Unbelievable how some buyers complain about shipping costs.
Had one buyer question me how shipping could be so expensive for something so small.
We are talking about $7 in total and is for the cheapest mailer bag at $5.80 plus some extra for bubblewrap.
I explained the costs and in the end they paid, but for the sake of $1.20? really?
That is why I recycle and use the TM courier system. No arguments. I do wonder though when my pet shop can deliver a big back of kitty litter for $7 the Post Office gets away with charging the same to bring me my new earrings, lol.
Still, they are outrageously good fun... The earrings. Not the post...
Yeah I keep all the spare bubblewrap I can find.
However I've had to ship alot of stuff away as of late so had to buy a roll of the stuff.
Yes, some people can be very petty. I have noticed though that using the TM courier system costs more than just going to the preferred courier directly. I think the important thing is to always have the price on the auction so that it then becomes part of the contract and they buyer has no grounds for messing the seller around. As a buyer, I'm always a bit reluctant to bid on something where the freight has been left open as it leaves me wide open to whatever add-ons they might do. One I did buy recently was a memory foam item that the seller didn't even consider could be rolled up into a relatively small parcel for less than half the price of sending it full size.
Yup, people are just thick sometimes!
Present company excepted, of course!
(28-08-2023, 02:23 PM)SueDonim Wrote: [ -> ]Yes, some people can be very petty. I have noticed though that using the TM courier system costs more than just going to the preferred courier directly. I think the important thing is to always have the price on the auction so that it then becomes part of the contract and they buyer has no grounds for messing the seller around. As a buyer, I'm always a bit reluctant to bid on something where the freight has been left open as it leaves me wide open to whatever add-ons they might do. One I did buy recently was a memory foam item that the seller didn't even consider could be rolled up into a relatively small parcel for less than half the price of sending it full size.
That's interesting to hear, ive always found the opposite for me, the trademe system quotes me better prices than nzpost, in fact I round up the cost to reflect what NZpost quotes me because I always take packing info factor
A roll of the stuff is like $30.
The biggest issue for me is I never quote shipping costs because I have no idea what it will cost until packed and enter dimensions, etc.
(28-08-2023, 03:37 PM)nzoomed Wrote: [ -> ] (28-08-2023, 02:23 PM)SueDonim Wrote: [ -> ]Yes, some people can be very petty. I have noticed though that using the TM courier system costs more than just going to the preferred courier directly. I think the important thing is to always have the price on the auction so that it then becomes part of the contract and they buyer has no grounds for messing the seller around. As a buyer, I'm always a bit reluctant to bid on something where the freight has been left open as it leaves me wide open to whatever add-ons they might do. One I did buy recently was a memory foam item that the seller didn't even consider could be rolled up into a relatively small parcel for less than half the price of sending it full size.
That's interesting to hear, ive always found the opposite for me, the trademe system quotes me better prices than nzpost, in fact I round up the cost to reflect what NZpost quotes me because I always take packing info factor
A roll of the stuff is like $30.
The biggest issue for me is I never quote shipping costs because I have no idea what it will cost until packed and enter dimensions, etc.
I just made up a dummy example to see if maybe things have changed. For a small parcel TM quoted Aramex the cheapest locally ($6.45 v. NZPost $6.80) but I wouldn't use Aramex anyway. For the rest of the options NZP was $4.80-$9.80 for both islands and TM was $10.17 same island v. $11.43 other island. The $4.80 NZP option doesn't include pickup but the others do. This was just one sample. It might be different for bigger sizes - I know that a NI v. SI differential applies to bigger parcels but I've still found NZP direct to be cheaper than TM in the past.
Maybe you get a TM discount if you are In Trade.
When I'm listing something I always find the box/bag/other packing I intend to use and work out the freight costs first so that I can put in on the auction. That costs time, but no more time than doing it later would take, assuming that I'm going to get a sale. High volume sellers would know how much each size of box costs to send so I'm sure it works better for them to put the information on the auction at the start.
(29-08-2023, 10:11 AM)SueDonim Wrote: [ -> ] (28-08-2023, 03:37 PM)nzoomed Wrote: [ -> ]That's interesting to hear, ive always found the opposite for me, the trademe system quotes me better prices than nzpost, in fact I round up the cost to reflect what NZpost quotes me because I always take packing info factor
A roll of the stuff is like $30.
The biggest issue for me is I never quote shipping costs because I have no idea what it will cost until packed and enter dimensions, etc.
I just made up a dummy example to see if maybe things have changed. For a small parcel TM quoted Aramex the cheapest locally ($6.45 v. NZPost $6.80) but I wouldn't use Aramex anyway. For the rest of the options NZP was $4.80-$9.80 for both islands and TM was $10.17 same island v. $11.43 other island. The $4.80 NZP option doesn't include pickup but the others do. This was just one sample. It might be different for bigger sizes - I know that a NI v. SI differential applies to bigger parcels but I've still found NZP direct to be cheaper than TM in the past.
Maybe you get a TM discount if you are In Trade.
When I'm listing something I always find the box/bag/other packing I intend to use and work out the freight costs first so that I can put in on the auction. That costs time, but no more time than doing it later would take, assuming that I'm going to get a sale. High volume sellers would know how much each size of box costs to send so I'm sure it works better for them to put the information on the auction at the start.
That's interesting, I've never really used it for parcels that small, I always assumed it was cheaper to use mailer bags that are prepaid and choose the appropriate size.
Maybe larger parcels cost less on TM instead, the weird thing is in some cases aramex is cheaper than nz post and vice versa.
(29-08-2023, 10:19 AM)nzoomed Wrote: [ -> ] (29-08-2023, 10:11 AM)SueDonim Wrote: [ -> ]I just made up a dummy example to see if maybe things have changed. For a small parcel TM quoted Aramex the cheapest locally ($6.45 v. NZPost $6.80) but I wouldn't use Aramex anyway. For the rest of the options NZP was $4.80-$9.80 for both islands and TM was $10.17 same island v. $11.43 other island. The $4.80 NZP option doesn't include pickup but the others do. This was just one sample. It might be different for bigger sizes - I know that a NI v. SI differential applies to bigger parcels but I've still found NZP direct to be cheaper than TM in the past.
Maybe you get a TM discount if you are In Trade.
When I'm listing something I always find the box/bag/other packing I intend to use and work out the freight costs first so that I can put in on the auction. That costs time, but no more time than doing it later would take, assuming that I'm going to get a sale. High volume sellers would know how much each size of box costs to send so I'm sure it works better for them to put the information on the auction at the start.
That's interesting, I've never really used it for parcels that small, I always assumed it was cheaper to use mailer bags that are prepaid and choose the appropriate size.
Maybe larger parcels cost less on TM instead, the weird thing is in some cases aramex is cheaper than nz post and vice versa.
I'm the opposite - have occasionally used mailer bags for very small items, but never for larger ones. I see it as buying a bag then paying for postage on top of that. A padded bag for an occasional item might be better than buying a roll of bubblewrap as you have just done, but like you, I did that once and years later am still using it up. I use kitchen ziplock bags to make a parcel weatherproof. Or rubbish bags if the ziplocks aren't big enough.
On a related note we received a notification from Trade Me yesterday advising of an
increase in their success fees for a wide variety of categories for in-trade sellers. Expect those expenses to be passed on by way of product prices or other add-ons as trade sellers work to maintain their margins.
(29-08-2023, 10:31 AM)SueDonim Wrote: [ -> ] (29-08-2023, 10:19 AM)nzoomed Wrote: [ -> ]That's interesting, I've never really used it for parcels that small, I always assumed it was cheaper to use mailer bags that are prepaid and choose the appropriate size.
Maybe larger parcels cost less on TM instead, the weird thing is in some cases aramex is cheaper than nz post and vice versa.
I'm the opposite - have occasionally used mailer bags for very small items, but never for larger ones. I see it as buying a bag then paying for postage on top of that. A padded bag for an occasional item might be better than buying a roll of bubblewrap as you have just done, but like you, I did that once and years later am still using it up. I use kitchen ziplock bags to make a parcel weatherproof. Or rubbish bags if the ziplocks aren't big enough.
Its very interesting, ive just been playing around a bit.
Ive tried it with the dimensions of a heavy parcel i sent and the costs are actually the exact same rate on both NZpost and TM.
The price difference I noticed the other day was with smaller parcels around 20x20x20cm on average.
When I checked the price, it was about $2 or $3 less through TM. I will keep an eye on this in the future for sure.
Interestingly enough, the weight doesnt seem to affect price, Ive gone for 3KG and 10KG and its still $44 to send this parcel to the south island regardless of the weight.