Selling on ebay

[evident]

So you charged the buyer $5 instead of $8???

if i charge 8, the cpu would still be sitting in my desk, and probably never been bought. the only reason why i sell these things is to pretty much pay or help recoup for the final value fees of my other higher value items.

 

[HeXen]

Experience + scales + website or programs to estimate shipping

OR

The WAG method

(wild ass guess)

IIRC only USPS has flat rate boxes.

I figured if I sold anything, I'd pack it and take it to UPS and ask them how much to ship and go off that. However I work late so I would never be able to make it to a UPS or USPS anyway and people expect their packages shipped immediately.

That is the main reason I never sell stuff I'd like to, that and i'm paranoid of someone scamming me.

 

[Red Squirrel]

what are these "special agreements" you speak of

I thought this was common knowledge. Has to do with NAFTA and stuff. I can't really find any official documents on this but lot of rather different results on Google. A lot of people here explaining it more:

https://www.quora.com/How-do-Chinese-eBay-sellers-ship-so-cheaply-across-the-world?share=1

As icing on the cake anything they sell also does not have to meet any kind of safety requirements like UL, CSA, ETL etc. That's why you find crazy dangerous stuff like line voltage stuff with exposed contacts. Try selling something like this here and it will get banned in a flash, but yet China can export it here. Basically the system is setup so that it's super easy for them to export to us.

 

[Ns1]

I thought this was common knowledge. Has to do with NAFTA and stuff. I can't really find any official documents on this but lot of rather different results on Google. A lot of people here explaining it more:

https://www.quora.com/How-do-Chinese-eBay-sellers-ship-so-cheaply-across-the-world?share=1

As icing on the cake anything they sell also does not have to meet any kind of safety requirements like UL, CSA, ETL etc. That's why you find crazy dangerous stuff like line voltage stuff with exposed contacts. Try selling something like this here and it will get banned in a flash, but yet China can export it here. Basically the system is setup so that it's super easy for them to export to us.

Thanks - I learned something today, but it still ain't free. Doesn't appear NAFTA related either, which makes sense to me, given what NAFTA actually stands for.

Nearly 40% of eBay sellers in China are using the ePacket service to ship to the U.S., with over 80% of items delivered in five to 10 days. Upon arrival in the U.S., these shipments are processed as domestic First-Class Mail, with a one to three-day delivery standard. According to the original announcement, "Sellers in China using the shipping platform through eBay GC are expected to ship small items such as cellular telephone accessories and electronics weighing up to 4.4 pounds (2 kilos), with most in the range of 13 ounces and under."

The service offers local pick-up service and label printing, coupled with online tracking and pre-customs declaration for a 7- to 10-day guaranteed delivery period and at a 30-50% discounted price compared with many equivalent services.

http://www.ecommercebytes.com/cab/abn/y11/m08/i31/s02
https://about.usps.com/news/national-releases/2010/pr10_058.htm


Agreed on your second point re: safety though. This became really apparent during the "hoverboard" phase.

Hoverboard maker under fire for counterfeit certification marks

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-hoverboard-counterfeit-ul-0119-biz-20160118-story.html

 

[Muse]

Apparently. Makes no damned sense.

As you stated earlier: Buyer pays fixed/actual shipping charges. I don't know why you'd do it any other way.

One reason to list on ebay with "Free Shipping" it to get buyers' attention. Other listings are usually a PITA because the prospective buyers have to open the listing to find out what the shipping fee will be. I skip most of those because experience tells me I won't like what I see. When it says "Free Shipping" you know the shipping fee is baked into the asking price. 😎

 

[pontifex]

if i charge 8, the cpu would still be sitting in my desk, and probably never been bought. the only reason why i sell these things is to pretty much pay or help recoup for the final value fees of my other higher value items.

you charge $5 for the item and $3 for the shipping.
at such low prices, why bother selling it? is it worth $2 to spend time putting the auction up, packaging it, and driving to the post office or ups store, and then possibly having to deal with the seller when he says it doesn't work?

 

[TwiceOver]

you charge $5 for the item and $3 for the shipping.
at such low prices, why bother selling it? is it worth $2 to spend time putting the auction up, packaging it, and driving to the post office or ups store, and then possibly having to deal with the seller when he says it doesn't work?

Don't forget the fees. Nearly 4% for paypal and ebay just charges whatever the fuck they feel like that day.

 

[evident]

you charge $5 for the item and $3 for the shipping.
at such low prices, why bother selling it? is it worth $2 to spend time putting the auction up, packaging it, and driving to the post office or ups store, and then possibly having to deal with the seller when he says it doesn't work?

the act of shipping is pretty easy anymore- I can just leave it in front of my house and it's picked up for free. for any of these crap items if the buyer bitches i'll just refund them and tell them to keep it. like i said the few bucks i do make definitely help towards covering final value fees of other higher value items that i sold.

 

[Ns1]

you charge $5 for the item and $3 for the shipping.
at such low prices, why bother selling it? is it worth $2 to spend time putting the auction up, packaging it, and driving to the post office or ups store, and then possibly having to deal with the seller when he says it doesn't work?

+1 feedback and a hotdog/drink from costco.

 

[pontifex]

Don't forget the fees. Nearly 4% for paypal and ebay just charges whatever the fuck they feel like that day.

Lol yeah last time i sold on ebay it was like 12 or 13‰ selling fee on top of whatever they charged to create the auction.

 

[Mike64]

I thought this was common knowledge. Has to do with NAFTA and stuff.

Oh, I see what you mean, "because reasons"... Honestly, I don't have the time or energy to try to make sense of, or respond to, your post in its entirety. A few particularly noteworthy points, howeer: First off is the stunningly obvious fact that the North American Free Trade Agreement of course has absolutely nothing to do with US or Canadian trade with China. Second, the biggest reasons its cheaper to ship stuff from China to the US than the other way around is because the Chinese government subsidizes their shipping rates, and of course it's a virtual certainty that their labor costs (ie, postal workers' wages) are relatively speaking much lower North America labor costs. Neither of which factors has anything immediately to do with trade agreements. And the fact that the cost and standard of living is so much lower in China has, again, nothing directly to do with our trade with the country. And last but by no means least, arguably the biggest reason trade with China is so heavily weighted in its favor is that the overwhelming supermajority of North Americans want to pay as little as conceivably possible for everything we buy, ignoring all other considerations. (Hence, every attempt to popularize "Buy American" (or presumably "Buy Canadian") campaigns has been a stunningly miserable failure...) Yet you expect the Chinese to pay more for North American goods than for their own, because, well, "because"...? That sure makes a lot of sense...