Ratings for shipping charges

[ancarswa]

So I recently started selling on ebay having been a buyer for 10 plus years. I charge exact postage cost for shipping and even state this on my listings.

I mention on the listings that the stamp does not show any cost for registered service,packing materials, box,etc. I have reached over 10 positive feedback now and am disappointed to see that I have a score of 4.7 for shipping charges.

I actually lose money on shipping as I pack items very securely - all are bubbled wrapped(also mentioned in listing), most items are sent are boxed along with packing peanuts to stop the item moving around in the box. I do not charge anything extra for all this, I only charge what I pay at the post office to ship it.

 My score was 4.8 last week and with five positive feedbacks today it dropped to 4.7. Why would buyers not give 5 stars for exact post office cost to ship? I have no control over what the post office charges and I've never charged more than what was quoted in the listing. I even offer combined shipping at exact cost.

It seems that buyers are blaming me for Australia Post's prices.

Is it worth contacting ebay about this?

I'm thinking of doing future listings as free shipping with the starting price my lowest price plus shipping. That will mean a higher starting price so I'm not sure if it will put people off.

I'm interested in sellers opinions on what they find works best to maintain 5 Stars for shipping(without taking a loss of course).

Thanks.

[punch*drunk]

Satchels are too dear now. I send everything under 500g at the standard small parcel rate $6.95. If you process through click and send you get tracking that qualifies for seller protection.

[arnl7178]

OP, unfortunately, a lot of buyers whom have never sold, have no idea what the actual cost is to post their items, so they feel it's excessive even when it isn't.

As someone mentioned above, you could try a few "free post" listings or even drop the price of shipping by a couple of dollars and put up your start price to factor that in.

Even though your C&S satchels haven't arrived yet, you could also still charge the C&S rate, and start your listings at $1 more to cover you until they arrive.

Whichever way you decide to go, don't be disheartened. You'll never maintain 5.0% on your DSR's, no matter how wonderful of a seller you are.

Good luck!

[seekyourtreasures]

If you use the "Free Postage" option on your listings you get and automatic 5 star rating for postage costs.  However the buyer can still rate you on your postage time.

Remember if you have "Free Postage" the final value fee is a percentage of the total cost rather than just a percentage of the sale price of the item.

An Australia Post 500g eBay satchel can cost as little as 15c.  The cost of the depends on the quantity you purchase. The current postage cost of the satchel is $7.10.

[ancarswa]

Thanks for all the feedback and info. I buy the 500g satchels as needed from the post office and each one is $8.25 here in WA. That is for regular post with tracking - since 2 weeks ago everything now has tracking at the post office, even regular post.

So $8.25 is the cheapest satchel unless you buy bulk and the more you buy the cheaper it gets.

You have to buy 10 I believe to get a small discount(about 5% discount). Then you buy them in lots of 10 and the next tier discount is about 8% but that only kicks in by buying 50 or more.

I'm not running a business on ebay, just clearing out things we not longer need. Most items sell below what I bought them for and I have to eat that but it just irks me that I have to lose money on shipping and buyers are still not happy. The feedback comments I get are great but they don't leave 5 stars. I am new to selling and read that ebay comes down hard if you don't maintain 5 stars hence my worries. I want to get all these ebay promotions on extra free listings, etc and I guess they offer it to 5 star sellers only.

I need to look into C&S I guess to make shipping cheaper or buy 100 of these satchels which I may never use up.

How can you get AP 500g satchels for 15c?

[phorum_junkie*]

Don't be fooled by the ordinary tracking, unless you pay extra fpr signature required you will lose a Paypal dispute against any buyer who knows how it works. the limited tracking only shows delivery to the nearest delivery centre so unless that happens to be in the buyer's suburb it is useless for seller protection.

You also have far to few transactions for any accurate view of your seller performance, you really need 100 for that and you will probably find that the nearer you gewt to that figure the more your rate will go up.

Obviously you are not getting anywhere by selling yourself short with delivery charges, I explain nothing, I select seller's standard rate and I add between 75c and $2 p&h charges and my postage price star on my id where I don't have free postage is perfectly fine at 4.9%.

[arnl7178]

How can you get AP 500g satchels for 15c?

That price isn't for the satchels you use OP. They are click and send satchels, which you pay postage on top of the 15c.

Currently, it costs $7.15 to use click and send for a 500g satchel and $11.70 for a 3kg.

You buy special satchels (the 15c ones) from the eBay Australia Post store.

[joz*garage]

Don't be fooled by the ordinary tracking, unless you pay extra fpr signature required you will lose a Paypal dispute against any buyer who knows how it works. the limited tracking only shows delivery to the nearest delivery centre so unless that happens to be in the buyer's suburb it is useless for seller protection.

if C&S has limited tracking that shows delivery to the buyers area or there abouts doesnt that still provide prove to PP that you actually sent the item and you are covered by PP seller protection? Otherwise what would be the point of ebay and AP getting it on together with C&S postage? 

I read lots of posts here where sellers were covered by providing a least a tracking number (AP or C&S) to PP which were proof enough they shipped the item....after that its out of the sellers hands or control.

[joz*garage]

Satchels are too dear now. I send everything under 500g at the standard small parcel rate $6.95. If you process through click and send you get tracking that qualifies for seller protection.

went in the PO today for a 5kg satchel @ $16.70 didnt realize all AP satchels come with tracking now, the 3kg satchel I think are now $13.10 or something.

yeah I thought about the $6.95 small parcel rate but you have to provide your own packaging, probably more economical to use the C&S 500g satchel which comes with tracking

[joz*garage]

You also have far to few transactions for any accurate view of your seller performance, you really need 100 for that and you will probably find that the nearer you gewt to that figure the more your rate will go up.

Obviously you are not getting anywhere by selling yourself short with delivery charges, I explain nothing, I select seller's standard rate and I add between 75c and $2 p&h charges and my postage price star on my id where I don't have free postage is perfectly fine at 4.9%.

When i first started selling, like the OP i was disappointed to discover a poor postage charge star rating after 10 feedbacks. And it was an eye opener for me earlier on in the piece that i was doing something wrong and wantd to rectify it by making an adjustment. Back then large letter rates: 250g - 500g were $2.50 or $2.75 + charged 25c for the envelope, 15c for plastic wrap and 15c for cardboard backing. That hasnt changed to this day, all i needed to do was to describe in detail my packing and handling charges in the description, this made it clear to buyers i wasnt duping them. eventually my postage charge star rating grew to 4.9 and it even hit 5.0 a few times.     

[zenremix777]

Like PJ said, maybe try splitting the difference. If a regular parcel cost for what you're sending is about $7, try putting postage as $3.50 (or, once I tried before was $2.95) and then add the rest onto your item price. Sometimes cheaper postage can spur people to bid more... but be careful you don't lose money on the sale.

Here's an online fee calculator: http://ecal.altervista.org/en/fee_calculator/ebay.com.au/