posted on February 28, 2001 12:51:03 AM newThe minute you add any part of the shipping charge to the actual cost of your item, you are cheating yourself out of money!!
Why?
Because:
Bidders generally do look at the two costs as separate. In other words, most will not bid less because the s&h cost is a little higher. They see the item price as the item price, and if it's a good deal, then all the better---nevermind that the shipping may be higher than it is with some other sellers. So, if you incorporate the s&h into your starting bid, you're not likely to get more for your item, just less for your postage.
This is especially true for items that end up selling with only one bid, since the starting bid IS the final price.
Also, if you pad your starting bid with s&h costs and there is only one bidder, you end up paying a commission to Ebay based on part of your S&H charge. It is actually the exact opposite of fee avoidance; You are paying Ebay MORE than you should because you're not asking for enough separate fee-exempt postage.
posted on February 28, 2001 01:06:12 AM new
Save money on fees, charge a 'FAIR HOURLY $ RATE' for handling/labour.
Beware of anti- handling- fee- propoganda- pedling- trolls.
posted on February 28, 2001 03:47:12 AM new
costa,
You must mean the bidders. Dang those darn customers! It would be a great way to make a profit and a livin' if we didn't have to deal with those dang darn trolling customers, I tellya what!
posted on February 28, 2001 08:56:00 AM newoxford:
Gimmie a break! There are a lot of bidders who whine about handling charges BECAUSE THEY ARE CLUELESS about what it costs to "handle" an item PROPERLY.
Case in point: I had a high bidder a while back who complained when the s&h charge was higher than the ACTUAL POSTAGE. What a nitwit! IRONICALLY, when that SAME PERSON started selling similar items as the one I sold him, HE charged a little more than I did for s&h. WHY? Because he realized THAT WAS WHAT IT COSTS!!
Granted, there are abusers of the handling charge, but anyone who doesn't agree that there should be a handling charge (itemized or not) is a fool who would likely bankrupt their own business.
posted on February 28, 2001 09:14:42 AM new
The vast majority of buyers expect to see S/H around $4. But they also expect professional packing.
I've experimented with FREE S/H and it just doesn't work. An item worth $10 will get bid up to $10 regardless of what the S/H charge is, (within reason) If I put it up at $12 with FREE S/H it will not get any bids.
There is a Tiny Tiny minority of Vocal opponents on here that will complain about a $1 handling charge but wouldn't complain about $3 in extra postage because the thing was put in a box way too big.
posted on February 28, 2001 12:16:58 PM new
As I stated in that other (last seen at 10 pgs.) thread:
I experimented with removing my packaging cost from the opening bid and tacking it on as a handling fee. After all, what should be the difference between a $4.00 bid with $2.25 shipping/handling or a $4.50 bid with $1.75 shipping? They both cost the buyer $6.25.
However, a lower bid price with higher shipping made my business take a nosedive. As soon as I raised my bid price and lowered my shipping, business was back to normal!
And that's only with a small amount of 50 cents being moved from place to place. What would happen if I "padded" if you will as much as $1 for my time, etc.
BTW, I do charge for my time, etc. I build a set profit into my bid price. I never open at just cost.
posted on February 28, 2001 01:11:53 PM newBTW, I do charge for my time, etc. I build a set profit into my bid price. I never open at just cost.
Exactly!
It seems the problem is that "some" sellers are listing their items with LOW opening bids hoping to attract more bidders, and COUNT on their "handling" fees to make up the difference in profit.
Fine by me, if that's what THEY need to do, but I don't.
posted on February 28, 2001 01:38:35 PM new
Let us say:
I make widgets out of free materials to sell in my shop for $3.00.
I can make 4 per hour, and sell them at my front door.
My expenses to sell them are about 50c each.
Therefore I make $10.00 per hour.
Now I sell on ebay.
I charge a 50c handling fee per widget.
It takes me 1/2hour to pack, post, & track each widget.
My materials to pack are $1.50 per widget.
T-h-a-t m-e-a-n-s (duh!) my new adjusted hourly rate is $3.00 per hour.
Kraftdinner, can you see that in order to maintain an income of $10 per hour I would need to charge $6.50 packaging and handling ABOVE ACTUAL POSTAGE.
But then again the ebay commission would go up too, so I would actually need to charge even more.
