have been selling on
ebay for 8 years and this was true a few years ago. However,
ebay changed its policies.
As biokemist6 stated: "Sellers are most definitely responsible for items arriving safely to buyers, stating otherwise is against
ebay rules".
This creates a problem for sellers because most coins are shipped by first class lettermail without tracking or insurance to keep postage costs down. Out of the last 500 packages that I shipped by lettermail, I only had 2 buyers report that they did not receive their coins. I ask the buyer to wait 30 days from the date that I mailed the coins. If after 30 days, the buyer still claims that he has not received his coins, I give a full refund including shipping & handling charges. I have only had to give 2 refunds (one for $30+ and one for $50+
It is most important to price your items realistically. I check current market prices such as online dealers' prices,
ebay prices and "Current Trends" from Canadian Coin News for the coin that I am listing. Also, when you decide on an amount for shipping & handling charges, remember the following costs:
ebay listing fees,
ebay seller fees, Paypal fees, packaging materials (2x2 coin flips, padded envelops, etc.) and actual postage costs. I find it better to include these expenses in the shipping & handling charges. Remember, if a Canadian seller sells a BU one dollar coin to another Canadian on
ebay for $1.99 and charges $1.99 for shipping & handling, his total income is $3.98 and from that, he has the following expenses:
ebay listing fee $0.20,
ebay seller fee $0.48, Paypal fee $0.54, 2x2 flip $0.04, padded envelope $0.46, postage stamp $0.69 with taxes ($1.20 to U.S.) plus the $1.00 for the coin ($1.58 per coin if he bought from dealer @ $34.95 per roll plus 13% taxes). Also remember, the postal service may lose 1% of your packages and you may have to refund the buyer. Many of the BU coins that I sell are from rolls that I buy from dealers as mentioned above. My actual cost to sell that coin and mail it to the buyer in Canada is $3.99 (see breakdown above). If I sold the coin for $1.99 and if I charged 1.99 for shipping & handling, I would have an income of $3.98 and only lost 1 cent on the deal. If I had got the coin for face value, I would have made 57 cents on the deal. I am disabled and sell on
ebay to keep busy and sane. If I do better than break even, I am happy. The guys who make real money (from my selling on
ebay) are
ebay, Paypal and Canada Post (not me).
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Posted 01/26/2012 07:21 am
