New eBay Rules.. Free Shipping Required?

March 17th, 2011 |

Author: admin

Dear eBay Queen:

Thank you so much for responding to my question about PayPal and eBay at the beginning of March. I am seeing how the fees on eBay and PayPal work much clearer.

I do have a couple more questions. I was thinking about trying to sell things at Fixed Price or a Buy it Now option. You mentioned something about shipping fees. How does that factor in to the sale? What if the shipping isn’t free? How can shipping be free anyway? Can the shipping affect the PayPal fee, insertion fee, and final value fee? Forgive me for being slow, but could you give me a breakdown that would include shipping that cost? You gave me a breakdown of an item that sold for $50, but I wasn’t for sure if that included free shipping or shipping cost. Again, thank you for taking the time to answer my questions.

Amy

Dear Amy:

Thanks for letting me know my response helped you. Your question about PayPal and eBay fees is one that even long time sellers don’t easily understand.

Fixed price and Buy it Now are great ways to sell your items fast. eBay use to have pretty strict requirements for a seller to use the Fixed Price or Buy it Now option, but they have dropped those requirements. You can find the requirements and charges for Fixed Price and Buy it Now here: http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/fixed-price.html .

It is up to each individual seller to decide what to charge for shipping. Some sellers offer free shipping, some charge exact shipping and others charge a handling fee with their shipping charges. eBay has made it easy for shipping charges to be figured. When you are writing up your listing in the “Sell Your Item Form” you’ll see you can check the box for free shipping, calculated shipping or flat rate shipping.

· Free shipping is free to the buyer, but the seller is still responsible for the charges. This means you will need to build the price of the shipping costs in your starting price. I would suggest before you offer free shipping that you become a little more familiar with shipping and shipping charges.

· Flat rate shipping is offering the same rate no matter where it is being shipped. This can be a little tricky also since shipping charges vary all over the US and internationally. The post office makes it easier to ship in the US with flat rate boxes. The USPS Flat Rate Boxes range in price from $4.95 to $12.95. You can check out all the USPS Flat Rate Charges here: http://www.usps.com/prices/priority-mail-prices.htm

· Calculated shipping is the way to go when it comes to new sellers. All you will need to do is put your zip code in along with the weight of the package and eBay’s calculator does the rest.

When it comes to the fees, eBay has just released their spring update March 15. Check it out here http://announcements.ebay.com/2011/03/2011-spring-seller-update/ In this update they have announced they are going to apply final value fees to the total amount of the sale. That means FVF fees will also be applied to shipping costs. Starting July 6^th, all eBay sellers will be charged 9% final value fee on the total amount of the sale including shipping.

Here is my original break down:

Let’s say you sold a vintage cookie jar for $50.00 + shipping. Here’s a breakdown of the fees:

You started the listing at $9.99: Insertion fee would be:                                    .25 cents
Your item sold for $50.00: final value fee would be 12% of the sale price:   $6.00
PayPal Fees: 2.9% + .30 cents                                                                          $1.75
                                                                                   TOTAL FEES:                $8.00

After July 6^th your fees on the same cookie jar (that sold for $50.00 + shipping) will be:

You start the listing at $9.99: Insertion fee would be: .00 (free insertion)

Your item sold for $50.00 + 12.85 shipping final value fee would be 9% $5.65

of the total price (including shipping)

PayPal Fees: 2.9% + .30 cents $1.75

TOTAL FEES $7.40

Auctionbytes is an independent online trade magazine for online auctions. They have a complete breakdown of fees and the new changes. http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y11/m03/i15/s00 Let me know if there is anything else I can help you with.

320662470743

Suzie Eads is a nationally known eBay marketer and eBay trained Education Specialist. She lives in Rantoul. Do you have a question for the eBay Queen? E-mail: questions@asktheebayqueen.com