In recent months when looking at purchases on ebay I have noticed some crazy shipping cost. Has the US mail rates gone up recently or are they just taking advantage of people? I mean some of the items would cost next to nothing to ship but i'm seeing $10 or $11 dollar price tags.
Yeah, they're gouging people. I was going to buy a $10.50 pendant, until I saw shipping was $9.50. So, a $10.50 pendant suddenly jumps to $20? Um, you can keep it!
Quote from: Count_Zirock on June 28, 2012, 03:30:51 AM
Yeah, they're gouging people. I was going to buy a $10.50 pendant, until I saw shipping was $9.50. So, a $10.50 pendant suddenly jumps to $20? Um, you can keep it!
Bingo! I wish there was a way to turn people in for that or for ebay to moderate but I guys that could be hard?
In ebay seller's defense, the cost to ship has gotten out of hand at the P.O. for all shipping. Even the smaller boxes average $7-$10 to ship these days, esp. cross country, if you want the item sent with any care and padding.
To save money by buying on ebay, the shipping is part of the game, just like taxes at the store. Usually the money saved makes postage irrelevant. Example, I bought a $50-$60 set of NOS vintage hub cap locks last week for $6.50, +$4.00 or something shipping (granted, they are small). Same goes for DVDs, CDs, etc. Can't beat savings like that.
Quote from: Monster Bob on June 28, 2012, 08:56:10 AM
In ebay seller's defense, the cost to ship has gotten out of hand at the P.O. for all shipping. Even the smaller boxes average $7-$10 to ship these days, esp. cross country, if you want the item sent with any care and padding.
To save money by buying on ebay, the shipping is part of the game, just like taxes at the store. Usually the money saved makes postage irrelevant. Example, I bought a $50-$60 set of NOS vintage hub cap locks last week for $6.50, +$4.00 or something shipping (granted, they are small). Same goes for DVDs, CDs, etc. Can't beat savings like that.
There are some good deals out there that's for sure. I have saved $1,000s on books. And with me I don't mind a gently read book so I can't beat that.
I don't use eBay often at all. But, I know the pendant I was going to order was small enough to fit in a ring box. I've shipped stuff bigger than that, 2-Day Priority, for less than $6. $9.50 is just gouging, period. Charge an extra couple of bucks for the pendant (it wasn't an auction, it's a set price), but don't try to make a fool out of me with your shipping charges.
Quote from: Count_Zirock on June 28, 2012, 02:41:35 PM
I don't use eBay often at all. But, I know the pendant I was going to order was small enough to fit in a ring box. I've shipped stuff bigger than that, 2-Day Priority, for less than $6. $9.50 is just gouging, period. Charge an extra couple of bucks for the pendant (it wasn't an auction, it's a set price), but don't try to make a fool out of me with your shipping charges.
ya i've seen many cases where things were over priced.
Considering ebay now takes a percentage of the total sale (including shipping fees), gas is sky high, packing materials are sky high, and the post offices raises its rates seemingly twice a day.....I am not at all surprised that they are estimating high.
I sell plenty of crap on ebay. I almost always get burned on shipping because I estimate low, and somebody living halfway across the US takes advantage of the fact and jumps on it. Not to defend someone who could be gouging (I dont know everyone on ebay), but I have had people whine and cry about shipping costs if they are even 50 cents higher than what the little label reads when it arrives to their home.
I would rather have someone keep the 50 cents and make sure my product is packed correctly, and arrives safely as a buyer. But I can see all sides of this argument being both a collector and an occasional seller.
You should see the U.K rates from the U.S if you really want to cry, I agree that combining shipping is the best option but it is very rare to get a few items in the one place. Then again Ebay has a set amount of fixed posting which stings the seller badly. I have even paid double the amount on posting and the buyer still give me a bad feedback so I don't sell anymore. In fact i just the site to look now and again at what people are selling, I've not bought anything in months, good for the bank but bad for the collector in me.
Shipping costs have gone way up. If your item is a couple pounds, it moves into zone rates and it will depend on how far your seller is from you. A 2lb package could cost $5.30 to $10.40 depending on the zone. A 2lb1oz package could cost $6.05 to $13.85. If the seller has an item they think is about 2lbs. they could get burned by $3.45 if it goes an ounce over. Sell an item for $10 and lose eBay fees, PayPal fees, and then $3.45 on shipping a couple times and see how that $2.27 you are left over with feels.
I don't know about setting up an item via www.ebay.com (http://www.ebay.com), but here in Oz [www.ebay.com.au] a seller enters all package dimensions and the postage is calculated automatically by eBay accordingly depending on the buyer's post- or zip-code. The seller has no other direct input on this. Australia Post and eBay appear to have co-automated the whole procedure.
...and big heavy items like statues and such can easily hit the $30-$50 range, closer to $100 depending on the speed and company.
It's been years since I was a regular seller on Ebay. These days it's very infrequent. When I was a regular seller, though, I only charger exact postage. If I overestimated the cost of postage, I refunded the difference. A lot of buyers were pretty shocked by this. If I underestimated, then I took the fall for it. I packed things extremely well and shipped all over the world. Customers raved over the care I took in packing my times, many of them valuable comics. Never charged for handling or packaging materials. I made do with boxes and packing materials from incoming shipments from the place where I was working at the time.
I can accept charges above the price pf postage if some effort was put into the packing. I remember getting a program from a Meat Loaf concert tour that came in a manila envelope with no cardboard on anything. Heck, I've heard nightmare stories of people getting comic books sent this way. I understand costs have gone up, but there are those out there that do overinflate their shipping charges. Sometimes it's just a matter of integrity.
Rob
Quote from: Anton Phibes on June 28, 2012, 03:13:16 PM
Considering ebay now takes a percentage of the total sale (including shipping fees), gas is sky high, packing materials are sky high, and the post offices raises its rates seemingly twice a day.....I am not at all surprised that they are estimating high.
I sell plenty of crap on ebay. I almost always get burned on shipping because I estimate low, and somebody living halfway across the US takes advantage of the fact and jumps on it. Not to defend someone who could be gouging (I dont know everyone on ebay), but I have had people whine and cry about shipping costs if they are even 50 cents higher than what the little label reads when it arrives to their home.
I would rather have someone keep the 50 cents and make sure my product is packed correctly, and arrives safely as a buyer. But I can see all sides of this argument being both a collector and an occasional seller.
Oh i don't mind if it's a few bucks over but when your mailing a Remco mini monster or a AHi monster (example)and your wanting $10 or $12 bucks for shipping it's hard to swallow. now larger items like statues and what not i'm expecting crazy shipping just for weight and packing materials.
I too have seen all sides. I have paid 25 bucks for shipping a number of times to get custom knives from the UK. I don't complain but sometimes consider the cost of shipping into the item to see how high I want to bid and there are a few times that the shipping drives me away from the item.
I have seen sellers underestimate the shipping too and with a few items I have had shipped to me here in the South Pacific I know a few dealers that have lost a some bucks on shipping. I always appreciate them as they do not complain, at least not to me anyway.
However, there is another side to that. There are sellers who make money off shipping. I live in Virginia and purchased several items from a guy in NC. What he charged for shipping was double what ended up on the box. I called him out on it and his response was he "averages" for all over the country. I countered with so I am paying higher so some customer on the other side of the country can pay less. Needless to say, he did not refund the difference as he should have and he lost a good well paying customer.
The right thing to do is refund the few bucks to make the customer happy and keep that customer buying your products. That is called customer service.
I saw something new recently though where, while paying for an item the shipping was automatically recalculated depending on which address I decided to send it to. At least that is a feature some of the sellers have figured out how to use. I don't mind that at all. I will pay honest shipping as long as I am not gouged and find out about it later.
When a seller pockets what turned out to be 7 bucks in the case I mentioned so he can "average" it then NO, that is not a fair business practice.
It is also amazing how unintelligent some sellers are in that respect. This guy actually thought he was making a reasonable assertion when it is as unreasonable as can be. You can't charge one customer more so that another can pay less. That is rediculous.
Always look at the cost printed on the box when a package arrives and compare it to what you were charged. I think you will find in some cases a seller might have underestimated and lost money and in other cases you might be gouged. If a seller refunds the difference then they are demonstrating they are fair minded and reasonable. If they don't, well, you make the call. You can choose to never deal with them again and offer negative feedback.
Most sellers try to be reasonable but there are those who will use whatever tool necessary to make extra money so buyer beware.
Good topic though.
I have also experienced a Shill bidding scam that Ebay seems to be condoning in case anyone wants to discuss Ebay's stance on that.
Quote from: Wolf Man on June 29, 2012, 09:29:13 PM
I too have seen all sides. I have paid 25 bucks for shipping a number of times to get custom knives from the UK. I don't complain but sometimes consider the cost of shipping into the item to see how high I want to bid and there are a few times that the shipping drives me away from the item.
I have seen sellers underestimate the shipping too and with a few items I have had shipped to me here in the South Pacific I know a few dealers that have lost a some bucks on shipping. I always appreciate them as they do not complain, at least not to me anyway.
However, there is another side to that. There are sellers who make money off shipping. I live in Virginia and purchased several items from a guy in NC. What he charged for shipping was double what ended up on the box. I called him out on it and his response was he "averages" for all over the country. I countered with so I am paying higher so some customer on the other side of the country can pay less. Needless to say, he did not refund the difference as he should have and he lost a good well paying customer.
The right thing to do is refund the few bucks to make the customer happy and keep that customer buying your products. That is called customer service.
I saw something new recently though where, while paying for an item the shipping was automatically recalculated depending on which address I decided to send it to. At least that is a feature some of the sellers have figured out how to use. I don't mind that at all. I will pay honest shipping as long as I am not gouged and find out about it later.
When a seller pockets what turned out to be 7 bucks in the case I mentioned so he can "average" it then NO, that is not a fair business practice.
It is also amazing how unintelligent some sellers are in that respect. This guy actually thought he was making a reasonable assertion when it is as unreasonable as can be. You can't charge one customer more so that another can pay less. That is rediculous.
Always look at the cost printed on the box when a package arrives and compare it to what you were charged. I think you will find in some cases a seller might have underestimated and lost money and in other cases you might be gouged. If a seller refunds the difference then they are demonstrating they are fair minded and reasonable. If they don't, well, you make the call. You can choose to never deal with them again and offer negative feedback.
Most sellers try to be reasonable but there are those who will use whatever tool necessary to make extra money so buyer beware.
Good topic though.
I have also experienced a Shill bidding scam that Ebay seems to be condoning in case anyone wants to discuss Ebay's stance on that.
This is an honest question and not intended to be snarky: Why would you not offer to cover the additional shipping charges when the sellers estimate low? That would seem fair to me if you complain about paying too much when they estimate high...
Honestly, if a seller doesn't know where an item is going, he has to make a judgment that is fair, where he doesn't lose too much or gain too much. I don't know if the price your seller charged was a fair estimate for shipping within the continental US for your particular item, but the fact of the matter is sellers can lose or gain money on shipping depending where an item goes, and they do have to estimate and make their final numbers balance. I think most honest sellers hope that their numbers balance in the end, without the sellers or the buyers paying too much or too little. It doesn't always work, but I think that is the goal.
And your own post is an admission that it does balance itself. Sometimes sellers overestimate; other times, they underestimate. Sometimes buyers get good deals on shipping; other times, they pay too much.
Personally, if shipping seems to be within 4 dollars of what I'd consider reasonable, I don't complain or question it and bid on the item. I pay the shipping that is listed, and I don't care how much it actually cost, because I agreed to that amount. If shipping doesn't look reasonable, I skip it.
If at any time a seller complained to me that they misjudged the shipping I would gladly offer the difference. I don't want to see them take a hit. If they don't mention it then I figure they are fine with it or have made enough profit on the item to make it work. I don't always notice as long as the shipping is close. I have only complained once about the shipping and that was to the case I cited. The reason was that it was not the first time I purchased from the seller. He sells very expensive custom made knives. Being a repeat customer, which means he knew exactly how much an item would cost to ship to my exact address and discovering the over charge on the shipping I brought it up to him. Had he reacted with regret and offered to refund the difference I would have continued to search and bid on his items. His reaction of "averaging" leaving me to make up the difference, a seven dollar difference for someone else who is paying less is not only unreasonable but ridiculous. That told me a lot about his intelligence and character so I refuse to buy anything else from him.
I also have never complained about the shipping being a dollar or two off. However, it is the responsibility of the sellers to know what they are doing with "their" business and that also means the shipping costs.
As I said, there is a feature that when you go to make payment it adjusts the shipping costs depending on which address you ship it to. I have several addresses and when I chose to have something sent here and noticed a six dollar jump in shipping I made no complaint and actually admired the seller for using that program. Other sellers who don't manage their business well or make mistakes I have a lot of patience with as long as they are reasonable and will make amends. When they are stubborn, or blame one customer for something another did to them and make excuses then NO, they deserve to have their Ebay business fail, get negative feedback and have problems with customers until they are run off Ebay.
Reasonable goes both ways and a person reaps what they sow.
Thanks for clarifying. I am sorry to hear that that guy wouldn't treat you better since you had done business before.
I agree that businesses should definitely know what they are doing in terms of shipping and handling.
Most of the time, I don't deal with businesses on eBay, though. I just deal with regular folks cleaning house, and I don't expect them to know how to use special calculators and whatnot. But it is nice when those pop up, though they can be incorrect too! So I just avoid the obvious gougers from the get-go and roll with the punches for everything else. And I definitely take advantage of the "free shipping" when I can (usually from businesses). That's always great.
Even better a person list an item...Overprices the item, charges high shipping then sends me a copy from their color printer that has white bands on picture due to low ink or non printer head alignment. When I asked to fix problem the sellers said that she stated very clear on description it was a copy... Again I said yeah you worded the item in title in a way that I though it was real. she then gets back to me after I asked for a refund, that shipping will not be refunded? Talking about customer service. I told her I have been selling since 1997 and said you are wrong Paypal will refund me the total purchase... What really gets me going is that I stated " make it right go to any office depot or staples and make me a color copy and would even repay the shipping." Still the idiot does not respond...Looking to give her her first negative feedback and my first....Here is the kicker...SHE HAS A FEEDBACK RATING OF...14875 100% WoW!!! I am about to change that. I hate sellers that take advantage like that an eBay lets them.
This isn't really about the folks who miss judge by a buck or 2 it's really about the obvious. Here's a example. A month or so ago i bought a lot of figues that had 2 AHi figures in it with 2 other mixed dolls the shipping from scotland was like $11bucks give or take. The box got here in about a week so imagine it was some kinda priority. now recently i was checking out some other Ahi figures on ebay and many had prices that were similar to what i paid for something from scotland that had more figures in there. And i realize it's only $5 bucks or so but when it seems more and more to be common practice to over charge it's not cool. And the only reason I even made this thread is I'm noticing it a lot. I wish ebay could really monitor this more to help people from getting taken advantage of sellers and buyers a like.
Quote from: houseoftheunusual on June 29, 2012, 11:28:57 PM
Even better a person list an item...Overprices the item, charges high shipping then sends me a copy from their color printer that has white bands on picture due to low ink or non printer head alignment. When I asked to fix problem the sellers said that she stated very clear on description it was a copy... Again I said yeah you worded the item in title in a way that I though it was real. she then gets back to me after I asked for a refund, that shipping will not be refunded? Talking about customer service. I told her I have been selling since 1997 and said you are wrong Paypal will refund me the total purchase... What really gets me going is that I stated " make it right go to any office depot or staples and make me a color copy and would even repay the shipping." Still the idiot does not respond...Looking to give her her first negative feedback and my first....Here is the kicker...SHE HAS A FEEDBACK RATING OF...14875 100% WoW!!! I am about to change that. I hate sellers that take advantage like that an eBay lets them.
with customer service like that sounds like she just got lucky till this point.
When ever a seller says to read the description carefully that is a red flag for buyer beware.
I sold an Ipad 2 to someone in Netherlands. I told them to pay $43.00 shipping since I thought that was enough since I wanted to have item insured for the $450.00 I sold it for...Turns out that the only way to insure for that amount to the location, I had to use Express mail...Total cost $76.43 shipping...$40.00 eBay fee about $21.00 PayPal fee and then eBay cans me because I suggested he pay me direct through PayPal. I was suspended for 60 days...YOU SEE EBAY GIVES THE WORD SUCK A NEW MEANING!!! Trying to keep the customer happy I lost over $100.00.
Here is another eBay scam...They said in order to protect the customer they now also charge a fee on shipping??? Lets see they get listing fees, final value fees, PayPal fees, wait now also shipping fees. The only customer they help is their pockets. They could put other things to stop wrong shipping practice....But why should they it would only be the honest thing, but wait their pockets would really hurt. Its like if you and me charged !0% weekly on money we loan someone...We would be arrested, but wait a minute it is very ethical for companies to give payday loans and charge over 400% interest...WOW what gives? Where the heck is honesty now a days.
I know that eBay is becoming very unfriendly to regular folks, and the new shipping fees are just plain silly.
I have an eBay store and sell items everyday. I try to keep shipping costs as low as I can, but it always seems like the postal services keep raising the rates, especially for overseas. And, as the prices go up, postal offices are closing and shipping takes longer.
But, there are some sellers that have a ridiculous amount for shipping. Some also use the trick of pricing the item very low and raising the shipping very high to cover the item price.
Shipping is definitely getting out of control!
The biggest thing I use ebay for is usually Hot Wheels or something monster related--basically small items inside the continental U.S. so shipping has never been a big issue before.....now I see what's going on. Sellers seem to be putting a BIN price that is fairly reasonable on the item...but jacking up shipping through the roof.
So 3 current, carded Hot Wheels are 10.00 to ship?? Are you nuts? Put the damn things in a bubble envelope and shipping is 4.00 at most. At the end of the deal you want me to pay $20.00 for three $.89 cars that I just can't find on the pegs right now????
Whatever dude, guess I'll have to miss out.
Quote from: BlackLagoon on July 04, 2012, 10:02:15 PM
Shipping is definitely getting out of control!
The biggest thing I use ebay for is usually Hot Wheels or something monster related--basically small items inside the continental U.S. so shipping has never been a big issue before.....now I see what's going on. Sellers seem to be putting a BIN price that is fairly reasonable on the item...but jacking up shipping through the roof.
So 3 current, carded Hot Wheels are 10.00 to ship?? Are you nuts? Put the damn things in a bubble envelope and shipping is 4.00 at most. At the end of the deal you want me to pay $20.00 for three $.89 cars that I just can't find on the pegs right now????
Whatever dude, guess I'll have to miss out.
I've had several situations like that with small items.
I sell on ebay fairly regularly and I often lowball shipping. With Paypal, you are supposed to use tracking and they recommend insurance (although I skip it for items under $40), frankly it is hard to ship an item cheaply anymore.
i used to purchase 90% of my items from the u,s as we dont have most of what i want here in the uk
but the shipping from the u,s to the uk has got out of control now so has made my collecting not as enjoyable
as it was i find what i am looking for but cant afford to ship it crazy....
Quote from: BlackLagoon on July 04, 2012, 10:02:15 PM
Shipping is definitely getting out of control!
So 3 current, carded Hot Wheels are 10.00 to ship?? Are you nuts? Put the damn things in a bubble envelope and shipping is 4.00 at most. At the end of the deal you want me to pay $20.00 for three $.89 cars that I just can't find on the pegs right now????
And there is one of my pet peeves- guys tossing your stuff in a padded envelope, so that when your item arrives everything is crushed. Put mine in a BOX, which is how I ship most of the time.
If you have ever been to a large postal facility, you will see hundreds of packages being dumped, chuted, and piled in huge endless bins. Envelopes will not provide the least bit of protection from this, and the contents of most parcels end up damaged.
Quote from: Monster Bob on July 05, 2012, 07:26:07 AM
And there is one of my pet peeves- guys tossing your stuff in a padded envelope, so that when your item arrives everything is crushed. Put mine in a BOX, which is how I ship most of the time.
If you have ever been to a large postal facility, you will see hundreds of packages being dumped, chuted, and piled in huge endless bins. Envelopes will not provide the least bit of protection from this, and the contents of most parcels end up damaged.
I agree I hate padded envelopes. I recently had to return a vincent price box set and they returned my set in a padded envelope and it the box it came in was crushed. I emailed them back no response. and to tope it off my Dr.Phibes only works on a ps3 so i'm pissed.
Quote from: scorpio on July 05, 2012, 04:26:54 AM
i used to purchase 90% of my items from the u,s as we dont have most of what i want here in the uk
but the shipping from the u,s to the uk has got out of control now so has made my collecting not as enjoyable
as it was i find what i am looking for but cant afford to ship it crazy....
I have the opposite problem. As a knife collector some of the better damascus knives are coming from the UK. I have to factor in the very high shipping cost to see if I want to pay that much to get the darn thing. It makes what could be a reasonable price become unreasonable in an instant. So I am right there with you man.
Quote from: Toy Ranch on June 28, 2012, 03:36:01 PM
Shipping costs have gone way up. If your item is a couple pounds, it moves into zone rates and it will depend on how far your seller is from you. A 2lb package could cost $5.30 to $10.40 depending on the zone. A 2lb1oz package could cost $6.05 to $13.85. If the seller has an item they think is about 2lbs. they could get burned by $3.45 if it goes an ounce over. Sell an item for $10 and lose eBay fees, PayPal fees, and then $3.45 on shipping a couple times and see how that $2.27 you are left over with feels.
Yup Bobby, we've experienced precisely that recently.
good box from 1.50 to 5.00 bucks delivery confirmation.fee.. priority ship fee.....paypal fee...... and then your time............box overseas good size shipping 30.00 to 80.00 bucks .. just a comic book could cost 6.00 bucks...big john
Quote from: ICEMANN333 on July 08, 2012, 11:25:33 AM
good box from 1.50 to 5.00 bucks delivery confirmation.fee.. priority ship fee.....paypal fee...... and then your time............box overseas good size shipping 30.00 to 80.00 bucks .. just a comic book could cost 6.00 bucks...big john
See these prices actually seem reasonable compared to what i've seen. I've seen things like monster charms or a remco mini have shipping cost around $9 0r $10 bucks. And of coarse i would like to allow some money for supplies but lately it's hard to imagine that when you get your items in boxes that were of some house hold items and bubble wrap that looked like it came from 60's lol!
Quote from: horror1o1 on July 08, 2012, 02:02:48 PM
See these prices actually seem reasonable compared to what i've seen. I've seen things like monster charms or a remco mini have shipping cost around $9 0r $10 bucks. And of coarse i would like to allow some money for supplies but lately it's hard to imagine that when you get your items in boxes that were of some house hold items and bubble wrap that looked like it came from 60's lol!
Hey dude, you don't think you're getting vintage bubble wrap like that on the cheap do ya??
Quote from: Scatter on July 08, 2012, 07:17:39 PM
Hey dude, you don't think you're getting vintage bubble wrap like that on the cheap do ya??
Maybe that's why it's so expensive? LOL! ;)