Queston on Amazon Expedited Shipping

[iandy3g]

I started selling on Amazon about a month ago. I must say so far so good. But I do have a question for a good Amazon veteran if possible.

As you know Amazon sets the shipping prices Standard and Expedited. In my case its $4.99 and $7.49. I've noticed that more than half of the time the customer ALWAYS pays for the expedited shipping but my question is how do you normally ship?

I read on the Amazon site where the seller has 2 days to process the item and Expedited is 2-5 business days in addition to the processing time. But if I ship the same day First class most customers get it in 3 days anyway.

Do you get complaints from customers expecting to see it come in Priority envelope even if they get it in 3 days? I'm just curious..in my case the difference in cost is $1.75 vs $5 for Priority.

It's so funny to see the difference between an Ebay buyer and an Amazon buyer. An ebayer will give you 3 stars if you add 20 cents to the postage to cover the friggen envelope on your DSR and an Amazon seller shells out an extra $7 on every sale almost!

[ovidiu]

I used to ship everything Priority Mail. Now, I am pretty sure that Amazon doesn't specify the use of something like Priority Mail for expedited; it's probably Parcel Post (USPS) or Ground (UPS, Fedex). For my category (software), they said ship standard via media mail and expedited via first class/parcel post.

My advice is to save yourself negatives and neutrals and ship it all Priority with tracking. Just raise your prices a little to cover the extra expenses.

[cardfelon]

While most customers may not complain about it arriving in a Priority envelope if they paid for expedited shipping assuming it shows in 3 days. You can run across the one person who gets upset and leaves bad feedback for you. Amazon is way more strict than Ebay and if any of your numbers get out of line they will either put your account under review or suspend you.

So my word of advice is if they pay for expedited then ship it Priority. Is making that extra $3-4 on shipping worth the risk of a negative feedback??

[Melissa1971]

I refund the extra cost for expedited since what they paid (if it qualifies for First Class) means there is always more than enough money

Expedited doesn't distinguish the type of shipping, only the specific time the item is to arrive by. Priority Mail is not guaranteed. My first class mail has been consistent in staying within 2-3 days, moreso than Priority over Christmas time

I only have 125 transactions on Amazon, consistently receiving about 5 orders per day. refunding shipping amounts seems to make them very happy. About half who receive a refund will leave me positive feedback which you really need as a new Seller. 90% of my buyers do not pay expedited Others may have different experiences to share, or a better alternatives for you. Merry Christmas by the way

[Melissa1971]

I think Amazon has a hide postage amount button, my costs do not show up on the envelope

[ovidiu]

Ah, you print postage thru Amazon. I do agree that refunding down to standard shipping cost is likely to get you positive feedback; it's happened to me.

[iandy3g]

Thanks everyone.

I've just been doing all my Priority through Click N Ship because Amazon integrates with stamps.com which has a monthly fee or surcharge...and I avoid Paypal shipping on non-paypal just paranoid don't know why LOL

I think the idea of a refund is excellent and that's what I'll do. I had a customer today buy two items and it charged him $14 and it's only going to be 10 ounces to ship both items. I enjoy making money but do feel a little bad seeing someone pay that but they are the ones that hit the BUY button

Have a great Holiday!

[Melissa1971]

Originally Posted by ovidiu

Ah, you print postage thru Amazon. I do agree that refunding down to standard shipping cost is likely to get you positive feedback; it's happened to me.

Just curious but how to do you do postage?

[Melissa1971]

Originally Posted by iandy3g

Thanks everyone.

I've just been doing all my Priority through Click N Ship because Amazon integrates with stamps.com which has a monthly fee or surcharge...and I avoid Paypal shipping on non-paypal just paranoid don't know why LOL

I think the idea of a refund is excellent and that's what I'll do. I had a customer today buy two items and it charged him $14 and it's only going to be 10 ounces to ship both items. I enjoy making money but do feel a little bad seeing someone pay that but they are the ones that hit the BUY button

Have a great Holiday!

Interesting, thanks. Here I thought I was getting a discount

[Melissa1971]

Well it is .07 cents per transaction, and there is no monthly fee. I seem to remember this now.
Logging into stamps.com each time is too much trouble.

[ovidiu]

I just ship at the post office at the automated postal kiosk (APC). I live far away enough from a major post office that if I printed postage at home and dropped them at my mail box, it would mean an extra day to get to customers...not good.

[123]

Expedited on amazon does not mean it gets shipped a certain way in means it gets delivered within a certain time period. I ship all my orders the same way no matter whether its expedited or not, since I know it will arrive within the time frame and surprisingly enough out of thousands of orders which at least 5-10% where expedited never got a complaint.