Q: I did not always understand the shipping choices and related cost.
A: I can understand your frustration when you are first starting out – it’s all quite overwhelming.
Shipping will be something that you will overcome with time and selling different types of items. A lot of people sell small lightweight items that will be easily shipped for free or First Class mail. You can easily slip them in a poly mailer and fit them in your mailbox and be done! But as you get more and more into selling different items, you can add more choices to for the customer to decide. If you are able to get the free priority boxes from USPS.com, they will work for a lot of medium sized or items that can’t be shipped for the first class rate.
Compare shipping options on the USPS site and see what would be more cost effective for the customer. I ALWAYS use eBay’s calculated shipping and give the customer three shipping choices based on the item I am selling. It could always be first class, priority, or parcel post. But again, it’s going to depend on the weight/size of the item.
Once you’ve researched a handful of items you will begin to get a grasp on shipping costs!
Happy Selling! 
