eBay Shipping Setup
Shipping is set in each listing template, and it's where many dealers either lose money or lose sales. This article covers every shipping option, how to handle Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico, and why PSS doesn't use eBay Business Policies.
🎥 Insert video here: setting up shipping in a listing template.
What you'll learn
- Which shipping method fits which products
- How to set up domestic rate tables
- How to ship to, or block, Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico
- Why you should turn off eBay Business Policies
Choose a shipping method
Open a template under eBay > Template Management and go to the shipping section. Each template can have up to 3 domestic and 2 international shipping options.
| Method | How it works | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Calculated | eBay works out the cost at checkout from the buyer's location and the package weight and size | Heavy or oversized parts, where cost varies a lot by distance |
| Flat rate | One price for every buyer | Small, light items with predictable costs |
| Flat rate + rate table | A flat rate with different amounts for remote regions | Flat-rate simplicity without losing money on remote orders |
| Price-banded | Shipping price based on the item's sale price, like free over $50 and $5.99 under | Encouraging bigger orders |
You can also add domestic surcharges where a carrier charges extra for certain deliveries.
⚠️ Warning: A single flat rate charges remote buyers the same as everyone else, so you'll often undercharge for Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico. Use calculated shipping or a rate table if you ship there.
International shipping
You can offer international shipping as flat rate or calculated. The simplest option is the eBay International Shipping Program (formerly the Global Shipping Program): you ship to a US hub, and eBay handles customs, duties and international delivery.
Set up a domestic rate table
Rate tables let you set different flat rates by region:
| Region | Covers |
|---|---|
| Base | The contiguous 48 states |
| Extended | Alaska and Hawaii |
| US Protectorates | Puerto Rico, Guam, US Virgin Islands and American Samoa |
| APO/FPO | Military addresses |
Step 1: Create the rate table in eBay
- In eBay, go to My eBay > Account > Shipping Preferences.
- Under Rate Tables, choose Create a Rate Table, then Domestic.
- Set a rate for each region: a flat amount per item, a flat surcharge per item, or a surcharge by weight.
- Save it with a clear name, like "Standard + AK/HI Surcharge."
Step 2: Connect it in PSS
- Open the listing template in PSS and go to the shipping section.
- Pick your rate table from the Domestic Rate Table dropdown.
- Click Save.
📌 Key Point: PSS pulls your rate tables from eBay, so the table has to exist in eBay first. If it's missing from the dropdown, confirm it's saved in eBay and refresh the page. If you use calculated shipping, you usually don't need a rate table.
Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico
If you want to ship there
- In eBay, go to Account Settings > Shipping Preferences and make sure these locations are not excluded.
- In Selling Preferences, make sure you're not blocking buyers from excluded locations.
- In your PSS templates, use calculated shipping or a rate table so you charge enough.
If you don't want to ship there
- In PSS, go to Settings > eBay > Shipping Locations and add them to Excluded Locations.
- In eBay, add the same locations under Account Settings > Shipping Preferences.
- In eBay Selling Preferences, turn on blocking buyers from locations you don't ship to.
⚠️ Warning: Set exclusions in both PSS and eBay. If you only exclude in PSS, buyers there may still be able to purchase. If you only exclude in eBay, PSS's daily updates can overwrite it.
Turn off eBay Business Policies
eBay Business Policies are eBay's own reusable shipping, return and payment profiles, and eBay sometimes turns them on automatically. PSS manages all of this through your listing templates. With both active, the two systems keep overwriting each other: PSS sends your template settings, eBay replaces them with the policy, and the cycle repeats. That leads to wrong lead times, wrong shipping rates and wrong return policies.
🛑 Critical: Don't use eBay Business Policies with PSS. If you're enrolled, opt out in eBay under Account Settings > Business Policies. If eBay won't let you opt out, contact support.
Next step
Continue to Creating eBay Listings.