Shipping discounts let you offer buyers savings on shipping when they purchase items from you. Offering a shipping discount helps promote your item and encourages buyers to buy additional items from you.
Listings with shipping discounts appear to buyers with the message "Save on shipping." When your shipping discounts are set up and activated, eBay will automatically calculate the shipping discount and deduct it from the total shipping cost. The shipping discount will be shown to your buyers when they complete payment.
You can offer several kinds of shipping discounts to your buyers:
Creating flat shipping rules
Flat shipping rules let you offer discounts to buyers who purchase more than one of your items. You can charge for shipping the item with the highest shipping cost, and then add an additional lower cost for each additional item that they purchase from you. You can also subtract shipping costs for each additional item purchased, or offer free shipping on additional items. Select the Add an amount for each additional item option, and then enter a shipping cost for each additional item.
To create flat shipping rules:Click My eBay at the top of most eBay pages. You may need to sign in.
Place your pointer over the Account tab and select Site Preferences.
Click the Show link to the right of the Shipping Preferences section.
Click the first Edit link.
Click the Edit link in the Flat shipping rule section.
From the drop-down menu, choose what you'd like to do—add an amount to ship each additional item or subtract an amount.
Note: If you choose to subtract an amount you can choose to subtract a fixed dollar amount or a percentage of the shipping cost.
If you want to create different profiles with different flat shipping rules, click the Add profile link and fill in the details.
Review your changes and click the Save button. The changes will be applied immediately to your current listings.
Creating calculated shipping rules
Calculated shipping rules will apply to all listings for which you specify calculated shipping and combined shipping discounts. If a buyer purchases several items from you, you can combine those items into one shipment and pass the savings to the buyer by setting up calculated shipping rules.
To create calculated shipping rules:Click My eBay at the top of most eBay pages. You may need to sign in.
Place your pointer over the Account tab and select Site Preferences.
Click the Show link to the right of the Shipping Preferences section.
Click the first Edit link.
Click the Edit link in the Calculated shipping rule section.
From the drop-down menu choose if you want to Combine all weights of your items into one package, or if you want to Combine all weights and subtract an amount. If you choose to subtract an amount, enter the weight per item you are subtracting, in ounces.
If you want to create different profiles with different flat shipping rules, click the Add profile link and fill in the details.
On the next page, from the drop-down menu, choose if you want to charge a handling cost per shipment, per item, or if you want to wait and specify the handling costs individually when you list items.
Review your changes and click the Save button.
Offering discounts through the shipping calculator
If you include the shipping calculator in your listings, you can specify a discount that will be applied to the rates that are used to calculate shipping costs to buyers. Changes to this preference will be applied immediately to your current listings.
To offer discounts through the shipping calculator:Click My eBay at the top of most eBay pages. You may need to sign in.
Place your pointer over the Account tab and select Site Preferences.
Click the Show link to the right of the Shipping Preferences section.
Click the Edit link to the right of Offer discounts in the shipping calculator.
If you choose to offer discounts, use the drop-down menus to choose the amount of the discount for domestic and international shipping (between 5 and 70%). You can also choose to offer retail rates (if you qualify to receive them).
Click the Save Settings button.
Creating promotional shipping rules
Promotional shipping rules apply to all listings that have combined shipping discounts (for both flat and calculated shipping costs). When buyers qualify for your promotional shipping rule, the promotion takes priority over existing flat and calculated shipping rules.
When you create a promotional shipping rule, you can offer buyers special discounts if they buy multiple items or spend a certain amount. For example, you can create a rule that gives buyers free shipping as long as they spend at least $25 and buy 2 items. You can also charge a maximum shipping amount for a single order. For example, you can specify that a buyer be charged no more than $5.00 for shipping if the buyer purchases more than one item from you.
To create a promotional shipping rule:Click My eBay at the top of most eBay pages. You may need to sign in.
Place your pointer over the Account tab and select Site Preferences.
Click the Show link to the right of the Shipping Preferences section.
Click the first Edit link.
Click the Edit link in the Promotional shipping rule section.
On the next page, choose the kind of promotional rule you want to create. You can:
Offer a discount for a multi-item purchase that totals a certain cost
Offer discounted or free shipping for buyers who purchase multiple items from you
Prevent shipping costs from exceeding a set amount for any order
Review your changes and click the Save button. The changes will be applied immediately to your current listings.
Managing profiles
Profiles are a way for you to manage your shipping discounts. Give each shipping discount profile a name that's easy to remember and then you can quickly select a profile when you're listing your item.
For example, you can create one flat shipping rule named "Light items" and specify that each additional item will cost $1.00 to ship. You can also create a flat shipping rule called "Heavy items" and specify that each additional item will cost $3.00 to ship.
To create a combined shipping discount rule with a profile name:Click My eBay at the top of most eBay pages. You may need to sign in.
Place your pointer over the Account tab and select Site Preferences.
Click the Show link to the right of the Shipping Preferences section.
Click the Create or Edit link under the shipping discount rules to add rules or make changes.
If you want to add profiles to your rule, click the Create profiles (advanced) link.
Enter a name for your profile that's easy for you to remember.
Enter the information for your discount, and click the Finish button.
Note: You can delete a profile by deleting its name in your rules. When you delete a profile name, listings that are associated with that name will no longer have shipping discounts. However, if the listing has any activity, such as a bid, then the shipping discount will still apply.
