AuctionCut

Hi, I am a ebay power selling and offten ebay will give discounts on final value fees if you offer free shipping in your auction. Dont do it. I will tell you why. I read an artical last month where a university did a study, I forget the web link, but I found this to be very true. This is an example. If you are a ebay seller and list an item lets say for 100.00 for example, and free shipping. And then list the same item for 80.00 and 20.00 shipping. What you will find is that 80% of people will bid on the 80.00 dollar item with 20.00 shipping verses, the 100.00 item with free shipping. Why you make ask? Most people see the 80.00 and also see the 20.00 shipping(but some people dont see or care much about the shipping cost) But seeing the number 80.00 verses 100.00 for the same item sticks in their head. They have a sence that they are getting a better deal for some reason. Also some people are very lasy and dont care to do basic math. May sound dumb but it is very very true.
Now the ebay fee discounts will not be enough to out weight the more views wihich equals higher bids on your item you are selling. Truse me a ebay powerseller that you will get higher bids if you do this.
I have lots more tips coming soon. or just email me. thanks

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Yea, I agree. I too, sometimes dis regard the shipping costs.

This is a good point, I will keep this in consideration, thanks.

There is also a growing tendancy for customers to rate free shipping as a 3 on the DSR star ratings - "neither reasonable, nor unreasonable".

eBay earn more in Final Value fees from "free" postage listings, and it will also boost their GMV key performance indicator to their shareholders - 10m items at $10 +$3 P&P would be reported as $100m GMV, but 10m items at $13 inc free postage will now be reported as $130m GMV.

Just wait til early April when eBay announce how proud they are about raising GMV in economic lean times...

free shipping may also mean sellers driving up the price or really low price but super high shipping charges, oh how i HATE that!

I agree in a sense, but it comes down to what you are selling also. Was this study done with "new" items. "refurbished" "antiques" I mean, you can say that it doesn't work but it won't apply to everything and it might work better.

And, you're talking starting out at a $ amount, if you started less maybe the free shipping would encourage overbidding.

While we could assume people are bargain shopping, many also are aware of being overcharged on shipping so they shop and compare like usual. Again, it depends on what you sell, without a more detailed and tracked study take this with a grain of salt.

that is pretty interesting. thanks for sharing!

Hi,

Thanks for the tips, they are nice, appreciate them. @ Basic Maths.. lol

Sometimes you can`t always benefit by using eBays discount offerings, and you will find that sellers who use free postage are not always trusted on the quality of the item they are selling because the buyer may feel the free offering is to entice their buying impulses more!

At the end of the day when you are selling on eBay, most of the time you are using guidelines that benefit them and the buyer more than you, their bottom line as a middleman is profit!

John.

That's an interesting way of looking at it, John.

Lately it has become more obvious, that eBay is a bit more pro buyers (and of course themselves). You may find this letter from one eBay seller quite interesting:

http://letters.auctionbytes.com/cgi-bin ... 23973.html

Cheers!

I agree with your concept, still i will say that we cannot say everyone alike or fraud. Still there are certain online auctions that offer free shipping and that too with complete support and assurance along with money back guarantee in case of damage. These online bidding and auctions are touchy about their policies as these deals in more than one country so the reputation once lost could not be retrieved.
I suggest that each one of us should be well clear with the terms and policies of the bidding website where we are bidding online or even while doing traditional manual bidding.

Regards

Yes, I agree James

Different auctions sites have different policies and these policies make them what they are. At the same time these help assure users of their validity and reliability as an auction site. Thus each user should be familiar with these before diving in - regardless if these policies are pro or anti-sellers/buyers.

Its usually how we handle the situation and make the most of it that matters at the end of the day...

Cheers!

That is a good tip there, John!

Some sellers also offer FREE shipping when a customer's shopping cart reaches a certain dollar amount. I think this is also suitable if you do intend to offer free shipping to your customers.

Cheers

Well i do not think there is any harm in free shipment as long as you confirm and read feedbacks of the users who have already purchased from the particular auction website in which you are interested!