Dear eBay Queen;
I have some new shoes (without the box), some new with tags t-shirts, as well as some vintage 1980’s Barbies. I think these items can either be packed tightly into a flat rate box or maybe folded nicely and shipped in a heavy plastic shipping bag. I am considering using free shipping on these items. What is the best way to figure out ahead of time how much to allow in my starting price on eBay?
What would be the cheapest way to ship these items? How do you figure out that fine line between using a Priority Mail box versus an envelope? How much is flat rate shipping?
If I am shipping a t-shirt, would it be appropriate to just slip the shirt into a Priority flat-rate envelope? I had wondered about putting a t-shirt into a shipping bag or envelope; do you think it would get there ok? Or does it need a box?
G Hull; Lawrence, KS
Dear G:
When figuring what to start your item at you will need to add the cost of shipping, eBay fees and PayPal fees to the price of your item. You can ship light weight items (such as t-shirts if they are 13 ounces or less) in a first class shipping bag or manila envelope. I know many sellers who ship clothing in a variety of things besides a box. All of the methods you mentioned would be acceptable.
USPS has all of their pricing listed on their website. This will make it easy for you to figure your shipping costs. http://www.usps.com/prices/priority-mail-prices.htm Priority Mail flat envelopes are $4.80 and Priority Mail flat rate box is $9.80.
eBay is really pushing for free shipping, but as your parents always told you “nothing in life is free”. Make sure you add in all of your costs before you set your price for your eBay listing. Good Luck, and let me know how your free shipping experiment goes.
Dear eBay Queen;
I have a really strange problem. I sold a Red Wing Crock to someone that only lived in the next town over. She paid me with PayPal but asked if she could pick the item up. I agreed, and the woman came over to my home. She stood here and talked to me for a long time. She was very nice and friendly and she never once said anything negative about the crock. Then she went home and filed a PayPal not as described claim and left me a negative feedback. She never said that there was a problem and did not ever contact me.
What should I do?
Barbara; Gardner, KS
Dear Barbara:
This is unbelievable! Have you responded to the PayPal Claim? If not you need to do that right away. Make sure you say in your response that the customer picked the item up at your home and inspected it there. From there you have several choices:
1. Authorize a return, where the buyer will return the item to you. Will the buyer ship it back or return it to your door?
2. Escalate the claim. By doing this, PayPal will decide what will happen. They could have the buyer return it, or tell the buyer to keep it since they looked it over in person. It’s very important that if you choose to escalate the claim, to make clear the buyer came and picked up the item.
3. Continue to communicate with the buyer. Do this if you believe the two of you can work this out between yourselves.
Sometimes people do things and there is no explanation for why they do them. If this were my buyer and transaction I would respond to PayPal, and to the negative feedback she left. My feedback response would say; “Buyer picked up item, was happy with it when she left, no contact just left negative.”
Strange eBay item of the week: eBay item 310085850577 (enter this number in the eBay search box in the top right corner of the home page) Christopher Columbus’ birthday is going to be here soon. I wonder if he would have liked a figural match safe of his own head? SOLD $450.00 http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item310085850577
I have some new shoes (without the box), some new with tags t-shirts, as well as some vintage 1980’s Barbies. I think these items can either be packed tightly into a flat rate box or maybe folded nicely and shipped in a heavy plastic shipping bag. I am considering using free shipping on these items. What is the best way to figure out ahead of time how much to allow in my starting price on eBay?
What would be the cheapest way to ship these items? How do you figure out that fine line between using a Priority Mail box versus an envelope? How much is flat rate shipping?
If I am shipping a t-shirt, would it be appropriate to just slip the shirt into a Priority flat-rate envelope? I had wondered about putting a t-shirt into a shipping bag or envelope; do you think it would get there ok? Or does it need a box?
G Hull; Lawrence, KS
Dear G:
When figuring what to start your item at you will need to add the cost of shipping, eBay fees and PayPal fees to the price of your item. You can ship light weight items (such as t-shirts if they are 13 ounces or less) in a first class shipping bag or manila envelope. I know many sellers who ship clothing in a variety of things besides a box. All of the methods you mentioned would be acceptable.
USPS has all of their pricing listed on their website. This will make it easy for you to figure your shipping costs. http://www.usps.com/prices/priority-mail-prices.htm Priority Mail flat envelopes are $4.80 and Priority Mail flat rate box is $9.80.
eBay is really pushing for free shipping, but as your parents always told you “nothing in life is free”. Make sure you add in all of your costs before you set your price for your eBay listing. Good Luck, and let me know how your free shipping experiment goes.
Dear eBay Queen;
I have a really strange problem. I sold a Red Wing Crock to someone that only lived in the next town over. She paid me with PayPal but asked if she could pick the item up. I agreed, and the woman came over to my home. She stood here and talked to me for a long time. She was very nice and friendly and she never once said anything negative about the crock. Then she went home and filed a PayPal not as described claim and left me a negative feedback. She never said that there was a problem and did not ever contact me.What should I do?
Barbara; Gardner, KS
Dear Barbara:
This is unbelievable! Have you responded to the PayPal Claim? If not you need to do that right away. Make sure you say in your response that the customer picked the item up at your home and inspected it there. From there you have several choices:
1. Authorize a return, where the buyer will return the item to you. Will the buyer ship it back or return it to your door?
2. Escalate the claim. By doing this, PayPal will decide what will happen. They could have the buyer return it, or tell the buyer to keep it since they looked it over in person. It’s very important that if you choose to escalate the claim, to make clear the buyer came and picked up the item.
3. Continue to communicate with the buyer. Do this if you believe the two of you can work this out between yourselves.
Sometimes people do things and there is no explanation for why they do them. If this were my buyer and transaction I would respond to PayPal, and to the negative feedback she left. My feedback response would say; “Buyer picked up item, was happy with it when she left, no contact just left negative.”
Strange eBay item of the week: eBay item 310085850577 (enter this number in the eBay search box in the top right corner of the home page) Christopher Columbus’ birthday is going to be here soon. I wonder if he would have liked a figural match safe of his own head? SOLD $450.00 http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item310085850577
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