Check out some similar questions!

beth911 · Aug 25, 2009, 03:58 PM

I am new at eBay and I am in desperate need for money right now so I am trying toi sell a lot of itens on eBay. I am new at it and someone has bidded on one of my items. They live in canada and I live in the united states. They were asking me what is the cheapest I could charge them for shipping and handeling and I'm not sure how to do all that. Can someone please help me to learn how to sell stuff I am very new and I'm not sure how to do the shipping or any of that. Please help me with this. Thank you

morgaine300 · Aug 25, 2009, 04:30 PM

If you don't even know how to figure out shipping, you shouldn't just be jumping into selling on eBay. I used to give newbies the benefit of the doubt and buy from them, but had too many difficulties and stopped. Why do people always think they can jump on the "ebay bandwagon" and have no clue what they're doing? The time to learn is before you stick up an auction.

If you sell on eBay, shipping is half your business and you should know how to do it. You should have dealt with the issue before you put the auction up and someone bid on it. Did you ever bother to think about whether you could ship to Canada or not? Please tell me you didn't put Worldwide on the thing.

The cheapest rate is first class international. Here's the link at the post office, a place I suggest you spend some time:
USPS - First-Class Mail International Prices
Canada is country group 1. It's not expensive to ship there.

Don't forget about the extra fees on Paypal for those shipping charges and you might want to add that as handling. It's 3.9% for international. You do have Paypal, right?

Sorry if that sounds harsh... but I've seen way too many problems on that place because of people who try to sell (or buy) and have no idea what they are doing. I've also watched my own brother get himself into trouble with buyers a couple of times when he didn't want to listen to me and thought he could just "do it."

And is it true you're not 18? If not, you're not even supposed to be doing this.

beth911 · Aug 25, 2009, 04:35 PM

I turned 18 in may.. and I though I had the shipping stuff all figured out when I did it but according to the person trying to buy I didn't.

beth911 · Aug 25, 2009, 04:37 PM

And I didn't put world wide on the thing. Thank you very much

morgaine300 · Aug 25, 2009, 07:53 PM

What is the person telling you is wrong? Do they think your shipping charge is too high?

Another important question is whether this person has actually bid on it. If they did, they're stuck with your terms. If they are asking questions before they bid... well, that's the way they should do it.

BTW, you're the one who said you "didn't know how to do all that." I'm just going by what you said in the post.

beth911 · Aug 25, 2009, 08:28 PM

You because I figured I must not if I'm so wrong like they say I am
Ay!

morgaine300 · Aug 25, 2009, 11:06 PM

So you assumed you didn't know about the shipping cause a potential buyer said so? Maybe they're right, but maybe they don't have a clue. That's one of many reasons you want to know what you're doing - a good way to get screwed is just assuming the buyer is right.

There's a lot of talk about whether it's safe to buy on eBay. But you don't hear a lot about the fact that there's scummy little buyers on there too. I'm not implying your buyer is one of them cause I have no idea what's going on, just that the more you know, the better off you are all the way around. If you know what you're doing, eBay is a pretty safe place. The vast majority of problems are cause of people not knowing what they're doing.

I'm perfectly willing to help with this or any other eBay stuff... that's why I gave you the link to the shipping stuff. I just think the time to learn is before you start. (eBay is too complicated to become an expert overnight, but I mean the basics.) If I knew what the item was and what it weighed, I could give you an idea whether it's you or the buyer who is right. If you'd rather not say on here, you can PM the link to it.