topic Re: How do people send small eBay satchels at less than $10? My calculations are tcorrect in Selling

How do people send small eBay satchels at less than $10? My calculations are tcorrect

okboomer — Fri, 08 May 2020 23:35:29 GMT

If I charge $11 for postage the total cost works out at 23% above the $8.95 eBay charge. Ebay charges me $8.95 (Their 10.9% charge on that is $1.20) (Pay Pal charge 2.6% which is .23c forgetting the 30C per transaction as you are paying that for the item charged anyway) (Cost of Satchel $15c) = Total actual costs $10.53 leaving me say .47C to pack the item and drive to Post Office. so How can you post for under $10? Plaese correct if I am doing something wrong

Re: How do people send small eBay satchels at less than $10? My calculations are tcorrect

padi*0409 — Fri, 08 May 2020 23:50:14 GMT

Build the extra charges into your BIN price for the items, that's what other sellers do.

Re: How do people send small eBay satchels at less than $10? My calculations are tcorrect

tazzieterror — Sat, 09 May 2020 00:12:21 GMT

For the $8.95 small satchel, your real cost should be $10.16 (inc eBay & PP combined 13.5% fees) + the 15c for the satchel, so $10.31 if you ignore PP's 30c transaction flag fall.

Keep in mind if you use eBay generated labels there are three price levels depending on the destination, so a small satchel's nominal charge is either $8.21, $8.65, or $8.95 for local, metro, and regional destinations respectively. So the lower two tiers will indeed come to less than $10 using the workings above.

But as Padi said, build the extra charges into your item price.

Re: How do people send small eBay satchels at less than $10? My calculations are tcorrect

tazzieterror — Sat, 09 May 2020 00:25:05 GMT

One other point, you're not gaining anything by setting your items to 'private listings' and some (many?) potential buyers often view it suspiciously, particularly on auctions.

Unless you have a specific reason for doing so, it's better to leave private listing turned off.

Re: How do people send small eBay satchels at less than $10? My calculations are tcorrect

digital*ghost — Sat, 09 May 2020 00:50:17 GMT

Don't forget printing and any packaging (eg bubble wrap) costs, which will add to the total of actual cost per shipment.

There are other ways to reduce the actual postage cost, which is one of the ways you might see some sellers with cheaper postage charges listed, but it generally involves volume unfortunately (sending enough to get good discounts through My Post or eParcel, or via a courier and so on). Last I checked, the Sendle label option on eBay was $7-something, though I'm not sure if their rates change based on location, what their delivery range is, and reviews on their overall service are mixed.

Back when you could get up to 10% discount on buying pre-paid satchels in bulk, it was worth it if you knew enough people who used them regularly, to all chip in for enough pre-paid satchels, without anyone needing to mortgage anything to do so. But the discount is now 5% from memory, with the cheapest option still $8.74 after buying at least 100 (which you could say is technically $8.59 +15c satchel cost, and no printing costs, except for the ink in a pen, but still on the high side).

Re: How do people send small eBay satchels at less than $10? My calculations are tcorrect

eol-products — Sat, 09 May 2020 01:33:43 GMT

I have noticed sendle exclude rural areas making it hard to factor in the savings.

Re: How do people send small eBay satchels at less than $10? My calculations are tcorrect

tazzieterror — Sat, 09 May 2020 01:49:19 GMT

Sendle's eBay prices are here for anyone interested in comparing.

I personally would never use them - the savings are very modest (unless you're shipping something quite heavy), and there's very little in the way of customer support when something goes wrong. I've read a lot of complaints across several forums so for anyone considering giving them a go, please do your research first so you know what to expect.

Re: How do people send small eBay satchels at less than $10? My calculations are tcorrect

digital*ghost — Sat, 09 May 2020 01:50:39 GMT

If using them, you'd probably have to have an average shipping charge that was a little win some, lose some to hopefully work out even in the end - I kinda do this just with using My Post, since their charges to rural areas are only discounted by a maximum of 5%, but at the same discount tier it's 19% for metro and 35% for same (major) city. (That in itself ticks me off sometimes. I often have to pay more to another close location in SA that Aus Post consider rural, than I do to a metro Perth area - I know it's a logistics thing but it still grates a little, since I get a high rate of rural (or what Aus Post considers as such) area orders that require upgrades to parcels, it's salved a little when I only have to pay $6 or so for a local order, at least, since I tend to waver between band 3 and 4 as most stuff goes by letter).

Re: How do people send small eBay satchels at less than $10? My calculations are tcorrect

davewil1964 — Sat, 09 May 2020 01:58:31 GMT

I charge $8.95 for small parcels. If I choose to use eBay or AP labels, that costs me money. If I use prepaid satchels that I buy in bulk for significantly less than $8.95, that makes up for it.

I sell in an area where I don't really get to set my prices. If I up my BIN price, that means reducing postage, and vice versa.

Re: How do people send small eBay satchels at less than $10? My calculations are tcorrect

eol-products — Sat, 09 May 2020 02:01:09 GMT

When I looked at E-parcel the rural rates where higher than MyPost yet the local rates where below MyPost. It may have been a $5 difference between the 2 which is ok if buyers are making a multiple purchase of items but not workable on a $5 item when buyers pay $8.95 postage.

Re: How do people send small eBay satchels at less than $10? My calculations are tcorrect

digital*ghost — Sat, 09 May 2020 02:13:56 GMT

Yeah, that'd hurt a bit I know a few sellers on eParcel that will only use it for the metro stuff and pre-paids for the rural ones as it's cheaper for them (or at least, it was when the volume discount for them was 10%), but you'd have to have the volume to sustain the discount for metro as well (I certainly wouldn't, not unless everything I sent went as parcels, anyway). I guess it was AP's way of trying to compete with couriers, as a lot of sellers would have been using local ones for same city deliveries at prices way under theirs when it was flat discounts Aus-wide, and only sending through AP for interstate / rural deliveries.

Re: How do people send small eBay satchels at less than $10? My calculations are tcorrect

south.coffee — Sat, 09 May 2020 06:31:02 GMT

We are on MyPost Band 4 highest discount tier and sending from Rural:

500g City/Metro = 7.25
500g Rural = 8.50
Small Prepaid satchel (bulk) = 8.74

Our own satchels = 0.02
Thermal label = 0.02
Bicycle to Post Office = FREE and FUN !

Re: How do people send small eBay satchels at less than $10? My calculations are tcorrect

tazzieterror — Sat, 09 May 2020 07:26:20 GMT

@south.coffee wrote:
...
Bicycle to Post Office = FREE and FUN !

I've been doing this the last few weeks - it's a 16km round trip for me, but after several months of sitting around at home I most certainly need the exercise!

Re: How do people send small eBay satchels at less than $10? My calculations are tcorrect

okboomer — Sat, 09 May 2020 08:17:59 GMT

I take it that those prices do not include eBay's 10.9% and PP 2.6% plus bubble wrap ?

Re: How do people send small eBay satchels at less than $10? My calculations are tcorrect

davewil1964 — Sat, 09 May 2020 08:20:37 GMT

Not everybody pays 10.9%.

I pay 9.35% on most of my sales.

Re: How do people send small eBay satchels at less than $10? My calculations are tcorrect

eol-products — Sat, 09 May 2020 08:22:27 GMT

E-Parcel also has a seperate pricing added for same state deliveries so giving 4 different prices.

But I shouldn't complain because when I started if you wanted to get a discount you had to send 20 parcels per week and 500 gram parcels did not count.

Re: How do people send small eBay satchels at less than $10? My calculations are tcorrect

south.coffee — Sun, 10 May 2020 01:28:34 GMT

Those prices are from MyPost and built into our BIN price. You get higher discounts in MyPost than eBay postage once you build up volume.

All our packaging is recycled from our suppliers deliveries, bubble wrap, tissue paper, plastic wrap. We even recycle courier bags by turning them inside out. Produce bags from supermarket work well too.

Our daily Post Office ride is 20km round trip via farms, rivers and cycle tracks. Rain, hail, shine.

Re: How do people send small eBay satchels at less than $10? My calculations are tcorrect

paper-jack — Sun, 10 May 2020 02:36:23 GMT

@tazzieterror wrote:
@south.coffee wrote:
...
Bicycle to Post Office = FREE and FUN !
I've been doing this the last few weeks - it's a 16km round trip for me, but after several months of sitting around at home I most certainly need the exercise!

And I walk the 1km to my post office. If parcels are too heavy to carry by hand/over shoulder, I use a trolley. Handy for getting supplies at grocer near PO too.

Re: How do people send small eBay satchels at less than $10? My calculations are tcorrect

paper-jack — Sun, 10 May 2020 02:42:15 GMT

My friends and neighbours know to channel all unwanted bubble wrap, tissue paper, padded bags and boxes in my direction. I save money and am really pleased to recycle, my donors are pleased to get rid of their 'rubbish' and feel good that they have been able to recycle too. My local PO guy is so impressed with my packaging recycling he now saves stuff for me to use too.

Re: How do people send small eBay satchels at less than $10? My calculations are tcorrect

tazzieterror — Sun, 10 May 2020 03:38:12 GMT

Same. I bought a large roll of bubblewrap last year and barely touch it - recycling packaging I receive and others donate is pretty much all I need. Helps that I'm a more efficient packer than most!