Ebay packaging and postal costs - am I being naive?

rainbowsox

Evening all...I haven't started a new thread before, so apologies if this has been discussed before - please just point me to the link...
When I sell on ebay, I only charge the actual cost of the postage for the item I'm selling - I don't charge for packaging, as I have a large hoard of old jiffy bags, bubble wrap, brown paper etc. Obviously I allow for the weight of the packaging in the postal costs, but otherwise don't add anything. I had a look at some postage and packing costs for other sellers recently (I sell, but very rarely buy, so don't really look very often), and was amazed at the really high costs for p & p for relatively inexpensive items - single garments were priced £5.00 for p & p, for example.
Am I just being really naive in not charging more, or are some of the p & p costs around at the moment really way over the top?
I know sellers need to cover costs, including listing and paypal, but surely some of these p & p costs are enormous, especially for low value items...
Do you find buyers don't notice p and p costs, or don't care that some of them are really high?
All thoughts welcome and thanks for reading

milliejon

When I'm buying, in take the cost of the P&P into account in the total I want to pay.

When I sell I charge the actual price, plus 50p for the packaging etc.

I think if buyers see a lower postage rate for the same items, they will nearly always go with the lower postage. Your item would probably go for more money too.

pdoff

i don't sell, just buy - was thinking about selling that's why i ventured to this forum! i always look at the postage b4 bidding e.g if i am willing to pay £10 for something & postage is £4 i bid £6 as my highest bid. i once received an item that had £5 odd postage on it but when it came the stamp was less than £1! she said it was to bump up the price so she wouldnt have to pay as big a fee as is not charged on postage!! personally i thought that was bang out of order, but maybe thats just me.

highguyuk

pdoff wrote:

i don't sell, just buy - was thinking about selling that's why i ventured to this forum! i always look at the postage b4 bidding e.g if i am willing to pay £10 for something & postage is £4 i bid £6 as my highest bid. i once received an item that had £5 odd postage on it but when it came the stamp was less than £1! she said it was to bump up the price so she wouldnt have to pay as big a fee as is not charged on postage!! personally i thought that was bang out of order, but maybe thats just me.

The flip side of this is that if the postage was less than a £1, the item couldn't have been that big in the first place and you should have known it wouldn't have cost £5?

In reference to the OP, I think you shouldn't undervalue yourself and should add extra onto the P+P to cover your own time and expenses.

ForOurFuture

rainbowsox wrote:

Am I just being really naive in not charging more, or are some of the p & p costs around at the moment really way over the top?
I know sellers need to cover costs, including listing and paypal, but surely some of these p & p costs are enormous, especially for low value items...
Do you find buyers don't notice p and p costs, or don't care that some of them are really high?
All thoughts welcome and thanks for reading

I tend to buy more than sell on ebay as I find that I don't tend to make that much on the items that I could sell but can pick up real bargains. I always set my buying limit to include postage. I never pay alot for postage unless I really want the item. The postage fee should include postage (obviously!), packaging (like you I tend to reuse packaging) and also your time i.e. do you have to make a special trip to the P.O. by car or are you working just next door!!
In essence you are correct when you say you are being naive, but you could also use that to your benefit. If you reusing packaging you could use that as a marketing ploy and put a note on your auction to that effect i.e. 'to keep postage & packaging costs low I recycle packaging'. I also have noticed that some sellers have a standard rate normally 2.50 and send the item 2nd class! To be fair I think this issue is part of the ebay culture and you have to either go with it or set you own limits. I agree if you have more realistic postage costs you are more likely to sell your item, although I am not sure that you will necessarily sell for more. Personally I think some items would make more money at the local car boot. Good observation though I'm glad I'm not alone :T .

sheraz2

bottom line, if someone will keep paying whatever the postage cost is, then people will keep doing it, more power to them i say.

missile

It takes time and trouble to package an item correctly and I always post asap, thus I make a trip to the post office. I do not think it is unreasonable to include this in the P+P cost. It is clearly marked on my sales. I had one next who demanded that I refund him for overcharging or he would give neg feedback and I promptly returned the favour.

There are some who deliberately overcharge on P+P but there are some who will find any excuse to blackmail a seller with 100% feedback, like me. eBay is a jungle - just a reflection of real life I guess?

jenko

Some people have high P&P as they don't have to pay fees on it. I have seen someone selling something for £1 buy it now and the p&p at £16. They clearly want £17 for it inc p&p but they will only pay a % of the £1.

I sometimes make the p&p high as an explicit high reserve if you know what I mean

rainbowsox

Thanks everyone....it seems on balance that i'm being abit too soft with all this...i think because i pick up everything i sell very cheap or free, then seem to make an okay profit (maybe again naively, i think that if i've made 100% profit after listings and paypal then that's pretty good) i've relied too much on letting the items sell themselves, and not really looked at the postage aspect..i intend to list a couple of dozen things tomorrow, as it's free gallery, so will add a quid or two to the postage costs to cover packaging etc. I think that's really clever to suggest advertising that i use recycled packaging....it's something i'd never thought about, as i've always re-used packaging - tight fisted dudette that i am...how can anyone buy new when junk mail and freebies are sent in beautiful new brown envelopes and jiffy bags??
Now i'm on the profit making trail, Sir Sugar has serious competition:rotfl:

rainbowsox

jenko wrote:

Some people have high P&P as they don't have to pay fees on it. I have seen someone selling something for £1 buy it now and the p&p at £16. They clearly want £17 for it inc p&p but they will only pay a % of the £1.

I sometimes make the p&p high as an explicit high reserve if you know what I mean

out of curiosity, did some muppet actually buy it?

motorguy

rainbowsox wrote:

out of curiosity, did some muppet actually buy it?

Its all swings and roundabouts though isnt it? £1 + £16 postage = £17, £14 + £3 postage = £17, £17 for the item with free postage = £17. Don't think it would bother me though i know it gets up some peoples noses