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Change Your eBay Shipping Expenses Into Profit

By Clint Herman

Republish: EasyPublish™
Published: 20Sep2008
Word count: 491
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You might believe that shipping expenses are elementary: surely you just add together the cost of your item's postage and the cost of shipping materials, and charge that to your buyer, correct? Well, you are able to do that, but there are more beneficial ways to make your shipping costs work for you.

Locate Less Expensive Materials.

The way to make some money on shipping is to use the most inexpensive materials you are able to find for packing, without compromising on quality. The really cool thing for you is that a lot of eBay PowerSellers have made a business out of making quality shipping material available to other eBayers in bulk at deeply discounted prices.

To get a grasp of what's out there, browse this eBay category: Business & Industrial > Office, Printing & Shipping > Shipping & Packing Supplies. You could also try going to one of those big office supply stores.

Purchase in Bulk.

Try to buy equally-sized packing boxes in bulk at the same time. Because you more than likely be selling the same items time and time again, it will necessitate the same sized boxes each time. You'll always be able to save money from bulk buying. If the location where you're shopping won't give you a discount then go elsewhere.

Streamline Your Packing.

Try to pack every time using the equal measures of the equal materials in the same way, so that you do not have to consider it too much. Have all your labels for your packages printed up beforehand, and pack the items in that order. The less time you spend on packing, the more profit ends up in your pocket.

Round Up to the Next Highest Dollar.

Let's say you are purchasing items for $4 and then selling them for $8 plus $3.50 for shipping. Changing the shipping charge to $4 would make you an extra 50 cents on each auction. If you are presently only making $4 in profit then this would be a 12.5% increase in your profit. It might nit sound like much, but this will add up.

This extra money will be far more crucial to you than it is to the eBayer who won your auction, because it's on the margin. For you, it's basically additional profit for nothing, and for the buyer, the amount is too insignificant to him to bother with. Everybody wins this way.

The Ideal Price Point.

Determine what your competitions are charging for shipping, and attempt to charge just under what they are charging while still making money. If you were able to get your hands on cheaper packing materials then this should not be too difficult for you. Most eBay sellers are buying their shipping materials in small quantities, which quite a bit more expensive. If you work things out right, you should be capable of offering shipping at a price which will make your competitors look foolish and still make a profit from it.

Clint Herman is a successful eBay seller with over 6 years experience selling on eBay. He also loves teaching others how to sell on eBay. He is the author of "How to Get Started Selling on eBay," which is a beginner's guide to selling on eBay designed for people who are new to selling on eBay. The guide is available at http://www.beginnersauctionguide.com/ar.html

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