Excessive shipping charges?

[otismalibu]

Re: Excessive shipping charges?

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]

Re: Excessive shipping charges?

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]

Re: Excessive shipping charges?

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]

Re: Excessive shipping charges?

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]

Re: Excessive shipping charges?

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.