How do I list "courier" shipping costs on Ebay

[yopoppypoppy]

These days when I start an Ebay auction, I can find no way to list various private courier shipping costs either beside the "Shipping" heading or within the "Shipping and payments" section.

The only options Ebay seem to offer are one fixed charge, or various Australia Post options. I don't want to list one fixed charge, nor use Australia Post. It seems to me that Ebay is trying to "force" you to go with Australia Post.

I use  couriers for delivery. Obviously the shipping charge varies depending on where in Australia the buyer lives. But as far as I can tell, I am "forced" by Ebay to list a product's shipping costs either as one fixed price or an Australia Post price.

I can find no option to list as  "courier" shipping, nor an option to list a price range for shipping (for example ..... "$30 to $90 depending on location").

So in my auctions I end up just listing one fixed price besides "shipping", then in the auction wording  itself I tell people to totally ignore the listed shipping price .... then I list the various shipping prices to the various capital cities.

Why can't Ebay just give you the simple option to say beside the "Shipping" heading,  "courier ..... read add for exact shipping prices"?

If you send via courier, what's your solution to this Ebay listing problem?

[5kazam]

For many years I listed all my items as 'FREIGHT', as they were all varying size parcels, and post cost depended on where they were going to in this vast country of ours.

I'd ask, within my listings, for prospective buyers to contact me for a firm quote.  That was not a problem at all, for them or for me. 

But at that time I was also a PowerSeller, so my listings seemed to always get a good showing - always seemed to be daytime, no lights out nighttime.

Once I lost my PowerSeller status, I left everything as it was.  Sales dropped dramatically.

So one day I decided to put myself through the boredom of going through all the listings in my category to find out where mine were.  They were on pages 97, 98, 99 of 99 pages.  No wonder sales had dropped !!

So, I'm suggesting to be careful of using 'FREIGHT' as your option.

What I do now is to use 'calculated post' for my listings, but I also have this in my listings - The above quoted post cost is for Melbourne Metro deliveries only.  Country Vic and Interstate, please contact me as I do offer alternative methods of post, or courier (which is often a lot cheaper than Aust Post).  The post/courier options are your choice, not mine.

And, courier is not always an option.  For quite a few remote/rural areas AP will beat courier hands down on cost, and go to places where couriers don't go.  If I were you, I wouldn't be too determined to only use courier - give buyers the option.

[yopoppypoppy]

I can't use Aust Post. I only sell musical instruments several times a year. They are always longer than the Aust Post limit of 105cm, so I have no choice other than to send via courier.

[5kazam]

I see where you are coming from.

Though I guess most of your buyers aren't living in some outback station in FNQ (or are they?!).

My post was just to make you aware of where your listings could end up if you changed to 'Freight' - on some out-back page of eBay !! - which is why my listings weren't being seen by anyone, so no sales.

Maybe try a few with 'freight' and see if it makes any difference to where you are in the search rankings.

[digital*ghost]

I'm a little out of time right now (have to make a postage run), but I'll try to help if it hasn't been resolved when i get back (saying this because it's usually a 2-3 hour round trip for me, with other errands).

In the mean time, if you see a link anywhere (usually top right) to swicth to "Advanced listing form", click that, just in case you have the quick listing tool implemented, which doesn't give all editing options etc.

And/or if you have the "add or remove options link" in the postage section, double check that all postage options have been implemented, or implement them if they haven't.

If neither of those resolve the issue, can you upload a screen shot of the postage section on your listing form? I may be able to figure out what options to use from that. 

[yopoppypoppy]

Digital ----- there's no "Advanced Listing Form" link when I sign into the Australian Ebay, but there is one when I sign into the American Ebay. When I click on it, it merely takes me to a page for a "new" auction to be started.

In my postage section of my current auction on the Australian Ebay  there's definitely no "add or remove options" link and no "advanced listing form" link.

In my postage section in my auction there's a heading at the top that says "How You'll Post It", followed by 2 links "Select Postage Myself" and "Offer Local Pickup Only". Under "Select Postage Myself"  there's 3 choices ...... "Charge a fixed cost", "Charge actual cost". When the 2nd one is chosen a dimension calculator comes up where you write in the dimensions of the parcel and the Aust. Post cost is then automatically determined.

Then beneath all that is 2 more links "Offer Free Postage" and "Offer Another Postage Service". When the 2nd one is chosen a list appears of Aust Post postage options.

That's it. That's my choices. There's nothing else to click on in the postage section in my auction. There's no link to "Freight".

I never had this problem years ago, but over the past year or so I think Ebay changed things.

[davewil1964]

That would be the new, 'improved' eBay listing form. There is allegedly a 'classic' option that takes you back to the old listing form, but I can't find it.

Turbolister still has a 'freight' option, but eBay are supposedly withdrawing support for TL next year. It could be a short-term fix until eBay (hopefully) reinstate a freight option.

[yopoppypoppy]

So it appears that the only option for someone who ships via courier is to write a phony shipping price besides "Shipping" in an Ebay add, and then in the product description in the add itself warn people to totally ignore that shipping price and just ask them to contact me with their location and then send them  the real shipping price to their specific location.

I don't mind doing it that way ...... but I don't like it that Ebay makes you put in a phony price beside "Shipping". The option that just says "Freight" (with no price beside it) is the perfect solution, but doesn't seem to be available anymore.

[digital*ghost]

You can revert to the old listing form (which is the one in my screen shot above) by doing the following:

Click "sell item" (or start selling, whichever takes you to start a new listing on eBay from scratch).

It will ask you to type in what you're selling - just type "car" and continue.

On the next screen it will show a few products - ignore all and scroll down to the end, and there should be an option that says "continue without selecting from catalogue", or words to that effect.

Once you click on that, a warning should pop up on the screen saying that the new listing form isn't available in the motors category and that to continue, you'll be taken to the old version (as far as I know, this is currently permanent, as in all future listings will continue to use the old listing form, until it's phased out completely, as I reverted to the old one some weeks back, and haven't found any options to opt back into the new one). 

[247newdeals]

Just having a play with the shipping options and if you have shipping internationally the option for freight disappears.May not be what is causing the problem but check you have no international shipping

[*tippy*toes*]

Is this what you're seeing?