posted on September 9, 2008 02:15:45 PM new
Attention Seller!
We noticed your shipping cost looks high compared to other listings in your category with similar shipping services. .
We've found that buyers are sensitive to shipping costs. Items with high shipping costs may be less likely to sell and may get less visibility in search results. Listings that violate the eBay Excessive Shipping Charges policy may be removed from the
site.
I have been getting these messages for some time,but they are redirecting me to another warning .
I ship tackle boxes,my fedex flate rate quote is 15.95.
so i go to usps and get a rate quote ,the usps rate is 24.95 to ship from texas to Pa.
what does ebay want me to do, drive it to PA. AND DELIVER IT FOR FREE,MAYBE I COULD SERVE THEM SOME TEA AND CRUMPETS WHILE IN THERE....
posted on September 9, 2008 02:28:50 PM new
just give it a few months or so and they will be like Amazon and tell you exactly how much to charge for shipping.....
posted on September 9, 2008 03:00:57 PM new
Just ignore Ebay message.I am telling you my tagline said it all-dont do this,dont do that,all 13,000 dont!
*
Gulag-a Soviet era concentration camp is now reincarnated as EBAY with 13,000 rules.
posted on September 9, 2008 04:38:10 PM newThey do not really know what I am selling, so how can they compare?? The way around it is to go by weight and add a few pounds if you want to get back at them. They can't argue with that!! (yet)
Yes, they can. They did it to a Titanium PowerSeller I know.
He sold a $6,000 watch. It had its own custom wooden case. The package weighed more than 5 lbs. The seller used eBay's shipping calculator.
But the auction was taken down and a Fee Circumvention violation slapped onto the seller. eBay said "A watch should not cost that much to ship."
posted on September 9, 2008 04:38:10 PM new
I get it on almost all of my auctions because I am in Canada and selling on the US site, so all my shipping looks highbecause I am supposed to quote US domestic rates. I want to tell someone that the shipping I charge from Canada to the US in most cases is MUCH lower than postage quoted on similar items from the US to Cananda, but nobody is listening, so I just have to ignore the message!
posted on September 9, 2008 05:58:18 PM new
"Looks like eBay is going after the wrong sellers."
I believe they are starting small and working their way up the ladder and it won't be long before all categories are under the same gun.
If the 6K watch seller didn't clarify in the listing that the package would weigh 5 lbs (as eBay has stated we must do) I can understand the takedown but if he did clarify the weight and they did a takedown anyway, well, that sucks and he should be screaming.
posted on September 9, 2008 06:11:21 PM new
The story about a 6000 dollar watch is a fantastic example, but it's the coming mandated shipping caps in the Media areas which is a more pressing problem, or solution, depending how you look at it. Of course, Ebay is trying to follow in the steps of Amazon by curtailing excessive shipping fees, especially in Media. Some people are overcharging, the problem comes when you have a heavy oversized book or a Lot of items, then you are stuck with a $4.00 cap per book. There is a wholesale/bulk section, but the visibility there is unknown and the shipping caps are slightly higher for wholesale lots which are based on numbers 1-5; 5-25 items..and so on.
Again, its the one-size-fits-all approach that has many up in arms. For example, those who sell 78 rpm records: You simply can't package and ship such fragile items safely, within the 4 dollar cap which is coming in the Records category. They need to be minimally double boxed for a safe journey via Media Mail. The point being (and Ebay knows this) that there are a lot of exceptions where they know the Seller is going to absorb a shipping loss under the new shipping caps.
Like many others, I have simply ignored the "Warning Your Price Looks High..." messages in other categories. As stated above and elsewhere, I don't know how they are going to incorporate shipping caps in a wide variety of categories with so many weight variables that could never be adequately factored. But, I am sure they will try.
Which brings me to a question: Does anyone know if the Vendio page used to create an Ebay auction, supports Ebay's shipping calculator? I will need this if and when I sell a Lot of books, or a Lot of CDs or other media items. This, outside of listing in bulk/wholesale categories seems to be the only way to get around the shipping caps and get a somewhat fair price for selling a bulk lot.
Also, interesting on another note is the Skip McGrath interview at Auctionbytes. He discusses the new hybrid fixed price listing scheme, which is supposed to roll out on Sept. 16. Apparently,one can list an item for a month for 35 cents. Whether this is good or bad I don't know, but the salient point he brought up was, is this going to swamp Ebay with ever more listings, as it's clear many are going to take advantage of the scheme which seems better than Stores in terms of visibility, and gives one a duration of a month, which would really help sell some items.
posted on September 9, 2008 06:13:25 PM new
So is this statement a LIE,THIS IS STRAIGHT FROM EBAY.............
(Sellers may charge reasonable shipping and handling fees to cover the costs for mailing, packaging, and handling the items they are selling. While eBay will not prescribe exactly what a seller may or may not charge, eBay will rely on member reports and its own discretion to determine whether or not a seller’s shipping, handling, packaging, and/or insurance charges are excessive. Shipping and handling fees may not be listed as a percentage of the final sale price.)
posted on September 10, 2008 02:06:20 AM new
The way not to get the message is to list with a service like Vendio. The only time I see it at all is if I edit a listing then I always get it.
atticques00 - "Does anyone know if the Vendio page used to create an Ebay auction, supports Ebay's shipping calculator?" Yes it does.
