eBay fee on postage

[tardis33]

Charging a fee on actual postage costs is unfair and should be removed. Of course I understand that eBay charges a Final Value fee from the final price the item sold for, however postage costs are outside of our control. They are controlled by Australia Post and they keep increasing. As sellers on eBay we have no control of this.

Please pass on feedback to eBay management that the fee on postage isn't fair. I certainly understand the fee on final sale price but the fee on postage (that was probably designed to hurt the China sellers) has also hurt everyone else

[padi*0409]

Fees on postage have been in place for many years now, they were introduced for many reasons by eBay and there is no chance they will be rescinded.

At the end of the day it's the buyer that pays for postage (and the fees) when you build it into the item price.

BTW, you are not talking to eBay here, just members like yourself.

[petersbargainshop]

eBay claims to provide a 5% discount on Australia Post shipping costs.  But is that really a saving?

Consider this example.  You can buy the postal service from Australia Post for $10, but eBay sells it to you at a 5% discount, so the cost is $9.50.  However, if the selling fee is 12% of the total price, inclusive of postage, then the actual postage cost is $10.64.  If you buy the satchels in bulk from Australia Post the cost is $9.45 per item.

In reality, there is no 5% discount because eBay currently charges $9.70 per ordinary parcel item and prepaid satchels are $9.70 anyway.

[k1ooo-slr-sales]

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@tardis33 wrote:

. . . however postage costs are outside of our control. They are controlled by Australia Post and they keep increasing. As sellers on eBay we have no control of this.

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while the 'actual' cost of postage is set by AP, the postage charged on a listing is set by the seller (just insert postage cost rather than letting eBay insert the cost).

Savvy sellers take advantage of the fact that eBay allows for a 'handling fee'.  That's why it's called Postage & Handling.

eBay don't allow unreasonable handling charges, but just add a handling fee that will cover the fee on postage.  Just add around 15% to the postage.

For your items with a $9.55 postage charge, change it to $11

For your items with $5.10 postage charge, change it to $5.90

A modest increase, but one that means the fee on postage does not bite into your bottom line.

Something to note . . . DO NOT mention anything about fees on postage in your listing, DO NOT tell potential buyers that your postage includes the fees on postage . . . if asked, just say it is a postage & handling charge and anything above stamp/satchel price is the handling component.  DO NOT ever give any detailed breakdown of the postage.

An alternative approach would be to add half the 15% increase to the buy-now price and the other half to the postage.

[padi*0409]

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@petersbargainshop wrote:

eBay claims to provide a 5% discount on Australia Post shipping costs.  But is that really a saving?

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Are you using eBay for your postage rates ?

If you are, with the amount of sales you're getting an MyPost Business account might well give you significant savings, check it out below.

https://auspost.com.au/business/shipping/mypost-business

[sparesguru]

Yes the only way to use Auspost on eBay is via Auspost Business. The integration tool is a bit clumsy (you'll have to delete description field as it's too long and in some cases add a 0 to the front of the phone number etc) but the savings are ridiculous. I'm on Band 5 savings (spend at least $2000 per month on postage) and compared to eBays 5% this is what I get:

-40% off eligible standard and express parcel sending within the same major city

-20% off eligible standard and express parcel sending to another major city

-5% off eligible standard and express parcel sending to rural locations within Australia

[gutterpunkz05]

Has been in place for many years, was introduced to stop sellers selling items for  99c  + $1000.00 postage, to effectively avoid ebay fees.   All approved by ACCC.    So work with what you have got, as it is not going to change.

[grogeybear]

In a perfect world we would all like not to pay fees on the cost of postage. However I do see fees as the cost of running my business, just like I'd have to pay rent/power/water etc if I had a bricks & mortar store. I only began selling on eBay at the end of January this year and I didn't realise I was charged fees on postage costs for some months, and because of that I was very hesitant to include free postage on my listings. As I've learnt more overall, gotten my AusPost Business account, and discovered that fees are charged on the prospective postage cost - I now see it's to my benefit to move most of my listings over to Free postage and get that Top Rated Seller stamp of approval. 

Cheers

Leanne

[tardis33]

Of course I understand that these eBay fees on postage have been with us for a long time. I was annoyed when they were introduced. And there is absolutely nothing I can do about them except accept that there are part of an eBay business.

I use My Post Business to get the cheapest postage I can although sales have dropped off recently so I have reverted to band 2

[templeofthesun]

The problem with no fee on postage this is that sellers could charge less for the item and more for postage to counteract the payable fees I guess eBay worked that out long ago. They use to offer a discount if you bought shipping labels through the eBay site that reimbursed the fee they charge for shipping so it worked out the same price as standard post fees but when Aust Post jacked up the price on the shipping around 2019 the discount no longer applied. I was using ebay shipping for quite a few years and over paying for shipping until I opened my Aust Post Business Account in 2021, that is useful to save a few dollars here and there but it depends where the item is going so its not always cheaper than standard prices, hence you end up paying the standard price plus ebay collects their 12% so its costing more than standard. I wish they would sort something out too because Aust Post are really cashing in on the online trading game with price rises every 6 months. so annoying. When I started selling a 500gm satchel was $6.50 they are now $9.65 and climbing.