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FIB - Scams 101 - Ye Olde Archives
Posted By: Terry In Response To: One bone to pick.... (MaaMaw)
Friday, 23 September 2005, at 1:23 p.m.
If people here are telling your shipping is too high, then potetial buyers are thinking the same thing.
You've done a great job of explaining why you ship that way and how it benefits the buyer.
Put that language in your shipping statement.
Buyers do factor in the shipping cost in their bids. This means that items with low value and high shipping cost are not approproiate for eBay.
I sold sledge hammers on eBay and shipped them by Priority mail to happy buyers. (They weren't from the hardware store - they were 100 year old RailRoad workers implements and marked with the railroad name.)
When I sell heavy items like the sledge hammers, I charge $15.00 for shipping and tell the buyer I will pay additional costs if needed. It's always needed.
I do it this way because it is easier for the buyer (and Me) to list the shipping up front. I also know someone will pay a few hundred dollars for a sledge hammer I paid almost nothing for.
When I used to sell screensavers on eBay I charged a dollar for shipping, but told the bidders if they could find the mispelled word in the auction I'd pay shipping. (The word mispelled was misspelled.) The screensavers cost me $1.29 to make and mail. I sold them for 9.97.
Giving them the dollar off for paying more attention to the listing increased my sales and hence my profits.
Profits are what matters. Without sales you have no profits.
Here's something else to think about. I once sold a six pack of empty Coke bottles from the 1950s. The auction got one bid and closed at 3.99. Shipping was 10.00.
The buyer got a kiler deal because the cardboard holder was worth ten dollars by itself. The bottles were worth a few dollars each. Collectors didn't want six bottles from the same bottler especially when you factor in the low value and higher shipping cost. I should have sold the cardboard by itself and listed a bottle a week for six weeks. Then I would have got about $40 in bids.
The problem is my time.
I once had a case of oil cans. Small cans of household oil from Esso brand new in the carton. Like 3 in 1 oil. I sold each can on eBay and got 60-150 dollars a can for the first half dozen. The last two went for 6 and 9 dollars each. I guess everyone who wanted one got one in an early auction, and then stopped bidding.
Each of them went into a video mailer except the ones that went out of country so they were easy to mail.
I don't look at the ones that sold for under 10 dollars as mistakes. I don't look at the ones that sold for over 100 as normal either. I consider the 8 cans as a lot I paid a few dollars for at an estate sale. In total I did really well. Actually I did better than well. From 5 dollars to $800 dollars with less than a half hour's work is a good thing.
I know people who would be upset at the can selling for 6 dollars after selling one for $120 a few weeks earlier.
This is a great example of averages. Buy items you know you will profit on and then sell them.
I ahve things to do, so I'll end this here.
You'll figure out where you stand. You might not ever get to the attitude I have, but you'll find a place that fits you. Do the speed listing excersise. It will help you.
Terry
Learn Real Techniques From Real eBay Sellers
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