To bundle Postage and Handling in final price or not to bundle...

vichardy

What are the thoughts on this:

Bundle the final sale price to include Postage and Handling and thus offer "Free P&H" or should you keep Postage and Handling separate.

I cannot decide which would be the better way to go.

grace-salehoo

My instinct is to keep postage and handling separate, as long as your P&H rate is no higher than the other sellers in the niche. This is simply because I feel that buyers tend to pay more attention to the item price rather than the shipping price.

However, as eBay gives sellers offering free P&H a boost in the best match results, it would definitely be worth testing different P&H strategies on otherwise identical listings and comparing how quickly they sell.

I also think that this could be something that varies from category to category, so what works for a seller in one category, mightn't work so well for a seller in another.

fudjj

Yep, I agree with Grace completely.

You'll find that what works for one product in one area may not work for another in another and so on, the best approach is to test the market, see what works best for you.

I always recommend having an off-branded account for test marketing, that one you can run the exact same item from the exact same location to give you extremely accurate data to compare.

Just make sure you test things like this over a decent amount of time to ensure the blips in the data smooth out, I like to test for at least 6 weeks before looking at the averages.

fm1234

If the shipping charge is not significant relative to the average selling price, just eat it. Buyers are not stupid -- bundled shipping charges that simply inflate the cost of the item stick out just as much as exorbitant shipping charges that mask an artificially low starting bid.

Now again, this is relevant only if you're talking about relatively low shipping costs, but if you are, don't forget that the buyer wants that package, sometimes can't wait to get it, and you are basically getting a guaranteed couple of minutes of the buyer's focus. Fifteen bucks or less is cheap for an opportunity to pitch an upsell, or offer similar/complementing items or services outside of the eBay platform.

Frank

vichardy

Thanks for the feedback all.

I have a few items accross Free P&H (the cheaper ones I can easily bundle the P&H and absorb some of the cost) -vs- the more expensive where it's a seperate charge.

I'm getting even responses accross them, and the FREE P&H people are asking if they can pickup directly from me. :)

Perhaps thinking they can get a few bucks off if they pickup directly. =)

Now that's 5 questions for the ones with Extra P&H (Portable DVD Players) and 3 for the Free P&H (Flexible silicone Keyboard). If only I could afford shipping bulk and storing here >.<

Double that IF for a If only I can convert them to sales! >.

SaleHoo Directory

SaleHoo Dropship

SaleHoo Educate

SaleHoo Market Insights NEW