How to Determine What to Charge for eBay Shipping

With the new multi-subject feedback system, customers can rate your shipping charges separately. Therefore, you need to determine an appropriate shipping charge that is not too high, while still covering your costs. There are several ways to determine what to charge for eBay shipping.

Exact Shipping Cost

The first method of determining the eBay shipping charge is using a shipping calculator to figure out the exact cost of shipping the item. You can do this by using one of eBay's built in calculators, or using the USPS, UPS, or FedEx after the sale.

Charging the exact shipping cost for your eBay auction will insure that your customer cannot complain about inflated prices. You will cover your shipping cost, but nothing more.

Cost Plus Fees

There are a lot of fees associated with selling through eBay auctions. First, there are listing fees for putting the auction on the site. Then, there are final value fees. If the buyer pays through PayPal, you may incur fees there as well.

Also, there are costs associated with packaging materials and even the gas used to drive the packages to the post office.

Many eBay sellers include their fees in the Ebay auction shipping charge. This is often described as shipping and handling, and is perfectly acceptable in the business world.

Cost, Fees, and Profit

The final method of determining what to charge for eBay shipping is including the cost of shipping, any fees or materials costs, and profit. This method usually inflates the shipping charge to a point where the customer is not happy with it. Also, this practice is against eBay rules. They consider it fee evasion. After all, if you make $10.00 from shipping, you can start your auction at a lower price with a lower listing fee.

Using a flat rate shipping charge for your eBay auction is a great idea. Potential bidders like to know what they are getting into when they bid. However, adding multiple dollars to the actual shipping cost will hurt your reputation.

Determining what to charge for eBay auction shipping can be a tricky affair. You must take into account all the assorted fees and costs associated with shipping out the item. You must balance the shipping charge somewhere between not covering your costs and raising red flags with the buyer.