I'm not selling any more heavy items on ebay

[mycouponhunter]

I had a crib set that I kept meaning to sell on Craigslist but they seem to go really cheap so I decided to put it on ebay. I put it on ebay with free shipping and then I increased the starting bid to $20 thinking it would cost around $8 to ship. I had a bunch of questions, sent bunches of photos, etc. I had one bid which i was satisfied with well the person lived in Alaska. I kicked myself for this one thinking maybe i shouldn't have used free shipping, but oh well lesson learned if I do it again. It ended up costing $12 to ship parcel post. Well, I get the box back today. My dh used a priority box (which I didn't know about) and we sent it parcel post. It took a week to get back so i've decided to just mail it priority mail since the person has been already waiting a week for it. So it cost me a little over $21 to mail and i sold it for $20 and I am mad at my dh for mailing it wrong knowing I should have done it myself. I know I should have mailed it myself, but my dh spends all day shipping stuff (part of his job).

So, this is a good lesson for me not to use free shipping on larger items. I just hope the person is happy with it and I have no more problems with it. I sent them an email telling them I was sending it priority mail out to them so I am hoping they are not mad that it's going back out today. Right now I am ready to just burn it!

[tarva29]

If you want to use free shipping in the future, note in your ad that the free is only for the lower 48..that's what we do at work.

[sati769leigh]

yikes!

[tracy]

Shipping to Alaska via USPS is the same cost as shipping to Washington State. The Lower 48 restriction really only applies to UPS/FedEx shipments.

Next time weigh and box up the item before listing so you have a better idea of what it will actually cost, and remember that using a shipping calculator in your listing is a real good idea. Or, it sounds like this crib set (bedding, I'm guessing?) might have fit into a flat-rate priority box. Don't forget about that option for heavier stuff that can fit in those dimensions.

[purplefdu]

I always box and weigh anything I am selling, be it on Ebay or my own e-commerce store. Since you are competing with B&M stores you need to be able to estimate the total cost, including shipping and packing materials (if you don't get them free).

Sounds like DH is used to shipping on the company's money not his own so he always uses the faster method of Priority shipping. You can hardly fault him for that. When DH worked at a warehouse he only used DHL and Fedex. Flat rate USPS was beyond his comprehension for some time.

I don't sell much on Ebay these days due to all the restrictions and issues that can arise. Unless you charge actual shipping + materials with the calculator it can become a huge ordeal.

[Merczilla]

Also bad idea to use Parcel to ship up here. Unless you're absolutely SURE that the customer understands that Parcel can take 3 weeks or more to get here. It comes up on the ship when there's room. Priority comes by air. I know perfectly well that Media mail takes that long or longer and I;m fine with that.

When you start getting into larger, heavier packages, then yes it costs more to send up here. Flat rate boxes are usually the best choice if you can make it fit. Regular first class or lightweight priority is the same as the lower 48. It's gotten so complicated with the rates, I can't keep track anymore. lol

[gaijingirl]

ahhh...eBay. Live and learn, right? I think these things will happen once and awhile. It's no fun.

I also agree that getting a scale is REALLY helpful. I bought one sometime ago (on eBay for around $7) and it was/is so helpful. A good $7 spent.

[mycouponhunter]

I actually have two scales (one for big packages and one for letters) and i've been doing ebay since '98 so I know a good amount what to do. Right now I am even a powerseller so I do a lot on ebay. The reason for this was pure laziness!!! I get over confident and think I dont need to weigh it because I've been doing this for a long time. I don't put heavier items on ebay normally and everytime I put different items on it burns me in the bottom. I like to do free shipping because it keeps my DSR up which allows me to get 20% off my listing fees. I would have usually started this at $10 plus shipping but I figured i'm doing free shipping I will just make it $20 to start with free shipping. It would have cost around $8-10 to ship if it wasn't AK. Of course my dh who sells heavy items on ebay (and doesn't ever use free shipping) tells me everything I should have done.

I just put it down to a learning mistake and next time no more free shipping on heavier items, but to use calculated.

[queenofthehivemomof5]

I think you should have stuck to craigslist. $20 for a crib set is a good deal IMO, plus no shipping!

[heyitsjenny]

Ugh, now I know why I hate selling things on Ebay. My brother encouraged me to sell shampoo and stuff on Ebay, but ehhh.... too much trouble! I'll just give it away or sell it at a garage sale (most likely give, I'm too busy to do a garage sale sadly).