What Is Economy Shipping On eBay?

Economy shipping is a great way to save money on shipping costs. If you want to sell something on eBay, you should consider using economy shipping. Shipping costs and services are really important when becoming an online merchant.

When selling goods you always need to ship them to the customer. So, finding the right way to ship your goods, where you can widen profit margins rather than make a loss, can be the key to making money as an online merchant.

What To Consider When Shipping Goods?

There are a few things that will affect how long and the cost of your shipping services

If you are shipping internationally you will need to take this into account. Domestic shipping costs will be less. Whereas if you ship to another country you will likely have to pay more for the delivery. Delivery times can vary with international shipping.

The weight of the goods you are sending will also have an effect on the price of shipping costs. Heavier items will always cost more, and lighter items will cost less.

The speed at which you want your parcel to be delivered. Depending on what you are selling or what you have agreed with a buyer, there are multiple delivery options, for varying prices, that will decide when your package reaches its buyer.

In the next section we will go into more detail about different shipping services and what to expect from them, as well as economy shipping.

What To Expect From Shipping Services

Even when the courier changes they still offer the same levels of shipping services, simply expect the time and price to vary slightly by courier.

Expedited shipping will fast track your goods onto the transport that ensures your parcel arrives earlier than what is commonly expected. This could be next day delivery or maybe a day or two after. 

While expedited shipping is much faster, you are paying for the speed of delivery so isn’t cost effective to use every time you send an item.

Standard shipping is the most common shipping service. Standard shipping will usually ensure that your package reaches its destination within 3-5 working days, usually. This is subject to change as external factors may affect it. 

While not the quickest, standard shipping is reasonably priced and remains pretty effective. Most customers will expect this unless you state otherwise.

It is worth noting that both standard and expedited shipping will offer tracking, again, depending on the courier. This is a security measure that provides due diligence. If a customer complains that their parcel is late or undelivered you can keep up to date with what is happening with your parcel.

So, what is economy shipping?

What Is Economy Shipping?

Economy shipping is a service offered by eBay sellers to their customers, economy shipping is commonly included in all selling websites yet some selling websites won’t include it. As the name suggests, economy shipping allows sellers to ship items at a lower cost than standard shipping.

The seller can choose between two types of economy shipping: a free or flat rate. Free economy shipping means that the buyer pays no additional fees. Flat rate economy shipping means that the seller charges a fixed amount per item regardless of its size.

Commonly, a seller will have their shipping and delivery conditions listed somewhere on their profile whether you are buying from eBay, Amazon, Etsy, or another selling website. 

Offering free economy shipping is a clever move that remains transparent with both seller and buyer. The buyer understands they pay no shipping costs but that their parcel will arrive a little later than regular delivery services, but for a free charge.

Ebay shipping image

Free economy delivery is also cheaper for the seller, allowing them to widen their profit margins by getting rid of most shipping costs on their side. 

Conversely, some sellers will offer flat rate economy shipping. This means that the seller offers a fixed price for delivery on all their goods.

No matter what you buy from them, they will offer the same delivery price that will remain a flat rate (it won’t increase).

You may offer free economy shipping for small items that don’t weigh much such as playing cards, while flat rate economy shipping may make more sense with heavier items the seller pays more to ship.

Economy shipping may not have the same level of tracking that standard or expedited shipping does, this will likely change by courier but is ultimately one of the reasons why economy shipping remains cheaper.

This can put some customers off, so always be clear about your shipping conditions that the customer agrees too.

How Long Will Economy Shipping Take?

Obviously, as you are paying less, economy shipping will take a little longer than your paid shipping services.

The two main things to consider are the courier company and where you are shipping.  

Shipping within a state can still be fairly quick for an economy shipping service, which makes it good to use here. Outside of a state it can take around 2 – 7 days or even longer for international shipping. Distance plays a large factor.

The other factor is the courier company. Different couriers offer different rates and also delivery times that differ by each company. You can often use delivery fee calculators to compare them.

Final Thoughts

When selling goods online, cutting down on shipping costs can be the key to really making a decent profit. So it is definitely worth looking into. 

Economy shipping offers a few different options to sellers who want to cut back on shipping costs. Most independent sellers will use economy shipping. Differing in wether they offer a flat rate for shipping or a free economy shipping. 

Economy shipping can make a lot of sense and help you save a lot of money. This can turn your independent online store from a hobby into a business.

Putting these fundamental practices in place are super necessary to keep track of your profit margins but also to cover your own back when shipping goods to customers.

Finally, always remain transparent with customers on shipping conditions. Let them know how much you offer, expected delivery times, if tracking is included or not. Being a trustworthy merchant can ultimately bring you more customers than anything else.

Nate Heath

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