Free Shipping, or Calculated Shipping? or Flat Rate Shipping? On EBAY | This is how I decide

Free Shipping, or Calculated Shipping? or Flat Rate Shipping? On EBAY This is how I decide
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[@dawnmichelle4403]

Oh my goodness! I've been looking for a video like this! I'm getting ready to start selling on eBay, but the whole shipping thing has been foggy for me. I appreciate the clear advice.

[@darkwingduck4444]

Hahah, I see Funshine in the back. That's my daughter's favorite care bare! Now I have to check out your store! Thanks for the insights.

[@keriulrich8634]

Thanks so much for this video! Started to watch it some time back, got sidetracked and never finished it. Not so hesitant to tackle the shipping part of things now. Thanks again!

[@TrehanCreekOutdoors]

As a business on Ebay or other similar sites, reselling boils down to four primary skills you MUST master to be successful. (1) Low cost sourcing, (2) Pricing, (3) Marketing, and (4) Shipping. The shipping part of the the business factors heavily into pricing and marketing, as you explained in this video. Unless and until you become highly skilled in shipping, you won't make nearly as much money reselling as you could make. I figured that out early on and while I am still learning new tricks for shipping, it's made quite a difference to watch your videos and others to pick up good advice on best shipping practices. Thanks for sharing your wisdom with us!

[@pturner1971]

Good info Kevin, always appreciate shipping info since it's the largest expense we have when doing free shipping to be competitive. Thx!

[@countrypicker2819]

Great insight on the larger heavier items. I do calculated shipping on most of my store. I do a little free shipping on smaller lighter items but any time I do free shipping I turn off the offers option when I'm listing the item. I made the mistake of taking an offer on an item that I had listed as free shipping and it wound up costing me more to ship it than the customer paid..... Lesson learned..... I like hearing you talk about this kind of stuff as well. Thanks for sharing your insights with us newbies.

[@commonwealthflipper]

You are very welcome.

[@Netsurferz12]

i watched the entire youtube catalogue for the shipping list and i never get the answer i really need so i guess i have to just eat loss till i reach succes.. :)

[@barbarawright3743]

Thank you very much.

[@joanierobbins9015]

Loved your tips and you explain things so easily and to the point. You are a great teacher and I very much appreciate your wise advice. I am still learning how to profitably resell and any honest and friendly guidance is a God send. I hope I can someday be as successful and as insightful as you are. Thank you!!!

[@sandydies7465]

Whew! I'm still quite new so all that overwhelmed me. I have so much to learn & you are very informative. I thank you.

[@commonwealthflipper]

One small step at a time. You get there.

[@Mirrokash]

Can’t wait to see this video! One of the things I’ve gone back & forth with!

[@RetiredGoodtimes]

Speaking of "when in doubt part it out." I buy Dirt Devils a lot, but they have to be reasonably clean. I almost always part them out. Heck, I even take the motor, switch, and cord assembly out and sell that. Surprisingly people like buying the motor, switch, and cord assembly.

[@ELNACHO78]

Thank you for sharing your knowledge. Your followers have some great advice also. You have kickstarted a great community filled with knowledge. Thank you!

[@commonwealthflipper]

My pleasure!

[@RKTreasureCenter]

Thank you for mentioning our video Kevin. You did a Fantastic job explaining the shipping costs for certain items. Enjoyed the clothing shipping tip! GREAT VIDEO!!!👍

[@commonwealthflipper]

No problem roy Loved your shipping video.

[@reneepaz8077]

Thank you for the great info as always.

[@donbargainhunter7472]

I only go free shipping on plush that’s it. Your right I get way to many from caf. Best of luck and thanks for sharing

[@larrysadler433]

Great advice. Another thing you could point out is a lot of people want to know exactly what they are paying without taking the time to figure calculated shipping or adding the shipping to the item. I have lost money before by doing flat rate shipping but I believe it also helped make the sale. For example I am selling some diecast cars and I have most at $11 flat rate shipping. Depending on where it is going has cost me over $15 before. But on the other hand I have had some ship closer for between $8 and 9. Shipping is tough but I have offered free, calculated and flat.

[@psg1975]

Thanks for the video! Great topic and wonderful ideas. Cheers, Julien

[@terrymeechan2998]

I do both, depending like on the things you talked about. I sell many tubes of paint so if they buy more than 2, I refund shipping for some brands. I also live in Hawaii so anything not flat rate is a bit more to ship and because I am on an island, thrifting is minimal so I have to do a lot of retail arbitrage. Differs for us all to a degree.

[@tjlock77]

I do flat rates on most first class mail just because I am in Illinois. I do free shipping on really inexpensive items or items I wanna try to move fast, but I bake that price in also and remove best offers on low dollar items so they can't try to offer to where I make no money or next to nothing. If it is going priority, I do Calculated shipping just to try to even out the shipping. Sometimes I mess up and have to pay a little of it, but not much. Keeps it fair for buyers in most cases.

[@keriulrich8634]

Just watched for the 2nd time and will probably be back for another couple more lol ... things are starting to make more sense now. Good job presenting this info 👍

[@commonwealthflipper]

Excellent!

[@andreaedwards1968]

This made so much sense to me even though you recorded it a year ago. I live in the PNW and it seems like my heavier items are usually purchased by someone on the east coast. New York and Florida. I'm going to double check my shipping calculations and change it to calculated shipping. The only thing that saved me is the FedEx/Ebay negotiated discount rates. Thanks for your help!

[@commonwealthflipper]

Glad it was helpful!

[@sweettstreasures7623]

Thanks for sharing this with us helps a lot

[@stevequadnau]

Great info. Thank you

[@b-man1232]

If it's under 16 oz....I do "Free" Shipping - over 16 oz....NO WAY! On some items (at the very LEAST) I charge a flat rate to cover my time, tape, bubble wrap, other materials, etc, etc!!

[@ELNACHO78]

Great advice!

[@Bloomsales]

Very helpful. Thanks!

[@goodi2shooz]

well I'm new and clueless. So this is helpful

[@aprilbraggs7256]

Appreciate your explanation of how you choose to ship items, based on size and distance. Very helpful.

[@commonwealthflipper]

Glad it was helpful!

[@anitasmith3063]

Thanks for the information!

[@shawnseekins3424]

Great points, good video bud

[@kathrynkollmansberger7246]

Thank you so much for this video I really needed this!

[@commonwealthflipper]

You are so welcome!

[@blarsblarson9308]

Regional rate A is just a bit more than the 2 pound rate anywhere in the country, so I charge $12.50 flat rate for shipping power transformers and other small heavy items. I double-box since the regional boxes are not strong. (8x6x4 or two 6x4x4 fit.) Cheaper than pirateship in some cases. Regional rate B only seems to make sense within 1000 miles or so, or maybe when large flat rate won't work. You didn't mention the percentage ebay charges on shipping that they don't include in their calculations, so money can be lost if high calculated shipping like express cross-country.

[@jeffbeemanonline]

Finally found your other channel! I typically keep free shipping on new items and pretty much charge shipping on all used items. No one way is right or wrong just depends on your business models and inventory you sell. #happyselling ;-)

[@commonwealthflipper]

Amen. agree completely.

[@zetiandolla1031]

Thank you so much your information

[@debbieburns8140]

Great clarification. Thank you.

[@commonwealthflipper]

Thanks for watching!

[@secondhandrevival8837]

Thanks! I really appreciate the informative video.I would love to see you do more, how to videos, for us newbies.

[@commonwealthflipper]

OK. How to what? List? source? ship? Package? Let me know

[@secondhandrevival8837]

@@commonwealthflipper All of the above! I think that most new resellers have issues with shipping.Maybe you can do videos that touch on every aspect of reselling.I watch all of your videos, you are great teacher, your students must appreciate you. Thanks!

[@daisycate]

@@commonwealthflipper thanks! I vote for more shipping and packaging!

[@MeganSmith-ly2cl]

I saw your 19 questions episode and am pleased to meet another reseller from Hanford! I wasn't born there but I grew up there.

[@commonwealthflipper]

Megan Smith really. Such a small world. Thanks so much for commenting. Please do often.

[@robertfoley2495]

When you charge shipping, eBay posts the retail rate which is about 30 to 60 percent higher than what most of us pay. For instance, I exclusively ship from New England with 1 day shipping which makes the price for a 2 pound item to most of the country over $100. I got close to zero sales with that a $25 item. With free shipping for the same item at a higher price adding my worst case shipping I got a lot more sales for the same item. In most cases the customer paid less. (I ship tropical fish which need next day shipping so there’s no choice.) Bob

[@commonwealthflipper]

2 pound item going to CA costs less than 15 dollars for the buyer

[@nedzdead846]

You are a smart guy , I love your approach ! Keep up the great work

[@commonwealthflipper]

Thank you

[@badb1lly80]

Kevin, can we get an updated video on shipping.. greatly appreciated sir! The Blended Closet

[@annawolfsong]

Super helpful! I definitely need to look into Pirate Ship International because I am doing a lot of toys/collectibles/vintage and suspect I'd do well overseas.

[@FarmGurlScavengerNoel]

The only way to go! PirateShip simple export rate 👍👩‍🌾

[@49lucky]

Oh yes i love pirate ship

[@rogenastyles9625]

I like a bargain so if it’s free shipping and you buy more than one item from that seller, you don’t get a realistic discount with free shipping listings. So I will look for the same items that I know will go in the same size parcel, if the seller will charge accordingly.

[@jeffcole1914]

Shipping is so relative to some that are mobile but the folks that are shut in etc understand the cost to have things done for them

[@myrat.sparks7132]

Greats 🙏 good info

[@barbarawright3743]

How do you know how to charge for something when you don’t know where it’s going to go . Is there some way to know where the binder lives or do you just guess. I am a newbie seller. This is the one main question I have. Please help me. Barbara

[@scottmarinello3797]

Great stuff, as usual, and some very interesting ideas I hadn't thought of trying. Since this video is 1-1/2 yrs old, I'm just wondering if any of the advice you gave or practices you used in 2019 have changed since then? Thanks.

[@commonwealthflipper]

nope still all good

[@arthurdunn622]

GREAT CHANNEL!

[@zakariaoways9820]

Thnx

[@esmelovesvintage]

Oh my, you have thought this through! You opened my eyes to people who purposefully choose higher cost so they can scam keeping the item if seller doesn't want to pay for shipping cost. So cut-throat, ugh!

[@commonwealthflipper]

ThriftyEsme yup. Crazy

[@nsap79]

Have been following you for a week and watching your videos and now wanted to ship my first item and it’s preowned Garmin Vehicle navigation device which is in it original box. It’s 1LB and 8oz so it’s a priority mail - so can I ship it in a padded flat rate envelop? Coz in the small box (8.40$) it doesn’t fit into and medium box costs 15$

[@carolynf34]

On anything over a pound I always do calculated shipping. If they are willing to pay it I am willing to ship it. I don’t know if that’s a good attitude but if they want the item bad enough they are willing to pay for it I’m fine with that. Most of my items are usually 1 pound or less anyway. I don’t like to ship out heavy items. And recently I started selling internationally. And I started getting quite a few of Canadian buyers. So it opens up a whole new area for me to sell. I look at it as a good thing. I’ve only had a couple of incidences where they wanted to return the item. So I’m not sure if it’s just luck or I haven’t come across a scammer yet. But hopefully the good outweighs the bad. LOL.

[@mary9012]

Good video. I usually offer two options for shipping. For people close to me it is not much of a difference is cost but people across the country could see a difference of $4. Depends on how fast they want to receive the item. It seems to be working.

[@commonwealthflipper]

I do too. I actually offer 3 options from time to time.

[@BriceCoinsAndRelics]

I'm confused, I didn't realize you can have multiple shipping options. Obviously I'm super new to reselling. How do you set up more than one option?

[@paigeolivem85]

YOU ARE ADORABLE...GREAT ATTITUDE!!!!

[@thomashall2602]

this is helpful how do you ship your tupperware ?

[@davidmcjunkin3068]

I live in the middle of Kansas, so flat rate it is 😂😂

[@syblejones435]

Kevin, If package size and weight is included in my listing, does the buyer chose Calculate to enter zip for shipping cost?

[@mihalyfreeman5928]

I shipped something to AK the other day. It cost exactly the same as if i was sending to the USA. Where do you get 115.00 to Alaska from?

[@Bloomsales]

Great info! You said when a buyer chooses your item over others much closer to him it raises a red flag, and you cancel their order. Well, how do you explain the reason for the cancellation to eBay?

[@robertfoley2495]

Just say the item is no longer available.

[@Bawkr]

Technically imo shipping is a service so if they pay 17 + 4 shipping. I still feel like they got the item for 17 but they also didn't have to go and get it, it came to their door for only $4 and left our door.

[@b-man1232]

Here's the other problem with "free" shipping. In my experience, buyers hardly ever pay full price! If you've "baked" shipping into your price and they send you a low ball offer - as sellers, we end up taking that offer many times (because we want to move inventory). Your "baked in free shipping" now becomes not such a good idea!!!

[@commonwealthflipper]

I rarely take best offers but I do occasionally.

[@outsiide.hollywood]

how do you calculate shipping without a known location

[@donaragon8560]

What do you ship vinyl records in

[@jamesg.hromnak2333]

Those that fight change(business as usual) are the first to go under !!! 🤔

[@waragainstmyself1159]

Nah.. if I cant buy it now with free shipping I don't usually even look at it. Those two are insanely important imo.

[@Mrchopper2u]

@Commonwelth Picker I know this is off subject a little bit Kevin but I'm new to selling on eBay and I work a lot at my day job (6 days a week 11 hours a day) so I'm having problems sourcing items to sell. Have you ever bought liquidation pallets for product? If anyone else has, could you speak of your experiences? Thanks

[@commonwealthflipper]

I have not. Try asking your coworkers if they have anything they want to sell.

[@koko_7]

i did and it help like 50% i tried cosmotics and it sucks on selling..try huouse hold items or medicine over the counter ..

[@koko_7]

like from liquidation company ..not from pharmacy ..lool

[@jasonlee4400]

Hi Kevin. How would you ship slightly high priced ps2 games? I'm having trouble deciding on an 8x6x4 box or maybe a bubble mailer. I want to use free shipping but if I go with a box it could keep it safer but heavier because I would put it in a poly mailer and then the box. I have several games like this that I got a great deal on. I want the right idea from day one. Thanks Kevin. Any help would be much appreciated.

[@commonwealthflipper]

I use bubble mailers.

[@thriftyshopper5815]

my post master at the p.o. told me that the flat rate envelopes were meant for papers only. I never dared to ship anything else in them.

[@commonwealthflipper]

Not true. I ship jeans in them all the time. Never once had a problem.

[@monikamir1]

That post office person lied to you, I ship whatever fits in flat rate envelopes, shoes, small semi flat boxes, clothes like jeans, etc. “If it fits it ships”.

[@user-daviddog]

Does the no return policy not hold up.

[@FarmGurlScavengerNoel]

I do not offer free returns! I do accept returns, I just don't offer free returns! This deters the California tv return problem you had! I think you didn't talk about free returns and not taking free returns! Makes a YUGE difference in your returns. I live in Washington State and I notice a LOT of my items go to the East Coast, Philadelphia a lot. Anyway, when you offer free returns I feel one is setting themselves up for those "scam" returns IMHO! Great video and lots of good info for many people 👍🙏👩‍🌾

[@commonwealthflipper]

good points.

[@gracecawrse6826]

Where to buy poly bags? And what size you use? Thank you

[@commonwealthflipper]

I have links to some of my favorites in the description. Also on commonwealthpicker.com you can find a link to my amazon store front. I buy tons of different sizes

[@cathyeller5722]

I'm from Kentucky and you are right no one lives here.

[@daisycate]

Fantastic comment! 😂

[@Josh-Kim]

Sometimes there is no logic to whether or not I do free shipping. I just put what I feel like in the moment 😅😂

[@commonwealthflipper]

Lot of Josh I am the same way Josh. Just feels right.

[@b-man1232]

👍👍

[@laurasnowden1759]

Thanks for the info. Shipping has been the most challenging aspect of Ebay for me...but not anymore. Lol

[@commonwealthflipper]

Well it was a start anyway.

[@laurasnowden1759]

@@commonwealthflipper I didn't mean it wasn't helpful. It really was. You are a great teacher! I wish i had you for history all those years ago...although you weren't even born yet!! Ha ha

[@terikauffman7896]

Why do you do free returns?

[@igeraldyy]

K ..

[@49lucky]

Just remember the USPS rates went up from this time video...

[@commonwealthflipper]

Yup. They sure did.

[@barbarawright3743]

I m sorry. I mean the bidder. Barbara

[@viraltiktoks6844]

You have 2 stores? Are those connected if one get banned with a vero?

[@commonwealthflipper]

They are and I believe it does.

[@briman113]

There is no "free shipping" it is baked into the cost of the item and anyone that does "free shipping" only does a dis service yo other sellers and buyers

[@joshstaton508]

Scammers man 👎 nice video.

[@bourboncitypicker4807]

Even if the buyer pays shipping the seller pays a 10% fee on that to ebay. I did not think that but I called to go over my invoice today and found that out

[@commonwealthflipper]

StorageSlayer yup. You got it.

[@bourboncitypicker4807]

@@commonwealthflipper there killing salers ugh

[@macl9395]

First of all, there is no such thing as "free shipping". Either the customer pays it or you do. My system is to do do calculated shipping on most items. I offer "free shipping" on anything I can send 1st class or media mail. The reason being I know how much shipping will cost no matter who buys it. Or at least very close I will be very close to the actual price.

[@commonwealthflipper]

That is exactly what I do. Thanks Mac.

[@Clintscollectiblez]

eBay doesn't pay the seller for shipping so where does the money go???????????????????? It makes no fuckin sense lmao

[@bourboncitypicker4807]

1st

[@StoogeClub]

When are people going to get this. There has never been free shipping on anything ever. You are paying for it. I charge shipping on everything, yes I combine shipping if people buy multiple items but I do not offer free shipping because why lie about the price. I could list something for £4 or $0.99 and £2.90 shpping... it actually works out cheaper for the buyer to pay shipping by 10p. Then when you combine shipping and compair buying the same items from someone else then you save £2.90 per item, when you get over a certain size it becomes £3.90 then add another 5 items or so. Hmmmm.... ill just pay shipping and get it combined rather than pretend free shipping.

[@Orangepower222]

you forgot ohio

[@progamers4864]

Yrur

[@leafyutube]

Helpful, but this video can be shortened to under 5 minutes.