What do you perceive Flat Rate shipping to mean?

[donnashuggy]

and what does it mean?

[davewil1964]

Good discussion, I don't use satchels as I have a contract but I guess the local buyers subsidize the buyers that live further away from me, not really fair - then again we are forced into this free postage situation.

Only insofar as they all pay the same price, which is determined (generally) by AP. Unless the buyer lives very close to the seller, a satchel (the usual flat rate postage option) is cheaper than calculated own packaging postage anyway, so presumably AP is subsidising the remoter buyers.

[donnashuggy]

Only insofar as they all pay the same price, which is determined (generally) by AP. Unless the buyer lives very close to the seller, a satchel (the usual flat rate postage option) is cheaper than calculated own packaging postage anyway, so presumably AP is subsidising the remoter buyers.

Not really, it costs me less to send to buyers in Sydney and surrounds, satchels are not cheaper.

thanks wishuponastar, agreed there are a lot of issues with eBay and postage, guess they can't please everyone - having a discount at checkout may help us all out but the buyers aren't made clear about the costs so it is not very friendly, meanwhile paypal reaps the fees for individual transactions when buyers keep coming back and buying free post items and paying in theory the postage over and over lol!

[digital*ghost]

"I always understood it to mean that you don't pay extra for additional purchases, am I wrong in that regard?"

Donna,

When I've purchased from other internet sites, that's exactly what it's meant.

If the postage has been eg: $10.00. it would be $10.00 in total whether it's for 1 or 20 items

Ditto to that... eBay is kind of the exception to the rule, probably because there are so many ways a seller can set up shipping, and shipping discounts, and eBay themselves use flat rate to define 'same cost to all buyers'  while still making it possible to add extra postage for additional items (discounted or not)

I use capped postage for clothing, since one item can be posted for anywhere from $3-$11-odd and combining is slightly volatile when you're only talking about a couple of items, but my cap is based on the 5kg satchel price - I have a note saying that if I can post for less than the cap, I will and refund the difference (or invoice if I get the chance. If it costs more, not really fussed as someone would have to buy a lot from me to exceed the 5kg satchel, and in fact my cap is less than the price of one anyway).

With my other items, I charge one postage price and all additional items are free, the first item the same rate Australia wide, but I don't call it flat rate because the P&H varies between $2-$6.50. The highest amount is charged as postage, and all additional items are free. 

[go-tazz]

I use Turbo Lister and under Domestic postage for flat it states same cost to all buyers.

That's when creating a listing,(so it basically means for that listing only).

My flat rates are mainly the letter rates,($1.20,$1.80 and $3).

The parcel rates,($6 for the 500gram eBay satchel and $10 for the 3kg one).

The boxes,(B1 $8, B2 $12 and the B4 $16).

Each one of these could have more added,but they need to stay within the size and weight limits.

I've had  items that where sent as two individual parcels because combined they would have exceeded the size or weight restrictions and they would have cost more to post.

[***super_nova***]

eBay is different because here you buy from many different sellers, often small business or private people.  Large business that sells relatively small items, with good mark up can send several items for the same $ or not much more.  On eBay seller can post 1 item in 500g satchel, but 2 items may not fit and have to be posted in 3kg satchel; the seller is not in position to send both for the price of one.

If business offers $10 delivery for does not matter how many items you buy, they have the delivery cost built into the price of the item, but it prompts buyers to purchase multiples to save on shipping.  It really is not any different than "free" postage here, as far as the fact that you pay for delivery which ever way you look at it.   Maybe the right way to look at it would be to say that all the items offered at "flat" rate (meaning you only pay one delivery fee) have the shipping cost included and there is one handling fee of $10 per parcel/invoice.

But here on eBay I would take that "flat rate" means the same postage to anywhere = C&S or prepaid satchel, because that is what it means when you do listing.

[donnashuggy]

On eBay though you can put zero in for buying a second or third item so that would equal flat or capped shipping wouldn't it?

[***super_nova***]

On eBay though you can put zero in for buying a second or third item so that would equal flat or capped shipping wouldn't it?

When you are listing an item you have to select postage options; first there are 2 to choose from:  FLAT = same to everywhere in AU  or CALCULATED = calculated by distance.  If you select "flat" then you get the option of all the different satchels and boxes that go anywhere for the same charge.  Therefore I would assume that is what is being talked about, not about combining items in one parcel for no extra cost..

The seller can combine and charge only whatever the postage is for the one parcel containing as many items as fit there, but only if they are all on one invoice, or the bidder could open INR case and the seller would have only proof of shipping one parcel.

[digital*ghost]

On eBay though you can put zero in for buying a second or third item so that would equal flat or capped shipping wouldn't it?

Neither, strictly, because you can only do that on a single listing so it doesn't affect any of the other buyer's purchases.

On the clothing listings I have, where I use capped postage, buyers are charged accumulating P&H until the total equals or exceeds my cap, meaning they can buy any item, with any $-value postage quoted, and no matter what, the most P&H they'll be charged at checkout is the cap. (eg, 3 items at $3 post, at checkout will be $9. 10 items at $3 Post will be $15 at checkout - in other words, I haven't set up any discounts for those items that affect listings except for the cap). 

On my other, non-clothing items, I have the discounts set up so that one the first, highest post cost is charged and everything else is free. Buyers can see these discounts if they click the link, and only items that have the same discounts visible will be affected at checkout (meaning you could set up a wide range of different postage discounts for different kinds of items, and even have a couple in the same listing - eg $5 post, plus $1 per additional item, capped at $10. If you have $0 for additional items in that listing, I'm almost certain they won't be charged the $1 extra for those items, but if they buy from a different listing, the $1 extra is added. It's also worth mentioning that separate purchases from multi-quantity or variation listings don't qualify for $0 post on additional items, it's only when people enter a quantity before purchase that that discount applies). 

To do a single, flat rate on eBay, all you would really need to do is put the same P&H in for every single item / listing, then make all additional items free-post so that it automatically calculates at checkout. 

[phorum_junkie*]

To me it means exactly what it says, it is a flat rate to any destination. it has nothing to do with combined shipping, postage discounts or anything else.

[i-once-was-bump]

I read it  to be that it applies to 1 item only and in that listing only.

Where other sites use capped rate they do clearly explain what they mean but their postage terms.

What happens in the non ebay world is light years away from what happens in ebay world.