Power sellers charge High Shipping Rates

Hello everybody,
I've noticed that there are several power sellers in my country and i saw some of their listings, They charge more than 3 times higher than the real shipping rate that is actually worth (i know the Air mail rates).
The reason i bring this up is because i belive that you should charge only only only for the shipping charge and not to make profit of it, but i saw that people actually buy from them and that's suprising me Because they don't even provide shipping discount for each additional items, On the other hand i provide 50% discount for each additional item and free shipping for more than 6 items.
As i mentioned i belive and think that honesty in shipping rates is important , Should i keep that way do you think i am right ?
Because the customers don't notice it.

Your opinion is very important to me,
Thank you very much

i think you should keep doing what your doing. i bought a broken ps3 from some1 last week, he was using the shipping calculator, and it came to $23.60 i figured that was high but if its around what the exact shipping cost is then thats fine. a few days later i get it in a flat rate box w/the price on the shipping label, $11!!! believe me, i noticed!

You are right honesty is the best way. Also most people these days know roughly how much it costs to ship items to their location that's why auctions with free shipping do well.

I have noticed myself some Hong Kong power sellers sellings watches for $2.95 Buy it Now price and shipping is $18.50. They must think buyers can't work this out but it is blatant and does not seem to be policed by Ebay.They will sell to the lazy people who say 'Oh well it's still cheap'. But sales will suffer eventually.

The best way is to factor in shipping cost to total sale price and say 'Free Shipping to Wherever' this is something I do all the time and my customers know I have done this and are ok with it. Admittedly all my shipments are DHL international but customers are aware and know I am not trying to be sneaky and are all ok with this.

I guess it depends on what you sell and if the total sale price can bear the inclusion of shipping costs without over pricing your item but I buy my items (electronics) at a good price with plenty of room to move in terms of pricing and competition.

But sadly yes there are quite a few sellers profiting on shipping which is wrong but it catch up with them. If you stick to your way of doing it your customers will appreciate your honesty and reward you with repeat business and you will be selling in years to come when these others have crashed and burned. Good Luck with it.

i can understand though, this is just my theory, they might be trying to keep there ebay fees lower. im not sure if im right but, when ebay totals your sales, they dont add the shipping, i assume its the same w/ final value fees? so if you lower your sale price then raise your shipping, you lower your fees? you said power sellers so im sure there fees are insane. i dont offer free shipping on most of my items since i realized that

Thank you guys so much , your remarks approve that my way is correct, But still what's really bothering is that i compete with two power sellers that sell similar items like i do and my shipping charges are the correct ones but my product's price is a little bit higher, But the total deal is my cheaper. >> Still they prefer the power sellers because you know, the flashing Logo of the Power seller ( i think).

really annoying and damaging the honest electronic commerce .
What do you think... ?

ya i feel you. try pointing that out in your listings, maybe that might help. or in your subtitle say cheap shipping, accurate shipping something to that effect. online sales is a cut throat business, do whatever it takes

i would say something like, dont be fooled by my competitors cheap prices and HUGE shipping costs. get the best and honest deals here and check my other listings for more great deals.

Thanx alot

This game has been going on for some time on eBay.

The problem is this. EBay/Paypal fees.

Sellers have been padding shipping for years to cover those fees.

During the past year, eBay has been giving higher search position for those sellers offering free shipping.

On other forums I have visited, some of the members have been running the numbers. They have determined that in a lot of cases, the free shipping items were actually costing buyers more.

And here is why and to eBays benefit.

Lets say someone sells an item for .99 with 11.99 shipping. Their ebay FVFs are about 9 cents and total Paypal is 68 cents.

If they go the free shipping route:

Their eBay FVF is about 1.56 with Paypal at .68.

So what the seller will do is sell the item for 14.95 free shipping.

Another example is:

Lets say a seller wants to sell an item for 100$ He sells it at a fixed price for 79.95 at 19.95 shipping. Just about a 100$.

His FVF is 8.15 PP is 2.62

Now if he sells it with free shipping he will sell it at about 104.95 to cover the extra fees.

I may not have the numbers perfect but you can see what happens.

EBay gets the best of the deal as they are getting more fees. And the buyer is actually getting the worse of the deal.

ya thats what i thought, which is why i rarely sell things w/ free shipping anymore but i try not sell w/ shipping cost higher than actual cost b/c im afraid it might scare off customers.

ya thats what i thought, which is why i rarely sell things w/ free shipping anymore but i try not sell w/ shipping cost higher than actual cost b/c im afraid it might scare off customers.

Understood. What many sellers do is add a couple of dollars to the shipping. This is not considered scammy as you have to somehow work shipping supplies into your shipping price.

But I definitely hear what your saying. A lot of times its what you feel most comfortable with.

Certain Items I pad an extra dollar or two S+H to with the promise I am shipping in a well protected box, and shipping every day of the week besides Sundays so at least the buyer is getting something for their extra dollar or two. Over hundreds of items this adds up to hundreds of dollars that are not 'fee taxed' by Ebay.

Also I do not believe it is immoral or scammy in any way. I spell out in both my auction description and the shipping calculator what shipping is..it is a suprise to no one and if buyers do not agree than they shouldn't purchase. They still usually do though as I give them exactly what I describe in an extremely quick shipping time..something most Ebayers can't do these days..so my DSR's aren't really suffering either.

Certain Items I pad an extra dollar or two S+H to with the promise I am shipping in a well protected box, and shipping every day of the week besides Sundays so at least the buyer is getting something for their extra dollar or two. Over hundreds of items this adds up to hundreds of dollars that are not 'fee taxed' by Ebay.

Also I do not believe it is immoral or scammy in any way. I spell out in both my auction description and the shipping calculator what shipping is..it is a suprise to no one and if buyers do not agree than they shouldn't purchase. They still usually do though as I give them exactly what I describe in an extremely quick shipping time..something most Ebayers can't do these days..so my DSR's aren't really suffering either.

Sounds like you run a pretty tight ship.

I believe that having a cheaper shipping fee is a lot better. If I am the buyer and they look at an item and shipping it $20 and the item is $40 that automatically gives them the impression they are paying 50% more just for shipping and they might try to shop somewhere else to find the same price and cheaper shipping.

I basically just whey the item and let eBay's shipping calculator determine the actual shipping charges. I add an extra $1-2 for my supplies. I add these note on my listing to make sure my customers know how the shipping cost are calculated. If the item whey's less than 5 LBS, I just list the item with Free Shipping but add an extra couple of bucks on my price.

As noted, the reason you're seeing this practice is mainly to avoid ebay's fees (which aren't calculated on shipping costs).

It's not unreasonable to charge a higher than 'just the actual shipping cost' as long as it's clearly indicated. Shipping & Handling is exactly that. Handling costs of packaging materials (box, bubble wrap, tape, labels, ink, etc) can add up if you're moving a lot of inventory - which you'll want to do, right?

Currently ebay is promoting the Powerseller community to use Free Shipping by offering better placement in 'best match' and also double FVF discounts if you have high DSRs. It's a numbers game that depending on what you are selling (and how much it actually costs to ship it) it may work.

This promotion currently ends in June - but has been extended a few times. I personally think the 'Free Shipping' option makes it easier for me to calculate P&L and makes it more attractive to the buyer as well. So many websites offer free shipping (even though it is a major expense) that it seems you almost need to do it to remain competitive.
-anthony

i normally add about $1-2 to the cost of shipping to at least go towards ebay/paypal fees & have never had any problems in the past
-until now!!!!!
i have been busy with other commitments this year so haven't sold anything on ebay, however i listed a bundle of things a couple of weeks ago
* i sold a pair of shoes which I had to ship in a 3kg Australia Post satchel which cost $10 something & so I charged $12 for shipping
then the buyer left this rant on the feedback saying that the postage was too expensive - & i was ripping her off - well the buyer won the shoes for .99 - so by the time you took off ebay fees, paypal fees & postage i made a loss on the item
(& if you didn't want to pay $12 for postage then why bid?
the postage price was clearly listed in the description)
* then i had 2 other buyers who tried to haggle the price they had bid down after the auction ended (what the?) if you didn't want to pay that much why did you bid? one of them offered to pay $1.20 towards postage - wow how generous - the 500g satchel to post the item costs $5 something (i had $6 listed for postage) - then when i said i wanted the amount listed - buyer got all huffy & wants to cancel transaction

what is going on???????
in past years i have found buyers pleasant to deal with,
then this lot were the rudest crankiest people i ever had to deal with
- has the global financial crisis made people stingy scrooges
OR was i just unlucky in getting a bunch of wackos???

Hey foxyroxy, Well I also have had this problem in the past and it seems to me that lots of buyers tend to skip around reading things in your description but not actually reading the important stuff and so they decide to bid or buy without knowing the terms and other fees. Too many people do not read the entire listing and I have also noticed that if you have lots going on in your listing like a lot of information, terms, feedback policy, that sort of stuff then the buyer will get overwhelmed and just read about the product and thats it.

As to your rude buyers, I think it's common to have these sort of people in your everyday life but I think the economy has a lot of people stressed and angry so they are becoming very picky about what they spend and how to go about shopping these days.