I thought all fate rate boxes have tracking included? I pay 5.15 for a small box w/tacking and about 4.90 for envelope. No tacking international

Those flat rate boxes are really small, unless you have a box of nails, or a grommet, not much fits in those usps priority Flate rate boxes.......

Shipping on ebay is incorrect They have not change price in quite some time. This one reason you must over charge do to price that you quote is not what PO quotes. You always come out losing with ebay's quotes

IF you purchase your label through eBay or PayPal, the tracking is included in the price on the flat rate boxes. IF you just take it to the PO and purchase it there, they ding you for the 85 cents for "delivery confirmation." That is one advantage of doing the shipping directly through eBay/PayPal. There are discounts.

While there are sometimes shipping calculator problems, it's still the best way to go. I've gotten bit a couple of times, but try to learn from the experience and then avoid that issue.

One thing I don't like about the PayPal shipping (and their discounts) is that you can only ship through them if the transaction is through them. As many on here know, I do a LOT of trading. I just shipped a FT to a member that was part of a trade. He shipped me some shells as "payment" for the FT that I had in stock and then rewrapped it to match his set. We both paid for the shipping costs on our ends. Since there was no PayPal transaction, I had to pay the rate at the UPS place, and it was quite a bit higher without the PayPal discounts. I may have to start charging a $1.00 PayPal fee on trades (which I have done a couple of times in the past) so that there is a PayPal "transaction," then I can use their shipping services.

Scott, I appreciate the kind words... but I do have an "ace up my sleeve." MOST of the time I don't make the 22 mile trip to ship -- my daughter works here but lives there, and she usually "delivers" to UPS for me. Also, I'm not radically into being "green" but functionally I am -- that means I "recycle" boxes, packing materials, etc. as much as humanly possible to save on costs. And for the most part, I usually come out a little long on my shipping charges so it does work out OK for me.

One more thing -- lately I've been offering "free shipping" on most of my eBay items. Yes, in theory that allows eBay to charge more, however they do offer fee discounts when you do certain things with your listings, and "free shipping" is one of those discounts.

So, here the bare facts when I list an item:

1) I figure out the bottom figure I'm willing to take for an item. There are several "variables" I figure in to that including how much money I've invested, how much time I've invested... you get the idea. And let me note, I can get really cheap on some stuff (like with Scott), because I like to buy stuff in large lots, then always have a lot of stuff left over AFTER I've doubled or tripled my investment on that lot. Which, in my thinking then means I really don't have much invested in what's leftover (I hope that made sense!) Then I don't mind at all helping a VDF member with a really good deal. There is BENEFIT to doing that -- I'm probably really not as "nice" a guy as that seems!

2) Then I either use my head or sometimes even the eBay fee calculater and add on to that bottom price what eBay going to charge me.

3) Then I figure shipping chargers to the ****hest point and add that to that figure. And when I calculate the shipping charge, I alway add a few pounds to the estimate so I don't hurt myself as much.

4) Then I add a little more, so that if the item don't sell I can relist it at a lower price at least once.

So, when you see my eBay listings and my starting bids and my free shipping, I'm coming out OK most of the time. And yes, some items I do try to get more because of their value... but if I can't get that, I can lower the price, as I depend upon CASH FLOW. Much of the time that's more important to me than getting top dollar.

I've dealt with a LOT of members on here, made some good deals and made some people happy... including myself!

Sorry for the book. BTW -- my internet service is down, and cox tells me it may be Thursday before they get it fixed. So, while I'm at work I'll monitor the forum, but if you've emailed me at home please be patient... I will get you replied to as soon as I can!

Bill

And they are really thin too..you need to cut cardboard to line again...

I also found out by using my own box,a lot of the time I can ship cheaper then using flat rate boxes..compare!

That is why you should put in all caps in your Feebay ad..

THE eBAY SHIPPING CALCULATOR IS NOT CORRECT!

Luckily,with the P.O.,it shows right on the box what you paid,so no one can accuse you of over charging..

if you paid $10,it will say it right on there...

You don't Buyer Protection by PayPal if you ship 1st class, has to be Priority Mail Int'l

And this is why I stopped using "FeeBay" and "FeePal" for selling vintage gear. It's just worth the hassle of losing out to the fee monsters and digging into my profit, ever so slight that it was. I did it to make EXTRA money, not as a business. I did it in my spare time. So in the end, I decided there wasn't enough profit in it anymore to justify trying to find vintage gear, fix it, then resell it on feebay. Seems like when you do a search its the same 4 or 5 major sellers constantly listing the same stuff over and over for rediculous prices (we all know who I am talking about....leecounty, drumpartscounter, pooder2, etc. Kingsmusic too, but that dude is a reputable seller who gets realistic prices for his stuff and his stock rotates.) so I don't even bother much with feebay anymore.

I think the last 4 purchases I made on feebay were from Interstate Music, and Music123! Their ebay listing prices were better than their regular website prices! But for the most part, I find ebay a waste of time these days. The days of good deals on vintage gear through ebay are long gone my friends.

Thanks for that BBK..you learn something new everyday..

I will tell people that now if they cry at how much Priority is in comparison..

I like priority mail because of the delivery time. There is added value (IMO) when an item ships on Monday and gets there Wednesday/Thursday.

I too sell on ebay, but only when ebay is offering incentives to list for free and such.