Postage and packaging on some games

[canuckbid]

I'ld like to know where I can get my shipping cheaper. I have a business account with Canada post and its 10 bucks to send a game in Canada with tracking and insurance. I have to use letter post to get the price down. I can actually ship to the USA cheaper with tracking and insurance. As far as overseas, I cann't even ship some games. If they are over 2cm thick they want 30-40 bucks. Its just nuts. I will not ship international without tracking and insurance. I've been burned before doing that. I try to be very competitive. If you combine game price and shipping, I think my prices are fair. Some sellers charge twice as much as me for the same game! Where do they get off doing that? Check my store for good prices. I'm here to deal not rip you off.
http://ca.ebid.net/stores/UBUYWAREHOUSE

[heatemyfather]

I generally don't charge for packaging these days as a lot of what I use is recycled padded envelopes. FYI 1st Class for a typical PS2 game is about 80p, but if there is a hefty manual then it can go up to £1.30, add on Recorded (or SD) and the price can rocket. I don't charge for my time but usually round up if it's 20p or less to the nearest £ in case my postage calculations are out. Never had any complaints, I think most people are happy to pay £2 for P&P on PS2 games, especially if the start price is like 99p or similar.

[DaveMeadows]

Postage and packaging on some games may exceed the normal price on computer games, this is in thought to the actual packaging cost and not the postage cost.

The price on postage, if trading through trade can be administered with a postage rate set by the seller. This becomes a seperate earning and deducted accordingly.

The thought in this is usually business administration and helps seperate various trading deparments and there usage to minimise delays and over-costing when applying a Tax through trading expenditure.

Dave Meadows

Time Traverller.

[deltadelta48]

Hi Dave, OK I'll take a lick at this puzzle:

Some people do charge too much postage and adding the postage to the price does often exceed the price of the item. These people generally do not sell much stuff because, duh, people can add and will assume the high shipping is to make up for the lower asking price. Again, if you play games, you don't get sales.

It is kind of a dumb practice as it loses the seller customers and the money is taxable. The way our US tax structure is set up for small busineses, the postage is part of a seller's profit. i.e. on a $5 with $5 postage, the "profit" is $10. Seller must then prove the postage was an expense by producing the actual postoffice receipt. So if the $5 shipping is actually only $2, the US tax service still says the seller made $8 on the sale and allows only the $2 to be tax free as an expense. End of story. Charging too much for postage does not give the seller free money that is not taxed.

So yes, as you say, it ain't free money, you get taxed on that extra amount you charged the buyer and did not pay the postoffice to ship the item.

The ideal situation is to buy the items cheap, set a low/fair price for the item and then charge only for the actual cost of shipping the item. Even giving a little discount and picking up part of the shipping cost makes for more sales. Following this practice, you have many more sales, make a nice profit and do not have to play games with overcharging for shipping costs. For some sellers this is just too easy to work, but it does.

[Pink_Panther]

£5??????...now that is a joke. this is the trouble with ebid, nobody bids cos of the daft amounts wanted for p&p

these crappy traders want sorting out so we potential sellers/buyers can shift some stuff/get some bargains....

I have removed all P&P charges on my books! If someone likes my book and thinks the price is ok to put that book in their hand then the jobs a gud one!

Like you said earlier 'buyer aint daft' so don't insult em with stupid P&P charges folks!

[somersethedge]

It is kind of a dumb practice as it loses the seller customers and the money is taxable. The way our US tax structure is set up for small busineses, the postage is part of a seller's profit. i.e. on a $5 with $5 postage, the "profit" is $10. Seller must then prove the postage was an expense by producing the actual postoffice receipt. So if the $5 shipping is actually only $2, the US tax service still says the seller made $8 on the sale and allows only the $2 to be tax free as an expense. End of story. Charging too much for postage does not give the seller free money that is not taxed.

that only works IF the seller declare the tax... a lot of (non business) sellers dont

[MHTTrading]

We as a company have a very strict policy when it comes to P&P, we simply charge the correct postage as shown on the Royal Mail website relating to the size, weight and destination, we add around 13p-15p which covers the cost of the jiffy bag and label, and thats it. (yes we buy jiffy's in large bulk quantity and get a fantastic discount).
If a buyer is making multiple purchases or items from several listings we weigh the final package and refund back immediately any excess P&P paid. We always try and treat the buyer as we would wish to be treated ourselves if we were buying.

I have seen some listings on other auction sites where the seller has stated "P&P includes picking, processing,and packing the order, and taking to the post office"... Now just how stupid is that, the goods aren't going to pick and pack themselves.. some of them would probably start charging for time spent doing stock checks and stock control if they thought they could get away with it.

Some of the really outlandish P&P charges are just way beyond belief, its a wonder they sell anything.

I had one seller recently advise me after making a purchase on feebay that he had got the P&P wrong and it should be £4 and not the £1.50 he had quoted, I told him not to try and pull the wool over my eyes as we knew only too well the correct P&P charges for the item, I then cancelled the order and reported the matter to feebay admin.

[GibsonsCamp]

I normally charge what it cost to send. If I have to buy packing materials then it is added to the cost of the postage. If I get the postage wrong and the difference is over 99 cents I refund it. If it is under 99 cents I keep it. Unless, I have time to kill and then I will refund under 99 cents also.

I really liked it when eBay adopted the search function that showed lowest price including shipping. It made my shopping easier and as a seller I could always make sure that I was at the top of the list.

[MHTTrading]

Treat buyers fairly and they'll come back for more, rip them off and its the last time you see them

[avfc1tom]

yeah when i sell my games i am only going to charge between £1-£1.50 postage. the best way to do it is to get it weighed before hand and then list it for that exact amount.
Ps2 games useually cost between 80-£1.20 depending on the size. And the packaging cost nothing more than £1 for 5 at a pound shop