Auction Business & Strategies Frank Ross on 04 Nov 2006 08:42 am
Free Shipping on eBay
Free Shipping is a widely used strategy on eBay and you may wonder how can a seller afford to roll in shipping when margins are already low on eBay? A lot of it has to do with perceived value.
Shipping is a touchy subject with many eBay buyers. Some buyers simply don’t want to worry about shipping charges and might be tired of figuring out if they’re getting ripped off for shipping. So to them, being able to buy the item with shipping included can be seen as tremendous value.
To you, the seller, you must be able to roll it in and still make money. This can best be accomplished by using Store Fixed Listings or Buy It Now on your core listings. With the holiday seasons approaching, some buyers are just going to want it now and will forgo waiting for the auction to end.
In all of my auction listings now (where the same items are being sold in our eBay store) I have a link to the store with some text that says something like “Don’t feel like waiting for the auction to end? These items are available for immediate purchase with free shipping in our store”. Everything in our eBay store has shipping included and I am currently testing it.
So far so good. I have noticed an increase in store purchases over the past few weeks. So roll in shipping and see what happens!
