Ebay shipping roughly quotes double when auction goes live???

[Dillon H]

So I put up a fairly large loudspeaker on ebay and I noticed that what ebay quoted buyers is almost twice what they quote me for shipping when I'm creating the listing.

The FedEx "ebay rates" offered to sellers are apparently not passed along to buyers. I guess pocketing the difference wouldn't be bad for me, but that difference in cost for shipping large is bound to scare off buyers. I'd rather just set the item price at what I think it's worth and let the buyer pay actual shipping, instead of lowering the item price to compensate for the shipping overcharge.

Am I missing something? Is there some check box to allow me to pass the ebay shipping discounts on to buyers?

 

[WillVT]

If you choose actual shipping rate instead of fixed when you list it, I believe it bases the shipping cost on wherever the potential buyer is located. So maybe the original rate you see is based on shipping to your zip code.
I haven't sold on ebay for a while, but seem to remember a place where you could punch in potential zip codes and see the rates. Or maybe I'm thinking of the Fedex website.
Either way, the rates can of course be quite different depending on where the buyer is located.

 

[satellite]

I recently bought a used cartridge on Ebay, and when it arrived, the seller had stuffed a 5 dollar bill in the packaging. I contacted and thanked him. He said the calculated shipping was more than the actual shipping, and he wanted to keep his good karma!

 

[Dillon H]

If you choose actual shipping rate instead of fixed when you list it, I believe it bases the shipping cost on wherever the potential buyer is located. So maybe the original rate you see is based on shipping to your zip code.
I haven't sold on ebay for a while, but seem to remember a place where you could punch in potential zip codes and see the rates. Or maybe I'm thinking of the Fedex website.
Either way, the rates can of course be quite different depending on where the buyer is located.

Yes, you're correct, and that's what I'm doing. I chose "actual shipping" and while I was creating the auction I put a few different zip codes in the calculator and it gave me quotes to those destinations. For FedEx, you can get quotes for the "in-store price" and the "ebay price". If you print the shipping labels through ebay, it's much cheaper than taking it to a FedEx location and paying there. BUT... when the auction is live and I visit it as if I was a buyer and put in the SAME ZIP CODES I previously used, it shows the in-store rate and not the ebay rate. As an example, I'm in the midwest and to ship to L.A., the ebay rate is about $48, but the buyers apparently don't see that and instead see the in-store rate of $80. That's a dang big jump.

 

[kaplang]

I recently bought a used cartridge on Ebay, and when it arrived, the seller had stuffed a 5 dollar bill in the packaging. I contacted and thanked him. He said the calculated shipping was more than the actual shipping, and he wanted to keep his good karma!

If the actual shipping to one of my buyers is more then 10% I issue a PayPal refund for the difference. It helps keep my feedback positive and I'm not in the shipping business

 

[WillVT]

Yes, you're correct, and that's what I'm doing. I chose "actual shipping" and while I was creating the auction I put a few different zip codes in the calculator and it gave me quotes to those destinations. For FedEx, you can get quotes for the "in-store price" and the "ebay price". If you print the shipping labels through ebay, it's much cheaper than taking it to a FedEx location and paying there. BUT... when the auction is live and I visit it as if I was a buyer and put in the SAME ZIP CODES I previously used, it shows the in-store rate and not the ebay rate. As an example, I'm in the midwest and to ship to L.A., the ebay rate is about $48, but the buyers apparently don't see that and instead see the in-store rate of $80. That's a dang big jump.

Huh. That does seem weird. I don't know enough about it to comment further. Hopefully someone here has some idea what's going on here.

 

[geespot]

I have had the same thing happen to me. Buyer sends me a screenshot of shipping being $24 but invoice says $39. Go to print the label and neither $24 or $39 is the rate on that page. I only ship FedEx or USPS. I have refunded many for shipping due to this.

 

[blhagstrom]

There is a setting in your accounts area to give preferred shipping discount.

The USPS, non-flat rate, UPS and FedEx retail rates are obscene.

eBay is a farking mess.

 

[Andyman]

I had a couple auction like that a while back. auction showed one price, but the automatic ebay generated invoice was about 2x. I called them on it, but no one I spoke with seemed knowledgeable about why that would happen. I think they "filed a ticket" on it...