I realized about 5 days in that it was strange how I hadn't gotten any stupid "Question to Seller" emails yet, as I usually am deluged with questions about the items that if people would just take a second to actually read the listing, they would have the information they seek.
Hmmmm.
5 days in and no emails and nothing sold. So I go to my auction management site and see that I have ZERO hits on the pages.
Not a soul has actually clicked on one of my auction listings and looked at it.
Weird!
This prompts me to go to my Seller's page at eBay and check on my store.
I finally figure out why I have not sold anything, nor had anyone look at my stuff.
I never changed the vacation settings on my Store!
UGH!!
My listings aren't visible on eBay because of the settings.
Double UGH!!!!
Pretty dare bright, huh?lol
So I clicked off the vacation settings and make my listings go live on eBay.....and if I was worried about the lack of as Bugs Bunny would call them...."maroons", I should have feared not!
Here is what I got within 48 hours of the listings being visible to the eBay using public.
Ok...I sold TWO items without a hitch. This makes me happy!
But then there's.....
1.Someone emailed asking WHY the shipping was so high. When I figure the shipping I don't just pull a number out of my ass like some sellers do. You would be shocked at the number of eBay sellers(both now and again sellers and the fulltime pro sellers)who just set a price for shipping without much regard for the ACTUAL costs to them to ship an item they sell on eBay. Between that practice and the ever increasing fees on eBay(and their trained monkey Paypal), I wonder how anybody ever sells anything on there and makes a profit!(not counting people just getting rid of used items who have already realized the sunk costs on the item).
I measure & weigh everything I sell before listing it so I have the ACTUAL costs from the US Postal Service for shipping. Then I add a small 'handling' charge to cover insurance through a non US Postal company(much cheaper than the USPS),my time to pack & the materials to ship that I have to buy. My shipping price is as low as I can make it and NOT lose money.
I have decided that most people either have NO CLUE what current shipping costs are or are so used to either what they USE TO BE or so used to paying shipping costs from Sellers who regularly underestimate/under charge their customers just to get them to buy things.
My usual response to someone complaining about is professional and unemotional. I give them the dimensions, the weight and my zip code and direct them to the USPS website where they can input the item's information and see with their own eyes what it actually costs(just in the shipping fees, not to mention the insurance and materials used to ship) to mail their package from me to their location. This usually satisfies them and they either buy it or they slink away and I don't hear from them again.
I am just so tired of it that I soooo want to be a wise-ass some days and tell them to do us all a favor and please step off the planet. 8-P
2.Then there is the "can't wait" Buyer. They emailed me asking for a price on shipping to an international location, and they want 2 items shipped together and want to know the price, and they insist I ship a particular rate.
Before I can get the information for them and email back, they go ahead and buy the items 15 minutes later. Then they send me another email that they HAVE TO HAVE it shipped a certain rate(which it can't go because of weight and size restrictions), they insist on NOT paying insurance(which I INSIST on in the listing, especially on international packages). Oh, and they want it shipped to them.....in China.
So at this point I know the shipping is going to be alot more than they want to pay.
I go to the restrictions page on the USPS website for China to make sure this size/weight package can be shipped to there. That's fine but I see that the limit on value per package mailed to China is equivalent to $14.65US. What they bought is worth $90. It is highly likely that this package will either be sent back or be confiscated in Chinese customs since I'm not going to lie and say it's worth $14.65. Either way, having to refund this dope his payment and go through getting my fees partially refunded on eBay is not going to be pleasant. And if it's confiscated I am out the merchandise too.
3. This one takes the cake!
Email from a potential buyer about a HUGE set of Legos....Mega Bloks actually but the same thing really. It's a $100 set of Mega Bloks. He wants to buy 1 mini-figure out of this set and he wants to pay me $10 + shipping. While $10 for 1 little Lego man is not bad, this will destroy the value of the New/Unopened/Mint set of $100 Building Blocks if I remove this piece.
Soooo....I can sell the whole set for $100 or I can sell 1 piece of it for $10.
Hmmmmm.....what makes the most sense to you?lolol
Now I could limit my international sales to Canada, Australia and a few European countries that make up the bulk of my overseas business. That would cut down on the aggravation I guess.
I hate to stop selling overseas as that is how I built my business up....selling international when all the others on eBay refused to(and alot still do refuse to).
But then again, the last couple of postal increases(combined with the eBay fee/Paypal increases)pretty near killed off my overseas sales.
I don't know....I am conflicted......and after 2 days of eBay I am already tired of dealing with it.
Just taking this all to Salvation Army and getting a tax write-off is looking better and better.lolol
Sluggy
I sell on ebay as well and get so irritated with endless questions that are answered in the listings. I have had problems keeping my stars up in shipping costs and according to the woman I talked to at ebay I should just offer free shipping to up my score. I told her she should just start offering free use of ebay and paypal LOL.
ReplyDeleteYah, the day they don't charge for listing and paypal is the day I ship for free....or maybe not.lolol
ReplyDeleteI think whoever the current CEO of eBay is should just use his salary to cover everyone's shipping...that works for me!
I have told eBay for years now that they need to drop or redo that shipping/handling charges rating since the average eBay buyer only is clueless about costs.
But of course, they don't listen to me...lol
Thanks for commenting!!
I started out selling worldwide and doing what you're doing with shipping (adding a little extra to it for supplies and my time). I quit selling outside of the US about a year ago after being burned by someone who said they never got their shipment. After it leaves the USPS system there is no way to track it and I had to refund their money. Also, my international sales had gone way down anyway because of postage rates.
ReplyDeleteI now sell to US only. I calculate my shipping based on actual cost only, and if I want a little more to cover supplies, I add it to the cost of the item instead of to the shipping. Depending on the item, I use calculated shipping or flat rate, but I never offer free shipping because it increases my final value fee.
I usually calculate my selling price based on similar items that have already been sold. I never start an auction for less than I'm willing to accept for the item (i.e., I don't start auctions under $1), and I always offer a Buy It Now option at the high end of what's already sold. At least half of my sales (and almost all of my purchases) are with the Buy It Now option. Personally, I hate the auction format. LOL!
Although I don't like the PayPal fees, I find I get paid much faster, with far fewer disputes, than back when I accepted checks, so I'm happy with PayPal overall and prefer to use it when I am the buyer as well.
I also get really annoyed with all the rate changes, and I really expected my sales would decline this year, but they haven't at all.
Finally, I don't usually get questions from potential buyers. Probably only one of every 10-12 listings gets a question.
I never got into the whole Ebay thing but I sure feel for those who have. My husband sold a few things but it got to be too much trouble, I think. We got burned on the last thing he sold and he decided it just wasn't worth it any more.
ReplyDeleteI used to sell a lot on ebay. Back in the days when I worked from home running an online gift business, I would also hit up weekend estate auctions and then sell those finds on ebay. All but one time I made a pretty nice profit. But in the end, I just got tired of the constant listing, packaging, weighing, photo'ing, answering, etc. It stopped being fun and lucrative after awhile, although I still have my seller's acct and still occasionally list things that I'm pretty sure will do well. I've always admired people who are much more determined and successful at it than my part-time attempts.
ReplyDeleteI have thought about selling things a few times and then I realized that I wasn't smart enough to figure it all out.
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to hear what comes next!
I am REALLY late on reading this post. Hubby sells on ebay and it has become a lot less lucrative for us as well. The increased fees, increased postage rates and the bad economy are not a good combination.
ReplyDeleteHope it picks up for you!