It has only been fairly recently that eBay updated its SYI form to include a postage calculator.  Now, when you use the SYI form, you simply add the weight, dimensions and handling charges and it automatically calculates the appropriate Australia Post parcel rates based on the potential bidders location.

Having this feature available is good for business in a couple of ways, it means:

• people know the total cost up front. They no longer have to email you for a quote, which may have turned off potential bidders who could not be bothered or did not have enough time before the auction ended.
• you are not short-changing yourself. Many sellers used to offer a flat rate which may have been lower than the actual shipping cost if, for example, the winning bidder was from the other side of the country.
• you are not overcharging your customer. Again a problem with a flat rate is that in an effort to not short-change yourself, you may have over-charged if the winning bidder was located in the suburb next to you.  Many would see this as compensation for previous losses but your customer would not see it this way and you may have received a poor DSR rating for shipping costs or even a negative feedback comment.

But of course, all of this is purely academic now because eBay has their new postage calculator.  Right?

Well what happens if you are using a third party auction management solution like Auctiva?  Auctiva does not have an integrated postage calculator.  Again, it seems as if you are faced with the above choices unless you choose one of the following work around solutions:
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