I have noticed lately that I'm buying and shipping a lot of lightweight or media items that I am WAY overpaying shipping on.  Here are some of my opinions and easy ways to save on shipping when selling on ebay.  USPS rates have recently gone up, but jacking up the shipping cost far above and beyond the actual shipping is scamming, in my opinion.

  While it is reasonable to add a bit to the shipping cost to cover packing materials, ebay costs, paypal fees, and your time - charging $6.00 for an item that costs $0.39 to ship is not okay.  A seller recently told me that the $5.61 discrepancy covers the cost of things that only sell for $0.99; but if I up-bid my item (that I won) to over $14.00, why am I covering low auction costs?  Wouldn't it make more sense to up the starting bids on auctions?  Or only charge the higher shipping cost on the lower auctions?  I gladly would have paid $3.00 for the shipping - and in a padded envelope this item still would have shipped for less than $1.00, but a video game arriving in a plain white envelope marked $0.39 when I was charged $6.00 was the last straw. 

  I am a big fan of ebay, and have directed many people to this online auction site because of my postitive experiences.  I do not know if I will be able to continue doing that if the shipping costs continue to be ridiculous.  I (at the time) have 480 positive feedback - with no negatives - and my only neutral is due to a shipping discrepancy of less than $1.00. 

  My shipping guidelines:

If something weighs less than 13 ounces, first class mail is the cheapest option.  It is never more than $3.00 and change.  Keep in mind that there is a delivery confirmation charge or $0.14.  So figure $3.50 + $0.14 = $3.64.  Your ebay cost for listing this is less than $1.00 (unless it is big ticket), and then figure the paypal fee.  Shipping should not be more than $4.50 because you are reasonably suppossed to make most of the fee money and such back in the auction.  If you cannot sell your item for a cost that covers the fees associated with it and make a profit that is acceptable to you - maybe eBay isn't the way to sell it.  Listing items for less than $1.00 is not sound unless the item is guaranteed to net a higher final sale.  I start most of my items at $1.99 or higher to guarantee that I get what I need to get for it.  Review the ebay fees to determine what works for you, but I am fairly certain that up to $4.99 is about the same listing price. 

It seems that people also are continually forgetting the flat rate priority box for $8.95.  I use this a lot for heavy items and charge $9.50 - $10.00 to cover additional costs.  The boxes are free from the USPS and therefore there is minimal supplies cost.  Use your clean plastic grocery bags as box filling and padding (they are free) and that eliminates the need for packing pellets and bubble wrap (unless it is very fragile item). 

  I both buy and sell many things on ebay, but I am tired of grossly overpaying on shipping charges.  I guess I will have to start paying more careful attention to what I am getting into and make more careful decisions.