Question
The holiday shopping season is here, at least for the early-birds! http://community.here.com/infopop/em.../icon_wink.gif
So to give my auctions an edge over my competition, I've been toying with the idea of offering Free Shipping. Most of my items are very light, so it wouldn't be much of an expense for me to offer it, and I think many eBay shoppers look closely at shipping costs when deciding between seller A and seller B.
Do you agree or disagree?
Assuming that Free Shipping is a good marketing idea, how do you think I can best implement it?
Do you think buyers respond best to "limited time only!" type promotions?
I'm thinking that FREE SHIPPING should be in red letters at the top of my descriptions, but do you think I should mention how much they will be saving? Maybe an image of "shipping = $1.25" with a big red X through it?
And is it too confusing to buyers to limit the FS to USA buyers only? Or limit it to First Class/Surface mail only, with the buyer paying the difference for a shipping upgrade?
Even more questions....
In addition to the lighter items, I do sell some heavier items that I would prefer not to have to foot the shipping on. Do you think that having some items ship free and some items not would be too confusing for buyers? Or do you think that Free Shipping would be such a great boost to my sales that it would make up for my footing the shipping costs?
Sorry for all the questions, but this is making my brain hurt! http://community.here.com/infopop/em...icon_smile.gif
Answer
Depends. If your competition DOESN'T do it, then mention FREE S/H in the title. (Obviously, also mention it again in the body of the listing)
Make certain that you price your products to sell (duh), but ALSO to cover the free s/h to ANYWHERE in the USA (internationally?), your listing fees, FVF's, PP/credit card fees, etc.
I offered free s/h when I first started selling at eBay, and honestly, lost $$$ on many of the sales, as the items were big & bulky (lightweight, though) and shipping ate a LOT of the "profit". http://community.here.com/infopop/em...icon_frown.gif
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Answer
I use a flat shipping fee for my items, and they seem to draw bids! Of course, my items are small and light weight as well.
Be sure to specify WHERE the free shipping applies too!
Good luck! The fun started for me last night, and I'm happy to say that one of my items is taking off like hot cakes (knock on wood so I don't jinx it!).
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Answer
it is sort of like shopping in Delaware... no sales tax.
when you are there you know that if you pick up an item for 9.99 that is ALL you are going to pay.
I would put that wording into the auction text too.
something like "your winning bid amount is ALL you will have to pay"
you don't have to offer "free" shipping to international buyers but you can offer "discount shipping" to them.
$x.xx off shipping to any overseas location.
you don't have to offer free shipping on all your auctions either.... if someone wants to buy something from you and one is free and the other is not then you can work those situations out on an individual basis... like offering them a credit of what it would have cost you to ship the freebie. http://community.here.com/infopop/em...icon_smile.gif
I would definitely put FREE SHIP in the title and then several times in the auction itself. http://community.here.com/infopop/em...icon_smile.gif
I love free shipping.. http://community.here.com/infopop/em...icon_smile.gif
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Tanya
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Answer
I would also specify the type of free shipping. If you are willing to pay for media mail then say that, or the buyers might expect you to pay for priority mail.
You don't have to offer free s/h on all your items. Sometimes I will do it for specific things, if the market is flooded and I really want to move this widget.
Yes, if I am looking at two identical items, I always look at s/h costs. That is not the only thing I look at, but I look there first.
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Answer
I think it can be an excellent marketing tool - especially if it is in the title and draws more lookers to your auctions - but keep in mind that you will pay eBay a percentage on the shipping since it will be part of the total bid amount. If it increases sales enough, then that would not be a real concern. http://community.here.com/infopop/em...icon_smile.gif
kudzurose (Dorothy)
Answer
I agree...it works. I would not think it would cause confusion to offer it on some auctions and not offer it on others. I've done that MANY times. The only way you can offer free ship with larger/heavier items is to build the amount you would charge to ship into the opening bid. That also works many times, BTW, if you are able to do so and still compete in the category.
Answer
I have one particular item that I offer free shipping if they use BIN and have a 100% success rate thus far. My competitors have such a high shipping rate that it really makes my items look appealing.
I have also used free shipping on postcards and other light items. A couple of years ago I was selling a lot of logo golf balls. I offered free shipping if they were the high bidder on 3 or more golf balls. It definitely helped.
Answer
I use a flat-rate method based on the merchandise subtotal. For example, $.01 to $6.99-worth of merchandise ships for $1.99.
This has worked extremely well as far as getting bidders to look at my other auctions, because they buy one $2.00 thing, and see that they can buy $4.99 more worth of stuff for no extra shipping charge! http://community.here.com/infopop/em...on_biggrin.gif
This might not work if you're selling large or heavy items, but it works great for what I sell. http://community.here.com/infopop/em...icon_smile.gif
My Current Bead Listings - Czech 'Em Out! http://community.here.com/infopop/em...icon_smile.gif
Answer
I only charge shipping for the first item in the customers order and then let them add as many items to their order as they want over a 7 day period and don't charge any more for shipping.....the only condition is that they pay for everything with one payment so that Paypal doesn't ding me for each payment. It seems to have gone over really well as I have alot of large orders now when I didn't before.
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