I am very confused regarding postage costs, please help. Thank you.
Summary: A participant initiated a discussion seeking clarity about postage costs, expressing confusion and asking for help. pnc75 and ramcycle2010 participated in the conversation, along with other contributors such as grannytakesatrip17, brickworksmarket, and gutterpunkz05. They engaged in several exchanges trying to unravel the confusion around postage costs. The conversation extended over months, showing ongoing engagement and multiple viewpoints without reaching a concise resolution.
Hi guys, I have been selling on ebay for many years on and off.
Generally, I have been using prepaid Australian Post satchels, which keep it simple.
I do not post to overseas locations.
Recently, when sorting through my things, I have come across a few items which are too large to post this way.
So I have wrapped one large item, ready to list.
Please bear with me, I am going to post two screenshots below, as an example.
I do hope these are readable. I am intending to use my own packaging and purchase an ebay label.
This will be sent to an Australian address. In case you are unable to read this, the item weighs 4kg.
The measurements are 71 x 22 x 21 cms Cost quoted was $10.16-$57.67. These seem's extortionate and bears no relation to this.
I do hope someone can help, as I have a very patient buyer wishing to purchase this item.
Thanks so much in advance.
pnc75
·8 months agoSadly, it looks like we're stuck with this mess.
merfar2107
·8 months agoSo pleased to hear you recovered from your illness, granny. 🙂
This new postage system of ebay's is a total mess. They need to give us the choice of which option we'd prefer to use when we do our listings. It's too late to change it after a buyer has paid, and paid at ebay's new low prices, which will leave a lot of sellers out of pocket.
davewil1964
·8 months agoI have the option to use fixed price postage and NOT use eBay labels.
merfar2107
·8 months agoYes, some of mine are too, but the ones with calculated postage are a mess as far as ebay postage calculations go. It seems the only way around it is to inflate handling costs. 😞
It would be nice if ebay put out some sort of announcement about that as to whether they're trying to fix the problem, or whether this is what we're stuck with, then we'd know what to do regarding changing listings etc.
grannytakesatrip17
OP9 months agoOk, so when it was finally correctly wrapped, my husband took it to Aus Post.
They weighed and measured it again as follows.
Weight 3.035 kg.
16cm x 18cm x 61cm.
Sent with tracking to postcode 4557.
Would you believe that he was only charged $23.30 including GST?
Very nice for me, but hellishly confusing.
He took it 2 days ago and got the quote and paid them and posted it today.
He had to hand write the label, the lady said we could have printed it from the AP site.
I do not have a clue what is going on here.
grannytakesatrip17
OP9 months agoAlso tracking was included.
grannytakesatrip17
OP9 months agoSorry to be a bother again, but just following up on my last couple of posts.
Could anyone explain how I was charged just $23.30 for such a large parcel please?
If not, please don’t worry. If any other items are too large to fit the prepaid XL satchels, I think I will have to hand write the labels and take it to our quite small AP shop in future.
I bet if I had tried to purchase a label from ebay the price would have been extortionate.
We are all having far too much stress from ebay imo.
brickworksmarket
·9 months agoIt would be a 5kg parcel so price sounds right for over the counter.
gutterpunkz05
·9 months agoIf only original details had been correct!!
Calculate postage
Size: 61 x 16 x 18cmCompare domestic parcel services
grannytakesatrip17
OP8 months agoThanks for finding that. But could I please ask where you searched for this?
Was it on Aus post site, as it makes a lot more sense that what I found on ebay labels, through AP.
I must be getting old, as I am finding all these changes in postage to be so confusing.
I purchased a lot of Aus Post pre paid satchels, I normally do so every year, from a private seller.
They are legit, I have been using them for years.
Now I have been looking at these reduced Aus Post latest postage charges through ebay and am wondering if sellers are keeping the savings (I would not blame them) or passing them on to buyers?
Personally I am not prepared to charge postage too low and then bear the cost of ebay fees deducted.
How do others feel about this?
I apologise if I am confusing everyone.
siddieswans
·8 months agoEveryone’s approach will be different. This is mine. Though I am sure there may be many who would criticise me for it.
I sell second hand, unique items so by and large potential buyers can’t price check. I have fixed postage for domestic buyers, so in my mind people buy a package – item + postage. Therefore what it costs me to post should be irrelevant to them. If the total cost is too much they won’t buy.
I do not need or even try to break even on postage + packaging + eBay fees on every sale. I have an AP Business account and use it to produce my postage labels. Depending on what savings band I am on (and it does go up and down) I make savings on some parcels, and when packaging is taken into account, I may lose a bit on others. Swings and roundabouts. I try NOT to list items that can’t be posted at under 1Kg in my own padded bag, or in AP Pack it Post It satchels and boxes where appropriate – obviously NOT pre-paid. The cost of this AP packaging contributes to my savings band.
If I am selling something outside these parameters I make up a fixed price postage cost eg $25, in case it sells to remote WA for example. I sold a LARGE poster recently; it went Sydney metro so in this case I was able to refund the buyer $10. Also I sell initially by auctions; sometimes (sadly not often enough) items will sell for far more than I anticipated and the “swings and roundabouts” effect allows me to add extra cover at my expense if appropriate.
I sell a LOT of postcards. As explained on another thread, purchasing AP Tracked Letter products does NOT count towards your My Post Savings Band. So I often send what COULD be tracked letters as a 250g parcel, depending on what zone the address is; on my savings band it is almost as cheap AND counts towards my AP Saving Band. I pack carefully but I am lazy – I buy packaging products (eg rigid inserts, rigid mailers, padded bags) which I could probably make up myself if I could be bothered.
When I put up my fixed price postage rates because of AP rises , I over-estimate, because I do not go back and change the prices on items already in my store, I only do so on new listings. So any “profit” on these from postage + packaging (the price of which also constantly rises) + eBay fees helps to make up from “losses” on older listings. I do a LOT of combined invoices – people can save a LOT when they buy more than one item from me. They appreciate that = repeat buyers.
Sorry this is so long-winded but you DID ask. 😀 I have been on eBay a long time and this works for me.
grannytakesatrip17
OP8 months agoI like your approach, keep it as simple as possible 🙂
Although, I cannot stand the stress of selling internationally.
You have some great stuff, very well photographed and described.
I have mainly been using the prepaid satchels.
But I think that I will allow these to run down as although I am a private seller.
I think I would be better opening an Aus Post business a/c and just buy plain satchels.
I have over the years, become a manic hoarder.
When I was unwell a few years ago and confined to bed, I bought heaps of new clothes.
The intention was to replace my very old wardrobe full of clothes.
However the majority of these packages are still sitting unopened in a box.
Some which I have opened looked awful on me, so I have given some away and need to sell some.
Now I am rambling lol. I have ADHD and I am in a muddle, boxes brought over from England
almost 30 years ago, which I inherited or collected, since I was a kid,
I feel totally overwhelmed tbh. Many things take me up to 1 hour to wrap!
Sorry for the long post. I do also combine postage, people love this as you say.
So, I have some sort of plan, I think. Regarding future postage methods.
But as an avid recycler, I feel I need to gather up used packaging, which makes more work eek!
brickworksmarket
·8 months agoThere no longer is a need to open a mypost account unless you intend to spend over $500 every 4 weeks on postage. By using the ebay label system you will get a good discount off the postage without having to maintain that level which is Band 2.
chi-755567
·4 months agoHow do you skip the eBay “choose postage “ step?
chi-755567
·4 months agoHow did you do that if you said you’re buying printable label? I tried to send a box of cotton balls in a 45x36x26 box…4kg (just playing it safe) eBay said $45 postage! I tested it by getting my sin to buy it(I planned to cancel it)..when I clicked purchase label..it asked for the measurements again and it dropped to $25…wth is wrong with eBay..it wasn’t like this. 6 months ago! I cancelled it .
davewil1964
·4 months agoThe trick is to not use eBay labels.
Hardly rocket science.
As attested to by the MANY threads more recent than this old one.
brickworksmarket
·9 months agoYou are sending a 9kg parcel when you cube those dimensions. Price will vary greatly and what is shown looks correct. As mentioned by others there are some issues at the moment and I am finding longer measurements are making the item not display postage on the item page but does in search. I have adjusted the measurements and made them shorter in length and made in wider to still give the same cubed dimension although selecting ebay labels may work.
ramcycle2010
·9 months agoIt says you're sending from 6027, but what postcode are you sending it to?
grannytakesatrip17
OP9 months agoHi there, it is going to QLD 4557.
But I thought that ebay labels covered all of Australia?
I hope that you can see my dilemma between the two different prices.
Thank you for trying to help 🙂
ramcycle2010
·9 months agoEbay labels do cover all of Australia, but the rates are negotiated with Australia Post and Sendle. The rates are still dependent on size and weight and the zone the parcel is sent within. Your parcel would be in the most expensive zone, Zone 3 because 4557 is Rural.
It's a shame there is not a flat rate Auspost Satchel to fit something 71cm.
If you were referring to the difference between $32.21 and $57.67, ebay has just increased and changed all their rates. Some prices are incorrect, but they don't seem to be doing much to fix them.
grannytakesatrip17
OP9 months agoThank you. I think I will get it to Aussie Post and see what they think.
gutterpunkz05
·9 months agoCalculate postage
Size: 71 x 22 x 21cmCompare domestic parcel services
ramcycle2010
·9 months agoI've just had a look at an extra large flat rate Satchel I have here, and wondered if you could still get your item in one of them somehow. I've been known to stretch these satchels to fit, or cut them down one seam and wrap them around my item. Lots of tape on the outside to secure the Satchel and disguise where it's been cut. Never had a problem with being charged extra, they've always gone through at the flat rate Satchel rate, which is obviously much cheaper.
gutterpunkz05
·9 months agoNot a hope in hell, there will be approx 21 x 22 x 30 of exposed parcel, and I dont care how far you think you can make it stretch. Apart from that AP's in transit measurement checks will pick up an excess as little as 5mm
pnc75
·9 months agoAll ebay calculated postage costs are a complete and utter mess at the moment and have been for 5 days. That's the ones that actually show postage, a lot have now been changed by ebay to 'Local pick up only' 😠
Here is a thread about it: Incorrect postage cost shown on some items - The eBay Community