I took people's advice and kept playing with it.  For some reason, eBay wasn't giving me any drop down options or anything when I was putting in the shipping information.  It just came up with "Paid By You" regardless of what I put in.  However, when I ignored what they were saying and finished filling out the listing, it suddenly switched everything on its own to the buyer pays shipping and allowed the various options (priority or parcel post) to happen.  Crazy! 

Luckily everything seems to be working now.  I want to thank everyone who took the time to help me through this.  I certainly didn't want to start listing auctions without having all the information correct. 

Star Warrior

I wonder how much of the overcharging is due to sellers actually trying to make more money, or if it's a problem on eBay.  I want to sell some things on eBay and started filling out the seller listing.  It got to the shipping and would only let me put in a priority shipping cost which is far higher than first class or parcel post.  It also is accounting for tracking and delivery confirmation (which do cost extra through the post office).  I've always believed in giving buyers the most accurate shipping cost possible and allowing them to choose which way to have it sent.  For myself, I've always been fine with waiting a little while longer for my package if it means saving money.

As a seller you have to put in the weight and size of the package and eBay calculates the price.  I believe there is a way to change this, but if the seller is like me, there's no knowing how (or instructions on doing it).  If someone is just following the prompts of eBay they could easily overcharge on packages without knowing it.  I'd like to give the sellers the benefit of the doubt having discovered this bit of eBay headache myself.

On this topic - does anyone know how I can adjust the shipping costs properly?  I could put in a fixed rate, but that's not going to help considering I have no idea where the buyer will be located.  I could still end up over or undercharging.  Yuck!  And if I choose anything other than priority shipping, eBay says I have to pay the shipping costs.  Very frustrating!

Star Warrior

I'm really hoping someone has sold on eBay and can help me figure out their setup! 

I want to sell some items on eBay. When I started the process I found myself getting very confused. The shipping is driving me nuts! It allows me to give the buyer other shipping options besides priority but is saying that I will pay for the shipping if it goes any other way. Some of the items I want to sell are very large and priority shipping can easily get into the $40+ range. I want to give the buyer the option of a cheaper rate but I can't suddenly be paying for all the shipping costs on these auctions myself. How do I list with the option of the buyer paying a lower rate? I know it can be done since I've opted to pay for first class shipping when I've won auctions. 

Star Warrior

[moving to TS - kaoskat]

Yeah, I did look into the forum and found the guide.  However, I have to become a member of the forum to get it.    Since all I want is to ID a few items, I was hoping to avoid signing up with a forum I would not return to.  I'm sure everyone is really nice there, but I'm just not a LPS collector.

Star Warrior

I'm really not a LPS collector, but I've ended up with a large bag of the G2s.  I was looking to see if there was a collectors guide for them, but couldn't find any (just G1 sites), so I thought I'd check in here to see if anyone knew of a place where I could ID the animals and accessories I have.  Thanks!

Star Warrior

eBay is hard to get a good estimate on because people get into bidding crazes.  There was actually a study done on the psychology of this showing how people tend to bid far more than what an item is worth because of the competition.  The study used a normal $20 bill that sold for $28!   

As for Mimic, I'd say a good condition one for $90 seems to be average.  I've seen her go for as low as $70 and high as $120.  I try to keep an eye on numerous sales of the same pony and average the winning bids out.  It's not always easy to do, but Mimic seems to be on all the time. 

It's hard to tell at times how much a pony is worth.  I totally understand selling something for what I thought was a proper price only to find out I sold it for a lot less than what it was worth!  The market is constantly in flux.

Star Warrior