I price mine honestly. In the UK, the Royal Mail (our main postal service) has a website that lets you find the cost of anything you're sending. I charge the buyer EXACTLY what it costs to send. I don't even charge packaging because I ALWAYS recycle packaging and sellotape is peanuts.

 

It annoys me that so many other sellers are DISHONEST as they blatantly are trying to cover/avoid eBay/Paypal fees by charging more for postage (I've even contacted sellers before, asked if they'd send it for cost price and they've said no because they want to cover fees). I would have bought many more things from eBay had the postage prices not been inflated by the seller. I've not been to check the rules but am positive that it is against them.

 

In my opinion, regardless of whether it is allowed or not to do this, it is bad for business. Sure, there will always (sometimes) be someone willing to pay ridiculous shipping costs but surely honesty and low cost postage would result in more sales?

 

What's your take? Do you do it? If so, how do you justify it?

As a seller, I use almost exclusively "free" shipping domestically. It takes all the buyer angst and finger-pointing and second-guessing and drama out of the equation when I roll all my costs into the purchase price.

 

Internationally on eBay I mostly use the GSP, so the charges are all GSP charges and not in my control.

 

As a buyer the only thing I care about is the bottom line price. If the seller is charging more than it really costs in postage, so long as I know the grand total up front and it's still a good deal for me, why should I care?

I do free shipping on some items, but I have learned that living in Washington state, you take a bit of a gamble doing it. Hard to estimate costs, as a 4 lb set can cost $10 to ship to CA, and twice as much to ship to NY or FL. I usually will do exact measurement of boxes and shipping weight, and just make it clear that the buyer is responsible for paying it.

 

Sometimes I'll meet in the middle - do a fixed cost, knowing that I will probably pick up part of the cost over and above what I charge. I never intentionally overcharge. If someone pays for parcel shipping, and it ends up being less than estimated, then a lot of times I'll just bump up to Priority shipping as it is sometimes only a buck or two more.

I just always include Free Shipping. Once you have shipped several items of different sizes and weight to different cities, you pretty much know what you are going to pay on each case. I just build the cost of the farthest possible place to deliver from FL. Most of my buyers seem to be in CA, so it makes sense.

FC do you tend to adjust your price upward to basically make more from an East Coast buyer vs a West Coast buyer at the same price?

I have experimented with everything from free shipping to one penny shipping (so the buyer can then rate the shipping costs) to flat rates to cover time, packing materials, gas, and the actual postage. I can see why some sellers raise postage to cover fees, especially when eBay takes a cut of the shipping charge themselves. Some people don't realize that there is more to shipping and handling than just the cost of postage. Buyers get to sit comfortably in their easy chairs waiting for their item to be delivered to their door, while the seller is busy locating packing materials, packaging the item so it arrives in good condition, driving the item to the post office, and standing in a line twenty people long with only two people working the windows. I don't see any problem with flat rates that add a couple extra dollars to the total to offset some of those costs. There has also been many a time when a flat rate isn't high enough to cover the actual postage. Does a buyer ever contact the seller when this happens and say "Hi there. I noticed that the postage was higher than what you actually charged me. Please send me another paypal invoice so I can make up the difference. Thank you". I think not.

As long as a person tells you how much the total cost is before you have to pay I don't think anything of it.  Buyer beware.

FC do you tend to adjust your price upward to basically make more from an East Coast buyer vs a West Coast buyer at the same price?

I don't do it with that intention, but that is one of the end results. I just want to simplify my listing and get the automatic 5 star in shipping charges (DSR), and the only way I am sure not to lose money is if I build the highest shipping cost into the price. I offer 1 day handling and only ship Priority or Fedex (1st class for minifigs), so I try to compensate the cost for the buyer with really fast shipping. Also, most of my listings (especially sets) are always the lowest BIN price you will find for the same item in at least the same condition, if not better (at the time I list them of course, after that I don't really check)

Forgive my immaturity but quick glance of the title and all I read is "how do you price your PP". I know, I know.

 

I have experimented with everything from free shipping to one penny shipping (so the buyer can then rate the shipping costs) to flat rates to cover time, packing materials, gas, and the actual postage. I can see why some sellers raise postage to cover fees, especially when eBay takes a cut of the shipping charge themselves. Some people don't realize that there is more to shipping and handling than just the cost of postage. Buyers get to sit comfortably in their easy chairs waiting for their item to be delivered to their door, while the seller is busy locating packing materials, packaging the item so it arrives in good condition, driving the item to the post office, and standing in a line twenty people long with only two people working the windows. I don't see any problem with flat rates that add a couple extra dollars to the total to offset some of those costs. There has also been many a time when a flat rate isn't high enough to cover the actual postage. Does a buyer ever contact the seller when this happens and say "Hi there. I noticed that the postage was higher than what you actually charged me. Please send me another paypal invoice so I can make up the difference. Thank you". I think not.

I haven't shipped anywhere near as everybody else here but this is too true. It's not like you just stick the item in any size box near hand, tape it up, then wait to give it to the postman/postwoman on his/her daily route and say "Take it!". Well, you could but say goodbye to any potential customers if you do so like a doofus. It is a lot of work but if done right with plenty of researching beforehand what works well for you as well as your customers then it is a little less like work and more of a hobby. Still requires effort but with lower stress. (Plus helps save you some cash.)

With all that said, I'm fine with flat rates and even handling fees so long as everything is known upfront. I hate ordering from someone and then they tact on hidden fees to ship it all. I once had somebody try and say it would have cost them close to $20 in shipping fees and all I bought was a medium sized $40 esque set. Oh, and the person was just two states over from me. What a joke....