You might think that shipping costs are simple: surely you just
add up the price of your item's postage and the price of packing
materials, and charge that - right? Well, you could do that, but
there are better ways to make your shipping costs work for you.
Find Cheaper Materials.
The key to making profit on shipping is to use the cheapest
materials you can get for packing, without compromising on
quality. The great thing for you is that many eBay PowerSellers
have made a business out of providing sellers with quality
packing material in bulk at really low prices.
To get an idea of what's out there, take a look at this
category: Business & Industrial > Office, Printing & Shipping >
Shipping & Packing Supplies. You might also try paying a visit
to a big-box office supplies store.
Buy in Bulk.
Always buy hundreds of the same sized packing boxes at the same
time. Since you should be selling the same items over and over
again, you'll need the same sized boxes each time. You will
always be able to get discounts for bulk - if the place where
you're shopping won't give you any, go somewhere else.
Streamline Your Packing.
Try to pack every time using the same amounts of the same
materials in the same way, so that you don't need to think about
it too much. Have all the labels for the packages printed up in
advance, and do the items in that order. The less time you spend
on the packing, the more profit it is for you.
Round to the Next Dollar.
Let's say you're buying items for $2, and selling them for $4 +
$1.50 shipping. Rounding the shipping to $2 would make you an
extra 40 cents on each sale - considering you're currently only
making $2 profit, that's a percentage profit increase of 25%!
You see, this extra money will be far more important to you than
it is to the buyer, because it's on the margin. For you, it's
extra profit for nothing, and for the buyer, it's too small an
amount to bother caring about. Everybody wins in this scenario.
The Ideal Price Point.
Find out what your rivals are charging for shipping, and try to
just undercut them while still making a profit. If you managed
to buy some cheaper materials, this shouldn't be too hard for
you - most of the sellers on eBay are buying envelopes and boxes
one-by-one, which is a very expensive way to do things. If you
work things out correctly, you should be able to offer shipping
at a price point which makes your rivals look silly, and still
be making a good profit on it!
If you're running the kind of operation where shipping is a big
concern, then the chances are that you're listing a significant
proportion of your items using 'Buy it Now', instead of going
through all the trouble and uncertainty of using real auctions
every time. But wait! Using 'Buy it Now' isn't always the right
thing to do. Our next email will give you a few tips on when to
do it and when not to.
About the author:
Kirsten Hawkins is an Ebay and internet auction enthusiast from
Nashville, TN. Visit http://www.auctionseller411.com/ for more
great tips on how to make the most from Ebay and other online
auctions.
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