ebay excessive shipping

[_shel_ny]

;;;

Edited September 16, 2011 by shel_bizzy_48

[55 Fargo]

Must be an error, cuz up above shipping is listed at $12.50 to the USA and $15.00 to Canada, there were some other countries included in these 2 prices, but my concern is with Canada and the USA

[HalfdollarMayflower]

well, with rising fuel costs and all....

[Dennis Hemingway]

Look where it is located. He must want to deliver it in person.

Item location: haifa, default, Israel

Dennis:D

[Captain Neon]

well, with rising fuel costs and all....

He's covering the "real" costs of a gallon of fuel.

[HalfdollarMayflower]

He's covering the "real" costs of a gallon of fuel.

touche

[Fireball]

Not that particular seller, but many many times they try to triple the item value with skyhigh shipping cost to overseas. We have to be careful here and always ask before bidding. So far some 60 purchases with all the luck, let's see when that ends.

My friend got ripped bigtime, around 10k USD. He bought an Buick which did not exist, Police got involved but he lost the money for good.

[Plymouthy Adams]

It is not always overseas..and not always a high dollar item..but is always a case of greed or the guys product did not fetch the anticipated price. So up the handling and shipping. I had one guy refuse to honor a deal for the item did not sell above the .99 entry price...not my problem..you want x amount..list a reserve..I also don't bid without a quote on shipping..if not listed I contact seller..no answer...no bid..

[JerseyHarold]

My two cents on shipping and handling:

I sell occasionally on eBay. My position is that the true cost of shipping and handling is more than just the postage on the package, and the buyer should reasonably expect to pay for it.

The envelope or box costs money, packaging tape is expensive and adds-up quickly, and if I'm making a special trip to the Post Office to mail one item (which happens a lot if you only sell one or two items at a time) the price of gas enters into the equation as well.

Then comes the PayPal fee. If the buyer pays by PayPal, as most of them do, they don't have to go to the store, buy a money order, and spend money on postage. Since I usually sell low-dollar items, the PayPal fee is a substantial percentage of the cost, and I don't think I should bear the expense of it.

So, that's where the 'handling' part of Shipping and Handling comes from.

Like I said, just my 2 cents' worth....

[Normspeed]

I see your point Jersey. I still buy on ebay, and I just decide whether I think the S&H is excessive on a given item. I also factor it in to the total and adjust my bid accordingly. Then I get sniped anyhow:eek:

[Plymouthy Adams]

I know that most shipping is inflated as I ship enough stuff to know..and a buck or two on a large item yeah..but on a small item..no way..out of range..am not against the added cost of tape and such but boxes..recyle the ones you get..by the way..you the seller, put the cost in the price of the item don't insult the buyer with inflated shipping..charge 5.00 lets say and here comes the item in a yellow envelope with 1.30 postage..to cheap to send priority..sorry but most (not all) take this as another means of income like "Clark Griswold and Christmas Vacation"...The post office has flat rate shipping boxes that lot and lots of items will fit and its is cost effective and not weight limited in the US and international is resticted to weight but it is a pretty high limit though.

Paypal issues..again, it is a cost of doing buiness add the fee in the listing price..based on fair market price and should you get much much fprofit..its a windfall..see it anyother way and you be greedy..sorry but thats my call..

[JerseyHarold]

Shel,

I appreciate how aggravating it can be to collect payment from some bidders, and even more so when for a small amount of money.

I sold a pair of New York license plates several weeks ago. My listings always say that payment is expected within a week after auction ending, and that I don't accept personal checks. There were three bidders on it, and the winner didn't pay so last week I sent an eBay 'reminder' letter as the first step in the Non-Paying Bidder process so I could recover the commission. This morning, I received a personal check from the guy. That means further delay until I deposit the check and know it has cleared. All of this for an $18.00 item!

Tim,

I recycle boxes and use Priority Mail boxes as often as I can. Sometimes the item is a large or odd size and that's when it gets tricky to scrounge-up a box.

EBay used to advocate starting an item at $1.00 with no reserve, and people would magically get auction fever and bid it to the moon. That strategy may not be applicable any more, because from my perspective eBay has lost a lot of its luster and prices are lower nowadays. I try to structure the listing so people will look at the item and bid on it, but I don't want to end-up losing money if it sells to a 'one-bid wonder'.

[Plymouthy Adams]

it can be frustrating..it is even frustrating to get a timely answer from a seller..business is a transactions and involves mimnimum two parties..one party does not have the sole right to expect everything is as listed or completely described. If this is a bother to a seller then maybe he should step away..I truly hope and expect to see the IRS, sibling of Big Brother step into E-bay and PayPal and blow it wide open for taxes both present and past on sellers of merchandise not listed on his income tax..

[BobT-47P15]

When I put an item on ebay, I list it at what I would take for it if just

selling it to someone. That way, if only one bid is received, I got what

I wanted as a minimum. Naturally, it's nice to see it go for more. Try to

be realistic about shipping costs, but they have crept up lately so I have

been going to the post office or ups ahead of time to get a more accurate

figure. I think some shipping costs listed are too high....but if excessive,

I just won't bid.

[JerseyHarold]

My biggest issue with a personal check, besides having to wait for it to clear, is that the sender can see my signature and bank account number on the back of it.

The bigger Flat Rate box is news to me. When will it be available?

[Plymouthy Adams]

The larger box will place the PO way ahead of competition and deliverly will be quicker and claims will be less for I swear UPS-FedEx use the longer boxes as a balance beam for weighing packages and thus break them in the middle..smaller boxes are for practicing goaling techniques and applies to football and hockey players moonlighting as deliverly personal

[Captain Neon]

If I may add an eBay story, I bought what was listed as a used copy of Windows 98 Second Edition. We wanted to upgrade the wife's laptop from Windows 95 so that we could use thumbdrives. I got what I thought was a fair price for Windows 98SE.

When it arrived, it was obvious that the OS was Windows 98 First Edition and not compatible with thumbdrives. I wrote the guy a nice e-mail explaining that he had sent me the wrong software and that Windows 98FE was not an acceptable substitute for my purposes.

I wait and wait and am even accused of not knowing how to install the software properly. I decide that the guy is a moron and file a claim with PayPal to get my money back.

The jerk calls me at 6:30 AM (I work night shift) and asks me if I will send him the disc back for 60% of what I bid for it, and I absorb all shipping costs. I was half asleep, but not so asleep to realise that he was trying to rip me off twice. I looked up exactly what I had bid and told him that I wanted no less than my bid price.

He then amps up his ignorance to another level and demands that I also return the "freebies" he included: free AOL from Wal*Mart, demo CD of some one I'd never heard of (probably him and his buddies), and a book that he got from a library sale.

As a condition of my refund, I left him some lukewarm feedback on the condition that he'd refund my money via PAYPAL. Well, he unilaterally decides that a personal checque is just fine and mails me that instead of refunding my money via PayPal.

The amount of time left for resolution from PayPal was just a few days away and I was not about to cancel my claim and be stuck with a rubber checque and his unusable (and overpriced) software.

I decided to wait for PayPal's decision, and they chose in my favour. Upon PayPal's decision in my favour and refunding my money from the guy's account, I get another call at 6:30 AM from the same mental case accusing me of "going back on the deal". I tried to calmly explain to this imbecile that I never agreed to accept his personal checque, and that the amount of time for the decision from PayPal was sooner than the amount of time I would need to wait for his checque to clear.

He then spewed a stream of cuss words at me and stated that one couldn't trust any one any more. I agreed that I didn't trust him and hung up the phone. I always use PayPal when buying on eBay and have removed my home phone number from my eBay profile.

BTW, I sent him his worthless juncque, his rubber checque, and a few other items that were handy and mailed it all back to him at my own expense. PayPal never reimbursed me for my shipping costs both ways.

[55 Fargo]

I just recieved by US mail the 3 1948 Chrysler keys I bought from Ebay, there not even original style but Ilco blanks. The keys are 2 ignition and door keys, these also work in the trunk, and I also got 1 glovebox key. These items were $10.98, and he charged me $10 for shipping. The price of the postage was $1.00, what was the other $9.00 for, gas and effort. I was not going to buy these keys, but had already hit the buy now button, Ebay was generating negatives about me, so I bought these items to restore my credibility, talk about a farce...............Fred