Mercadolibre - Cheaper Postage And Other Tips

[TWB103]

Flat rate postage of $95 to the provinces is ok for more costly stuff but not great for an impossible to find locally cel phone accessory of $30!

Any way of getting cheaper postage for lower cost items?

Also how do i make multiple purchases with the same vendor where presumably i dont have to pay full postage rate for each item.

Any tips to get best out ml appreciated.

 

[RodalfoWalsh]

Also how do i make multiple purchases with the same vendor where presumably i dont have to pay full postage rate for each item.

Buy one, when you get the seller's contact info, call him and give him your full order.

 

[wongjoh]

MercadoLibre employee here ;-)

Here's the recommendation if you are buying 2 items from the seller:
- ask the seller a question about the willingness to bundle the 2 items (generally they are OK, but best to check)
- buy the first item and pay its shipping fee
- for the second item, buy it but do not pay the shipping fee, but email the seller reminding him/her about the bundling

If you buy stuff (e.g., the 2nd item) from the seller directly (without doing it through MercadoLibre), you are on your own and not covered by the Buyer Protection Program. This is free to you and is a good insurance against broken or unsent items.

 

[Gringoboy]

I have to say that Mercadolibre has improved enormously in the last year or so, particularly the zero commission on used items.
The Mercadopago commission is rather high though.

 

[TWB103]

I dont understand why mercadolibre doesnt follow more closely the ebay model. The point of online buying is surely convenience. When the buyer has to be contacting and making deals with the seller before purchasing because theres too much ambiguity, not enough information or lack of facilities it kind of defeats the point iow it hasnt moved much beyond the mail order era. Sorry Wongjoh but it just baffles me.

However to be fair thumbs up for the ability to pay for purchases in cash via rapipago etc.

Is it true that some purchases have free postage if you use mercadopago or am i imagining that?

 

[RodalfoWalsh]

If you buy stuff (e.g., the 2nd item) from the seller directly (without doing it through MercadoLibre), you are on your own and not covered by the Buyer Protection Program. This is free to you and is a good insurance against broken or unsent items.

The buyer protection program requires you to use Mercado Pago and it works great, for non mercadopago transactions not so well. This is my personal experience.

 

[wongjoh]

I dont understand why mercadolibre doesnt follow more closely the ebay model. The point of online buying is surely convenience. When the buyer has to be contacting and making deals with the seller before purchasing because theres too much ambiguity, not enough information or lack of facilities it kind of defeats the point iow it hasnt moved much beyond the mail order era. Sorry Wongjoh but it just baffles me.

However to be fair thumbs up for the ability to pay for purchases in cash via rapipago etc.

Is it true that some purchases have free postage if you use mercadopago or am i imagining that?

Believe me, MercadoLibre has actually been trying for YEARS to go into the model where buyers don't have to ask for things such as "is this item still in stock?" (of course it is available, otherwise we would not be displaying it). However, in all our tests, removing the ability to ask these so-called-redundant questions results in less sales. We still think that people should not have the need to ask such questions (stock / location / shipping costs) so we are driving towards ensuring that all that information is provided by sellers.

Generally I am not into revealing upcoming features until they are released, but enough to say that this very specific scenario (i.e., getting free shipping when you buy additional items from the same seller that could fit in the same box without having to "deal" with the seller) is being actively worked on.

We will get to much better experiences eventually, but I will also say that, compared to eBay, today we are already MUCH better (excluding the effect of US economy vs LatAm's). As an example, whereas most of eBay's sold items are used items, most (~95%) of MercadoLibre's SOLD items are new. We are closer to Amazon in that sense, and we think we are making some good progress, which brings me to the next point and the answer to your question ...

There are some items that are "Free Shipping" but that is an option that is offered (and paid for) by sellers. As a buyer, you should be able to see it advertised as part of the item. Also, not sure if you have access to Argentinian credit cards, but another cool thing we just launched in Argentina is "interest-free installments" (we did this in Brasil and it was a HIT). When a seller is willing to offer this, basically you can buy his/her items in 12-month installments without having to pay interest (which given Argie inflation, I think it is a God-sent). Of course, always make sure that the price makes sense ;-)

 

[TWB103]

Ok thanks.