Postage costs

[ferris43]

To certain sellers out there...do you realise that more people will bid on your auctions if your postage costs are reasonable??

I see so many auctions listed where I know that postage could be cheaper...I see items that could easily and safely fit into a cheaper pre paid satchel. To me in the long run you are just doing yourself out of making more money. What money you do gain by buyers paying more for the postage, Im sure would be far less then the amount you could make by more people bidding on your items.

I know for a fact that postage is one of the first things that determines if I will bid on something so Im sure it is the same with other buyers.

And then you get the seller who puts a really low starting bid but then a huge postage price..of course we all know the reasons for this.

I sell and buy on Ebay..When selling I always try and find the cheapest (taking into account the items safety) way to send the item to the buyer.

[lateralcanvasstore]

Hi,

All this depends on what you are selling and whether you are working your business as a full time, part time or as a hobby business. There are many more factors as to why sellers have higher postal costs.

If you don't include your handling costs like you would do in a retail setting you could quickly find that you will go out of business.
Postal does need to include what it costs you to run your every day ebay business. Sellers still need to include costs for running their business from home including and covering general utility or petrol costs. Not all of us live in the city where services are close to us and these small costs can mount over a month and need to be paid for.

I'm sure there are some excessive postal prices out there, but on a general basis you are not just charging for the postal satchel. I would like the postal and handling to be clearer to customers myself even itemized so customers realize the break down. I'd also like customers to be able to see end of auction fees that both ebay and paypal charge a seller after an auction. Then I believe transactions and postal charges become transparent.

We started with second hand books and now work our business full time and there are many aspects that effect our daily cost of operation.

[ferris43]

Hi lateralcanvasstore...

I see a lot of it with ebayers who do not seem to be running a ebay business..I feel that some sellers shoot themselves in their own foot and would make more money with more people bidding on their auction if their postage quotes were cheaper..for example I collect novelty decanters and bid on one today with the postage being $13.00...I saw another decanter that I would have loved to add to my collection and yet the postage was $30.00..it was one of those hound dog decanters and I have one at home similar and I know that it could have been sent cheaper and still safely for far less then $30.00...so thats a bid they miss out on.

When you say that people may be charging for postage and handling all in one, and handling costs need to be taken into account especially for the ebay business..yes I agree with you here and I also agree that an auction should clearly state that there is a handling fee...

But...when buyers are charging postage for more expensive pre paid bags when the items can fit in a smaller pre paid bags then that is just plain stupid because they aren't making any more money its just the buyer that is forking out more money on a more expensive bag...

Personally if I ever got an item sent to me and the amount I paid in postage wasn't the same that showed up on the parcel I would be asking the seller a few questions.

[ferris43]

That was meant to be 'when sellers are charging postage for more expensive pre paid bags etc

sorry

[the3coopers]

I replied in your other identical thread...

http://forums.ebay.com.au/topic/Buying/Postage-Costs/500141822

If you are a buyer, then you would be wise to keep quiet about this 😉 The very best bargains are those where "postage zealots" won't bid.

It shouldn't matter to a buyer what the postage split up is - if the decanter is worth $50, why not go for the one that has $30 postage where other buyers choose not to bid?

Consider - which is of these is cheapest:

$5 + $30 postage
OR
$30 + $10 postage

.

[the3coopers]

Personally if I ever got an item sent to me and the amount I paid in postage wasn't the same that showed up on the parcel I would be asking the seller a few questions.

And I reckon that is just plain wrong. Your bids are based on the TOTAL price including delivery. As an astute buyer, you will only offer what the item is worth, eh?

The item and quoted postage are a "pair", they cannot be separated!
You cannot choose the low item price from one listing, and demand the low postage price from another.

I reckon just stop fussing about postage costs... if seller over charges postage then they don't pay eBay fees on that portion of the transaction. But one way or the other, does it actually matter if the seller makes profit from postage or the item itself?

It's six of one, half dozen of the other. Focus on the TOTAL price and let eBay worry about whether they collect their fees. 😉

.

[ferris43]

Yes I made the mistake of posting twice I got mixed up and thought the first time I did it that it hadnt worked- only to later realise it had in this section too..

Oh and Im not fussing about anything ok...

All that Im trying to get across is that sellers would get more bids if they didn't over quote on postage or quote on larger pre paid bags when the items would fit in a smaller bag..thats all..plain and simple..and no the decanter was not worth the 50 and then another 30 on top of it.

As far as sellers who have large postage quotes and small starting amounts because they do not want to pay large fee's then thats fine with me..that wasnt what I was protesting about if you read my original and subsequent posts.

If a seller quotes me $30 for postage and I see it only cost $10..you dont think I should ask any questions??

[annies_fancy_dress]

I wish some people would realise that postage is not just the postage label price.

Aust post do NOT give out 'tough bags' for free, neither does any other office supply place.

Zip-lock bags are cheap, but I still have to pay for them.

Rounding up the postage (usually less then a dollar) is not piracy, it's just business.

?:|

[ferris43]

I do understand about all what you have said and thats not even what my postings have been about..all of what you said should be included in the postage quote shouldn't it? I know that when I have given postage quotes Ive included all packaging etc in the price.

There is no way that I would dispute a small descrepency in the postage I paid to what I saw the actual cost was for the postage when i received the parcel. I wouldnt even dispute it if it was a few bucks..

Sellers usually state on their listings if they charge extra ontop of what Aus post actually charge them.

Thanks 🙂

[lane-ends]

The two decanters you are talking about, would they be boxed parcels?..If so then sellers probably are using ebay postage calculater. hence price will be automatically showing by postcode, depending where they are relative to you. ie they dont set the value, and it will vary for each buyer

sellers who do charge excessive postage, will not sell much hence, market forces will put them out of business.