posted on June 9, 2003 12:51:15 PM new
Sellers do not have to explain to anyone how they arrive at the costs they charge. They don't disclose their original cost of the item you purchase nor do they have to disclose how they choose to run their business. So it's almost an insult to ask them and worse yet when you show them an example of how the other guy does it.
If costs are quoted upfront and you buy then you have agreed to their terms. The only person you can b!tch to afterwards is yourself....... or us.
The sellers that continue to gouge will put themselves out of business... or not. It depends on supply and demand and also on quality and customer service. Many things factor into this.
posted on June 9, 2003 01:11:12 PM new
Kiara - damn skippy And I meant to insult them as well. You see when hey decided to charge $40 shipping they insulted me. They also lost my business. I found another supplier with higher cost product but reasonable shipping which ended up in a lower total cost... not to mention faster shipping.
posted on June 9, 2003 01:39:34 PM new
::Cataloguers (and you have to know this) have a huge markup on their products out of the gate. They have to. Their costs are staggering. Just the postage costs of mailing their book a couple times a year would cause most Vendio posters to drop their Cheerios in disbelief. ::
ROFL - you mean like the $50,000 check I used to write for postage? I had an advantage though....our catalogs went out to a special member list. Printing and postage was built into membership costs.
::eBay sellers do not have that luxury. Once committed to selling, we have to -- let me repeat that, HAVE TO -- sell at whatever price the market sets and indeed, demands. That's why it's called an auction.::
Ahh, but that is a wierd circle... as bids started dropping, sellers started building their profits into their S&H charges in order to to make their selling price seem more appealing. As competition increased, inexperienced sellers came in trying to undercut and dropped selling prices lower... nevermind that they soon went belly up... they had gotten buyers used to lower costs. In some catagories, it has killed the catagory entirely, in others it has cycled back around. The younguns are gone the pros have seen this and en masse brought the products back up to fair starting prices. A widget I bought two months ago is now going for $100 more because one seller dropped out of the game.
:: There's absolutely no reason why any eBay seller should go broke so that Aunt Susie can buy her friggin' Coldwater Creek duds at 10% of catalogue:::
I firmly agree that sellers deserve a fair and honest profit - this is a pain in the ass business filled with primadonna buyers, nut cases and general whack jobs. What needs to happen tough is that we need to stop catering to their fiscal temper tantrums. If sellers would demand a fair price, they will get it. I have an item line that I started selling a couple months ago with an opening price of $1.99 ... 100% sell thru. Two weeks later, I rasied the opening bid price by two dollars.... still 100% sell thru... every two weeks I raise the opening bid price, do I still have the same sell thru? No, now it's only about 80-85%.... but I have drastically inceased my profits and have the same repeat bidders I had when my prices were dirt cheap. A quality product will bring a quality bid.
The one place I illaknowledge that you may be screwed is jewelry where more and more of the foreign manfacturers seems to now be selling directly on ebay which is flat out screwing sellers.
posted on June 11, 2003 07:37:59 PM new
Deal with the shipping. Any website (Amazon, J. Crew, Dell, etc.) that bothers to charge for shipping charges at least $5. Obviously, the seller took advantage of your Canadian status to make an extra $4, and that sucks. Leave negative feedback and move on, but next time ask what the shipping charges are if they aren't stated.
And charging $5 for shipping is not criminal, in any state.
posted on June 19, 2003 01:20:44 PM new
I thought the shipping whine threads were over. Guess this is why stamps.com had the absolutely brilliant idea to add a 'hide postage amount' feature to their revamped service.
posted on June 19, 2003 03:17:37 PM new
I will say again if the buyers stick with the pro sellers they will be just fine. I am talking about guys and gals that have high feedback numbers and low negs. It takes more then Ebay to become a pro seller or dealer. It take years of hard work. A lot of ebay sellers are just weekend part timers that know very little about being a dealer. By the way I bought a Lacrosse cap from a company in Baltimore it weighted maybe 6 ounces. I paid $7.55 to have it shipped to Pittsburgh. You all know the routine $3.85 for priority mail the rest handling charge. I was glad the company had what I wanted and happy to pay that price. Too many buyers need to start shipping a lot of items and we sellers would soon see what they charge. Did they ever see what Land End or L.L. Bean charge for shipping. LOL
posted on June 19, 2003 04:25:39 PM new
I just gotta jump in here. Sold a widget last week. Told them right up front, shipping is $150.00.
They, the bidders ah few, $150.00!!!! are you kidding!!!!! NOPE! and that's a steal! And You know it. These things retail for $600.00! I know a deal when it hits me in the face. SO do they!
Me, what's the difference? I start at $1.00 with a $150.00 reserve. and then they run it up to, like they did $89.00. Now $89.00 + $150.00,,,,,,,$239.00!!!!! +!!!!!! the $35.00
shipping rate. real total, $274.00
Or,,,,,the insane shipping. $150.00 shipping + the bid which ended up at $129.00. total. $279.00 you tell me.
Marketing!
Edited to say, psssst, don't tell anyone,,,I paid $20.00 a piece. I bought 30 of them! yippie! sold 10 so far.
SSSSSSSnap! Crackle and Pop!
[ edited by fetish128 on Jun 19, 2003 06:30 PM ]
posted on June 20, 2003 06:16:21 AM new
International shipments are a lot more work. I have to deal with a large qty of customers asking what shipping is to there country. They send me the US 48 states stated shipping rate. Then I have to get them to send me the correct amount so I can ship the item. I have customs forms to fill out. I can not leave my packages on the dock of the Post Office unless I go in and find someone. International shipments needless to say are 3 to 4 times more work of US shipments. I charge a $3.00 handling charge for all of them, and wonder at times if I am charging enough. I state that I charge this in my auction so there are no surprises.
When I get paid they send my Money Orders that my bank charges me $15.00 to cash, even though I stated that I do not take Money Orders not drawn on US Banks. The PO will cash Canadian MO but I am trying not to waite in that line.
Canadians seem to want me to lie on the customs form so they don't have to pay there taxes on the item.
The only item that I have lost, out of over 4000 shiped was an international order.
I do sell about 10% of my stuff to international bidders. Is it almost worth it.
posted on June 20, 2003 06:52:46 AM new
tell them to troop up to bidpay.com and use their credit card to buy you a western union money order.it will cost them a few bucks but it will save you 15 dollars .
yes,intl orders are more work and if they refuse the package because the local customs duty is too much for them,it gets returned to you and you may have to pay return shipping.
and then there are some intl bidders who sent cash in round numbers and ask you to slip back 76 cents worth of stamps back to them as their great aunt is a stamp collector.
posted on June 20, 2003 08:08:05 AM new
I did what I usually don't do on ebay and that is to shop! I saw this cute little dragon figure for a dollar no reserve and no bids Approx 4 3/4" High. -- Ok, sounds good so far.
"All of my items are drop shipped from my warehouse, they are professionally packed the best that money can buy, insured and have online tracking. Please allow 7 to 14 days for delivery" --- I can live with that. Kind of long time to ship but ok. I will go with that
Shipping Cost: $14.95 - - I don't think so. I don't mind paying a dollar or two but 10 dollars over shipping!
[ edited by paloma91 on Jun 20, 2003 08:10 AM ]
posted on June 20, 2003 08:36:23 AM new
paloma91: What people are going to say is that you should look at the total cost: bid price plus shipping.
And I agree with that.
But I'd take it one step further. Looking at just one component of the total price paid is dishonest since there is no retail outlet where you can purchase the item for the bid price. It's complaining for the sake of complaining.
I recently sold a not-often-seen Muppets videotape and as luck would have it, the timing was bad and it went for 1 cent. Shipping was $5. Here's the actual mail from the buyer:
"Since I'm in Sunnyvale and you're in (another South Bay town), let's just arrange to meet somewhere on El Camino and make the swap."
Yeah. Sure. I'm going to take two hours out of my day and drive forty miles so you can hand me one cent for this video.
You got it, the buyer claimed I'm `overcharging' for shipping. He must have big brass ones.
--
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.
posted on June 20, 2003 09:10:11 AM new"Since I'm in Sunnyvale and you're in (another South Bay town), let's just arrange to meet somewhere on El Camino and make the swap."
You should have told them that would be ok but there will be a $25 pickup fee.
posted on June 20, 2003 09:23:33 AM new
I actually had a buyer (of a $5.95 item) drive from Menlo Park to my place in san mateo to save $4.00 shipping. Not bad. I know that's not safe to do but I had talked to her on the phone a few times and felt pretty safe.
posted on June 20, 2003 03:23:31 PM new
Not meaning to appear insensitive, but....last time I checked, in America, business people are allowed to set fair prices of their services, and to make a profit. While I respect your right as a seller to complain about a s/h fee, if it is advertised within the text of the ad copy-you do have the option of not bidding if you can't handle the service charge (just like you can also opt not to buy a concert or sporting event ticket because of the service charge on top of the face value of the ticket...same for airline tickets, etc...).
You may not like the price of gas at the pump, and you're welcome to rant and rave all you want...but if you wanna the gas (or the eBay item)..you pay the price...plain and simple. And, while it may be common practice at your local swap meet to "haggle" for the best price, NOT every seller may subscribe to that sort of thinking. But then again, there all hundreds of bidders out there that are just plain cheap, and will spend countless time corresponding with you, whittling you down for another 50 cents or dollar. BOTTOM LINE: If you can't deal with the terms...MOVE ON SAILOR!
posted on June 20, 2003 03:55:54 PM new
The new years Eve ball this year will be increased to $150.00 per person. Whaaaat!!!!!! We'er staying home!!!! and you are most welcome to do that too. Happy New Years! The Boat is FULL.
NOT