Excessive shipping charges?

[Yankwood]

http://cgi.ebay.com/GAME-USED-JOHN-KRUK-K48-LOUISVILLE-SLUGGER-BAT_W0QQitemZ110146465376QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item1 10146465376, I thought he was shipping the bat, not Kruk himself.

[camarokids]

And then he tries to add insurance (optional) . When you ship something UPS , the first $100 is automatically covered . So more padding for the seller.....

[bigtruck260]

Had to search for this thread, rather than bring up a new one.
Kind of upset today. Not only is it freezing and POURING outside today in STL, I just got a shipment of 2 great bats that I have been wanting for some time.

The seller (eBay) charged $15 per bat shipping in seperate auctions. I went ahead and paid $30 as I got a good deal on the bats, and I figured - I didn't feel at the time that it was worth crying about.

HOWEVER, when the bats got here (in the same box) crammed in with a lone piece of paper towel for protection I kinda flipped...the shipping cost was $6.95 plus box, I guess. He is only about 40 miles away. I figured that for $30, I would at LEAST get seperate boxes since one bat is black and the other is blonde. Both have sigs on them too.

Maybe I shouldn't be ticked off - but dang, this dude just made more than $20 in shipping charges. Both bats together were less than $50 (2x25)

Don't gouge on shipping. It is not good for business.

Dave

[Vintagedeputy]

For $30, I would have driven the 40 miles to deliver the bats myself...........


Jim

[10thMan]

One of my biggest "peeves"...You buy a nice SIGNED Bat & they ship it with NO CONCERN for the auto...Amazing how often I see this...I`m waiting for 5 Bats as I type, 4 of them are signed. We`ll see...The guys I`ve bought from on here have been good about packaging. I thought Ebay was "cracking down" on unreasonable SHIPPING CHARGES???
Sean

[cigarman44]

I just got the Mabry from that seller as well Dave. Hopefully it will arrive in one piece!

[DRILLINDK]

Had to search for this thread, rather than bring up a new one.
Kind of upset today. Not only is it freezing and POURING outside today in STL, I just got a shipment of 2 great bats that I have been wanting for some time.

The seller (eBay) charged $15 per bat shipping in seperate auctions. I went ahead and paid $30 as I got a good deal on the bats, and I figured - I didn't feel at the time that it was worth crying about.

HOWEVER, when the bats got here (in the same box) crammed in with a lone piece of paper towel for protection I kinda flipped...the shipping cost was $6.95 plus box, I guess. He is only about 40 miles away. I figured that for $30, I would at LEAST get seperate boxes since one bat is black and the other is blonde. Both have sigs on them too.

Maybe I shouldn't be ticked off - but dang, this dude just made more than $20 in shipping charges. Both bats together were less than $50 (2x25)

Don't gouge on shipping. It is not good for business.

Dave

Truck,

Your telling me! I had to drive all the way back from CHI to STL in this crap.

[bigtruck260]

I just got the Mabry from that seller as well Dave. Hopefully it will arrive in one piece!

Hey Joe -


Just talked to the seller. He understood where I was coming from and told me he failed to let common sense prevail. He did offer to refund me $15 - but I let him know that excessive shipping does not get return business from me. Since he is selling Cardinal bats - there are a few of us who know about it.

Since I paid the $30, I told him to keep it as a gift and to have a nice holiday. I don't hold grudges...he apologized and offered a refund. Good enough for me...and man, these are some nice bats!

Dave

[Birdbats]

Dave, I also won two bats (black and natural, both signed) from this seller and had the same thing happen to me... except I wrote him after the auction and asked if he could combine shipping. Here's what he wrote back:

That puts shipping around $22. If you prefer to have me ship them separately then I would need to charge the $30. IF shipping ends up well under the $22 I will refund a portion of it. I am unfamiliar with shipping bats, but want to be fair.

The actual cost of shipping was $6.95 for the two bats (and the paper towel :)).

I've met this seller before and he's a nice guy. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt since he acknowledged being unfamiliar with shipping bats and offered a refund if the actual shipping cost was "well under the $22." Now that the difference is known to be $14.05, I'm hoping he'll keep his word without me asking for anything.

[B1SON]

Interesting thread. My opinion and take it for what it is, an opinion, is that Ebay gouges too much money out of us. So, if a seller advertises a high shipping charge and a low oepning bid, when I am figuring how much it will cost me, I am figuring in the shipping. By doing it that way, I pay less for the actual item and Ebay doesn't take as much money from the seller. They way I see it is the little man wins and big business doesn't. So, I have NO PROBLEM with sellers asking a lot of shipping as long as it is fully disclosed when the auction is opened. If it doesn't say "will combine shipping" then don't assume they will and your right don't allow them to combine the items shipped either like this guy did but collected seperate shipping charges. Anyway, you got a steal because everyone say how much shipping was as well and calculated that into their maximum bid.

[ahuff]

Interesting thread. My opinion and take it for what it is, an opinion, is that Ebay gouges too much money out of us. So, if a seller advertises a high shipping charge and a low oepning bid, when I am figuring how much it will cost me, I am figuring in the shipping. By doing it that way, I pay less for the actual item and Ebay doesn't take as much money from the seller. They way I see it is the little man wins and big business doesn't. So, I have NO PROBLEM with sellers asking a lot of shipping as long as it is fully disclosed when the auction is opened. If it doesn't say "will combine shipping" then don't assume they will and your right don't allow them to combine the items shipped either like this guy did but collected seperate shipping charges. Anyway, you got a steal because everyone say how much shipping was as well and calculated that into their maximum bid.

Well said, and I agree 100%. That is they way I bid, as well. I figure that other costs go into the shipping, also. I think people who buy and sell realize this. The ones I see complain typically are the ones that have never sold on ebay, but just buy. These fees are ones that I may never see when I recieve the package. For example, some boxes cost (boxes can be very expensive unless you recycly boxes or use USPS priority), the packaging materials cost, gas to the post office costs (not everyone lives real close to one), and a persons time is worth something (especially if someones asks to ship overseas - that paperwork can be insane - or has special requests). I believe ebay even states shipping as "shipping and handling" on the bottom of the listing. I love reading peoples feedback and see that negatives were left for "too high of shipping". Then you look at the auction, and it was clearly stated in the auction how much shipping was. I've even seen people complain when the rate is within the normal range for shipping rates offered on ebay. Those feedbacks are a class act :confused:

[cohibasmoker]

Interesting thread. My opinion and take it for what it is, an opinion, is that Ebay gouges too much money out of us. So, if a seller advertises a high shipping charge and a low oepning bid, when I am figuring how much it will cost me, I am figuring in the shipping. By doing it that way, I pay less for the actual item and Ebay doesn't take as much money from the seller. They way I see it is the little man wins and big business doesn't. So, I have NO PROBLEM with sellers asking a lot of shipping as long as it is fully disclosed when the auction is opened. If it doesn't say "will combine shipping" then don't assume they will and your right don't allow them to combine the items shipped either like this guy did but collected seperate shipping charges. Anyway, you got a steal because everyone say how much shipping was as well and calculated that into their maximum bid.

Good call. You and I think alike. I ALWAYS consider shipping charges before I bid. Sometimes it's not always the seller's fault. All shipping charges, especially offered by the USPS are getting out of hand but unless we open a shipping service, what can you do?

Jim

[bigtruck260]

Well, I sell as much as I buy...if not more. I always combine shipping and charge actual. My complaint was not that the shipping charges were high...I agreed to pay them. The complaint was that two different color bats with autographs on them were shippied in the same box with NO protection for the bats or the autos. I knew what the shipping charges would be, and I did not ask him to combine shipping. I paid in full for both items...no questions asked.

For that amount of money $30 - and the actual shipping charges being only $7 - I expected to have the bats shipped seperately OR at least in a box proteceted with tubes or something. The blonde bat has black streaks on it that may have been caused by being shipped unprotected with the black bat.

I list items for the MINIMUM I want to get for them. Gouging on shipping may be a way to make up for a low sale - I guess, but I don't do it.

I just bought a bat from Jeff Scott on eBay for $30. He listed the same bat on his site for $65. Shipping was actual. Jeff listed the bat for the minimum he wanted or needed for it. It might not have been the most profitable sale, but he didn't complain. He is about the most ethical person in this business, and I appreciate the way he does things...most GU sellers are good about combining/packaging. This complaint was a rare one for me. I have never left negative feedback for shipping charges. As a buyer, it is inevitable that I will have to pay some outrageous shipping costs for something that is either rare - or I HAVE to have it. I do factor that into that buying price.

Dave

[B1SON]

To say someone charges excessive shipping to make up for a low sale would mean that the shipping was not disclosed until it was sold??? I am talking about if he added $20 extra to the shipping charge and then opened the bid at $10 instead of $30. He pays no Ebay fees on the extra $20 and hopefully he kicks some of that back to his customers. Is it ethical? Maybe not, BUT alot of the support Ebay gives customers and the excessive fees they confuse you with and tack on might not be ethical either. Does one wrong deserve another? I don't really know. BUT, I can tell you I don't fault a seller if they do AND their shipping charge is their shipping charge, its none of my business how they arrive at it. Just like it is none of my business how they arrive at their opening bid amount. I can take it or leave it. Bottom line is that if I bought a bat that I wanted to pay $101.00 for and I won it for $1.00 plus $100.00 shipping (and it was disclosed that it was $100 in the auction), then I am happy when my bat arrives as expected for $101.00 and WHO CARES what he charged for shipping. I don't see it as "gouging" unless they tack extra on after the sale. For the record, I am just venting in general here abou shipping, I am in no way saying anyone imparticular said anything or did anything and I know that the original poster was venting that he paid seperate charges and had them shipped together (and not very carefully). I agree that he shouldn't have done that. Please don't anyone take offense to my post. My over all point is as long as it is disclosed in the auction how much shipping is, and my item arrives as described, there is no reason for me to analyze how much he actually paid to ship it or judge him for "gouging on shipping".

[bigtruck260]

No offense taken...you know exactly where I was coming from:D

I understand your point of view too. In my instance, the seller admitted that he overcharged and offered me a refund (I figured that since there were two orders, he would not combine unless I asked, which I did not.)
And shipped two bats carelessly.

If someone charges $100 for shipping, and someone buys thier item, then they are required to pay that amount. It bothers me too when sellers get dinged on feedback because a buyer did not read the shipping charges carefully.

I do think sometimes excessive shipping is just that - excessive. I see 1 cent baseball cards listed with $4.50 shipping...I have ordered these and they come in a plain white envelope 99% of the time. Now, packing materials are minimal (envelope and top loader/sleeve) they do not even have to drive to the PO - they just put it in their mailbox to be picked up.

As a buyer who cares about quality and a seller who has empathy for my buyers, I do not charge much more than shipping and materials. For $4.50, the person who buys a penny card from me would get it in a bubble mailer, insured, delivery confimation. A white envelope shows little regard for your customers considering how often mail is damaged.

The same applies with my 2 bats in one box with no packing materials. I assumed for $30, I would at least have the items packaged so that they would not be damaged. I assumed incorrectly. Not everyone has the same penchant for quality that I have - and I understand this. What I got was the equivalent of a white envelope.

Just seems that it makes more sense to ship that bat for $10 and increase the minimum bid to $40 instead of $25. Again, we all share a difference of opinion and it is good to hear the other points of view.

Dave

[otismalibu]

I agree that you just need to factor the shipping cost into the total cost of the item. It actually seems to be an advantage for the buyer sometimes...meaning less competition. Someone might bid on a $4 baseball card that has $1 shipping, but pass on the $1 card with $4 shipping because the seller is clearly a dirty rotten gouger.

Some people get worked up when the actual postage is less than the quoted postage. And sometimes even when it's a small amount.

If you print your own Paypal postage, you can opt to have no postage price on the label. ;)

[B1SON]

Someone might bid on a $4 baseball card that has $1 shipping, but pass on the $1 card with $4 shipping because the seller is clearly a dirty rotten gouger.


I couldn't agree more, BUT I also never throw my hands in the air and scream when the card I thought I was getting such a good deal on was actually not such a great deal because I discovered they did not spend the entire $4 on shipping! Ok, I'll quit ranting now! ;)

[TNTtoys]

Bottom line is that if I bought a bat that I wanted to pay $101.00 for and I won it for $1.00 plus $100.00 shipping (and it was disclosed that it was $100 in the auction), then I am happy when my bat arrives as expected for $101.00 and WHO CARES what he charged for shipping.
You talk about an item worth about $100... if the price is the same in the end (whether you pay $1.00 for shipping or $100), it's basically a "wash" for you...

Using ebay as a practical example...

For the seller, there are benefits to doing this. The most obvious one is that he gets to save a lot of money he would have paid out in fees (though he would be breaking an ebay rule and his item will be at risk of being removed for the duration of the listing).

For a buyer, there are no benefits. As soon as the item arrives, presuming it is exactly what was ordered, the buyer pays exactly the same as he would have.

What you're probably not seeing is the flip side to this. Suppose the item comes as "not as described"... suppose it doesn't arrive at all.
Suppose the seller has a "money back guarantee" (which normally comes with the fine print -- shipping not included) or suppose he does not respond to any of your complaints, leaving you to have to open a dispute with ebay. And let's say that the dispute is decided... What do you receive back? Is it the actual price of the item??? You're in trouble if so.

It pays to know your seller...

[B1SON]

TNT- I am not one to miss an angle, but I do give props to someone when I do. I never looked at it this way, I guess because in 12 years of dealing on Ebay I onl have gotten screwed once and Ebay helped me recover nothing. Your right thougth. It appears that the item is not as valuable under this sinario and if you don't get back your shipping your screwed.

[David]

I sold on eBay for a good number of years and never had a buyer bring up, much less offer to pay for, the difference when I undercharged for shipping (cost printed on the package they received was higher than what they paid). It was not a big deal for me as I was the one who set the price, but I would wonder how many of the people would have complained if the difference cost them instead of me.