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Let’s Talk About Shipping…

May 15, 2008

I was just interviewed about selling children’s items and toys - and I was a bit surprised by how much interest there was in the topic of shipping. I really shouldn’t have been surprised though… because I think there is quite a bit of confusion - and perhaps it is even a ‘controversial’ topic in the eBay world. If we are to be successful sellers, however, we must address the topic.

First of all - let me give you a little background. I listed my first stroller that I bought at a yard sale for $15 on eBay in 2003. It sold for over $100 and… the rest is history ;-) I was hooked!

It didn’t take long for me to realize that research was key to my success as a seller… research to determine what the hot sellers are - but, more importantly, research to determine which selling strategies were making the most impact on final selling prices.

In 2004, I started my first newsletter, HuntedTreasure, which provides a weekly report of 25 hot items in the children’s item market. For over 4 years I have spent hours on a weekly basis burying my head inside eBay and learning what sells… and how to sell it.

Time and time again I have noticed that shipping can play a HUGE factor in the success of a seller.

I think the thing to remember is to look at the big picture. I cannot tell you how many times I have seen the same (or similar) item listed and the one with lower shipping ends leaps and bounds higher than the other.

Remember, unless your bidder is a seller – they probably don’t really have a clue how much it costs to ship the item they are considering. They usually assume that the seller is adding on to the shipping to make a bigger profit – whether this is true or not, is really not the point.

It is a psychological game really…

There can be two items – one with free shipping or a shipping special of $5… and the other with the actual shipping cost of around $10 or $12 for an item… and usually the auction with the lower shipping will get a higher bid – and I would say that more often than not, the difference in the ending price is more than the difference in shipping. So, look at the whole picture – you might lose something in shipping, but, you will likely make up for it in the ending price of the auction.

Along those same lines, I highly recommend running some sort of shipping special for your listings. List items of the same size or for the same age group at the same time and then have a shipping special like:

Win more than one auction and only pay $5 shipping for all of it!

Or

Win 3, shipping is FREE!

This accomplishes two things for you…

1. It gets your visitor looking at your other listings – and not just browsing… but, looking to buy so they can get better shipping rates.

2. It is great fuel for the bidding war fire! More people will be competing for your items as they all want to take advantage of the discount

Test is out – you might be surprised!

Last 5 posts by Jenni Hunt

Written by Jenni Hunt · Filed Under Jenni Hunt 

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