USPS and UPS shipping rip off

Comixbooks

Comixbooks

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Jun 7, 2008
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I just did the caculator for a BenQ monitor I sold on ebay a MLG 24"
I sold for 112.00

-10.00 ebay fees

-3.50 paypal

34.00 shiping USPS

31.00 UPS

any way around this can I ship for cheaper I know like UPS does like USPS select and sutff I'm not sure how Amazon and the like can ship for so cheap.
 
Amazon ships cheap because they deliver the items directly to USPS hubs by the semi-trailer load. The USPS basically just handles the "last mile" of the delivery. Oh yeah and shipping a couple billion packages each year helps as well.

How big is your box and where did you get those rates?
 
Amazon gets a huge shipping discount due to volume.
 
Damn.......

It's 25x17x6 and it's 13lbs so I'm out of luck

Only made 66.00 on the monitor
 
Yeap that's why I tend to sell big stuff locally. After ebay and paypal fees the shipping is just the icing on the fuck you cake that is the online auction market.
 
will it fit in one of the larger "if it fits, it ships" USPS boxes?
 
I remember when I used to have a UPS account, I'd get almost a 30% discount.
When I sold stuff on Ebay I would charge actual shipping costs (not my discounted rate) and use the difference to offset my ebay and paypal fees.
 
Yup, as said local sales are the way to go for large items. Or just make the buyer pay shipping.
 
Use the fedex smartpost option on ebay shipping.

See if you can tighten the dimensions and weight.

They use fedex to get it to the local post office and then the post office does the last leg of the local delivery.

The shipping price should be about half of UPS and way less than USPS

just make sure you insure it with a third party like shipsurance because good luck getting replacement value out of fedex/usps insurance
 
lol I wanted to say fuck it at the USPS....

44.45 for shipping with 100.00 insurance.....

So I made about 54.00 on the sale

No wonder the post office is going out of business.
 
I've found for shipping monitors using a fedex account online (free and pretty easy to set up) and dropping it off at a fedex store is super cheap compared to the other ones. I just shipped a 28" 4K monitor for $22 with $600 insurance and it was 3-day home delivery. You just need a printer and a scale in your house (even a bathroom scale works, weigh yourself with and without the package and maybe add 1/2lb to be safe).
 
Post Office is just a high way robbery I'm sure they have to cover their mail delivery UNION people is part of the problem....

It never used to be that bad I think I spent way under that the last time I shipped a LCD in 2005.
 
Comixbooks said:
lol I wanted to say fuck it at the USPS....

44.45 for shipping with 100.00 insurance.....

So I made about 54.00 on the sale

No wonder the post office is going out of business.
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Do you have it setup so you can buy/print the shipping labels right off of Ebay?

Even on small packages that are fairly cheap to ship I usually get about $1 to $1.50 off of USPS in store rates. It is a pretty decent percentage off.

And it comes with free tracking/delivery confirmation.

Ebay also has a setup where you can use a 3rd party insurer which sometimes comes out cheaper than USPS or UPS insurance.
 
LigTasm said:
I've found for shipping monitors using a fedex account online (free and pretty easy to set up) and dropping it off at a fedex store is super cheap compared to the other ones. I just shipped a 28" 4K monitor for $22 with $600 insurance and it was 3-day home delivery. You just need a printer and a scale in your house (even a bathroom scale works, weigh yourself with and without the package and maybe add 1/2lb to be safe).
Click to expand...

This is great to know. I will have to check it out the next time I stick stuff on Ebay.
 
You can have eBay calculate shipping to the buyers and then it charges buyers the actual shipping amount. It appears to charge less for shorter journeys so you are more likely to sell to someone who will get the item faster.
 
don't have a printer?

come on now, usps charges double for drop offs that aren't prepaid/prelabels

get with the times and use online pricing

Newegg has a $25 wifi laser printer (also has usb) so you have no excuses for no printer

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16828731010

$25 + free shipping w/ coupon code AF151027D31

good reviews on slickdeals, 1600 page starter toner and the replacements are $20
 
You should have gotten a shipping quote before you put your item on Ebay. Most companies will tell you a typical ballpark figure based on weight.
 
twonunpackmule said:
You should have gotten a shipping quote before you put your item on Ebay. Most companies will tell you a typical ballpark figure based on weight.
Click to expand...

Shipping charges vary by where the package is going. The really simple to do it list the box sizes and weight and eBay will calculate discounted shipping for you and the buyer can pay actual shipping from the seller to the buyer... OP completely struck out by trying to estimate shipping charges and not relaying this onto the buyer.
 
A lot of volume is the reason. The best service to cost option with FedEx is usually the 3 day service for a normal person.

Volume is king in the logistics world and Amazon has shit tons of it in nice, square little boxes. Those nice square boxes make cubic utilization on the transport side easy and pull their costs down. It's why you also see a goofy Amazon box with one little thing in it but a big box....the cubic utilization is key to good pricing.

FedEx and UPS both move USPS packages. Not sure who is doing most of the business these days but I think it's UPS.

Personally, I never use USPS just because I think they suck and I don't like their online interface. UPS and FedEx are both relatively easy to deal with on claims as well.

Just my .02 but I know this profession very well:)
 
Comixbooks said:
I just did the caculator for a BenQ monitor I sold on ebay a MLG 24"
I sold for 112.00

-10.00 ebay fees

-3.50 paypal

34.00 shiping USPS

31.00 UPS

any way around this can I ship for cheaper I know like UPS does like USPS select and sutff I'm not sure how Amazon and the like can ship for so cheap.
Click to expand...

Have you tried FedEx? FedEx seems to be a bit cheaper than USPS or UPS for heavier projects.
 
sorry but you should have charged actual shipping. And used fedex. Ebay charges you 10% of the final auction cost, but does not charge 10% on shipping costs. Therefore, you make more (and get tolled less) by charging actual shipping costs than estimating lower or offering free shipping. For large stuff, fedex is always the cheapest for me. anything shoebox or under, USPS is usually a few dollars cheaper.
 
mnewxcv said:
sorry but you should have charged actual shipping. And used fedex. Ebay charges you 10% of the final auction cost, but does not charge 10% on shipping costs. Therefore, you make more (and get tolled less) by charging actual shipping costs than estimating lower or offering free shipping. For large stuff, fedex is always the cheapest for me. anything shoebox or under, USPS is usually a few dollars cheaper.
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They charge fees on shipping.

This was because people were selling things for $1 and charging $1000 for shipping.

You could buy a Rolex for $10 and $15,000 shipping.
 
twonunpackmule said:
You should have gotten a shipping quote before you put your item on Ebay. Most companies will tell you a typical ballpark figure based on weight.
Click to expand...

This. You need to charge accurate shipping for eBay to be a viable option. Then in addition eBay and Paypal will take 10% (when put together). If you want the maximum amount of money. Use BiN instead of auctions (require immediate payment. If you don't some dick will create a fake account just to take your auction down. It sounds like it should be a rare occasion, but it happened to me twice with high ticket items, and you can't really repost until the dispute clears as it's not worth the risk).
This also requires you to take lots of accurate pictures and a good description (you don't need fancy html design skills, just be clear about condition). I've sold many a high-ticket item at premium prices. The key is you have to know that people who shop auctions are different than people who use BiN. BiN'ers are all about speed and wanting their item now. Auction people are all about the lowest possible price. So you can charge a bit of a premium, just make sure you pack well and ship within 24 hours. It goes without saying then you must know the accurate used price of whatever your selling based on its condition.

Basically all this is to say: lesson learned. If you want to sell like a pro there is a learning curve. As a side note, if you have friends who own commercial businesses, they usually have 25-30% discounts on shipping (through their business accounts), so going through them can decrease the shipping price making your auctions more attractive.
 
UnknownSouljer said:
This. You need to charge accurate shipping for eBay to be a viable option. Then in addition eBay and Paypal will take 10% (when put together). If you want the maximum amount of money. Use BiN instead of auctions (require immediate payment. If you don't some dick will create a fake account just to take your auction down. It sounds like it should be a rare occasion, but it happened to me twice with high ticket items, and you can't really repost until the dispute clears as it's not worth the risk).
This also requires you to take lots of accurate pictures and a good description (you don't need fancy html design skills, just be clear about condition). I've sold many a high-ticket item at premium prices. The key is you have to know that people who shop auctions are different than people who use BiN. BiN'ers are all about speed and wanting their item now. Auction people are all about the lowest possible price. So you can charge a bit of a premium, just make sure you pack well and ship within 24 hours. It goes without saying then you must know the accurate used price of whatever your selling based on its condition.

Basically all this is to say: lesson learned. If you want to sell like a pro there is a learning curve. As a side note, if you have friends who own commercial businesses, they usually have 25-30% discounts on shipping (through their business accounts), so going through them can decrease the shipping price making your auctions more attractive.
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Thanx for the info about the require immediate payment. I've been hit a few times by these idiots as well. Usually requiring a PP account stops that IME.
 
FedEx Ground tends to be the cheapest shipping method for bulky items that do not weigh a lot.

Shipping has gotten much more expensive in the last few years. USPS used to be the least expensive by far but a very successful lobby by UPS and FedEx has put an end to that.

Now, you really need to do your research prior to listing an item in order to not take a beating on shipping prices.
 
Comixbooks said:
Post Office is just a high way robbery I'm sure they have to cover their mail delivery UNION people is part of the problem....

It never used to be that bad I think I spent way under that the last time I shipped a LCD in 2005.
Click to expand...

The main problem is they're not really hiring any full time employees like that these days with a few exceptions in areas with a lot of employee retirements. Most of the issues I have encountered with USPS have been due to new hires that get worked to death and not given full carrier status. Some of them are only part time employees (carrier assistants) while the full time union carriers often get stuck working 6 days a week in some areas. With no real hope of advancement or full time positions, why would they feel a need to give a crap about doing a high quality job.

The bulk of the postal rate raises we have had in the past few years have been the direct result of congress forcing USPS to OVERFUND it's pension plan by billions of dollars by a ridiculously short term date. No other government entity is required to do this. The current union leadership as well as those in charge at the USPS have been pointing this out for years and people just seem to not notice.
 
Didn't want to beat a dead horse, but someone else posted in the thread. Try shipping two Korean monitors back to South Korea, and then come complain about shipping costs lol...
 
That sucks, but now you know. :( On that note, does anyone with shipping experience with USPS or UPS know how much would it cost me to send something about the size of a shoe box that weighs 2-3 pounds from TX to MD? (Even 1-week shipping will suffice.) I'm guessing $5-10, but wanted to see based on others' experience.
 
5-10 dollars is correct. Probably right around 7. That's via usps. Ups would probably be like 12.
 
I love hearing people whine about shipping costs, and then try to compare it with Amazon.

Seriously?
 
That's why I find it hard to buy at Ebay and others. Shipping costs. Many times if it's a monitor or other item I can buy elsewhere, it's the shipping that kills it. I can buy a new monitor for the same price. So, either the seller or the buyer is getting screwed on shipping. Best to buy some things from Amazon.

With selling, unless it's a tiny item, I put the shipping on the buyer. I found out once that I cannot cover shipping costs.
 
I hate dealing with the post office. UPS sucks balls. Might find a good deal online, but shipping is always a hit or miss, even when it's free. I've been screwed over by shipping companies, and I've had to wait forever for packages.

I'm currently trying to do THEIR job by picking up my package from their facility AND pay a fee for doing so because they can't seem to finish their job. I understand they're probably slammed, but I'm just trying to grab my package instead of having it sit there for another 4 days, possibly 6.
 
vibe said:
Use the fedex smartpost option on ebay shipping.

See if you can tighten the dimensions and weight.

They use fedex to get it to the local post office and then the post office does the last leg of the local delivery.

The shipping price should be about half of UPS and way less than USPS

just make sure you insure it with a third party like shipsurance because good luck getting replacement value out of fedex/usps insurance
Click to expand...

Dead horse repeat. I sell quite a few things on ebay. Huge things that will save you money are learning about USPS regional priority boxes, first class with free tracking for lighter items, and using Fedex for larger packages. Invest in a scale and order boxes for free from USPS. The only oddity with Fedex is that it is an, "Estimate." Meaning that ebay charges your account the shipping once the item is delivered, you don't pay for it up front.
 
I get so irritated, I know USPS and UPS pay their employees better, but they are the only people i have problems with. I've never had fedex lose a package. I've had one destroyed in a train wreck, but it wasn't lost. I've had 2 UPS packages go missing this year and my yubikey order shipped via USPS was lost last month. Its just what the fuck. UPS ground won't let you reschedule packages for pickup at a UPS store if it requires signature and only do weekday working hour delivery. You can have it held at a distribution center but last time i tried that they didn't actually remove it from the truck. Its fucking amateur hour. I literally only do my personal shipping via fedex these days. I dont even give a shit what it costs they are the only people who are reliable.
 
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