David P writes:
Paypal takes a percentage of each transaction that they process. No transaction, no percentage. So, if the buyer hasn't paid, there is no transaction. eBay on the other hand is a bit more complicated. As soon as an auction/sale concludes, you are charged a final value fee.
If the buyer fails to pay, you can then file a non-paying bidder form to recoup the final value fees from eBay. I believe the minimum time period is 3 days. And you'd be surprised, sometimes all you need to do to induce payment is to file the npb form. More times than not, payment soon follows.
Another tidbit of advice. eBay has recently started charging final fees on the shipping charges, as well as the final value. So, my advice is to offer free shipping, and just factor the postage costs into your minimum bid amount/sale price. Hope this helps.
The counter argument to this is if a buyer chooses to return an item (which Ebay/PayPal will support in the vast majority of cases, even if you say "No Returns" in your listing) you have to refund the entire cost although not always shipping costs. If you charge shipping separately and they return the item for reasons other than damaged - if they simply don't want the item - then you don't have to refund the shipping costs.
Posted by: jonnybardo | April 19, 2013 at 09:59 AM
Yep, that is definitely a valid argument. Unfortunately, there is no clear-cut answer here. I understand eBay's point of view. Charging fees on shipping was the only way to combat all the sellers selling items for .99, then charging an extra $20 (or whatever) for shipping, thus only paying fees on .99. The downside being that us honest sellers get penalized along with the crooks. eBay has really made it a lot tougher for sellers over the past 4 or 5 years. It's a shame. I used to do tons of business on eBay, not so much these days. Often it seems that it simply isn't worth all the extra grief, not to mention the rising fees. Oh well, such is life, I suppose.
Posted by: Dave P | April 19, 2013 at 12:59 PM
I always offer free shipping on any flat-rate or Regional Rate A or Regional Rate B because shipping is either always the same or with not much variation.
HOWEVER, the exception to the rule is heavier packages where shipping is calculated per pound. Shipping to the opposite coast of the US is quite a bit more expensive, so I charge calculated shipping on these types of items.
Posted by: brandon | April 19, 2013 at 01:51 PM
The other problem is that ebay's shipping calculator doesn't take into account adding things such as signature confirmation. I end up having to make the weight some absurd amount to cover these extras (especially considering when some buyers claim they never received an item). Ebay fees have gotten so out of hand it's been eons since I've tried to sell something there. I'll either sell stuff by some other means or give it away to somebody I know just to avoid ebay.
Posted by: Bill DeFelice | May 04, 2013 at 02:07 PM