wabio

I swear some of these folks are straight fleecing their bidders.

marty888

Ebay doesn't have shipping charges - individual sellers set their own. What do YOU think of shipping charges on the internet? Bet you like some, and think others are a rip-off - and you're right. So, like anything else, if you aren't happy with the terms, go somewhere else - different online store, different eBay seller.

Shamu

Some people make additional profit off of the shipping...sometimes to pay for the eBay charges and the PayPal charges.

Lurker1999

If you don't like the shipping policy go elsewhere. It's usually clearly stated and if you think it's too high move on. No big deal.

TexasGuy

S&H charges can be pretty high on eBay, but othertimes very reasonable. I personally don't care what someone charges me for shipping, as long as I know how much in advance so that I can consider it in my maximum bid.

I would never buy anything on eBay that does not specify shipping cost in advance.

djones6746

I charge $3.50 for shipping which is the cost of priority mail!!! There is no reason to fleece the customer since the post office provides you with the priority mail boxes free of charge!!!!

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THE 13TH WARRIOR OF THE OTHER FORUM/CODE NAME: LYNCH/TEAM 7

Jules Winfield's Other Forum Brother......
http://www.dvdtracker.com/~djones6746.asp


"You know Andy...I never thought it would come to this....Mayberry....Gateway to danger."

Barney Fife

msharkm

wabio,

I second marty888. But one more thing (and I'm not a seller on Ebay - yet). It's not 'shipping' - it's 'shipping and handling'. This can entail the purchasing of the materials AND the cost in time/effort to go to the post office and send it. Big companies may their stuff picked up from their warehouse - individuals may not have this luxury.

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www.toptopsecret.com

jimbo

I can only speak for myself but I try to only charge what it will actually cost me to ship the item. Sometimes I'm off by a little one way or the other either due to weight guesstimates or shipping rate changes by the post office

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www.bigfoot.com/~jcl

BigT

I sell mainly laser discs on Ebay, plus the occasional dvd. Shipping on dvds is reasonable - they're light and easily packed. Laser discs are a whole different matter. I nearly always ship priority because a.) priority boxes are free b.) it's normally, but not always, quicker.

I always add insurance, unless the buyer declines it (virtually never, unless he's foreign) and delivery confirmation (no choices here - this helps to protect me). For most of what I sell, parcel post is a little cheaper but not enough to justify it. Insurance is the real bugaboo - it's outragouesly overpriced. $1.10 for up to $50, $2 for up to $100 and $3.00 for up to $200, for just a few days exposure? I used to work in insurance - if we charged that much on anything, the state insurance commission would be on our tails.

So, the net result is that for a single disc laser disc, my minimum charge is $5.45. I charge nothing for packing. And I make no money on shipping, on laser disc or dvd. I do know that many I've bought laser discs from have taken a bath on shipping - have they never looked at a rate table?

Finally, I used PAYPAL and BILLPOINT instant purchase icons. These must have a pre-determined shipping cost. Insurance is based on my guess of what the item ought to sell for. Sometimes I'm a little off (very rarely, fortunately).

I am going to start exploring UPS, although, for me, it's more of a hassle. In as small town, UPS doesn't make it easy if you're not a business.

Stillwater

There was some dude on Ebay who was selling Cindy Crawford calendars for a starting bid of $.01. A couple of people actually got them for that price. Quite a bargain until you looked at the guy's shipping rate: $9.99!

I notice that in subsequent auctions for the same item, the same guy raised the starting bid to $3.01 and lowered the shipping to $6.99!

[This message has been edited by Stillwater (edited February 07, 2001).]

Duffman

quote:<HR>Originally posted by msharkm:
wabio,

I second marty888. But one more thing (and I'm not a seller on Ebay - yet). It's not 'shipping' - it's 'shipping and handling'. This can entail the purchasing of the materials AND the cost in time/effort to go to the post office and send it. Big companies may their stuff picked up from their warehouse - individuals may not have this luxury.

<HR>

I agree that shipping rates on ebay often are very high. Not always, but a lot of the time I know the guys are getting an extra buck or two.

And handling? C'mon. If you can't take the time to put stuff in abox and ship it out, maybe you shouldn't be selling stuff. I don't want to pay for your "hastle" in shipping something you want to sell. If you want to sell it, assume the responsability of "handling it". Granted some people have easier times of shipping stuff out, but why not consider that when selling it.



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Duffman says a lot of things

Patman

BigT, just make sure you can cite a source for whatever value you assign to a LD. I sold a dts LD of Dark City, had it insured, but then the USPS stomped on it. To get reimbursed for that LD, I had to find a place in the Netherland (ro-disc.nl) to get a price for that particular LD. Otherwise, no verifiably value (or receipt - as if people keep receipts of their LD purchases from years ago) or price for the LD, and that insurance you paid for is worthless and not honored by the USPS. If you insure it for $75, they are not just going to take your work for it, you have to be able to provide proof of value, and it's tough to do so for LDs these days.


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PatCave ;HT Pix ;Pat's DVDs

Josh-da-man

What irritates me about eBay sellers is that so many of them want you to pay $3.50+ for Priority Mail shipping for DVDs and CDs. I'm not a big fan of Priority Mail -- I think it's way overpriced. It's MUCH cheaper to use media rate, it's a little slower but I'd rather save a couple of dollars and wait a few days.

Reverenddave

As a seller on eBay, I can tell you why I ship all DVDs using Priority Mail. It's because the buyers will hold me responsible for any damage inflicted on the item. Priority Mail gets the item delivered in 2-3 days while Media Mail can take a week or longer. The faster it's in the buyer's hands, the less chance there is that the item will be damaged. Whether it's my fault or not, if they receive an item that was damaged enroute they'll be upset. It's not the Post Office that has to deal with the negative feedback at eBay, it's me.

The Priority boxes provided by the Post Office offer excellent protection and there's no additional charge. Shipping by Media Rate or First Class requires the purchase of materials like padded envelopes which can add $0.50 - $1.00. Both DVDs and CDs come in fragile cases, and I don't feel that padded envelopes provide adequate protection.

Finally, I can ship 3-4 DVDs for the initial $3.50 Priority charge. Therefore I can offer buyers "no additional S&H charge for extra DVDs". It helps me as the seller, because the buyers will often bid on some of my other auctions.

So there are my reasons for shipping all DVDs Priority Mail. My shipping terms are clearly stated in the auction's description. And all buyers should take that cost into consideration before placing a bid.

TLamm

Personal experience... 32 items bought on ebay (i live in canada) and not one has cost the posted shipping rate.. On average the seller posts 4 bucks US shipping, the actual stamps total a 1.50 to 2.50... 2 sellers have put a check in the box to cover the difference...

Based on the prices of the things i bought (or buy) i think the seller makes more on shipping then on the actual item..

But, you always have to factor the shipping rate into your bid, before you bid... If it looks to high for you don't bid..

Lurker1999

I've only sold one thing on ebay while I've been a member there and mainly been a buyer. I really find it incredibly funny that people are whining about shipping charges. My god, heaven forbid that the seller actually try to make a profit.

Priority mail allows you to use the post office's packaging materials not yours. Padded envelopes, boxes and bubblewrap do cost money. They are not free. Gas and time to take things to the post office are also a consideration. It's strange how people don't like to have their time wasted but expect sellers to give their time for free. Time is not a free commodity. It is completely reasonable for everyone to charge for their time.

Bottom line: If you don't like the shipping cost don't bid on the item. I've found plenty of auctions with low shipping costs and plenty of sellers are willing to combine auctions on multiple items.

Duffman

Are you whining about people whining? You're no different than any one else here. Are shipping prices high? Yeah, usually they are. Will that stop me from biddding? Probably not. I do factor the shipping into my bid price. But that doesn't mean I have to accept and like the large and usually overvalued shipping charges. And I still don't understand while some claim I should pay for their handling. They are choosing to sell their item. If they choose to sell it, why should I pay for something they want to do? If it takes so much time, etc.. to "handle" an item, then don't sell it.

Lurker1999

No, I'm not whining. I'm [b[snickering[/b]. If you don't want to pay above and beyond postage for shipping try other places to buy like half.com. But wait, half.com still charges the buyer more than postage for shipping. It must be to compensate the seller for packaging.

And I still find it rather humorous that people claim that time should be a free commodity and if you expect to charge for your time you should be doing something else.

salamander2

Well before you rip on some sellers prices, PLEASE remember that shipping rates have gone up. When I sell DVD, I charge 4.60, 3.50 for priority mail, and 1.10 for postral insurance, no handling fees, and I had bidders who get upset, claiming it can be mailed at 1.00!!! :eeks: So unless you have a link to a upsp site, you are going to get yelled by the bidders anyway, so I say whatever you can milk out of them, then congratulations. Me, I try hoensty, and get yelled alot!

Easy

Wrong! Sellers there get compensated slightly less than actual shipping cost. Half pockets the difference between their charge and what they compensate the seller.

Lurker1999

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Easy

Quote:

Wrong! Sellers there get compensated slightly less than actual shipping cost. Half pockets the difference between their charge and what they compensate the seller.

Actually you are wrong. Half compensates postage for approximately book rate (media mail) or priority mail shipping up to 2 pounds plus about 40 cents beyond for your packaging material. If you buy padded envelopes in bulk that roughly covers your cost per envelope. Half pockets the difference between that cost and what they charge the buyer as profit. Read the seller's manual more carefully next time.

http://www.half.com/help/index.cfm?h...ion=shipping_p

Duffman

Oh, so should I pay you for your precious time here on DVDtalk too? If your time is so precious, why even bother selling stuff on ebay? It can't be cost-effective for you to sell something with that extra $1-2 to compensate you for your time.

You want to sell something, then pay for the costs? You could list and ad in the newspaper, take some phone calls, and show people an item. If you did that, would ask the buyer to pay for your time to list the item in the paper, the time you took to spend on the phone, and the time it took to show the item? I hope not.

and I think you're missing the whole point of this thread. The guy asked if ebay shipping prices were high. I think it's been proven a lot of times they are. Not always, but a lot of times they are. That is a statement of fact. This may actually help someone in their decisions. You can still shop ebay, just be careful when you do.

Easy

Actually, I am correct.

Most people don't try to make a career out of selling junk on the internet and do not buy shipping materials in bulk. I admit that if you go to that extreme you may actually manage to break even on shipping. Wohoo!!

The statement I took issue with was this:
That is simply false. To the best of my knowledge, Half has never compensated sellers for "handling" or "packaging". If you are very lucky you may break even. Half (an ebay company) pockets the balance of what they charge as you state yourself.

Personally, I have always lost money on shipping. Only a few cents but it is still a loss. Why do I take the loss? People are looking for bargains. Excessively high charges piss off many and drive others away. Most people will not choose insurance or priority shipping. I always use delivery confirmation for my own protection and I pay the cost. Then again, I am not running a business. I am simply trying to recover some of the cost of things I no longer want. When I am buying I look for people I think are doing the same. One descriminator I use -- shipping charges.


[Edited by Easy on 02-10-01 at 11:59 AM]

BigT

As far as determining a value of a laser disc - I'm told by my local postal clerk, who I've know for a very long time, is that, for something sold on Ebay, your Ebay selling price fills the bill as proof of value and that all you need do is print the auction page. For those items you can't readily determine a value for, agreed, you're going to have problems. Fortunately, I've never had to make a claim. I'm really paranoid about packing when it comes to laser discs. I pack so that it's almost impossible to bend my packages in normal, or abnormal, handling. Really.

TexasGuy

Lurker1999,
I agree entirely and think you are on to something. In fact, after giving it some thought, buyers should receive a discount from the final price to compensate for their time too. After all, it takes time to search for your sale item, time to set up a paypal account, time to get stamps for payment, or time to get a money order. How about in my case, where the Post Office refuses to deliver packages to my apartment. I have to take my time to go pick them up at my apartment complex office! That's another 10-15 minutes of my time. Cha-Ching! Certainly, you will agree that if the seller's time is worth something, then the buyer's is worth something too, right?




[Edited by TexasGuy on 02-11-01 at 04:35 PM]