posted on September 21, 2000 08:19:21 PM
Wow, lets just say 80 auctions per week (about what is being run by seller). 80 X $2.00 overcharge per item (I am being generous, more like $2.50)=$160.00 extra per week. Now, lets subtract the mileage that the seller is claiming be breaks even on...140 miles both ways, getting 10 miles to the gallon (again I am being generous, probably more like 15 or 20 on highway). 14 gallons X $2.00 per gallon (generous) = $28.00! Wow, I sure am glad my gas is only $1.80 per gallon! This guy is paying $11.40 per gallon for his!
Quote from the feedback..."With the high gas price and the post office 70 miles away I doubt I break even" Really? Of yeah, I guess I forgot to take out the wear and tear on his car.
As far as the buyer being abusive, I felt really sorry at first, but then I remembered how good my communication is with my customers. Can't keep up? Stop listing so much and do the rest right. JMHO
[ edited by kckckc on Sep 21, 2000 08:20 PM ]
posted on September 21, 2000 08:28:53 PM
Way off. Take a book as an example. Can ship it for 1.13-2.00. Sells for a penny + 3.20 s/h. Say I paid 0.50 for the book. Ebay's listing fee is 25 cents. So I might make a little over a buck on the transaction. That's without gas costs! No way do I average anywhere close to 2.00 profit on shipping per item. A lot of items I charge 3.20 for cost just that, 3.20. Sometimes I estimate incorrectly and don't charge enough, and end up paying extra out of my own pocket. What is your time worth for packing it up and taking it to the post office? I try to consider all these things in my s/h fees.
posted on September 21, 2000 08:37:56 PM
I do not post often but I have to comment... It seems to me that if I were getting a negative about every 15 sales for shipping costs I would up my starting bid and lower my shipping. But that is just me, and I am still a new seller, and lack you experience.
posted on September 21, 2000 08:57:23 PM
Well Mboyko, I guess the difference between you and me is that my costs for buying the book and my ebay fees I take out of my gross of the amount received for the auction, which leaves me with my profit from my item only. The extra .25 cents I charge for my handling goes directly to the cost of the padded envelope I use...thats it! There should be little to no "profit" from handling. As far as feeling that your item went for only a penny, I am sorry but that is your fault for running auctions at a penny. If you paid .50, start it at a $1.00 and double your money (gross of course, I know - the ebay fees need to be taken out, but many will go for more than the minimum bid to more than cover those fees). I really do not think it is fair to consider the amount you "paid" for an item to be recouped in the shipping...I know your answer will probably be along the lines of "clearly stated, so do not bid" (as you so eloquently state in your reponse to feedback), so rest assured I won't!
[ edited by kckckc on Sep 21, 2000 08:58 PM ]
[ edited by kckckc on Sep 21, 2000 09:00 PM ]
posted on September 21, 2000 09:03:29 PM
Most of the big internet retailers I have dealt with - Amazon, Buy.com, etc., all charge more to ship than the actual cost of postage. Some outfits charge 10 dollars to ship a tiny little computer CPU! Make me look good in comparison.
posted on September 21, 2000 09:10:00 PM
I do not even try to compare myself to the corporate giants, they have a lot more advertising dollars than I do, so I need to rely on customer service and repeat customers (of which I have many). And to answer your question about what my time is worth, I give free s/h with multiple purchases just to encourage repeat customers. My items are fairly light, so I can do that a lot more easily and affordable than you could with books and such (an I of course am not suggesting you do that, because I know I would be wasting my breath!), but my "time" packing up my items is ~free~ if it gets me repeat business! Would it kill you to combine shipments and reduce the s/h by even a dollar? Good will effort to potential repeat customers? My profit comes from bidders on my items.
posted on September 21, 2000 09:17:50 PM
Also, as far as big internet retailers go, they do charge too much, I will not dispute that. But they do have some other costs to cover which you apparently do not. Employees (I am assuming you do not, with no time to email customers about their payments and shipping - I apologize if you do), packing materials (tissue, padded envelopes, ect), warehouses, catalogs sent out, advertising dollars and in almost all of the retailers I have dealt with, return priority postage if I am unhappy with my purchase. I do not feel it is fair to compare apples and oranges to make your shipping charges look better. If you must charge the amount you do, make it an amount other than $3.20 - it makes you look too obvious!
[ edited by kckckc on Sep 21, 2000 09:18 PM ]
posted on September 21, 2000 09:19:20 PM
Yes, but you are not Amazon et al. You are an individual selling on eBay. That's comparing apples & oranges. They have corporation reputation behind them. You do not. And from the evidence, you don't come anywhere close to them in your dealings (or even try to). They use new, quality packing materials, you do not. They have decent customer service. You do not. They acknowledge payments. You do not. They combine shipping. You do not. They will *replace* items that arrive damaged, or reimburse--do you?
posted on September 21, 2000 09:26:00 PM"Most of the big internet retailers I have dealt with - Amazon, Buy.com, etc., all charge more to ship than the actual cost of postage."
But do they ship in used pizza boxes?
And why do you wait to leave your feedback until AFTER the buyer has left yours? So that you can retaliate when they comment on your shoddy business practices? You should be leaving your feedback when you receive their payment, NOT wait to see what they have to say about you so you can retaliate against them for simply commenting on the service you provide in the transaction(or lack thereof).
posted on September 21, 2000 09:27:37 PM
Mboyko, I'm on your side. Your feedback record is very good, I'd call it excellent. I don't hear any phones ringing but I do hear a lot of folks here blowing their own horns about their own immaculate practices. Yeah, right. The customer is a wacko, a nutcase.
Your terms are spelled out in bold lettering. But for your own sake, try to be a little more professional. With your high feedback (approaching 500) customers expect more. I mean specifically using better quality packaging. And if you feel you should be compensated for your trips to the post office, call it a "small handling fee" in the description. I think your sales are fine and I wouldn't hesitate to buy from you.
posted on September 21, 2000 09:29:39 PM
oh yeah, mboyko, I forgot to say...
Make sure you go over your item with a 'fine tooth comb' and mention every little flaw. I saw lots of feedback concerning 'item not as described'. I've noticed that people will bid anyway even with all the flaws. They appreciate not getting any surprises when their item is delivered.
posted on September 21, 2000 09:32:01 PM
Giving positive feedback first is the DUMBEST thing you can do. I did that a few times. I gave one lady a positive, then she gave me a negative because she didn't know how to run the software she bought. Customers may seem nice at first, but that sweet old lady can turn into a screaming little b@itch if anything goes wrong or if her unrealistic expectations are dissapointed.
posted on September 21, 2000 09:40:20 PM"but that sweet old lady can turn into a screaming little b@itch if anything goes wrong or if her unrealistic expectations are dissapointed.
You're a real charmer, ya know?
Do you understand what fee avoidance is?
As to your claims of abuse; something tell's me that if we heard the buyer's side of this tale, we'd get a whole different picture.
posted on September 21, 2000 09:41:18 PM
Oh so you admit that you use the feedback function purely as a retaliatory tool. Feedback is to be used to comment on the TRANSACTION, boyko. Did your customer make a timely payment? That's it. If they did, then you should be leaving positive feedback. Not wait until they complain about your shoddy packaging or delayed shipping, or shipping overcharges. You may respond to their negative or neutral if they complain, but you are abusing the feedback system by holding your own feedback hostage.
Twinsoft says "Your feedback record is very good, I'd call it excellent...I think your sales are fine and I wouldn't hesitate to buy from you.:Hellooo??? Who mentioned the clue phone? Must be off the hook here...or all circuits are busy, try again later.
posted on September 21, 2000 09:49:25 PM
If someone complains about a s/h fee, or anything that I do in my terms of service such as delaying personal checks, then I make a complaint against that person saying that they bid but did not agree and follow my terms and that they are difficult to deal with. That is transaction related, in my opinion.
posted on September 21, 2000 09:50:15 PM
Again I have to comment... I expect that my winners pay me within ten days, if they do this they have held up there end of the bargain and DESERVE positive feedback regardless of the feedback they leave for me. If you are waiting for them to leave there comments before you leave positive feedback so that you can Neg. them back, then you are acting like a child or a vengeful ex spouse. If the high bidder pays full price without you having to file a NPB after ten days then they should get positive feedback. You are the reason why people do not leave honest negative feedback because they are afraid of childish retaliations like yours.
posted on September 21, 2000 09:53:34 PM
Geez 3 pages, and on the first, I was on your side, but lookin at your auctions, your feedback, and feedback given, wow!
posted on September 21, 2000 09:58:12 PM
No, I think the buyer is busy hiring private investigators, calling the better business buruea, the federal trade commission, or anybody else who can help him collect the money I "defrauded" him out of. Besides, I doubt he's an auctionwatch member.
posted on September 21, 2000 09:58:34 PM
I think that most of these people that are replying to your problem either have to be buyers or have never had a problem like this. Unfortuntly, I have recently had a similar problem. But first let me say, I think your customer spoke to you in a degrading manner and I think there is asolutely NO excuse for this! The fact of whether your shipping was late or anyhing else you did for that matter does not warrant that kind of ABUSE and NOBODY should have to put up with his/her dsgusting comments! Be nice to him??? WHY? How can you be nice to someone who made the type of comments he did at the end of his letter? I'm sorry, but I think you are all missing the point. The point was not whether he/she was late or he/she didn't state so and so in the auction! The problem was this verbally abusive psycho! Someday you are all going to have one of these and to say the least, it is VERY upsetting! I don't know the right way to handle it because I will tell you one thing - EBAY will do NOTHING about it! They will let a person slander you and make libelous remarks on your feedback and they won't do a thing about it, even if you have proof! They will allow someone to say you are "evil" and "vile", totally personal remarks and they won't do a thing. They advise you to get a court order. That will cost you between $2,000.00 and $5,000.00! Believe me, I checked. This is what happened to me for a much lesser offense! Now my credibility with potential customers - whom this person threatened to e-mail every one with derogatry remarks about me - is ruined! My faith in ebay is ruined. I'm sure if you reported your incident, they told you there was nothing they could do, right? I received at least 30 threatening and nasty e-mails from this customer all because she didn't want to pay for a $2.25 auction! There's more to the story than that but I just wanted to tell you that no ebay or otherwise online auction seller should have to put up with threats, verbal abuse or disgusting filth! There is a limit to "The customer is always right" rule. In this case you should have the full support of anyone who sells on ebay and I'm certainly surprised that most comments told you how to "improve" your business relations instead of putting down ebay who will not protect you against these sort of psychos! In my case they even gave this person my home phone # and city and state! EBAY'S SO-CALLED RULES DO NOT APPLY TO THREATS, HARRASSMENT, LIBEL OR VULGARITY. AND THOSE ARE JUST A FEW THINGS THEY DON'T PROTECT YOU FROM! Good luck, I fully support your right to pursue this problem. I just wish I could say I think you'll win!
posted on September 21, 2000 10:02:51 PM
OK, a buyer pays on time. You ship an item in a used pizza box. The buyer leaves you a neg. Then you retalliate by leaving her a neg.
Unless your terms state that you ship your items in used pizza boxes, I don't see how this person failed to agree to your terms.
posted on September 21, 2000 10:06:12 PM
Everyone,
It is apparent that, with a bit of investigation, there is enough information in this thread to identify the buyer. There are very specific requirements for inviting the other party when such identifying information is posted.
I'm going to lock this thread until the buyer is invited in accordance with the CGs.
posted on September 21, 2000 10:07:11 PM
If her plate was broken, then she would have had a legitimate gripe. It was not broken, it arrived in mint condition. That neg I got was undeserved, other sellers need to be warned about what kind of customer she is.
