kraftdinner
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posted on June 8, 2003 08:41:06 AM new
Are some sellers becoming complacent about their shipping rates? If you buy an item and are charged $6.00 for shipping and it only costs $1.00 in reality, why is it so impossible to get an answer out of a seller as to why you were overcharged $5.00? As a a seller, if you're not making money on the item a buyer has bought from you, please don't punish us (the buyers) by charging an added outrageous price for shipping. No wonder some are complaining about no sales! Quit ripping people off!! (This only applies to sellers who do this!)
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stopwhining
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posted on June 8, 2003 08:44:46 AM new
is the 6.00 shipping stated on item page??
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kraftdinner
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posted on June 8, 2003 09:02:54 AM new
Hi stopwhining! On this one, shipping was stated at $2.00. Since I'm in Canada, they asked for $6.00. Actual shipping was less than $1.00. I don't have time to write to every potential seller and ask them if they're going to be ripping me off for postage if I do buy their item(s). Why can't sellers be fair and quit trying to make money from charging extra "postage"? It gives the good sellers a bad name and makes people wary of ALL sellers. Quit being so greedy!!
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horsey88
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posted on June 8, 2003 09:18:04 AM new
"I don't have time to ask every seller if they will rip me off".
But I do have time to complain when I get ripped off.
If you don't see the shipping in the auction and don't have time to ask either don't bid or stop whining.
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auctionace
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posted on June 8, 2003 09:23:21 AM new
There was a few threads here about international shipping a while ago. A few sellers inputed that they didn't really like international sales but offered it and when they did they charged the buyers a lot to make up for their time and effort and sometimes intentionally scare off international bidders.
If you buy from a seller in another country you should always get a s/h quote before bidding. It only takes a few moments to hit the ASK SELLER A QUESTION link and fire off the s/h question.
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rarriffle
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posted on June 8, 2003 09:24:09 AM new
I do my best to charge the smallest shipping amount possible...weigh my items and guote shipping to furthest possible continental point....
i agree that sellers are getting more and more greedy about shipping and i don't want to hear about packaging time, gas to the PO, etc.etc.etc....
those sellers who charge outrageous handling charges should sell from some other venue, such as private web site, and quit making all the honest sellers look bad....
I don't mind paying a reasonable handling charge if it is stated as such in the auction, ie $4.00 shipping plus $2.00 handling charge....then I have agreed with that openly...when just $6.00 shipping is quoted and it comes for $1.00, then I feel ripped off.
a thief is a thief is a thief, no matter how they justify it.
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bear1949
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posted on June 8, 2003 09:24:55 AM new
And that is why I don't ship to Canada.
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captian23
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posted on June 8, 2003 09:35:57 AM new
You absolutly should Ask a Question. When he asked $6 to ship you could of asked why so much if it was not stated.
It is as bad on the other side. Buyers need to understand Shipping and Handling is not just the postage of the item. How would the buyer feel if you just wrote the address on the item and stuck the postage right to it as well. Then just leave it by the curb for the mailman. That would go over well.
___________________________________
If you build it they will come........
[ edited by captian23 on Jun 8, 2003 09:36 AM ]
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nanntique
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posted on June 8, 2003 09:40:26 AM new
I'd like to know just how you can ship anything to Canada (other than a letter or postcard)for a $1 ????
My shipments to there (and I have many good Canadian customers) cost me between $6 to $8, and I charge an extra 5 cents for handling.
--------------------------------------------
Invest in the Future, by saving some of the Past!
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horsey88
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posted on June 8, 2003 09:44:13 AM new
You can ship from Florida to Vancouver cheaper than shipping fron Florida to San Francisco......Have you ever looked into Global Priority it's only $4
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neonmania
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posted on June 8, 2003 09:44:43 AM new
If the shipping to Canada was less than $2 than there was nothing extra involved for them, no customs to fille out, etc and you just have a seller who is working on ignoranc of actual postage of looking for an opportunity to squeeze a few extra bucks out of the sale.
Too many sellers assume that international shipping is much more involved than it really is and set pricing to compensate. At it's worst, it involves writing out two addresses and a signature on a customs form. I've never understood turning away bidders because they are too lazy to take an extra 90 seconds to fill out the form but I'm glad they do - I get those bidders and their money that my competitors turn away.
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fluffythewondercat
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posted on June 8, 2003 09:59:51 AM new
I don't ship to Canada, either. And you'd have to pay me more than $4 to deal with the hassle of customs forms and whiny Canadians.
--
California voters: Be a part of the first-ever successful gubernatorial recall! Defy media pundits! $21 million of our money is going down the tubes daily because of our incompetent corrupt governor. Visit http://www.recallgraydavis.com to download your recall petition.
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fluffythewondercat
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posted on June 8, 2003 10:01:08 AM new
Hey, cheesey!
Got an idear for yew.
If you're tired of getting ripped off on eBay by shipping "overcharges", why not shop somewhere else?
Hmmmm?
--
California voters: Be a part of the first-ever successful gubernatorial recall! Defy media pundits! $21 million of our money is going down the tubes daily because of our incompetent corrupt governor. Visit http://www.recallgraydavis.com to download your recall petition.
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neonmania
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posted on June 8, 2003 10:05:58 AM new
Captain - I think the problem comes in the fact that many times postage to Canada is on par with shipping in the US an d yet Canadians are charged extra due to ignorance.
When I restarted selling on ebay my postage formula was simple... one price for the US, one price for Canada and Europe. Seemed simple (I had used that formula sucessfully for years before) until the first week of sales were over and I had three shipments to Canada and one to the UK. The Canadian shipments actually cost less than US Priority and the UK one was twice as much. Now my shipping is the same fo the US and Canada and I increased European.
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kraftdinner
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posted on June 8, 2003 10:08:51 AM new
horsey88, I'm putting out a topic for discussion. Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed or something? 
Honesty is getting harder to find with some sellers, like it or not, or like you say rarriffle, some won't get out of bed without being paid! I thought the buyer was doing the seller a favour by buying their product and not someone else's. When the thanks you get for that favour, is being overcharged for shipping, it boils down to greed, no matter how you slice it.
For those sellers who claim to be "honest sellers", if I ask you why I was charged $6.00 shipping on an item that only cost $1.00 shipping, why does that question make you mad? Shouldn't an honest seller be happy to answer you? Could it be that the charge for shipping wasn't an honest one and the seller is hoping no one will confront them???
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neonmania
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posted on June 8, 2003 10:08:58 AM new
Fluffy - with your jewelry you shouldn't even have to fill out customs forms. Not enough weight to justify it. Why turn away bidders based on a hassle you don't have?
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neglus
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posted on June 8, 2003 10:11:36 AM new
Seems to me that the difference lies in whether or not the seller says in the listing you will be charged "actual" shipping costs..if not, sellers are entitled to charge a "shipping and handling" charge and I have never seen guidelines or limits to what those might be.
It is incumbent upon the buyer to find out BEFORE bidding exactly what he/she will have to pay if not stated in the listing or forever hold his/her peace! I would think this would especially hold true in international transactions.
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horsey88
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posted on June 8, 2003 10:17:54 AM new
Kraftdinner...I put out a surefire fix for your imaginary problem.
If you don't see the shipping and are too laxy to ask,either don't bid or don't whine.
Bottom line is :People are basically lazy.
[ edited by horsey88 on Jun 8, 2003 10:21 AM ]
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ahc3
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posted on June 8, 2003 10:20:31 AM new
I guess I don't see a problem as long as I know upfront what shipping will be. For my auctions, I advise international bidders to contact me for a quote. If they don't, it is their problem. I think I am pretty reasonable though.
I look at it this way. I belong to the BMG Music club. I order 4 CD's, and while it only costs me $10 for all 4 CD's, I must pay for shipping of $3.95 for each one. They all get shipped together, and it probably cost the company $2 to ship something that I paid $16 for shipping. Am I mad? No, I knew upfront what I would be paying, because they made me aware of it. That is how they have the Buy 1 CD, get 3 free offers. Same with ebay. There are deals to be had, but you usually can't have cheap prices and cheap shipping. The money has to be made somewhere.
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kiara
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posted on June 8, 2003 10:21:35 AM new
kraftdinner, there is only one way to do this. Whatever the quote, you factor it into the bid price and bid accordingly. Afterwards no matter what the postage reads just tell yourself that you agreed to it. Case closed. If you think of it any other way you drive yourself crazy and it's not worth the wasted energy.
Sellers have the right to charge what they wish. Columbia House and other big companies do the same. If the seller is losing sales because of high shipping it is his problem, not yours and you are free to shop elsewhere.
No matter how many threads we have on this subject it will never be resolved because each seller chooses to run his business as he sees fit. I can understand buyers being angry when they feel they have been ripped off by paying too much for S&H but bottom line, they didn't have to bid.
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kraftdinner
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posted on June 8, 2003 10:26:47 AM new
You're right neon!  I think sellers assume the shipping rate will be much higher to Canada for some reason and will "quote" you a high price off the top of their head, which is understandable. The problem comes from if they've quoted you $6.00 but when they get to the Post Office and it's only going to cost them $1.00, do they just forget about the extra $5.00 and hope you don't question anything? Is that honest? Being fair with shipping rates is all us buyers ask for.
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horsey88
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posted on June 8, 2003 10:30:25 AM new
The problem is some idiots will buy coffee from McDonalds put it between their legs while driving and when it burns their privates they'll whine & moan all the way to the supreme court.
Bottom Line is:Most people are dumb
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fluffythewondercat
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posted on June 8, 2003 10:39:16 AM new
Fluffy - with your jewelry you shouldn't even have to fill out customs forms. Not enough weight to justify it. Why turn away bidders based on a hassle you don't have?
Because it's fun?
No, actually, my several post offices here all require customs forms on any shipment to Canada. I'm not sure where you got the information that it is only packages over a certain weight that must be accompanied by a customs form, because that is dependent on the content of the package (i.e. whether it is dutiable or not), which sterling silver most definitely is.
What is worse is that precious metal jewelry with a value over $5 is only supposed to be sent to Canada either 1) by registered mail or 2) GPL air courier service. Both are expensive.
--
California voters: Be a part of the first-ever successful gubernatorial recall! Defy media pundits! $21 million of our money is going down the tubes daily because of our incompetent corrupt governor. Visit http://www.recallgraydavis.com to download your recall petition.
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stopwhining
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posted on June 8, 2003 10:53:06 AM new
not all sellers are intl savvy when it comes to shipping.
UK is cheaper than germany or france,canada is not bad.
kraftdinner.
why dont you ask your seller to paypal you part of that 5.00??some seller will do so.
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Libra63
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posted on June 8, 2003 11:09:24 AM new
Shipping to Canada is cheap compared to international shipping. I can mail a tie to Canada for the same price to the USA. It's the customs that is bad. In my auction when I say Shipping higher to Canada I expect them to email me and ask why, then I tell them that it is the same. I just like to be informed when I have a Canadian buyer. (yks I hope I spelled that right as not to start another spelling thread.)
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kraftdinner
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posted on June 8, 2003 11:14:53 AM new
Again, my only problem is when a quoted shipping rate is excessive. I can understand an added $2.00 on any item for handling, but not when the rate has an added 40 - 100%+ "hidden" mark-up. If you try and ask a seller why you were charged so much extra, they go balistic. I wonder why that's such a touchy question if they're honest sellers?
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neonmania
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posted on June 8, 2003 11:58:13 AM new
Fluffy - I guess I just have a couple friendly PO clerks. My smaller packages I leave the customs off of and ask when I get there. The clerk puts them on the scale and gives me a yay or nay on the need for customs - most of the time - it's a nay. The only one that demands I put customs on everything has also insisted on customs on a flat envelope before and smacked my hand last week for taking some of his Delivery Confirmation slips stating that if I needed some, he would get them from the back, those were for customers. I resisted the urge to go over the counter and throttle his scrawny miserable little neck. Anyway....
I've shipped jewelry to Canada countless times without hassles but I will defer to your expertise on the matter.
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Libra63
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posted on June 8, 2003 12:07:13 PM new
Anything I mail to Canada or to any international Bidder I always put a customs form on and put a copy of the EOA notice in the package. I make it out at home with all the information necessary and the postal clerk does what he has to. Saves time and trouble. I never check gift....
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neonmania
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posted on June 8, 2003 12:07:26 PM new
Krafty - I just sent sent a thank you note to one of my former suppliers for his unwaivering insistance on excessive postage.
I had purchased from them a number of times and finally wrote asking if there was some way to negotiate a discount on the 400% mark up on shipping. They instead tried to justify a $40 shipping charge for a a media mail shipment with $9.00 postage a $1 box and a handful of peanuts.
I found a comptetitor. Base price was a little higher but the total was $20 less even with tax (which I din't have to pay the other seller) and 2 day rather than Media Mail shipping.
I doubt I'll hear back from the orginal seller but maybe my gratitude for sending me in search of a new supplier will make them reconsider there future pricing.
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marcn
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posted on June 8, 2003 12:09:39 PM new
Customs forms are required on anything over 16 ounces and this is clearly stated on Global Priority envelopes. However in light of the current state of world affairs, the USPS will ship without it but it may never make it out of customs in the destination country unless the form is filled out regardless of weight.
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