Is eBay Rolling out Buyer-Paid Shipping Labels?

by: terry

SO many unanswered questions. Combine shipping? How does ebay pick the shipper? I don't have a FEDEX within 20 miles of me and won't take packages over 45", UPS is 15 miles away and using ground saver for either is insurance nightmare you lose. I have to drop shipping price, is ebay doing discounted rate or retail, and increase item price to cover supplies
Freaking out, uh a little, but the sky's not falling but I still have a business to run. I have to run business projections for the next quarter-year, what will still be profitable and what not to buy anymore.
There's a bunch of other questions I haven't even thought of yet. I know it's ebay's house, ebay's rules but I hope we get a couple months advice warning to give sellers enough time to review. This isn't something we could make changes with a couple days or even a month to adjust to.

by: etectra

eBay's contract with USPS needs to be terminated due to using it to defraud consumers out of billions.

In 2010 they started charged FVF on shipping under the guise of lowering shipping costs. They claimed sellers were charging $1 for items and overcharging for shipping so as to cheat eBay out of FVF fees as they were none on shipping and only items sold. Less than 1% of sellers were doing that. The correct way to stop that abuse is to compare the cost of labels to what was charged the buyer and only charge for any overage. Retail purchases would not be given credit as a way to encourage sellers to move to labels. Wow, that would actually lower costs and stop the cheating on FVF. But of course this was nothing more than a gigantic consumer scam.

In 2010 eBay negotiated a deal with China Post, USPS and eBay for eBay's Chinese vendors to take advantage of a 1969 UPU under which China was considered a developing nations and thus given subsidized shipping rates. This was sold to the public as a way for USPS to make money, but that was a lie as USPS was losing money on every single Chinese package. The sole purpose of this deal was to cause domestic rates to go up so eBay could make more money on the shipping. This only ended in Trump's first administration and further greatly diminished in his second term with tariffs on these goods. This cost USPS billions on loses which they made up for by raising domestic rates for Obama's 8 years in office.

eBay gave Non Top Rated Sellers $50 insurance and Commercial Base pricing and Top Rated Sellers $100 and Commercial Plus pricing. Yet anyone of these sellers could go to PirateShip and get the $100 insurance and Plus pricing.

In 2022 USPS still listed Base and Plus pricing, but the rates were the same. In 2023 the new Commercial rate was only listed. eBay continued their scam for awhile by giving $50 insurance and Commercial rate to Non Top Rated Sellers and $100 insurance and discount off the Commercial rate to Top Rated Sellers.

In July of 2023 USPS merged First-Class Package Service - Retail and USPS Retail Ground into Ground Advantage - Retail. They merged First-Class Package Service (commercial) and Parcel Select (commercial) into Ground Advantage (Commercial). eBay eliminated the ability to set carrier discounts differently for each carrier for over a year. It was common to charge customers the retail rate on packages while paying the commercial rate, with the difference paying the FVF on shipping. eBay customer service openly advocated this method of automatically accounting for FVF on shipping and USPS price increases - telling sellers that customers would not know you were charging them more. This of course would not work for UPS since commercial rates could be as much as 70% less. One instead had to calculate the maximum possible chipping rate via UPS and then increase the price of the item by 20% of this amount to account for FVF on shipping.

eBay removed the ability to list items with both retail and commercial USPS rates at the same time. Previously you could list most of your items using commercial rates, but override your account setting by adding Parcel Select to a listing. After the July, 2023, eBay failed to add Ground Advantage - Retail and Ground Advantage (commercial) to the listing form. Larger sized items being sent via USPS, such as those subject to dimensional rates, can't use the common scenario of charging retail while paying the commercial rate due the retail rate being too high. Instead you need to use the same method as used for UPS packages. This meant choosing between changing your eBay carrier preferences to commercial and only a few listing large items or keeping it at the retail rates and listing many smaller items. eBay solution of using flat rate or free shipping for the larger items would not work since it forces all buyers to pay the maximum shipping rates which no buyer is going to pay.

eBay refused to allow dimensions in the listing form until 2024 and told sellers to round up to the nearest inch in violation of USPS rules. This meant packages were charged for higher priced Cubic rates pr even disqualified from Cubic rates altogether. This meant packages were charged dimensional rates when they should not have been, or more likely the items never sold due to the excessive shipping rates displayed on the listing.

In 2024 they changed how multiple quantity items were billed to buyers. Before this if each item had a calculated rate of $8 and the buyer order three items they would be billed $24 for shipping. The buyer would then request a combined invoice or the buyer would pay the seller would generate a refund. Instead eBay just combined the weights of the items, without knowing the combined size. This put the seller at a serious risk of losing money not only on shipping, but the entire sale, due to dimensional rates. eBay made no announcement of this and sent no messages about this change because its sole purpose was to make the purchase price of items seem cheaper so they could generate sales, without any regard to the seller being cheated or not.

eBay failed to add Cubic rates to its system for years while other third party labels providers such as PirateShip offered them. Even after eBay added them they could not be computed correctly due to eBay not allowing dimensions in the listing form.

eBay's calculator tool did not previously calculate Cubic rates as it was not rounding the packages to the nearest 1/4" thus rates showed at a higher tier or packages were disqualified from Cubic rates altogether.

eBay's calculator tool is suppose to show you the maximum cost of a package for a given weight and size. Yet when I input specific zip codes which are the farthest geographical destination form my location the rates are higher as it does not work correctly. You should only use PirateShip and third party tools to calculate and not eBay.

eBay sells private insurance which competes against USPS insurance and denies USPS profits on insurance which it uses to offset its other costs. eBay in turn makes more money from FVF on shipping when USPS rates go up due to eBay robbing them of income. This needs to be terminated OR USPS needs to be paid a fee for allowing private insurance on its package. USPS would provide no insurance coverage if private insurance was purchased, just collect a fee.

They refuse to block international buyers attempting to buy items by allowing them to use freight forwarders or buying agents. eBay then lies to sellers by telling to ship such items as they are not covered by buyer protection. They are covered by a complaint filed by the buyer with their credit card company and / or bank and / or payment processor, which all override eBay.

Knowledge of these and other massive eBay scams are why eBay wants to get rid of old time sellers like myself - they want sheep instead.

eBay is a criminal organization masquerading as a business.

by: Rexford

Look everyone. eBay has found yet another way to pocket more money.  eBay wants to  control every aspect of your business.

The only positive that I see in this is that with shipping rates rising two or three times per year (or more if you count surge pricing) at least sellers won't have to constantly adjust shipping prices on their listings.

I expect that, if this puts more money in eBay's pocket, it will come to fruition.

by: Old School Seller

So, this effectively makes eBay the shipper. The buyer pays shipping charges directly to eBay, and eBay purchases the label from the carrier. All the seller does is print a furnished label. I am assuming eBay will get away with continuing to charge sellers FVF and sales tax on shipping when the seller is totally out of the loop? Who is actually COLLECTING the shipping charge with this new program? The seller as we always have, or eBay?  

by: etectra

"The only positive that I see in this is that with shipping rates rising two or three times per year (or more if you count surge pricing) at least sellers won't have to constantly adjust shipping prices on their listings."

Why would you have to constantly adjust shipping prices?

99.99% of the items I sold were smaller and less than a cubic foot thus I charge retail rates on the listings and pay commercial rates for the shipping label. The difference pays for the FVF on shipping. I never had to adjust the shipping rates on 99.99% of items as this is automatically adjusted by eBay.

The few packages sent via UPS, generally large ones, like say a steamer trunk, required charging commercial rates on the listing as the retail rates are far too high. The highest possible shipping cost is calculated on PirateShip and the price of the item is increased by 20% of this amount to account for FVF on shipping.

Certain medium sized items above a cubic foot in volume, fall into a sweet spot whereas the USPS Ground Advantage (commercial) rate is the cheapest, especially if Alaska and Hawaii are are included as destinations. One needs to use the same scenario as UPS and charge commercial rates on these items, but one can't if they charge retail rates on most of their items, as eBay removed the ability to charge retail and commercial rates at the same time with their July 2023 update. eBay's so called solution of charging a flat rate or free shipping on these items only creates listings with no one will purchase due to the high shipping costs of baking in the highest shipping rate in the flat rate or the price of the item.

If eBay wanted to solve the issue they would compare the price of the label to what was charged the buyer and only charge FVF on any overage. This would apply to third party label providers as well as that involves adding to their APIs. This could also possibly be expanded to retail purchases on labels; however, but not give any credit for retail purchases would encourage those still using retail to move to lower cost online labels. This would allow everyone who uses online labels to charge commercial rates on their listings as there would be no FVF on the labels. Lower prices equal higher sales. But of course eBay would not do this as they are a criminal organization only interested in defrauding their users.

eBay is not simply passing their USPS rate onto you (another lie). They are paying rates below the published rates.

eBay has previously hidden shipping options on listings. I caught them hiding the cheapest option on all my listings. They of course lied and said it was only for some zip codes. Easily checked by using a VPN browser and not logging into a eBay account.

by: Rexford

etectra says "Why would you have to constantly adjust shipping prices?"

I'm scratching my head as to why you ask this.  As a business person, I don't choose to lose money on shipping.  I use Flat Rate Shipping and when shipping prices go up, I adjust the shipping prices on my listings so that I don't lose money due to the new higher rates.   What you sell and what size your items are and what they weigh or irrelevant to my business.

by: Rexford

"are irrelevant to my business"

by: my2cents

@electra
Not everyone uses stated shipping.  While your method is a good one and works for you, there are Millions of sellers do Free Shipping and therefore can't do it the way you do.  That is just one situation.  Others ship things that are far heavier and likely many other reasons why your method would not work for them.  But again, it is terrific that it works for you.

by: pace306

eBays ORIGINAL SIN was being allowed to take FVFs on shipping.

It DOESNT MATTER (ala The ROCK) what eBay's issue(s) were - and if there were any - its eBays own fault (Im looking at you Mr Broken Laser Pointer sold as is with no returns)

If sellers outsmarted the Mafia then so be it.

Problem is Ms Brown Noser (who claims shes no longer posting here and claimed "I dont like it either but its eBays site and they can do ANYTHING to you") and her friends jumped up and down and said it was the best thing ever.

Following eBays lead, it was the SELLERS who were at fault ... like always.

Because of that, eBay became emboldened and decided that "All your base belong to us", and they can FVF your hamburger at McDonalds if they so wanted.

Sin #2 was eBay becoming the bank and keeping all your money and then "doing you a favor and spooling it out to you as they see fit.

And now the Mafia turns to this. They will take over shipping onsite and force you into it (and if you dont like it leave) ... some "selling partner, huh?"

When you let the devil in your door, you cant complain as to what he may do.

eBay will (now) negotiate better prices on shipping and pocket the difference - as they need to show growth and there is none (dont believe the fake numbers they hand out).

What a con.

by: clarkphilatelics

What if eBay fails to combine shipping for multiple purchases on the same day? What if shipping is combined by a third-party application to avoid separate mailings for items purchased on successive days? How could eBay possibly know private insurance value thresholds requiring signature confirmation?

by: gabesfinds

I did view Justin's video on YouTube and made my own comments. As Justin adequately called it, the devil is in the details. On the plus side, it would be great if eBay underwrote the humongous hassle of filing a shipping claim. Most shippers either reject or just refuse to pay for any damage claims (even when it's blatantly their fault) and UPS and FedEx complicate the claims process to such an extent that unless your claim is over $1,000 it's not remotely worth your time to even attempt it. As much I would like to believe in fairy tale endings, I just can't see eBay stepping up to the plate in this regard. How can a copmany with close to non-existent customer service be expected to provide actual customer service? eBay could eschew a portion of thier operating expenses by eliminating their "customer surveys"-they don't do anything for anyone except waste time and money. eBay certainly doesn't read them or learn anything from them. Justin also correctly stated that eBay doesn't acknowledge that us-the SELLERS-are their actual customers. Instead, they view us as a resource to be exploited as much as possible without eradicating us entirely. This is why their new "shipping policy" runs a real risk of violating every State's consumer protection law, as well as coming dangerously close to violating the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) 18 U.S.C. §§ 1961-1968. At some point, someone is going to get pissed off enough to call it to the attention of the USDOJ. The pattern is predictably the same: eBay sees some other online platform doing something creative to increase profits. eBay then tries to do the same thing but in a modified way. It sort of works, but many sellers get annoyed and leave the platform. If, in the end, profits rise, the resulting loss is acceptable. If it doesn't, they "fix" it or scrap it and then say "Oops, we listened to you and changed our ways".  Ebay doesn't listen to anbody except their P&L sheet. My opinion is that eBay has internal conflicting visions of its mission statement to such an extent that those visions appear in apparent conflict. It's as if the engine and rudder of a huge ship are under the control of two different captains, and the passengers do not enter the concern of either captain. Yes, we are currently captive aboard this seabound ship but once the voyage becomes unpleasant enough, we will chose another cruise line for our next trip.

by: Rogue

🤡E~Bay Couple quick questions ?
 Does this mean youll start promptly notifying us of best offers AND sales?
 Does this mean youll issues a shipping label upon or along this notification?
 If so,How does🤡E~Bay the “COMPANY “purpose to handle those pesty emendate cancelations?
   (I.E.)
              Ordered by mistake
              Found a better price
              Changed my mind
         All better known as Drunk Clicks!
 How does🤡E~Bay the “COMPANY “plan on handling shipping adjustments i.e. (priority/ground)? When one buyer makes multiple counter “best offers” on free shipping listings! As this variable is considerable to the seller!
 Lastly why does🤡E~Bay Envisage sellers to sell items over $200.00
 Yet not be able to acquire shipping insurance coverage for items over $200.00 ?
   Or does the “Company” just plan on Sticking it Unfathomable to the seller with managed shipping!
  Heres a novel idea how about fixing the bad coding first:
        before adding more jacked~up Codex
Hey 🤡E~Bay you what my Seller Sentiment 💩

by: NYSteve

@pace306, nice one, good forecast of whats to come....youve been on ebay a while   LOL

@rogue, no details to disucss yet, but do you really think Ebay will do away with clawbacks (ex current undisputable shipping adjustments)

by: etectra

@my2cents

''there are Millions of sellers do Free Shipping and therefore can't do it the way you do.''

Of course they can. CHANGE!

Free shipping means you are baking the highest possible shipping zone into the price of the item plus FVF on that shipping plus FVF on the sales tax on that shipping. That means you are charging all customers the rate for zone 9 - or zone 8 if you eliminate certain zip codes such as the protectorates.

Some states do not charges sales tax on shipping but if you bake into the price of the item then you forcing the buyer to pay more sales tax on which you must pay more FVF.

Each time rates go up you must alter all your unsold listings with free shipping.

Flat rate differs in that you bake the highest possible shipping rate into a flat rate plus FVF on that flat rate and the sales tax on that flat rate.

Calculated delivers the lowest cost and thus more chance to sell. It also eliminates wasting endless hours editing your unsold listing and eliminates many errors that are prone to calculating shipping rates yourself.

eBay promotes free shipping because it makes they more money. Its a SCAM! Free shipping assumes the buyer is too stupid to sort items by total cost.

''Others ship things that are far heavier and likely many other reasons why your method would not work for them.''

Exactly what I said in my thread. For larger sized USPS items, usually subject to dimensional rates, and for UPS ground I use a different method as the difference between retail and commercial is too great. The highest shipping rate is calculated for the item and the price of the item is increased by 20% of this amount to cover the highest possible FVF. These few items need to be edited each time rates go up, but that is real easy as they are all kept in their own folders within GarageSale so I can edit them all at once by visiting PirateShip and inputting their sizes and weights.

But since July of 2023 I could no longer use this method for larger sized items sent USPS because eBay eliminated the ability to list items using retail and commercial USPS rates at the same time. Before you could set your preferences to charge retail and override this on any single listing by choosing Parcel Select and thus charge commercial rates on that listing. eBay failed to add the retail and commercial versions of Ground Advantage to the listing form. So in order to list these items you need another eBay account because you can no longer do it with one.

by: etectra

@ Rexford

"etectra says "Why would you have to constantly adjust shipping prices?""

Of course what is meant by the thread was why would anyone use a technique that wastes labor and creates higher shipping costs versus calculated?

Free shipping means you are baking the highest possible shipping zone into the price of the item plus FVF on that shipping plus FVF on the sales tax on that shipping. That means you are charging all customers the rate for zone 9 - or zone 8 if you eliminate certain zip codes such as the protectorates.

Some states do not charges sales tax on shipping but if you bake into the price of the item then you forcing the buyer to pay more sales tax on which you must pay more FVF.

Each time rates go up you must alter all your unsold listings with free shipping.

Flat rate differs in that you bake the highest possible shipping rate into a flat rate plus FVF on that flat rate and the sales tax on that flat rate.

Calculated delivers the lowest cost and thus more chance to sell. It also eliminates wasting endless hours editing your unsold listing and eliminates many errors that are prone to calculating shipping rates yourself.

eBay promotes free shipping because it makes they more money. Its a SCAM! Free shipping assumes the buyer is too stupid to sort items by total cost.

by: etectra

@pace306

"eBay will (now) negotiate better prices on shipping and pocket the difference - as they need to show growth and there is none (dont believe the fake numbers they hand out)."

eBay already pays less than published commercial rates and packet money on every package shipped through eBay labels plus FVF on the label and sales tax.

by: my2cents

@electra
As does EVERY site on the internet that sells shipping labels.  Some sites only sell shipping labels.  The money they make off that is why they stay in business.  As for sites similar to Ebay, it is an additional revenue stream for services rendered.

Don't get me wrong.  I don't like paying fees on shipping any better than anyone else does, but Ebay isn't the only site that does it nor were they the first site to do it.

There is a lot to dislike about Ebay and other similar sites.  And it gets more difficult all the time as more rules and more costs come into play.  

I know many sellers that have left to create sites of their own due to many things that have been described here and others stay because while difficult, they are still making a profit.  But certainly once that is no longer true, each seller needs to decide for themselves what is best for them.

I can tell that some things seem to have a simple answer to you [like free shipping], but not everyone would agree with your point of view.  We each just need to do what is best for our own little businesses and respect that everyone's needs are simply not the same.

by: Rexford

etectra says "eBay already pays less than published commercial rates and packet money on every package shipped through eBay labels plus FVF on the label and sales tax."

You really need to do some research and get facts before you start tapping your keyboard.  What my2cents just posted.

by: Snapped

“. We each just need to do what is best for our own little businesses and respect that everyone's needs are simply not the same.“

Seems like there have been plenty of folks who have tried to educate eBay about this exact same point for almost two decades now.  Ironic, no?

But no.  Once AGAIN, here they go trying to homogenize the “buying experience” to maximize THEIR profit with no concern for the individual … again, that is the individual…who must endure their machinations, or try to work around them.

by: terry

Too many unknown details but if/when it goes in effect, if ebay keeps all the shipping they shouldn't charge FVF on shipping since its no longer in the sellers hands. If they charge us the shipping, I'll just drop my shipping to ebay's discount rate and increase item price to cover supplies.I offer combine shipping on my fishing lures so I'll have to figure how that goes. The higher DIM rates in July will pretty much wipe out the last of my fishing rods.