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I know this has been discussed some on the podcast, but I finally got around to checking my invoice for some Smartpost shipments against the estimates from when i was printing the labels. A small sewing machine and a muffler were right on but I lost 20 DOLLARS on a long painting and 10 $ on a movie projector. How can I avoid this? I always round up on inches and I don’t think I was over on poundage.
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The long painting might have moved across to dimensional weighting. Here’s a handy calculator that might help you in future. It gives you the dim weight. Use the higher of the dim weight vs the actual weight in your shipping calculations.
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Unfortunately the only way to avoid it is to not use FedEx. I use USPS for 99% of my sales. I got shafted for $65 on a large item that I know for a fact I drastically overestimated dimensions (4″ every dimension) AND weight (20 extra lbs) to insure against this exact situation.
The beauty (for them) of their system is that you have no recourse to fight it because the item is long gone and with the customer. Until ebay, FedEx, and paypal find a way to instantly deduct the pay then I only use FedEx for very few large items going across country.
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Hey Wallabee:
Here is a web site that was created by one of the SL members and think he has been interviewed by J&R in the past. He is recommended by several members here. He has several “tools” to help determine how to ship, calculators, what box sizes to use, which are the best carriers to use for any one particular size item, etc. And they are all FREE. I used to use the Fitshipper tool all the time until I finally memorized most of the cut off weights. This tool will give you the cost based on the item dimensions and how much space around the object you wish to leave. It will give you the best box size to use, the various costs for all the carriers to ship by and from that you can determine the best method to ship by and include that in your listing.
Go there now and put in those sizes for the items you just shipped and see what the recommendations “would have been” if you had done this prior to uploading your listings and going live. Then play some “what if’s” with a few others you may have laying around or just put in some phony numbers and see what you get.
And may I state again .. all for FREE! Have fun 🙂
Mike at MDC Galleries & Fine Art in Atlanta
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Smart Post shouldn’t have any dimensional weight charges, however very large packages (length+girth > 108″ I think) may have surcharges. Also, FedEx is supposed to be adding dim weight to smart post in the near future – not sure if it will apply to eBay though.
Here’s a better dimensional weight calculator. If you set it to parcel select and you see oversize or balloon surcharges, you may end up paying extra for smart post.
Ebay’s shipping calculator isn’t always accurate w/ fedex and large packages. The FlipperTools FitShipper calculator uses eBay’s calculator for Fedex in the back end, so if eBay is wrong, the calculator will also be wrong. (FYI, I run FlipperTools.com)
Mike: glad you like it 🙂
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