posted on June 17, 2004 05:50:24 PM new
I found an item I was interested in, but of course, no shipping rate with the auction. So I email the seller, and ask what shipping rates would be to my zip. He comes back with an overinflated rate of $10.75 Parcel Post. Mind you, someone else is selling 3 of the same item in one auction and is only charging $12.00 from Canada for all 3. I've seen the same item shipped as low as $6.00 via Priority Mail.
The item weighs just over 1 pound. The seller claims the shipped weight is 5 pounds, so I emailed them back to inquire why something would weigh 5 pounds when I know the shipping weight is no more than 2 pounds. No answer...
posted on June 17, 2004 05:56:23 PM new
if you know so much,why do you even bother to ask,why dont you just skip his auction and move on to the one with lower shipping rate??
how much is the starting bid??
-sig file -------we eat to live,not live to eat.
Benjamin Franklin
posted on June 17, 2004 06:37:04 PM new
how do you know what is right??
The seller does not need to publicise his life history why he does this or that??
The best thing to do is not to bid,or if it is a retail brick and mortar store,do not patronise.
nothing is either black or white in this world,nothing is either right or wrong in this world,there is just consensus of what is right and what is wrong.
Do you know the African culture that an unmarried girl can sleep with her brother in law and not her father or her brother??
It makes sense,she gets her relief and there is no incest involved .
Now how would that look in asian or western culture??
-sig file -------we eat to live,not live to eat.
Benjamin Franklin
posted on June 17, 2004 06:40:12 PM new
Well, I have always stated what I will charge for shipping, most of the time I am on the plus side, but ever so often I get shorted. Today I shipped a pkg that cost me over $19.00 to ship. I only charged $15.00. That is the name of the game. Win some, lose some.
posted on June 18, 2004 06:30:51 AM new
I am curious rustygumbo, what part of professionalism is the requirement to email back the seller and confront them on their shipping price LOL
Don't like it, don't bid, you did the first part right but the second... well...
posted on June 18, 2004 06:44:43 AM new
Rightly or wrongly, casual buyers assume a reasonable shipping charge; people who follow this group should have read many times about handling charge profit enhancement, and should know better.
A solution to this perennial problem might be for eBay to offer three options when listing: Fixed price shipping and handling, actual postage/shipping only, and default of "contact seller". If "contact seller", when a bid is placed on the item, part of the "you are about to enter a contract" screen could have a prominent warning that bidder should contact seller re shipping/handling before bidding.
posted on June 18, 2004 07:02:56 AM new
in this case,rusty may have spotted an item she wants ,this one starts at a lower opening bid than the others she has seen so she inquire on shipping.
The seller is protecting himself by quoting a higher shipping cost.
As to canadian seller shipping quantity of 3 for 12.oo,the exchange rate is 75 cents us = 1.oo canadian dollar,so if the canadian is charging 12 us dollars,she is getting 16 canadian dollars for shipping.
-sig file -------we eat to live,not live to eat.
Benjamin Franklin
posted on June 18, 2004 08:39:20 AM new
Rustygumbo,
When you go to a restaurant and select your meal do you look the prices?
When you shop at a store do you check the prices?
When you browse auctions, do you look at the prices?
If you answered yes to all of the above, then you have no #*!@ here- if the listing included shipping as you say it did- then the PRICE was listed and you voluntarily bid.If you failed to ADD the shipping to the bid, that's your problem.
posted on June 18, 2004 09:03:54 AM new
she has not bidded yet,she is just inquring how much is shipping and why ??
-sig file -------we eat to live,not live to eat.
Benjamin Franklin
posted on June 18, 2004 11:43:53 AM new
there was NO shipping rate stated in the auction, she had to email to get the shipping rate....so then she emailed to ask why so much...not a major crime!
posted on June 18, 2004 11:56:46 AM new
read the whole thread,she asked how much ,then a second email asked why so much.
Twelevepole wants to know why second email??
either bid or move on.
rusty must want the item to come to this board and carp about it!!
-sig file -------we eat to live,not live to eat.
Benjamin Franklin
posted on June 18, 2004 04:26:25 PM new
I emailed them to ask what the shipping rate was. They quoted me a price and also included the weight of the package. Well, I knew that the item I was inquiring about didn't weigh 5 pounds as they had stated. In fact, it doesn't even weigh 1 pound before packing it. My issue wasn't so much the rate they quoted, but the fact that they misquoted the shipping weight by a significant amount (250%).
If you take a 200 pound man and multiply his weight by 250% you would end up with a 500 pound man. Either way, that is a large percentage to be off by.
posted on June 18, 2004 05:35:07 PM new
not knowing what item you are referring to,it is really your words against his.
i know there is pure bronze versus bronze finish ,then there is dishonest manufacturer who used less copper and call it bronze.
If you think he is a dishonest seller who would lie on weight to pad shipping,then just move on,dont bid.
i used to deal with a buyer who does his own casting and he would ask for the weight and mesurement to gauge if it were really bronze.
if you list the item,may be we can take a look at it.
-sig file -------we eat to live,not live to eat.
Benjamin Franklin
posted on June 18, 2004 09:57:24 PM new
I'm with Rustygumbo on this one. He did the right thing. In fact he did 3 things right. First, he inquired into the shipping charges before bidding since they were not stated in the description. Second, he confronted the weasel on the inflated charges, which if for no other reason, will let him know that there are those who are on to his scheme. Third, and the most important of all, he DIDN'T BID.
Rusty, wish all my bidders were as savy and businesslike as you. Ebay would be so much less stressful without the "assumers".
A $75.00 solid state device will always blow first to protect a 25 cent fuse ~ Murphy's Law
posted on June 19, 2004 05:19:56 AM new
rusty has not told us what is the item,and how much is the starting bid??
if the starting bid is 0.01 and shipping is 10 dollars,rusty may get the item at 10.01.
is this a rip off??
If jack is paying his neighbor 3 dollars to ship an item for him,this seller could be doing the same ,paying someone (or himself) to do the shipping,packing etc.
We read bidders coming to this board to gripe about seller price gourging,how about hearing bidders feeling guilty sniping an item below cost??
-sig file -------we eat to live,not live to eat.
Benjamin Franklin
posted on June 19, 2004 08:17:10 AM new
That's right alldings... minding your own business is a thing of the past... we must all be gougers... and I laugh all the way to the bank everytime I get a sucker to buy...
All auctions can have something that a potential buyer can complain about...
Do you know if this seller drives a Hummer to the PO to mail out their packages, do you know what packing material they use?
Do you know how far away their PO is?
With actually scamming taking place on eBay, high shipping fees are the worst thing to complain about...
want to talk about gouging... $1 auction and $49.00 s&h... now that is out and out fee avoidance.
posted on June 19, 2004 03:04:54 PM new
stopwhining- the item is an electronic game from the 80's. they made several different games such as pac man, donkey kong, frogger, etc. i've bought and sold these for a few years, and have had each and every game, and they all weigh pretty much the same. they are collectible, and auction prices range between $30 and $100 depending on condition, if it comes in the original box, if it works properly, and if it has a battery cover.
the issue that I am getting a good deal based on the 1 cent + 10 dollar shipping is completely wrong because I'm not arguing the cost of the shipping here. I am only concerned with the sellers quote on the weight of the package. If a seller wishes to tell me that the item weighs 2 pounds, and he adds $x.xx for handling, materials, etc. I have no problem with that. However, telling me an item weighs well over 2.5 times what the shipping weight is wrong, and may actually be against the law.
The idea that bidders griping about gouging shipping rates vs. snipers buying items below a sellers cost is as different as Pamela Anderson's underwear is to Rosie O'Donnell's. there is no comparison. a seller that lists an item below their cost in hopes of getting higher bids is taking a big risk. I find it quite amusing that people still even bother to complain about snipers. There is absolutely nothing wrong with someone who places a bid at the last minute. That is why there is an ending time for an auction. Perhaps you should complain to eBay and ask them to not publish the time that an auction ends. That way, no one knows and they have to take a chance and hope they are the winner, or you can do what Yahoo used to do (I'm not sure if they still do it), by extending the end of the auction by x amount of minutes if someone bids within a minute of the close of auction. Either way, a sniper is simply placing a bid at the last minute. The seller is who determines what an auction begins at, and if you set that price too low, you are bound to eventually get burned. Sounds kind of stupid to bother doing that anyways.
posted on June 19, 2004 03:41:42 PM new
Rusty, you are a seller yourself, why do you begrudge the guy making at least some money on the item?? If it normally goes for 30 or so, and your getting it at 10.00 what is the big difference to you as a buyer? I dont think your quip about the 'weight' is exactly true. You're still only paying 10.01 for a 30.00 item no matter how its hammered out to the seller.
This is very discouraging. Seems like everybody wants something for nothing.
posted on June 19, 2004 04:01:40 PM new
the seller is either lying about the weight to justify his shipping charge or his kitchen scale is wrong.
or he could just be guessing how much it weighs,he could be too lazy or busy to get off his dove to weigh the item.
or he is not good at estimating the final weight after packing.
If you have been selling and buying this kind of merchandise for years,you know more than a seller who could just be selling one game .
ps.some seller does not have the right size box,they just use whatever is available.
-sig file -------we eat to live,not live to eat.
Benjamin Franklin
posted on June 19, 2004 06:21:32 PM new
rusty, this is another example of what you talking about...ebay # 3730489511
---------------------------------
part of seller's tos:
Shipping and handling:
(within United States) Standard shipping service: US $6.95
Shipping insurance: US $1.50 (Optional)
Will ship to United States, Mexico and Central America, South America, Canada, Caribbean
Seller's payment instructions & return policy:
Prompt Payments are Appreciated.(** +$0.75 WHEN PAYING WITH PAYPAL
-----------------------
this is an auction for a [1] china salad plate...
------------------------------
myoldtoy
[ edited by myoldtoy on Jun 19, 2004 06:22 PM ]
posted on June 20, 2004 06:27:08 AM new
does the seller know she is not supposed to charge extra for paypal payment??
unless she is in UK selling to an UK bidder.
-sig file -------we eat to live,not live to eat.
Benjamin Franklin
