what do you think of my idea or a waste of time?

metso

I'm about to put some items onto ebay, in the past, I've had issues re postage, the first time I put a few things on (around 50), I was new to it and charged too little for postage and got burnt on quite a few items....

the next batch of items I put on I ended up charging too much and people questioned my postage rates...

so I figured I would at least try and cover myself that if I did overcharge, I would refund the difference (minus paypal charges etc, if using paypal).

what do you think?

ps, i've seen a postage calculator on some ebay sales but when I try and look for it to include in my sales, I can't find it?

thanks

stolt

think your right in refunding the postage if you put this in your auction, I think unless you grossly inflate the postage rate then buyer will get the hump, although I always expect people to add a little to the rate for packaging and even petrol money to the post office, not many do it but sometimes it explains the reason it seems a little more expensive.

I'm sure if you stated that you will charge postage at the going rate and will refund anything over, you will definatley reassure your buyers.

Mrs_Sparkle

Just make sure you weigh items then add on a little extra for packaging, then use Royal Mail's website to work out the cost. This is what I do and I'm usually OK. Someone did once refund me a couple of pound coins in my package and I was really impressed with that but it'd be a right pain if you had to do that all the time.

Suzy_M

I had a similar problem when estimating packed weights when I first started.
Not wanting to go to the trouble of packing items unless they sell I now use a simple multiplication. As a starting point I use weight of item multiplied by one and a third for non-fragile items and multiplied by one and a half for fragile items. Weight wise I'm usually as near as dammit. Then add on any extra charge for Recorded Delivery and a nominal amount towards packaging.

JezCooke

Try my site:

http://www.electroniceternity.co.uk/eepostcalc.php

combine this with a set of kitchen (or bathroom) scales and you can charge the right postage in the first place, much easier than refunding the difference!

Fattywaddy

Hi,

try this

http://www.qicture.com/calculator.html

tsharp

For books i just charge 2.50 for HB and 1.50 for pb, and for cds and dvds i charge 2.00. As long as it's the uk, you'll always come under the cost of actual postage.

Contains_Mild_Peril

JezCooke wrote:

Try my site:

http://www.electroniceternity.co.uk/eepostcalc.php

combine this with a set of kitchen (or bathroom) scales and you can charge the right postage in the first place, much easier than refunding the difference!

Kitchen or bathroom scales are good because most of us already have them. If buying scales especially for ebay though, I'd go with fishing scales - good for large and small packages. You can put your parcel in a carrier bag (weight typically about 10g, so negligible) to hang it on the hook.
P.S. I recently bought a cheap but heavy item and felt a little guilty when the parcel arrived and I realised that the seller had undercharged me for postage and actually lost money overall. I left her glowing feedback and briefly toyed with the idea of paying her the postage shortfall, but banished such notions from my mind when I looked at her other feedback and found she'd simply compensated by overcharging her next customer by about the same amount she'd undercharged me!

soolin

The easiest way if you are selling anything common is to see what other sellers are charging. In many categories, but not all, there is almost a standard rate for p and p and sticking within that margin makes you competitive.

Soo

mamashaz

soolin wrote:

The easiest way if you are selling anything common is to see what other sellers are charging. In many categories, but not all, there is almost a standard rate for p and p and sticking within that margin makes you competitive.

Soo

I am an experienced seller on Ebay. Before selling anything I always check for similar items to see what others are selling them for. I then charge a few pence under the lowest price - this has led to me selling items where other similar ones haven't sold. Everyone likes a bargain - even a few pence in postage costs!

motorguy

if you do what you are proposing, you won't get any money for the jiffy bag, any extra packaging etc, as people will expect to be charged what they see on the package. Plus refunding all takes time. By the time you fiddle about over half a dozen refunds you could lose an hour of your life!

You will also get some sod who will whinge because you didn't refund them 12p or something.

Personally, check out what other people are charging, and stick with that.