Model Train Journal

That seems quite a bit out-of-line when compared to other sellers.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/READING-BLUE-COAL-DIE-CAST-SMOOTH-SIDED-2-BAY-HOPPER-K6252-1931/201809231260

I see this same problem with some dealers.
They have a piece for a nice price but the shipping takes the total cost to much more than expected.
I almost bought some of the RMT rolling stock some time ago but thought the shipping was out of line.
Never got any. RMT once had sitting or standing people for sale at 35% of list but shipping made it higher
than list. I didn't get those either.

Shipping that item to me would be $18.81. I'm 100 miles from the seller. Seller has listed UPS. ground. He is going by weight and size. Shipping charges go up about every 8 months. I think shipping prices have hurt my ebay sales.

robert. wrote:Shipping that item to me would be $18.81. I'm 100 miles from the seller. Seller has listed UPS. ground. He is going by weight and size. Shipping charges go up about every 8 months. I think shipping prices have hurt my ebay sales.

$18.84 to me.

UPS ground is pricey at times. I'd wager that a USPS priority shoebox box would be somewhat less although those diecast cars are surprisingly heavy and then I'm not altogether sure that you can get the K-Line box into the USPS box.

I'm glad that the vast majority of cars that I sell are in 4x4x12 boxes that fit neatly in those priority shoebox boxes - keeps costs down.

Shipping costs are also high for 2 other reasons: (1) gouging and (2) incompetence. Some see it as a way to pad income and recoup fees, and from what I can tell from over on OGR and while I'm in the line at the PO, a lot of folks are totally clueless on how to ship anything.

Pay for your shipping online and you will save 7%-20%. Every now and then i see somebody say " the post office does not give me a discount on shipping so don't ask me for one". Always makes me think the guys a fool or liar. If somebody over pays me on shipping i give it back. I state that in my listings and have no problem giving the refund. I know you refund also.

I have never been involved in buying or selling on the internet but may need to be soon.
Seems to me that amounts of over certain amounts, possibly $1.00, should be refunded.
Would seem to me that keeping over-payments would be unethical and eventually
lead to a loss of business.
Please advise.

robert. wrote:Pay for your shipping online and you will save 7%-20%. Every now and then i see somebody say " the post office does not give me a discount on shipping so don't ask me for one". Always makes me think the guys a fool or liar.

Or just plain ignorant. I see way too many people at the PO that are totally clueless and give every indication of never having mailed anything before in their lives.

If somebody over pays me on shipping i give it back. I state that in my listings and have no problem giving the refund. I know you refund also.

I do and just did last night on an item - listing amount would have gotten it to the west coast, but it went to DE for about 1/2 -- dropped a refund of that amount.

Just good business not to pocket excess shipping.....

I use the postal plug-in on my site Roger, the actual postage usually (but not always) come to somewhat less. However, if you add in the cost of the box, the tape, and the bulk fill (which is incredibly expensive), my spreadsheet assures me that I am not profiting from shipping costs. You do have to keep in mind that the amount paid to the post office et. al. is not the total shipping cost.

Tom Dempsey wrote:You do have to keep in mind that the amount paid to the post office et. al. is not the total shipping cost.

So few understand that concept!

I get almost all of my boxes for free; either free from the PO or scavenged from work. The good ones I can do an inversion on and reuse them with minimal effort.
Tape costs money and skimping on it is a recipe for disaster. Good multi-stranded tape like I use costs, but it doesn't fail.
Packing material and fill -- again, I scavenge from work and I have a lot stashed away, but I'm looking for more!

So, after I retire my shipping supplies begin to actually cost.

We're not going to attempt to tally up the cost of going to the PO (gas & time), and time spent packing stuff up (at my hourly rate? ), and not going to include for example time spent getting stuff listed for sale (photos and time).......

OK. So charging more than the actual shipping/mailing costs is needed.
But how much more? A set amount or a percentage of something?

I went with a set amount that I knew would almost cover the additional costs, I still lose money on the shipping, but it's a manageable amount. Except on foreign, that's completely out of control.

rogruth wrote:OK. So charging more than the actual shipping/mailing costs is needed.
But how much more? A set amount or a percentage of something?

Just enough that the stuff still sells!

You guys have pretty much nailed the high points. I used the USPS online postage calculator to figure shipping costs and it worked fairly well. I calculated for a west coast zip code because there was no way of knowing where the buyer would be from, and I limited my sales to the conus. I did sell a few items to folks overseas when they asked if they could bid, always with the understanding that shipping would be actual cost. Used to be you could get Priority Mail shipping supplies free, but I'm guessing that has gone away by now??? A lot of factors to be considered from gas to get to the PO, personal time needed to ship, packing materials ad infinitum. Just guessing the price of the shipping for that car might NOT be out of line. If you insure the package costs go up very quickly. I always figure shipping as part of the bid. Maybe just lucky, but I get excellent service from UPS, Fedex, and the USPS.

Rich

I just received 5 Pennsylvania Lake Maps which came in a single 7" x 10" manila envelope. I paid $10.61 in shipping, and the postage on the actual envelope is $2.97. To me, that's rape!

E7 wrote:Used to be you could get Priority Mail shipping supplies free, but I'm guessing that has gone away by now???

Nope! Go to the PO and pick them up for free or go on-line, order them, and have them delivered to you for free.