Free Postage on EBay

[AndrewGC]

A few more categories have fallen into the Free Postage chasm that eBay are opening up.

So is it a good idea?

I've tried both, and frankly as a seller it can be hard to see much difference excepting that you get collared for more in eBay fees.

A few points:

Buyers can see for one item what they will pay in total.

But behind that:-

Say you sell an item for £10 with £3.00 package and postage. Buyer pays £13. You as a seller pay almost 10% Final Value Fee on the sale - so £1.

You offer Freepost and (as there is no such magical thing as 'Free' post) you charge £13 exactly. Now you pay £1.30 in fees, so you might need to increase the price to, say, £13.50 to cover this additional fee from eBay. So you still make what you need BUT the buyer pays more.

Now consider someone making multiple buys. 5 items at £10 with £3 postage for 1st item and £1 for each additional. Total cost £57.00.

Now 'Free' Post: Item is £13.50 with 'free' post so 5 items is £67.50. No chance of a postage discount as it's 'Free'!

So as eBay storm towards bringing this in in many categories, just who are they trying to help, apart from themselves?

What do you think about Freepost or would you rather see the actual cost?