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Shipping for Auctions are nuts!


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Is it leagle for someone to sell an Item on ebay then Jack up the Shipping just to raise the Bid? I won an auction for $10 USD. And the person is asking for $13 USD in Shipping?? the Item is in the US and weight is less then a pound! is that Leagle? that to me is BS. Do I need to email EBay on that? or get the Finger on this? The total weight and inssurance would only come to $3.50 USD.

Ranger565

Thank you and any comments I would like to hear.

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It is always best to find out shipping charges before you bid. Some will jack up shipping cost. I bought some stuff on ebay before and the person has a shipping price to US only which by the way I believe is already jack up. So I emailed him asking the price to ship to Australia. I was expecting lower as the shipment was heavy and shipping to Aus after I think 2kg becomes cheaper compared to US. He quoted me more. But oh well it was about $5 more and I wanted the stuff so I couldn't be bothered, plus his BIN now price was attractive at that time.

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yup, shipping charges can be nuts, but its not illegal. Before bidding on an auction, look for the shipping price. Like if the seller states actual shipping charges to apply, or a fixed shipping charge, or you may need to email the seller to find out the shipping charge before you bid. I try not to bid on anything if the shipping charge is not clear. Its better if they have a calculated shipping charge, because you can click the link to find the charge to your zip. People are trying to save fees by making there money off the shipping instead of the auction. I find some people selling like say a small gi joe figure, but will charge a 5 lb. shipping charge for the small figure. I dont mind that so much, as long as it is clear so the buyer can bid accordingly. I prefer that, than to have an auction without clear shipping charges, then when you win, the seller will adjust the shipping price higher, because the auction didnt end at the price he wanted.

For example, I won an auction for a robot for $2.00. After winning, the seller tells me that shipping is going to be $20 + $10.00 for insurance that is required.....$10 for insurance for a $2 item? $20 shipping for an item that weighs less than 1 lb. I think the guy was just pissed because the auction only ended at $2. Anyway, I dont think its illegal as long as they state it properly in there auction. I dont think they are allowed to pull a shipping amount out of there a$$, but this is something you need to be on the look our for as a buyer.

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Always ask before bidding and wait till they respond that way you have their part of the agreement in writting. On the defense of sellers sometimes there are costs involved in the shipping of the item that you dont see in the actual mailing of the item. For example say the seller does not live close to a post office and has to take the bus to the nearest one. Some buyers are really picky about items being wrapped in mounds of bubble wrap and believe me bubble wrap is not cheap. Also if a person does not live near to a shipping hub then it will cost more. Morale of the story ask first always and even ask the seller for a break down of why the shipping would cost so much.

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I agree that some sellers try to make their money on shipping, and that you need to always check the cost before bidding. However, now that I've sold a few items myself on ebay, I recognize that shipping is not cheap. As a seller, I've been screwed a few times because I underestimated shipping costs. Remember, many big online retailers (like Amazon) get big discounts because they ship so much. Prices are higher for individual people who are just taking a package down to the post office. Add in the cost for a box (who has the right size shipping box for a toy robot lying around their house?), which can be a few dollars, then some bubble wrap, plus delivery confirmation or insurance (sellers should always insist on these, for their protection), and it begins to add up.

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on a $2 items its likely hes taking advantage of the situation if he is asking for $12 in s/h fees if hes in the usa. also check to see if its an international seller, international shipping is much higher and some sellers try to hide the fact they are over seas. also some sellers off set the price of the item with shipping fees to avoid ebay fees. ebay plus paypal can take a big chunk of your profits. so upping the shipping and lowering the price helps the seller not lose his shirt in fees. here is a formula (cost of item) + (cost of shipping) = (a fair price) if all things equal a good price i wouldnt sweat the seller. also always ask up front before you bid about s/h prices, if they dont reply you likely shouldnt buy from them anyway. it also a good idea to confront them on the cost of shipping vs actual cost if it seems way too high. i dont know how many times i forget to adjust shipping on small items because i usualy sell items costing $8 or more for s/h, people make mistakes.

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Yeah, my wife learned the lesson the hard way about shipping using my eBAY account.

The seller didn't disclose shipping and my wife won an item for $2.00. I know for fact the item was less than 2 pounds and would have costed us $4-$6 to ship via Priority Mail from FL to CA. The seller wanted $32.00 for ground shipping. I refused to pay it and asked him to charge the shipping to my FEDEX Ground account. He refused to sell me the item without paying for the shipping and left me negative feedback.

I contacted eBAY, argued my case, and in the end, they removed the negative feedback.

-Kevin

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As a buyer, I always figure out what shipping will be before I bid (if it doesn't say). I've seen too many cases of excessive shipping and handling charges.

As a seller, sometimes it's hard to figure out how much shipping will be, especially when sending stuff internationally. I just sold something on ebay recently. Buyer was in Canada and I had US shipping at $5.50 for the item (materials + priority mail + delivery confirmation). Was asked what shipping would be and came back with $5.00 (I had the box it was shipped in, and that had a weight on it), so I figured same price. Well it only cost $1.50 to mail.

btw here is ebay's policy on this

http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/listing-shipping.html

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I recomend to never bid on anything until you know how much the shipping is going to be. Always ask first. This is what I do, and if I don't get an answare: f*'em. This is a good way to spot a serious seller or one that want's to jack up the shipping when you win an auction.

There are many sellers that say "e-mail for S&H" but they never answare. It's been almost three months now and I'm still waiting for Tsinc to tell me how much it cost to sent a Super VF-1 to Spain. I also asked another seller FIVE times the S&H for a PG Gundam and nothing.

The downside is that if you spot something you really like that's ending soon, chances are you wont get the answare on time. Some stores tell you to wait about two days for a reply.

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Its 13USD to ship a  1/100  Arii  Macross kit.   within the United states.  Thats why I am kind of aggravated.   No way in hell does it cost 13 to ship that. Not UPS, Fedex, or Reg. Mail

thats taking advantage.

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USPS priority shipping within the US is a flat rate of 7.70 any weight, any US destination as long as the item fits in one of their standard boxes. Ask him what the other 4.30 is for. The boxes and labels are free as well.

This is the same price that I'm charging everyone to ship the Oberth to in the US so there's no question about fairness in shipping. Go to USPS.com and check, it's very clear about the charges.

Edited by Grayson72
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always look for the shipping price. with ebay fees going up and up...ppl are finding ways to get around those fees by selling things low and making up the loss with high shipping charges.

never assume the shipping cost will be low...always ask if it is not stated in the auction.

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Yeah, my wife learned the lesson the hard way about shipping using my eBAY account.

  The seller didn't disclose shipping and my wife won an item for $2.00.  I know for fact the item was less than 2 pounds and would have costed us $4-$6 to ship via Priority Mail from FL to CA.  The seller wanted $32.00 for ground shipping.  I refused to pay it and asked him to charge the shipping to my FEDEX Ground account.  He refused to sell me the item without paying for the shipping and left me negative feedback. 

I contacted eBAY, argued my case,  and in the end, they removed the negative feedback.

-Kevin

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Wow Kev, that's quite a story!

$32 for shipping, i hope you left a negative on his account!

I can't belive he had the nerve to leave you a neg for not agreeing to pay that amount. What a jerk!

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shipping... even in a trading situation it's good to know what shipping is. I trade internationally and sometimes it occurs to me [in hindsight of course] that I could simply have bought what I traded for, for less than shipping my stuff to them.

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I've noticed an upwards trend in ebay shipping over the last year or 2. And I'm a notorious window shopper so I should know!

These days when I see a good deal for a chogokin, TF, valk, etc on ebay, I think twice. Often I'll still end up paying less after taking into account P&H costs from an online store cos they're not making extra profit off the shipping charges.

And then there's the guys who sell bootleg dvd series like Fullmetal Alchemist for $1 and charge $40 for shipping so they minimise ebay costs. :rolleyes:

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As a buyer it's your own responsibility to find out the shipping cost for the item you will be biding on or buying. If it's not posted then you should ask the seller.

I dont' really care how much they charge for shipping as long as the total price is a resonable price that I'm willing to pay.

Example:

a $10 toy selling for $1 on ebay. but the shipping is $10. total will be $11

a $10 toy selling for $8 on ebay. but the shipping is $5 total will be $13

a $10 toy selling for $12 on ebay. but shipping is free. total will be $12

Which one will I get? Whichever TOTAL is cheaper. :lol: Unless I'll will be getting multiple items or other items from the same seller, then I'll need to add up the totals of all the items , subtract multiple item discount and then check out the total. and once again which ever is cheaper will be the one. Of course I read their rateing/feedbacks too.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I have seen and auctions that the post is as much as the Item there is a particular ebayer who ships Macross who charges the same ammount for the postage as his buy it now price. While some of these auctions are still good value others have been downright silly.

Also you should beware some Ebayers have accounts registered in one contry but ship from another.

Recently a friend of mine wanted a copy of Macross Zero Perfect ova, I owed him a favour so I got it for him From an auction that stated the DVD was in London England. Now London is 45 miles from my house but the item took 2 weeks to arrive. I mailed the guy and he said it must be the post office as he had sent it over a week ago.

When it turned up it had Hong Kong stamps on it and had been stamped by my post office the day before.

Funny I didnt know that the Royal Mail had started issuing Hong Kong postage stamps.

Left him ok feedback and never got any feedback in return.

Wont be buying of him anymore.

Edited by big F
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I have seen and auctions that the post is as much as the Item there is a particular ebayer who ships Macross who charges the same ammount for the postage as his buy it now price. While some of these auctions are still good value others have been downright silly.

Also you should beware some Ebayers have accounts registered in one contry but ship from another.

Recently a friend of mine wanted a copy of Macross Zero Perfect ova, I owed him a favour so I got it for him From an auction that stated the DVD was in London England. Now London is 45 miles from my house but the item took 2 weeks to arrive. I mailed the guy and he said it must be the post office as he had sent it over a week ago.

When it turned up it had Hong Kong stamps on it and had been stamped by my post office the day before.

Funny I didnt know that the Royal Mail had started issuing Hong Kong postage stamps.

Left him ok feedback and never got any feedback in return. 

Wont be buying of him anymore.

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Congrats! You have just been "Drop Shipped" :lol::lol:

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Yup Sure have.

Shame as the previous weeks Macross fix came next day delivery bought it a 4pm delivered at 10am next day all for £3 postage. Not bad even the seller was impressed at how fast it was.

He got great Feedback

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