Calculating Shipping For an Item Listed on eBay
The buyer of your eBay item will pay the shipping cost, unless you are offering free shipping, which is covered at the end of this article. In order to quote the customer the shipping fee, you will need a basic postage scale so that you can weigh the item.
To calculate the shipping fee, first weigh your item packaged just like you will send it. You don't have to seal the box or envelope, but you need to include the weight of the packaging as it adds to the total weight of the item.
For example, maybe you are selling golf shirts. These weigh about 10 ounces. Then, go to the USPS.com website and look up the shipping cost for a 10 ounce item. Or, you can just offer calculated shipping where you just enter the weight of the package, the customer enters his address, and the eBay shipping calculator shows the customer how much it will cost to ship the item based on his zip code.
Your shipping fee should be slightly more than the actual shipping charge. This is called a handling fee. You will be using supplies that cost you money - such as bubble wrap, packing peanuts, and poly if you aren't using the free Priority Mail supplies. But be careful with this. Now that eBay has incorporated DSRs (Detailed Seller Ratings), your customers can grade you on your shipping fees. Keep it reasonable and fair, or your ratings will drop.
eBay rewards sellers who offer free shipping by placing those items at the top of Best Match in searches. You aren't actually shipping the item for free, you will build the shipping cost into the sales price of the item. If you are shipping small lightweight item such as CDs, DVDs, costume jewelry, cosmetics, or small computer parts, and the First Class shipping fee is less than $3, it makes sense to offer free shipping on these items.
Your customers can't complain that your shipping fee is too high, since you didn't charge for shipping, and you can add that fee to the price of the actual item.
Posted on October 1, 2018
