posted on January 15, 2001 01:04:39 PM new
I ship from Canada..
So I charge the shipping in USA dollars..since I make 50% more after the exchange..that covers my BEER FUND...I love USA money!!
posted on January 15, 2001 02:06:59 PM new
Just thought I would put in my 2 cents as a seller and a buyer.........so I'm on both sides of the fence. As a seller, I disclose all my fee's along with terms and conditions within my auction description. It is lengthy, but I think it covers it all. I figure it up to the buyer if he chooses to read it......but its all there if he/she so chooses so there are no questions later that were not covered. That way the buyer can make an informed choice of whether he/she wished to place a bid on my item. As far as when I am bidding on item, if a seller discloses a handling fee, I also can make a choice to bid or not bid based on if I think that the handling fee is reasonable or not. But if I bid and win an auction from someone that does not disclose any fee within their auction and then tried to charge me one later or pads my shipping amount, then at that point I do question the seller and since I do sell, I am pretty familiar with the shipping rates of what it costs to ship stuff so I have even challenged the shipping. I refuse to pay extra if it is not disclosed up front. To me if the seller does not disclose this up front within the discription, then I think that is an unethical business practice and I would never choose to do business with that seller again. Just my thoughts....
posted on January 15, 2001 02:25:49 PM new
Handling reflects the real costs that are involved in the packaging and shipping of your order. Below is a short list of just some of the costs I lay out in order to efficently process your order:
Packing Peanuts (30 SQ yards a week)
Bulk Postage (so we're quick)
Pitney Bowes Postage meter rental
Pitney Bowes Postage meter tape, ink, sealing solution, software upgrade & service.
Tape dispensers
tape
Protracting knives
Boxes
Delivery vehicle to Post office including gas, maintance, license and vehicle tax, Liability insurance and labor.
There are also many other costs that can be added, but the above is just a reprsentitive sample.
As a buyer, it should make you think twice before yelling foul about a seller trying to recoup his/her investment by adding an additional .30 cents to your order.
By the way, suppose your an inexperienced eBay buyer and you don't request insurance on your shipment. If the package gets lost, who do you think is expected to replace the item out of pocket?
The lesson is that there is more to it than meets the eye.
Feel free to charge me the extra .30 cents eBay seller the next time I decide to buy one of your items in auction. It's my belief that you've more than earned the money.
posted on January 15, 2001 09:09:01 PM new
As a relative newbie (and one who doesn't sell as a business), I have never had a problem with fees that were listed up front. I've had some auctions I've skipped because the S&H plus what it would take to win the auction was more than the product was worth, but it didn't make me hostile. I would get much more upset with the "buyer pays actual shipping" declaration when in reality the seller is padding the shipping and then lying to me. I have looked at the shipping calculation counters that are available and it's hard to miss the field where you add the dollar amount or percent to increase the shipping fees that are presented to the buyer.
But maybe that's just me. For those of you with lots of experience in this area, is that true? Buyers are happier paying an inflated shipping charge rather than a fixed amount for S&H (or just Handling)?
I guess I can see the point if you are regularly buying items for a few dollars and selling them for a hundred, but as an individual I'm more likely to have something I paid a hundred and fifty for a couple of years ago and now will bring in $30/$40 if I'm lucky and may only bring $10/$15 if I happen to pick a night when a "professional" seller dumps fifty auctions for the identical item. I don't want to get rich, but I don't want to loose money either. I appreciate all of the information you've all been kind enough to list here. I value your opinions and your experience and am learning a lot from these discussions.
posted on January 15, 2001 11:21:15 PM new
I am a seller and occasional buyer on eBay. As a seller of vintage jewelry, I charge a flat rate depending on the size of the item. Small $1.50, Med. $2.00 Large $2.50. Most items fall in the small or med catagory. My model is that I charge appox. $1.00 over the actual shipping charge. Since most item are wrapped in bubble wrap, shipped in a jewelry box, in a padded mailer, the extra $1.00 is for the jewelry box and the mailer. My TOS states s/h fees up front just the way I listed them here, and I always tell what size package it will be. I also state how the jewelry is packaged, and that I use First Class Mail.
I do not feel that my s/h is excessive. In the two years+ I have been on eBay, I have only had 1 person complain about my s/h. In fact many of my positive feedbacks praise my packing.
As a buyer, I read the TOS for s/h if I am interested in bidding on something. If it is not there, I e-mail them and ask. If I feel that the s/h is too much, I move on. Unless it is something I really really must have, and nobody else is selling that item, than it does not matter what one pays, does it.
posted on January 16, 2001 12:20:05 AM new
Okay, confession time. Here's an example of how buyer and seller perspectives differ.
I was looking over the negs I've left since I joined eBay, using vrane.com's feedback tool. I noticed one of the first negs I left back when I was a buyer:
"Seller charged $4 to ship, actual postage was under $1."
Okay, years later, and now I'm a seller. Guess how much my standard flat shipping fee is.
Okay, two thoughts come to mind. First is, that if I was my own customer, I would neg myself. Second, buyers don't understand the actual costs of selling on eBay as a business.
posted on January 16, 2001 06:35:19 AM new
Need larger size boxes for free???I get my 38" long x 20"wide x 20"deep boxes from a distributor of vaccum cleaners, they are heavy duty and plain brown, they are great for making custom size boxes for those larger items. I just have to be there when the v.c. arrive and they remove them from the box and break them down or they go into the dumpster. Also you might try a sporting goods store like DICK'S, they have merchandise coming in on a truck just about every morning, most of the boxes are broken down by 9:30 am ready for the dumpster, go ask the store manager, lots of times you'll also get free bubble wrap, popcorn.... I ship 90% of my merchandise wrapped inside 1/2" bubble wrap which I now buy from a local distributor at $58.00 for 4 250' 12" rolls.
posted on January 16, 2001 06:56:01 AM new
kraftdinner
, and other 'critics of the handling fee'
1./ Assume a professional business sells a $10, $20, or $75 items at low profit eg. $1.00.
2./ Assume that item requires some caution when packaging due to it's fragile nature.
3./ Pack, wrap, and label- approx. 1hour.
Say materials also cost you $2.
Tell us all please. What do you think is a FAIR amount to charge, if at all,? ,,,,,,, 10c, 20c, $1, $10
mzalez ,, What do you handle at $250 per hour?
Don't be mugs, --- charge handling --- charge whatever the market will bare.
posted on January 16, 2001 08:17:31 AM new
I buy on eBay; my sister sells. As a buyer, I don't mind reasonable handling fees. But every once in a while I do question what I've been charged. For example, I bought a pair of antique earrings last year and was charged something in the neighborhood of $5.50 shipping and handling. When the earrings arrived, they were crammed into a plastic grocery store bag inside a small bubble mailer with less than $1 in postage and no insurance (which I had asked for).
That was an exception, however. Most sellers pack my orders very well, often with special touches - I will never forget a seller who sent a Victorian bracelet to me in a pretty wooden box tied with a bow. Great PR, and it worked: I've bought from her again.
Having spent two hours last night helping my sister double box and package pieces of ironstone - with bubble wrap spread out all over her back porch and popcorn flying - my sympathies are with honorable and conscientious sellers.
One thing my sister and I have learned is that becoming a scavenger is of great benefit. I often load my car with empty corrugated boxes, bubble wrap and popcorn from my office, and my sister does the same. It's a simple enough thing to do, and it lowers her overhead considerably. I am also a small-time landlord (three apartments) and my tenants are all on notice to save incoming boxes and their "stuffing" for me! (Fortunately, my house has a very large attic for storage.)
posted on January 16, 2001 12:37:27 PM new
I'm glad to see there is quite a few logical buyers out there. Bid what you are willing to pay (including shipping and handling). If it is a bargain great!
Once you click to place the bid, you are agreeing to the terms of the auction and don't really have a complaint coming (as long as it was adequately packaged).
The people that are activists against high shipping and handling charges are obviously not very smart bidders. Just DON'T BID in the first place and stop worrying about it.
A seller doesn't owe you an explaination about why he charges an extra dollar for handling. Do you email Etoys or other online merchants and ask them why they don't charge exact postage? I think not!
posted on January 16, 2001 12:40:11 PM new
Maybe the sellers who really gouge the buyer is just plain ineffiecent in packaging the item, then they are justified to charge $5 handling on an item that ships at $1.00
I used to ship big things that took about 1 hour fifteen minutes to package and create a special box. I only charged $1 handling. As a matter of fact, no matter what I ship I lose money on the handling part. Buyers better not bite that hand that gives them a bargain!
posted on January 16, 2001 12:52:13 PM new
I'm not a large volume seller or anything like that, but you get my input anyway. As a buyer, I will no longer bid unless the shipping is a specific $$ amount, I haven't appreciated being screwed by over-inflated handling costs.
As a buyer, I don't really care if it says s/h or handling as long as I know what I'm going to be charged before hand... I shouldn't have to send an email and ask.
As a seller, I try to avoid the word "handling" and I always list a fixed amount. Often I word it something like "Shipping will be $XX priority or $XX book rate with delivery confirmation for carefully packaged item." Carefully packaged item includes any costs I choose to include, but it's there for the bidder to see. If it's a heavy item, I tell it up front so bidders don't wonder why the shipping is so high. For example, "weighs over 3# with packaging."
Kraftdinner, sellers are getting nailed with higher fees right and left. It's going to be paid somewhere, and usually by the bidders. As bidders, if it makes you unhappy, you might consider directing complaints to EBay. Seller complaints have fallen on deaf ears.
`·. >(((º>`·.¸.¸>
ahwahneeliz
>(((º>¸¸.·.>((º>··.¸><((((ºcJ
posted on January 16, 2001 01:22:33 PM new
I don't charge a handling fee, but if I did it would be for all that D*&% tape that gets wrapped around, twisted and stuck all over.
