Ebay & Shipping

[POS Racing]

Well once again I sold something on e-bay and lost $$$ on the shipping.

I've even been using the automatic deal from UPS you can add to your auction where you beat in you zip code and it gives the shipping rate as part of the auction. It sure would be nice if I could actually figure out how to break even on the shipping rather than lose money.

You guys having any better luck than me?

[sammm]

You guys having any better luck than me?

I have lost money shipping a few times, but usually come out OK. I like to check completed Ebay auctions for similiar items and see what other sellers charged to ship. I haven't tried the shipping calculator add-on, but it doesn't sound promising judging from your experiences!

[channelmaniac]

I usually ship everything via USPS Priority Mail.

I bought my own electronic shipping scale at First Saturday to weigh everything then use the www.usps.gov site's postage calculator to figure out shipping costs.

If I'm ever off it's only by 10 cents or so.

Plus Priority Mail = FREE SHIPPING BOXES!

Raymond

[mpolansky]

What I always do is guesstimate the size and weight of the package (including packing material), then add a pound. Then I type in the info at www.fedex.com (you can do it a www.ups.com) and get a shipping quote from an address on the east coast (11771) to an address on the west coast (90210) and use that as a fixed shipping price.

Or, I just tell them shipping cost will be actual shipping and do the same procedure above, but put in my address and the buyer's address.

For small stuff, I always use USPS and go for the Priority Mail boxes unless I just happen to have the right size box laying around. For anything that won't fit in a Priority Mail box, I always use FedEx Ground because it always seems to be cheaper than UPS and my local FedEx counter gives me better service and tends to much easier to deal with.