices to the buyers as it is to the sellers.

So now, to at least break even I charge a fixed price that shall guarantee me a little margin over the eBay theft and almost always offer a partial refund after the transaction is complete.

Also, a fixed amount for shipping is easier for the volume sellers.

 

And don't get me started on eBay's estimated tax charges...

Yeah see there is a classic example of where the shipping costs come from.

When everybody in the chain, 3 mentioned in this part do the same thing as this guy, who thinks he is perfectly within him rights to not lose any money shipping the items then the ramp up of costs that get passed onto the seller see the prices where they are now.

 

I had this just last week. I contacted a seller from Canada about buying an Italeri car kit, he quoted me $56.83 CAD. That is for a model that costs $89.99.
 

Then there is the shipping from a store I use in Poland, it was 2 Trumpeter Tigers IIs, 3 Trumpeter Pz.IV kits, half dozen Tamiya acrylics and a few other sundries... over £200 in total, the shipping was free. Because they are happy to make their money on the sale.
Ebay sellers dont see it like that, they generally want to screw every last cent they can out of the sale and then make some money on the shipping too because they seem to think their time is valuable when sending it.

 

Thats why the shipping costs are so crazy on there. Every man, Jack and his dog wants to make some money out of it. So thats $55 AUD please. $57 CAD please etc etc

 

I did it myself too, I sold a load of Hasegawa F-111 kits, so you know the size/weight of them, it was £10 shipping in the UK. Because the box costs, the post office fees cost, the time to do it...

 

The fact that the carriers fees are going up really doesnt help the scalpers case as the costs spiral up and so does their cut of it.

[hemspilot]

1 hour ago, ElectroSoldier said:

 

Yeah see there is a classic example of where the shipping costs come from.

When everybody in the chain, 3 mentioned in this part do the same thing as this guy, who thinks he is perfectly within him rights to not lose any money shipping the items then the ramp up of costs that get passed onto the seller see the prices where they are now.

 

I had this just last week. I contacted a seller from Canada about buying an Italeri car kit, he quoted me $56.83 CAD. That is for a model that costs $89.99.
 

Then there is the shipping from a store I use in Poland, it was 2 Trumpeter Tigers IIs, 3 Trumpeter Pz.IV kits, half dozen Tamiya acrylics and a few other sundries... over £200 in total, the shipping was free. Because they are happy to make their money on the sale.
Ebay sellers dont see it like that, they generally want to screw every last cent they can out of the sale and then make some money on the shipping too because they seem to think their time is valuable when sending it.

 

Thats why the shipping costs are so crazy on there. Every man, Jack and his dog wants to make some money out of it. So thats $55 AUD please. $57 CAD please etc etc

 

I did it myself too, I sold a load of Hasegawa F-111 kits, so you know the size/weight of them, it was £10 shipping in the UK. Because the box costs, the post office fees cost, the time to do it...

 

The fact that the carriers fees are going up really doesnt help the scalpers case as the costs spiral up and so does their cut of it.

You completely ignored the part where I say break even and partial refund.

Why would I want to lose money on shipment, and so just you know I weigh my packages before quoting a ball park number and I always combine shipping charges to the point that more often than not one of the kits goes out for free.

I also never take into account the time and material I use for shipping.

But yes, there are those who really pile up on shipping charges, for example I just got a Fujimi Skyhawk that came with two additional decal sheets and separately I bought another decal sheet from this guy, yet, even though I know it shall be just one package he only shaved a buck from the 4 he was charging to ship the decals.

I feel a negative feedback cropping up on morals alone.

Edited May 19, 2020 by hemspilot
added text

[David Fifer]

On 5/16/2020 at 3:46 PM, Andrew D. the Jolly Rogers guy said:

Seems in the International shipping part of all auctions, is a default to use something called the Ebay "Global Shipping Program".  It says "Ship to the US Global Shipping Center and customs forms, shipping, and tracking will be taken care of for you."  What it DOESN'T tell you is what she shipping cost will be to your buyers, because it doesn't show the seller what it is!  It's a total scam, Ebay-created, which means you send the parcel to their special shipping center, and then they dispatch it out of the country for you.  At a HUGE profit.  

As an occasional eBay seller, I take the opposite view. I like the Global Shipping Program. Before eBay instituted it, I used to restrict my listings to US buyers only. Why? Because the extra amount (50 cents to a few dollars) I would get from a winning foreign bidder over the second-highest (US) bidder was not enough to justify to me the extra hassle of computing and dickering over foreign postage costs, shipping options, shipping times, filling out customs forms, special trips to post office to work out details, and so forth. The Global Shipping Program put US and foreign bidders on a level playing field as far as I, the seller, am concerned. No matter where the winner lives, I mail to a US address. If the winning bidder happens to live outside the US, the package forwarding is a separate transaction between them and eBay. To be honest, I'm not even sure how a foreign buyer works with the GSP to have my package forwarded to them or what the fee structure is, and frankly I don't care. If I had to mess with that I'd go back to excluding foreign buyers.

[Andrew D. the Jolly Rogers guy]

1 hour ago, David Fifer said:

As an occasional eBay seller, I take the opposite view. I like the Global Shipping Program. Before eBay instituted it, I used to restrict my listings to US buyers only. Why? Because the extra amount (50 cents to a few dollars) I would get from a winning foreign bidder over the second-highest (US) bidder was not enough to justify to me the extra hassle of computing and dickering over foreign postage costs, shipping options, shipping times, filling out customs forms, special trips to post office to work out details, and so forth. The Global Shipping Program put US and foreign bidders on a level playing field as far as I, the seller, am concerned. No matter where the winner lives, I mail to a US address. If the winning bidder happens to live outside the US, the package forwarding is a separate transaction between them and eBay. To be honest, I'm not even sure how a foreign buyer works with the GSP to have my package forwarded to them or what the fee structure is, and frankly I don't care. If I had to mess with that I'd go back to excluding foreign buyers.

 

Fair enough....I can only speak for myself, and for me, once I weigh the item and calculate the US postage price, it's only another minute to re-calculate for international.  No problem. 

 

[ElectroSoldier]

13 hours ago, hemspilot said:

You completely ignored the part where I say break even and partial refund.

Why would I want to lose money on shipment, and so just you know I weigh my packages before quoting a ball park number and I always combine shipping charges to the point that more often than not one of the kits goes out for free.

I also never take into account the time and material I use for shipping.

But yes, there are those who really pile up on shipping charges, for example I just got a Fujimi Skyhawk that came with two additional decal sheets and separately I bought another decal sheet from this guy, yet, even though I know it shall be just one package he only shaved a buck from the 4 he was charging to ship the decals.

I feel a negative feedback cropping up on morals alone.

The text I quoted was what was there I missed nothing.

 

My point on that post is reiterated by you in your second post.

You said why would you lose money on shipping...

 

A number of years ago when i first started using ebay to sell I listed a computer PSU, it wasnt popular had almost no bids on it and it sold for less than £5 plus about £7.50 on top for shipping.

In the UK we pay for size and weight, i quoted on size not realising about the weight. It was heavy.

The actual shipping cost was more than the £12.50 i got from the buyer.

That is losing money.

 

What you are talking about "Why would I want to lose money on shipment"

That is exactly what I said. The seller is looking to screw as much money as possible out of the deal.

 

Of course ebay isnt always like that, there are cases where people do offer and get good deals and they are more often than not too, not isolated incidents but the general rule is, and is backed up by the fact that this thread exists to talk about it, ebay sellers look to make a profit on shipping as well as the item they are selling

[Helmsman]

13 hours ago, David Fifer said:

As an occasional eBay seller, I take the opposite view. I like the Global Shipping Program. Before eBay instituted it, I used to restrict my listings to US buyers only. Why? Because the extra amount (50 cents to a few dollars) I would get from a winning foreign bidder over the second-highest (US) bidder was not enough to justify to me the extra hassle of computing and dickering over foreign postage costs, shipping options, shipping times, filling out customs forms, special trips to post office to work out details, and so forth. The Global Shipping Program put US and foreign bidders on a level playing field as far as I, the seller, am concerned. No matter where the winner lives, I mail to a US address. If the winning bidder happens to live outside the US, the package forwarding is a separate transaction between them and eBay. To be honest, I'm not even sure how a foreign buyer works with the GSP to have my package forwarded to them or what the fee structure is, and frankly I don't care. If I had to mess with that I'd go back to excluding foreign buyers.

Another important thing about GSP is the responsibility shift. My responsibility as a seller ends on the US soil as soon as package reaches local shipping center. Having heard quite a few horror stories about lost international packages and lack of any protection, I'd rather be on the safe side.

Edited May 19, 2020 by Helmsman

[ElectroSoldier]

6 hours ago, Helmsman said:

Another important thing about GSP is the responsibility shift. My responsibility as a seller ends on the US soil as soon as package reaches local shipping center. Having heard quite a few horror stories about lost international packages and lack of any protection, I'd rather be on the safe side.

Speaking as a buy who buys on a regular basis from not only America but also Canada, Australia and pretty much everywhere in Europe too I like the ebay global shipping program.
Its more expensive but once the seller sends it to the center you pretty much know you are going to get it and there will be no import duties to pay when it gets here.

Sure sometimes it arrives and you do have to pay import duties but you always should as there is always import tax to pay on the hobby items we buy.

[hemspilot]

8 hours ago, ElectroSoldier said:

The text I quoted was what was there I missed nothing.

 

My point on that post is reiterated by you in your second post.

You said why would you lose money on shipping...

 

A number of years ago when i first started using ebay to sell I listed a computer PSU, it wasnt popular had almost no bids on it and it sold for less than £5 plus about £7.50 on top for shipping.

In the UK we pay for size and weight, i quoted on size not realising about the weight. It was heavy.

The actual shipping cost was more than the £12.50 i got from the buyer.

That is losing money.

 

What you are talking about "Why would I want to lose money on shipment"

That is exactly what I said. The seller is looking to screw as much money as possible out of the deal.

 

Of course ebay isnt always like that, there are cases where people do offer and get good deals and they are more often than not too, not isolated incidents but the general rule is, and is backed up by the fact that this thread exists to talk about it, ebay sellers look to make a profit on shipping as well as the item they are selling

Sorry buddy, eBay is not about charity, I made my mistakes and was ripped off on shipping by others.

If you think that breaking even on shipping is not fair you should go complain to all the online stores that have a margin built in the prices.

Good luck.

[ElectroSoldier]

Different people do ebay different ways.

Not every seller is looking to make a profit on shipping. This thread is about those sellers that do.