God I hate ripoff shipping costs on Ebay!

[trumad]

The link below is a perfect example. The Belkin wireless card comes in a box no more than a quarter of a pound. A Priority mail cost is normally around 6 bucks for something like that...This dude wants $17.99 for shipping.

A little note of advice for new Ebayers.... always check the shipping cost.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=45000&item=5748330237&rd=1

[LynneSin]

1. AMEN

These folks know they can make up for low bids by charging outrages shippings. I think EBAY should make a rule that shipping needs to be at cost - not inflated for profits

[brainshrub]

4. I disagree.

It takes a certain amount of work for a small retailer to put together a package.

I experimented with an ebay business. I was amazed at how much time I spent sending the packages, even when I had a system.

A small charge is reasonable... say $1 - $3 above shipping.

[grace0418]

21. It takes A LOT of time to make sure

the item is properly wrapped, packed, addressed and sent off. And the supplies aren't free. Not to mention standing in line at the post office. I'm supposed to do this for the dollar or two the person bid on the item? No freaking way!

[brainshrub]

2. With that much for shipping

it should be delivered by a private jet.

[kick-ass-bob]

3. I've noticed that.

I ship a lot of things for my business, and I see crap like that on eBay and just :eyes:

[BlueJazz]

5. Ain't that the truth!

I checked on some memory a while back and the person wanted $10.50
to shipped the little chip....what a prick!

[quispquake]

6. Yer not kidding...

I've been doing selling again, and I try to keep it as close to actual shipping & handling as possible...The fees that Ebay & Paypal charge the sellers does indeed get tacked on, but $17.99??? That's a COMPLETE ripoff (the seller will send that for $4.50 priority & pocket the rest).

[mopinko]

7. make sure they even ship

some people want to sell big ole stuff, but not bother to ship them at all. we almost bought a bed that we couldn't get. there was some distracting language in the listing that make it sound like he would ship it. fortunately, the guy re-listed it, and let us off the hook.

[tridim]

8. I've been ordering lots of R/C airplane stuff lately

and most companies I've dealt with use Priority Mail.. It's $5.00 flat and the stuff gets here in 3 days regardless of where it's shipped from. I'm amazed. Tell that guy to ship it Priority Mail instead.

[KurtNYC]

9. Ebay's pricing structure encourages this

The seller pays ebay (aka "fee-bay") based on the final selling price of the item. Ebay gets no commission on the shipping. But even with that, it does seem dishonest on the part of sellers.

[Lindacooks]

10. Complain to the seller about it.

I once bought some legos for a Christmas present, and the seller wanted $30.00 for shipping. I asked, where in the hell are you shipping from, Mars? He cut the price by $5.00, I said that's still too high, and he cut it by another $5.00. Still too high, but that's the best he would do, the little scalper. The box arrived, having cost $8.00 to ship.

The shipping costs were not displayed before the auction ended, which was the problem. ALWAYS, always check the shipping cost before you bid. If it isn't reasonable, don't bid on the item.

And if the seller tries to jack it up, complain to Ebay about it. They will mediate in some cases.

[w4rma]

11. High shipping prices are a way to set a "minimum bid" without having

to pay extra to ebay by setting the minimum bid the official way.

[FormerDittoHead]

12. Good advice - NEVER bid on ANYTHING w/o knowing shipping or PAYMENT option

I like to bid on auctions that are just about to end - sometimes it makes it difficult, but I'VE LEARNED MY LESSON!

PC whiteboxes sold on eBay are bone cheap, but they often want $50 and even $60 shipping! You'll get the PC, look at the receipt, and you'll see it was really like $22 shipping.

ALSO, STAY AWAY, STAY *FAR* AWAY from that Western Union Bidpay thing!

After buying a camera, I figured it was like Paypal, right? WRONG!

You're basically buying a money order they print out and mail - all for like $10!

[soothsayer]

17. learned those tips the hard way!

[mermaid]

13. Screw That, what I Hate On E-Bay Is SNIPERS!!!

Goddam it, I GUARANTEE some of the bigger guys on E-Bay have stooges who will keep bidding and bidding on shit to jack up the price. and if the stooge actually WINS the bid, the stooge isn't held to buying the item, and the item will go back up for auction in a couple of days, and then they know how high of a price the item will support, and are careful to get very close to that price again.

I'm certain that a bunch of E-Bayers "cheat" in this way.

The other thing I hate is fuckers on E-Bay who use auto-snipe programs. Goddamn it, if you REALLY want the item, then snipe the old-fashioned way like I do! Get your ass on-line and WATCH the last five minutes of the auction!

E-Bay is RIFE with ways to rip off people!

Here's a beuatiful example...
I heard about a posting once, for a computer. Except, the fine print said "What you are bidding on is a PICTURE OF MY COMPUTER."

In other words, some poor schmuck probably paid $600 bucks for a PICTURE of some asshole's computer, when he probably thought he was bidding on the ACTUAL COMPUTER!!

This shit oughta be criminal!

[BlueJazz]

15. For $600.00 I'd be doing a little road trip to the bastards house!!

:)

[soothsayer]

18. I just paid 9.99 plus shipping for a copy of an autograph -oops!

went back and read the listing more carefully, and yes, that's what it said (not quite so plainly as that, but there was no way to argue that I was completely dupted)

caveat emptor!

and it wasn't even a good copy. yeesh.

[soothsayer]

19. yes, but I'm a sniper (and a legitimate buyer). Sometimes I think

cuz I've driven the price up so high in the last few seconds that people will definitely think I'm a shill, but it's just that I just prefer the last minute bidding sometimes (as do other folks).

[mermaid]

22. Hell, I'm A Sniper, Too...

You didn't read carefully. what I HATE are the people with auto-snipe programs...and the shill snipers out there just to jack up bids.

Sniping is a legitimate tactic to get a desired item, but DAMN YOU...do it the old-fashioned way, and get your ass on-line and WATCH the last five minutes of the auction!

I've sniped other people out of shit I wanted before...bet your ass I have.

I have no problem with LEGITIMATE BUYERS engaging in LEGITIMATE SNIPING. This is part of the strategy of winning auctions.

What I have a problem with are the shills that jack up bids for their buddies...and they do it thru the use of "auto-snipe" programs.

[trogdor]

20. It is criminal.

People get busted all the time employing shills to inflate bids.

[vi5]

14. That seems high, but I think there's more to it.....

If you're not a full time business getting bulk costs on shipping products (boxes, tape, padding) then that stuff does add up. I've gotten screwed many time sover by listing actual shipping costs and then having to spend an additional $2-3 on a box and other incurred costs.

[trumad]

16. A couple of years back I did 40 grand of business on ebay

Indeed shipping's a pain in the ass but when you're charging 18 bucks for an item that cost 6 bucks to ship, you're ripping people off.