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Here are some helpful tips for shipping any item that you sell on ebay (or anything you ship, period). I will add more to this guide as I think of more tips.
Very important - SHIPPING INSURANCE - first, if you are selling an item that is very valuable, go ahead and use the insurance required option. If you are selling an item worth only a few dollars, just put INSURANCE OPTIONAL. Low-value items where the customer is required to buy insurance generally do not sell well at all. DO NOT CHARGE MORE THAN ACTUAL COST ON INSURANCE. While it is necessary at times to add handling fees to shipping, adding any fees on top of postal insurance is a big no-no. A friend of mine is a Postmaster. I was discussing this practice with him, and he informed me that charging a premium on postal insurance is illegal. You could be fined or prosecuted. Same goes for insuring an item for more than it's value. TO COLLECT INSURANCE MONEY ON A CLAIM YOU MUST PROVE AN ITEM'S VALUE. You can buy less insurance than the item's full value, but if you put down more than the item is worth you may be guilty of insurance fraud.
Example: seller "x" requires shipping insurance on their item. The item sells for $100.00. The usps price for insurance is $2.05 but seller "x" charges the winning bidder $5.00 for this insurance. Seller "x" then puts $125.00 as the insured value. The customer receives the package and the item is destroyed. Customer then fills out a claim form. On this form, he mentions that the item's cost was $100.00 and he paid $5.00 for $100.00 worth of insurance. The claim is forwarded to the postal inspector's office, where they notice "potential fraudulent activity" because seller "x" gouged on insurance AND exaggerated the value on the insurance originally purchased. Seller "x" and their customer are now both in a bad situation, because the claim is rejected and the Inspector General's office has started an investigation of seller "x". Seller "x" is ordered to appear in court to explain their actions and provide information about any item they have shipped by insured mail to see if there is any other fraudulent activity. Customer leaves negative feedback and seller "x" loses many potential customers. Seller "x" now has to pay lots of money to defend himself/herself in court on top of all this. All because of "fudging" the insurance papers "just a little bit".
This is a real possibility, so just don't do it. Avoid the potential consequences and do it right the first time. ALSO, UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCE IS IT LEGAL TO CHARGE FOR INSURANCE AND THEN SHIP THE ITEM UNINSURED. THIS IS FRAUDULENT AND UNETHICAL.
Another note on insurance: if the item is not properly packaged the postal service may determine that was the cause of the damage and refuse to honor any claim.
Now, INSURANCE AND DELIVERY CONFIRMATION
- I f your customer has purchased insurance, there is absolutely no reason to make them purchase delivery confirmation as well. This is an unnecessary duplication of services. Your insurance label has a number and barcode. This number can be used to track the item. No more confirmation is needed. BUYING DELIVERY CONFIRMATION AND INSURANCE JUST GIVES THE POSTAL SERVICE MORE MONEY FOR NO REASON. It also makes postal employees snicker when they see one of these packages with two or more barcodes to scan :-)
FLAT RATE PRIORITY BOXES
There are generally two different sizes of these. They are great for items that would otherwise cost more than $8.95 to ship. USE THESE TO SAVE YOUR CUSTOMERS MONEY!
Here's an example of how NOT to use these: I collect license plates. One seller recently charged me $10.00 to ship ONE license plate in a flat rate box. Could have been shipped in a smaller priority box for $4.80 and the savings passed on.
HANDLING CHARGES - add just enough handling to actual shipping to cover your costs. Don't try to make your eBay fortune on excess shipping. Your items will sell for much more when you reduce your shipping. You know who you are! The sellers who double, triple, or more the actual cost of shipping and try to call it "handling". Nonsense!
I will be adding more to this guide as I think of it, so check back! Thanks for looking!
Very important - SHIPPING INSURANCE - first, if you are selling an item that is very valuable, go ahead and use the insurance required option. If you are selling an item worth only a few dollars, just put INSURANCE OPTIONAL. Low-value items where the customer is required to buy insurance generally do not sell well at all. DO NOT CHARGE MORE THAN ACTUAL COST ON INSURANCE. While it is necessary at times to add handling fees to shipping, adding any fees on top of postal insurance is a big no-no. A friend of mine is a Postmaster. I was discussing this practice with him, and he informed me that charging a premium on postal insurance is illegal. You could be fined or prosecuted. Same goes for insuring an item for more than it's value. TO COLLECT INSURANCE MONEY ON A CLAIM YOU MUST PROVE AN ITEM'S VALUE. You can buy less insurance than the item's full value, but if you put down more than the item is worth you may be guilty of insurance fraud.
Example: seller "x" requires shipping insurance on their item. The item sells for $100.00. The usps price for insurance is $2.05 but seller "x" charges the winning bidder $5.00 for this insurance. Seller "x" then puts $125.00 as the insured value. The customer receives the package and the item is destroyed. Customer then fills out a claim form. On this form, he mentions that the item's cost was $100.00 and he paid $5.00 for $100.00 worth of insurance. The claim is forwarded to the postal inspector's office, where they notice "potential fraudulent activity" because seller "x" gouged on insurance AND exaggerated the value on the insurance originally purchased. Seller "x" and their customer are now both in a bad situation, because the claim is rejected and the Inspector General's office has started an investigation of seller "x". Seller "x" is ordered to appear in court to explain their actions and provide information about any item they have shipped by insured mail to see if there is any other fraudulent activity. Customer leaves negative feedback and seller "x" loses many potential customers. Seller "x" now has to pay lots of money to defend himself/herself in court on top of all this. All because of "fudging" the insurance papers "just a little bit".
This is a real possibility, so just don't do it. Avoid the potential consequences and do it right the first time. ALSO, UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCE IS IT LEGAL TO CHARGE FOR INSURANCE AND THEN SHIP THE ITEM UNINSURED. THIS IS FRAUDULENT AND UNETHICAL.
Another note on insurance: if the item is not properly packaged the postal service may determine that was the cause of the damage and refuse to honor any claim.
Now, INSURANCE AND DELIVERY CONFIRMATION
- I f your customer has purchased insurance, there is absolutely no reason to make them purchase delivery confirmation as well. This is an unnecessary duplication of services. Your insurance label has a number and barcode. This number can be used to track the item. No more confirmation is needed. BUYING DELIVERY CONFIRMATION AND INSURANCE JUST GIVES THE POSTAL SERVICE MORE MONEY FOR NO REASON. It also makes postal employees snicker when they see one of these packages with two or more barcodes to scan :-)
FLAT RATE PRIORITY BOXES
There are generally two different sizes of these. They are great for items that would otherwise cost more than $8.95 to ship. USE THESE TO SAVE YOUR CUSTOMERS MONEY!
Here's an example of how NOT to use these: I collect license plates. One seller recently charged me $10.00 to ship ONE license plate in a flat rate box. Could have been shipped in a smaller priority box for $4.80 and the savings passed on.
HANDLING CHARGES - add just enough handling to actual shipping to cover your costs. Don't try to make your eBay fortune on excess shipping. Your items will sell for much more when you reduce your shipping. You know who you are! The sellers who double, triple, or more the actual cost of shipping and try to call it "handling". Nonsense!
I will be adding more to this guide as I think of it, so check back! Thanks for looking!
Guide created: 12/16/07 (updated 09/04/08)
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