On eBay, I usually do calculated or flat rate shipping. I’ve tried free shipping to see if items sell faster, made no difference. If people really want something, they’ll pay
If eBay does the refund, not you, they do refund the shipping cost. I do not. I should not have to refund shipping because I did ship the item. But no one refunds shipping. Like Kohl's JSpenny and other places like that do not refund shipping
I once counteroffered a buyer and said I can't go lower because of shipping costs. She replied "but isn't shipping free?" point being that a lot of buyers don't realize that free shipping just means that shipping is actually in the item price
The thought process is mind boggling. I'd love to see that buyer walk into USPS or UPS with a package that needs to be sent across the nation and when it comes time to ring them up, the customer says "I'm not paying because free shipping". That package will go nowhere but back to the shippers house provided THEY take it back home with them.
This remnds me of people who say 'Just go get it from the store' Have you looked at the store lately? Does the store even carry what you're talking about? You do realize I live 40 miles from a store don't you!? & Also the people who don't realize eggs come from chickens and milk comes from cows, not the grocery store.
I think free shipping attracts more fugal buyers who, of course, also take advantage of the best offer option and push it as far as they can. In my experience the people who spend less are also the ones more likely to make returns as well.
Agree! I had someone message me an offer (I did NOT have best offer on) on a BIN. It was a fair offer so I changed the item to "best offer" so she could send it that way. Instead of the amount she initially asked, she sent a seriously lowball offer. I countered and she replied with yet another lowball offer. I declined and set it back to just BIN.
@@grumpyvet7670 instead of blockingnlowballers COUNTER you are cutting yourself out of so many potential sales. They just want to see where you will start
Welcome to the “No Free Shipping” club!!!! Yes, more profit in the pocket. And, any cushion on 1st class shipping helps pay ebay fees. Great video as always. 🙂❤️👍
"free shipping" has always been a shell game that almost always is a ridiculous burden that sellers were duped into. Good to see more and more sellers wake up and end this fascade.
@@nikkig878 But in such a short timeframe, how can you be sure that the sales dip is due to that? Late summer is notoriously harsh, I've heard this from countless sellers. Go back to free shipping if you want, but one alternate idea would be if you just change SOME back, like say half. And definitely give it more time, as you really could just be witnessing a seasonal fluke, or some other variable that has nothing to do with buyers' shipping prejudices.
It also gives you peace of mind to do a storewide sale or give coupons, without any "DOH!" moments, since the percent-off only affects the item price; the shipping cost doesn't budge.
I have tried the free shipping on some of my items and in my experience, I get less sales on the free shipping than I do when I charge shipping. And with free shipping I would get low ball offers. So I started out charging shipping and will continue to charge shipping. I do think the buyers like to see the breakdown of what the item is actually priced vs inflated price with shipping in that price.
Totally agree. I use calculated shipping almost every time. When I am the buyer, I like to know that what I'm buying isnt overpriced to accommodate the free shipping.
I recently considered buying several items from one seller (whole other kind of items--used collectibles and jewelry), but decided not to because all her listings were free shipping. I knew that she had her shipping cost built into each item separately, but she surely wouldn't ship them all separately. When you can see the seller's shipping amount, you can request that they combine shipping, but when it's "invisible" you don't really have any ground to stand on. I suppose I could have written to ask if she could offer a discount based on these facts, but honestly I'm tired of haggling especially when there's a good chance the person won't be reasonable. I would rather just know what I'm paying and why.
I have had buyers make an offer on several different items I had listed with free shipping. They included a message to ship all together which helped me out. I accepted the offer of course because I saved so much on shipping. I have lost money on some items but tend to price based on what I thought I would want to pay. Add a little if it is going to be costly to ship but sometimes a buyer is so far away you can't cover it. Bottom line is always feel free to make an offer if the seller allows it. I always accept or decline offers based on shipping costs.
I don't sell online, but I agree with you because, as a consumer, I usually choose my purchases based on the price of the product alone and just assume added shipping as a necessary cost of doing business. I don't think I have ever purchased one item over another based on free shipping.
Hi Lindey. I am a free shipping seller and I’ve been burned a lot recently because of it. I am taking your advice and changing to charged shipping. Lindey, I have been watching your videos since I started with ebay and they have been so helpful. Thank you, thank you, thank you! Pam Hobbs
Thanks Lindey! I was charging shipping and thought free shipping would increase sales, but I was wrong! After the last couple months my sales were the lowest they have been plus I paid all the shipping myself. I'm turning $5 flat rate shipping back on today!
Finally! As a seller, I always wondered why you offered free shipping. I make them pay half. Cuts my expenses down quite a bit, and the buyer still knows they’re getting a deal.
"Free shipping" is favored by the ebay algorithm and will only help in a highly contested search. If you sell something only a few people are selling then charging the customer shipping will have zero negative effect. I'm a current ebay employee.
The funny thing about the marketing of free shipping is the fact that customers think that shipping costs nothing. They are clueless as they don't realize the price is raised to cover the shipping. Nothing is free. Sometimes the price looks lower without shipping, which gets more sales. The ability to combine items on Ebay can get more sales etc.
I agree, I started removing free shipping a while back. I now have almost 98% of my store with paid shipping. The few left are because I missed them when editing. I have seen many successful resale youtubers who do not offer free shipping so it must be a smart move,
I've tried charging shipping vs free shipping in the last few months and I find that it's working!! Less offers and more full price sales!! I actually tried it because of one of your previous videos, so thank you!!!
I have NEVER offered free shipping and never understood why anyone ever did. Big company can do that, but individual sellers? No way, why would they bother? I've also never used a flat rate box because they are always more expensive to ship than non-flat rate boxes. Never understood why people used those either. No free shipping is the way to go. Glad you finally figured it out! 😀👍
Never did free shipping myself, it robs me of combined sales and robs buyers on actual shipping if they buy more than one item. It's like Milton Friedman said "There's no such thing as a free lunch". Buyers aren't dumb, they shop by bottom line. My sales sucked under free shipping because I sell light weight items that cost $8 on average. Shipping is $4 on average. My buyers see the scam in broad daylight if I do what the retailers do and all the venues tell you buyers want, they won't buy. I think you can hide the price in higher cost items, but buyers are still smart enough to understand this usually.
Greatly Appreciate your insight into chg shipping vs free shipping. I'm just starting to sell again after years away from it & that has been 1 of my biggest questions / concerns so far. I'm not yet overly familiar with Ebay fee system, BUT, I believe when they charge the "final value" fee of 12 - 13% on your sales, You are essentially paying that fee on the shipping costs as well....
95% of the time I charge shipping. I feel like buyers have had no clue how much shipping actually costs, I’ve taken it upon myself to let them know, lol.
I also quit free shipping almost entirely two months ago. The main feedback from the customers was exactly that -- they didn't realize how the high price of shipping was bloating my prices, or making it appear like I was overcharging. It has also increased the number of my bundle customers.
We woke up Saturday morning to our entire ebay store having free shipping. Ebay changed all our listings to free shipping without our permission. Im so pissed we sold 8 items before we could bulk edit everything to Priority calculated.
I believe lower pricing point + shipping really humanizes your store and ppl such as me discount the shipping because I know you won't get to keep it and I now know the true price of shipping. its a good thing to let your customers see behind the curtain a little.
since i quit free shipping i have increased by 400% in the space of 4 months sales was faster and customers appreciate there products more Noticed i was losing money when free shipping especially when they was getting item on offers and cheaper bargains so had to rethink and since that business is much better
I just moved away from doing free shipping about a month ago when I heard about the postage price increase. I did see a small dip in sales, but it could have been slower due to the seasonality. Now my sales are starting to pick back up.
I was using free shipping but about 2 or 3 weeks ago, I began changing all my listings to charge shipping. With that, along with some other small changes, my sales have increased.
I just did my first TWO free shipping items this week, hoping to pick up sales. After see your video Lindey i'm going back in and change that. Now all i have to do is find them.
I feel the same way. Last year I sold general merchandise and didn’t charge shipping either. I fell in the “free shipping” trap based on videos I watched. Now I sell clothes and charge shipping. My profits are much higher so far.
It's cheaper to offer 2nd-day FedEx than USPS Priority on a lot of items...we're shipping a vintage enamelware pot today that was $27 via USPS and $16 via FedEx. Do your customers a favor and offer more than one method of shipping. The only thing I offer free shipping on are media mail items. It's a known cost, so it's easy to bake into the price.
Omg Ty. I’m a new seller and I fear no one will buy if I don’t offer free shipping. I saw so many ppl recommend to increase the price and charge free shipping. I will def try this when I get back from vacation
I resell online on eBay n I watch all your video n I must say goodness gracious you are just a treat to watch your beauty just mesmerized me girl Keep getting that money 😉
I’ve been able to grow my part time business fairly easily while offering calculated shipping. It’s what I’ve done from the beginning. I do have a rule that if I somehow overcharge a buyer because of various priority options, I refund anything over $2 extra. I don’t like taking more than necessary. I appreciate the slight profit from charging though as it easily funds the cost of shipping supplies. 🙌🏻
I buy from eBay a lot but never had the nerve to sell on eBay. The shipping is the main thing that has stopped me from doing it. I always wondered how shipping could be factored in when you never know where the buyer lives until after the sale. You helped explain it a bit. I assume that eBay has an option that depending on what the buyer's zip code is, eBay automatically generates how much it will cost to ship to them and that is what they pay.
I was charging shipping all along because I also listen to Auction Professor, who strictly does plus shipping. Recently I started listing free shipping on HB products and books because of you and some book sellers to see if it improved sales. Glad to know I can go back to plus shipping listings. Even with the plus shipping, i have had to eat profits because calculated shipping sometimes is more expensive than i anticipated. Thank you, Lindey.
Hello, great video. I'm sorry you're just finding this out. I'm a way smaller seller than you (working towards the volume you do and the revenue you make) and I learned a year ago to stop doing free shipping. I've had really good sales without it on all of the platforms I'm on. It also saves you money on returns. If you get a return and you had offered free shipping you have to refund the price/ amount that the buyer paid (which includes the free shipping amount). If the buyer puts in a return and you didn't offer free shipping you only refund the amount that the item was so you save money there as well. I thought you were offering free shipping because the volume of things you were shipping offset the shipping price, meaning you got a really big discount on shipping because you sold a huge amount of merchandise.
@@traceejohnson290 Yes, we encourage multiple purchases of items to be shipped in one container/ package to help save the buyer from multiple shipping fees and packages. We offer discounts on 2 or more items ordered in a single purchase/ transaction. We also offer a shipping discount on combined orders - this is discounted shipping not free shipping.
I think it depends on which category you sell in. I sell toys and shoppers seem to demand free shipping there. I changed to calculated shipping a few months ago on anything the ships in a box. If it ships in a poly mailer i kept free shipping. Well my sales on the box items tanked, but the free shipping items still sell as always.
So agree with you. Ebay uses all kinds of pressure to get YOU to make a sale at a lesser price point, just so they get a sale. I am tired of getting offers when I don't accept best offers, or being SENT offers simply because I had something on a watchlist. They are very tricky in making you have to turn OFF options, and then if you revise your listing you have to UNcheck all those things AGAIN.
I used to do free shipping until I realized a $25(free shipping) pair of jeans looks expensive. Buyers don't realize how much things cost to ship unless we do calculated shipping. Especially with USPS raising rates to cover their own shortages, it's like educating buyers on costs. Also, then we don't have to eat the rate increases. I think people believe that we are pocketing the full $25 instead of realizing we have the shipping cost, ebay fees, our costs, to pay before we see any profit.
Ive never offered free shipping, since I live in CA, most postal prices are too high to offer free shipping to the east coast or even the midwest. But I uaually try to show the lowest Ground Shiping price as the first shipping option - creats fewer complaints about shipping charges.
First let me say the postal service is killing our bottom line. I do free shipping on lighter-weight items with the heavier stuff was charging shipping. I am just going to charge shipping straight across the board.
just changed my items to calculated shipping from free was getting tired of the lowball offers on items but the upcoming raise in shipping cost and your video are a motivator also.
I have been testing free vs calculated shipping the past few months. Stale listing seem to sell once I adjust price down and add calculated shipping. I'm not getting as many lowball offers either🤷♀️
Hi Lindey! I do about half and half free and flat rate shipping. I am trying to make adjustments on a one by one basis like you are. I haven’t yet seen a change but it’s too soon though. I always appreciate your videos, you always come across as such an honest person! Cheers, Pat
I never charge free shipping up here in Canada. It already costs me minimum between $14 and $18 just to ship a Tshirt. Its crazy expensive up here but Canada Post is my only option here unfortunately
When I was free shipping, so many of my buyers were in California, Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, or Guam. I am in Illinois, so shipping cost me a lot. I also don’t have lowball offers now that I do calculated shipping.
I agree, they changed the variables too much that it makes it impossible to predict shipping costs to calculate into the price. ended up praying nobody bought from the furthest most expensive zones from me, then of course I did
as a seller, there are occasions where Not having free shipping is not ideal. first, i think you lose the top rated seller badge., correct me if im wrong. second, when someone buys multiple items from you. if you have free shipping but the shipping cost included, often, you can make more money when they purchase multiples because youre saving on the shipping. i like to offer discounts after 3 or more items bought, that way you incentivize the person to buy more in order to save, and you save on shipping costs and make more sales. i guess it depends on the kind of items being sold.
I like sellers who charge shipping and give shipping discounts if you buy more than one thing. I don't usually buy more than one thing, but I like the option. When I offer free shipping, I do the calculations before even buying the item.
Always did calculated shipping. I didn't want to have to increase the price of the item when the post office constantly increases their fees. I take best offers. It is easy to miscalculate on shipping when deciding to accept the offer or not.
I never ship free $9.5 -$12.50 on smalls I usually make $1-2.50 on each item extra and usually way more on larger items. And I very rarely ship first class. never use A or B boxes if you do wrap them in black plastic (comes on large rolls on Amazon) you make $1.5 that way using priority. On B’s even you pay about $8.5 any from Chicago East $ 10.5 To Cali except certain places where it can be as much $40 priority then I use Fed Ex ground or UPS. I make an extra 5-6 K on shipping per year.
Even in a category where free shipping dominates as the normal listing format, I still tag the buyer with a flat rate equal to the lowest amount I will take on an offer. It balances out usually. But thats only on those items where every competitive listing I see has free shipping.
Great video. I have offered free shipping on my HBAs, as I thought that was necessary to be competitive in this saturated market. Occasionally, I'll pick up the shipping on a high-priced item; e.g., $100+ handbag. I've been charging flat rate. I've had to eat a little sometimes, but other times, I came out ahead. I'm going to try calculated shipping.
Lindy - Are you adjusting any of your sale prices when you change to free ship, especially on lower cost, 1st class items? i.e. if you had an item that was $7.99 free ship, when you add calculated shipping are you lower the cost of that item or just tacking on the shipping? I'm a free shipping seller who does a decent volume on EBay. I've also been conditioned that we have to offer free shipping if we want to sell (not the least of which because we are told that helps us rank on EBay). Thanks!!
I hate free shipping! But that said Lindsay, let’s use your example of the $13 as opposed to $12. Doesn’t eBay charges fees on your revenue so part of that extra dollar that you make in revenue or cash flow I should say, is having a fee applied to it by eBay. Is that correct? And my question then is how much does that fee eat into that extra cash flow?
I don't think of the difference between retail postage cost and commercial cost as a profit center, because the seller is charged 13% fee by eBay as part of the final fees on the sale. That difference in the two costs helps (in some cases) to ease the pain of that extra fee. The exception being that Media Mail (the old "Book Rate") has no discount between the two types of rates so there's no "profit" on using shipping by Media Mail. The two that will have the widest different between the two rates is going to be either First Class or Priority Mail.
The main problem with free shipping is that many buyers do not appreciate the high cost of shipping that is included in free shipping The main benefit of separate shipping is that you only have to refund the cost of the item, not the imbedded cost of the free shipping The main reason I sold free shipping is that Ebay claims free shippers get their items placed higher on the search results. I still give free shipping on First Class items and flat rate boxes and envelopes as they are less cost than other methods and I know exactly what my shipping costs are going to be when listing.
I like the idea of not offering free shipping, but my concern is that I live in Hawaii and I worry that shipping to the mainland would give the buyer sticker shock. What do you think I should do?
