posted on September 19, 2002 10:08:16 AM new
Is it possible that ebay might be introducing a Mandatory $5.00 Shipping Preparation Fee on all “fragile” items, to be paid by the bidder to the seller, ie, above the cost of actual postage.
I’m not surprised, I’ts pretty obvious to me that some sellers may be experiencing fiscal pressures in having to absorb shipping costs unto now. Some in fact, may even be experiencing physical and mental fatigue.
I feel the cause, and in fact the blame can be directly attributed to the level of handling and packaging fees which some of the “LOWER END BUYER$” expect to pay. I would put to them; that it is something akin to the kind of money one would expect to pay a child to do a newspaper round.
Who are these rogues that would have a person feed their family on the income of a paper-boy,
while they sit at their computer shopping. … For Shame,,, For Shame!!!!
Perhaps this explains why some sellers feel the need to give up after a while.
Well, I for one am rooting for ebay to help the sellers retain some sanity and let them have a little cake occasionally.
PAY PEANUTS???
GET MONKEYS???
WARNING:
I’ve heard that some mental Authority Warns That
“NOT CHARGING HANDLING FEES CAN RESULT IN SEVERE FISCALY INDUCED DEPRESSION”
posted on September 19, 2002 10:19:31 AM new
"Is it possible that ebay might be introducing a Mandatory $5.00 Shipping Preparation Fee on all “fragile” items, to be paid by the bidder to the seller, ie, above the cost of actual postage." Where did you see this garbage posted??
posted on September 19, 2002 10:22:07 AM new
I want what he's smoking...
Seriously, put your S&H prices in your ads. Make sure it says S&H, not shipping. Put a FLAT FEE in your ad, not something vague or indefinite.
I make approx. $1.45 on every package I mail from my S&H. That covers the envelope and the time involved. I've never had anyone complain about spending $3.00 and I used a $1.55 stamp. I'm not getting rich, but it *IS* a profit point.
The few times I've ever had anyone refuse to pay shipping, I've kept their money and gave them my store address to pick the item up.
And no, eBay isn't going to charge a fee like that. They wouldn't do anything to hurt their sales percentage, and that definitely would hurt them.
posted on September 19, 2002 10:43:55 AM new
I haven't heard of any $5.00 fee for fragile goods. I can't imagine such a fee unless I have had about 5 Margaritas.
Anyone heard about AuctionWatch charging $5.00 to people's credit card for wild posts? I think that's far to much, make it a $1.00 fee, or maybe 6 wild posts for $5.00 (discount rate.)
Gotta run, I'm off to the post office to complain about the 5 cent email fees they are considering.
posted on September 19, 2002 12:15:36 PM new
This is the most ludicrous piece of garbage I have seen in a long time. First of all, eBay can't dictate S&H costs. If I want ship & pick up the costs , that is my decision, don't get me wrong, I don't intend to do this. Secondly, how could they determine what is fragile? How many auctions are going on at any given moment? I don't know what austbounty is smoking.inhaling or drinking, but I think he, (she) should cut back.
posted on September 19, 2002 09:50:10 PM new
But surely this makes sense!!!
It seems the norm for any viable business when the profit margins are too tight to absorb any other form of costs.
Amazon.com charged me, about US$7.00 ABOVE, “ACTUAL POSTAGE”, I would estimate, based on what I could ship the same book for, in the same time frame, using the same postal service…
Some ebay sellers are not making enough to live on.
eBay could probably do away with free listing day, and they’de make even more profit, and the cost burden could be carried by the buyers, they will of course keep buying if the items offered are actually worth shipping. I know this for a fact because I have a high sell through rate, and they just keep on buying.
Ebay will loose sellers,,, just because they can’t quite make enough to live on.
I think ebay should make it US$10 not 5!!, on fragile items.
posted on September 19, 2002 10:09:32 PM new
Using your logic.....Why not make it $500 per item,then the sellers can really enjoy the high life. Champagne dinners etc.
posted on September 19, 2002 11:24:13 PM new
Let's look at this rationally. If Ebay imposes a $5.00 charge for fragile items, it will be on top of my hidden $2.00 charge that I use to fund my beer supply. The average actual shipping charge is $6.00. This would make a total shipping charge of $13.00 for the tea cup that I sold to the little old lady in Boston for $4.99. If the buyers will go for it, I'm in favor of it. However, I would like to see the $5.00 charge allocated as $2.00 for bubblewrap, peanuts, labor etc., and the other $3.00 allocated for more beer so we can better deal with the NPB's. This way, if the deadbeats will agree to send the $5.00 for beer, we can agree not to file an NPB, and relist the item indefinitely and never be thirsty again. Sounds like a win/win situation to me.
The light at the end of the tunnel will turn out to be an oncoming train.
posted on September 19, 2002 11:42:45 PM new
sparkz: Would this also apply for vodka? Beer is too fattening. It would assure me an ample supply of Absolut.
posted on September 20, 2002 12:56:34 AM new
Why call austbounty a troll? That's ridiculous. He has a very good point.
Handling fees are terribly low. I only charge about $1.50 handling which means total loss on labor. I have examined that and have determined that after absorbing these kind of labor losses it isn't worth selling on ebay. The problem with austbounty's post is that ebay could not impose a special handling fees onto buyers. Ebay would be flooded with complaints from buyers.
So let the buyers have it their way, then it will force sellers to quit ebay, and lower supply will cause bidding to go up, then buyers will end up paying more anyways.
posted on September 20, 2002 07:44:03 AM new
Perhaps some “Lower End Buyers” have trouble reading; I think it's something like dyslexia.
I say this because many of their purchases actually have S&H $ Clearly Stated in the original listing and yet they go ahead and bid and then question these charges later.
I have already said this in a previous chat, but any how,
I already do charge a standard 'approx.' US$10 above actual postage cost on all my items, but I don't actually spell it out as I'm about to, I just tell'em that 'some' of the money goes toward handling. I say aprox. because I often over charge a little because I go up the next weight bracket in my calculation if I think it's marginal.
I can estimate the postage before I pack because I use several sizes of standard boxes.
That money is partly for packing materials and, just in case you think it's fee avoidance let me tell you I pay my grandma to pack the boxes {.{I don't pocket the money}.} But I make her work very hard for your packing dollar.
She has used as much as US$1.00+ on packing tape alone (1 porcelain tea set)
Rigid foam boxes cost US$1.80 - US$3.00 each. Bubble wrap US$0.50 - $1.00
Thin particle/ mdf/ chip board cladding on foam box US$0.60
Phone call to customs sometimes avg./item US$0.03 - $0.04
Fax to customs nearly every time US$0.11
All wrapped up in thick brown paper because my customers are important to me and I like to demonstrate it to them. US$0.15.
No charge for genuine epson ink to print out label with name, no charge for 'fragile' stickers. No mention of pens, disposable blades for cutting, petrol to post office or phone call for credit card authorisation etc.
MUST I spell it all out????????????
WELL………. You “Low End Buyer$”?????
That means that my poor old grandma gets to work for under US$4.00 per hour for her packing because I charge her a little rental for the corner she uses in our laundry to do her thing in. But don't worry I'm not too soft on her just because we're related, I make her throw in delivery to the post office in her own time in my car. She gets to drop off 2 at a time, it's easy on her and besides she says she doesn't mind because she loves me…It's not like I'm ripping her off..
I don't tell the customers that my Granny is getting some of the money. Is that being deceitful? You see I think some of them get upset when they know the post office isn't getting to keep all the money.
It's not a wonder the small business person is being driven out by larger companies. Some people and it seems most, will stand in cue at the large department store, bank, large post office, and grin and bear it but when you try and let your grandma earn a whopping US4.00 per hour !#$%^&*.
If you feel your that right kind of person, can arrange all of that in any quicker time than my grandma & are prepared to work for just a little less, let me know.
......................
I have been so snowed under by work lately that I have asked my grandma, at no extra charge, to fill in the 2 page customs export clearance application and fax it to customs.
I charge her next to nothing for rent, and she doesn't even appreciate the ALMOST US$4.00 per hour I'm paying her. It's not quite $4.00 because I charge her a nominal amount for electricity she uses in the laundry. I should make her use a 25W light but she reckons it's too dark in there, personally I find it romantic working by the ample moonlight which comes in through the large window.
Can you believe the ungrateful old b%^&# is complaining that an extra 10 minutes of her life is being waisted. For all the money I pay her you'd think she could throw in a little effort to fill in a customs form.
Every time I get my Porsche serviced, the dealer throws in delivery and even picks me up and drops me off
And that's got nothing to do with the money I spend, it's the principle.
Without prejudice,
austbounty
Repeat after me!!
We Won’t Be Free Till’ We Have A handling Fee!!!
We Won’t Be Free Till’ We Have A handling Fee!!!
We Won’t Be Free Till’ We Have A handling Fee!!!
posted on September 20, 2002 08:22:48 AM new
Hey!
I’ve just gotten a fantastic idea for a resolution to the S&H issue.
If you go to the ebay site for a search
http://pages.ebay.com/search/items/basicsearch.html
and type in
(Handling,S&H,)
in ‘Words To Exclude”
You’ll be able to avoid all items where those words appear.
The Choice is yours.
Buy items based on shipping charges rather than value of goods!?!?!?,…
What geniuses some of you ‘Low.End.Buyer$’ are….
If you want something for nothing, go to a soup kitchen!!
