posted on June 3, 2001 12:47:45 AM new
I can see if someone wanted to sell their shipping service at a loss in order to have their item bid up further, while other sellers may choose shipping as an added source for profit. It's like a gas station. Gas station A offers a car wash along with pumping up your gas tank for only .50¢ extra (break even point). It's a strong motivator for a passing by motorist.
Gas station B is looking for profit growth so adds a car wash as an additional profit center, therefore charges $2.99 for the car wash.
Neither gas station is wrong for their choices. Both are seeking a benefit, and both can increase profits. The gas station A owner, however, has to weigh whether it increases return business. "A" can only make profit by repeat business. Whereas "B" is making a very nice profit everytime someone gets the carwash. But there's a problem over at "A". The customers often complain about trash on the ground (because of the certain type of customer who is attracd to cheap prices), and now the "A" owner has to hire another worker to pick up this frequent trash, plus the manager spends most of his time dealing with the complainers that he has no time to for other productive uses. Profits are very slim. "B" has a very classy customer who throws their trash in the garbage can. They also have learned to handle their own problems before voiceing them to a manager. "B's" profits are soaring.
posted on June 3, 2001 01:01:27 PM new
These shipping threads pop up here on a weekly basis. The solution is really very simple.
If you think the shipping & handling charges are too high, don't bid.
If the shipping & handling charges aren't disclosed or they are aren't clear, don't bid until you ask the seller to clarify them.
If you bid on an auction you are agreeing to pay the shipping & handling charges as stated in the auction listing, even if you have no clue what they will end up being after the auction. This includes the popular "Shipping based on zip code" and "Buyer pays actual shipping". Note that the term used was actual shipping, NOT actual postage. There is a very big difference in many circumstances.
Why is the concept of shipping fees such a hard one to grasp?
Although I quoted your words, I was not responding to your post. I was making a general response to what I feel were some of the main points of the thread.
I don't quibble with your reasoning. But I do still hold that the definition of "bargain" depends on who is looking at it. Practically speaking, it's only a bargain if the BUYER believes it is. If I were to want to buy something which has a retail price of $29.99 but local discount stores are selling it for $14.99, but then I find a source selling it for $5.00... I would not see $14.99 as a bargain. In fact, if I found more than one source selling it for $5.00 (and it wasn't a close-out special), I would consider that to be the "regular price" and all the other prices to be "extremely inflated."
(Also,I disagree that any common antique or collectible has a specifically known retail value -- because collector books and antique dealers almost ALWAYS rate it as being more valuable than it really is (as determined by its usual/average selling price). I buy collectibles on ebay, which are not in short supply or uncommon, for 1/2 to 2/3 of their book values, consistently. Some of them I do get at a bargain. Some of them I buy at the going rate or usual selling price for that item on ebay. Rarely do I pay close to book value -- so if they have a specifically known retail value... it seems to be not truly known to the book value setters. )
Quickdraw,
Good attempt, but not a very good example, in my opinion. First of all, at least in my area, there are only pennies difference in the prices of gas from one station to the next, and the car washing gas stations have all gone out of business -- or at least have closed their car wash. (It's a huge financial sink-hole.) And secondly, I find your class-ist stereotype offensive -- and untrue as far as my own experience goes. In my limited experience, it seems like people who throw their trash around and expect other people to clean up after them come from ANY "class" of people, and I have especially noticed it from those with MORE disposable income. There is nothing inherently "trashy" about bargain hunters. It does seem to me that trash attracts trash... so how the owner upkeeps their place (cleans up, repairs, has accessible trash receptacles, etc.) has more to do with how trashy it gets than who the clientele are. How much of the profits s/he invests back into the business probably has a lot to do with this factor.
Violetta
(Not known by this nickname anywhere but here.)
posted on June 3, 2001 05:45:38 PM new
grannee, you can disagree with my real life example all you want, the only part I added to my story was the car wash. I took the Shell station on one side and a 7-11 on the other. Also, when I drive to the flea market through the lower middle class/poor neighborhoods, there is no question that it is extremely dirty and trashy. The street cleaner comes by weekly, that's how bad it is. In the classier neighborhoods there isn't any trash.
The complaints I receive are from people who got a good steal, the one's who bid it's true value or overbid never complain. Reality speaks for itself, and I definitely don't generalize to include every person who fits into a certain class.
posted on June 3, 2001 08:23:20 PM new
It's really quite simple for anyone who can understand basic math.
Item #1 sells for $18.00 + $5.00 shipping
Item #2 sells for $25.00 plus $2.00 shipping.
Item #1 is the better deal. If both items end at $25.00 then item #2 is the best deal.
Look at the overall price and bid accordingly.
There's one major seller I know of that charges $5.00 for the first item and $3.00 for each additional. Their shipping and handling rate sometimes comes to 3 times the actual shipping cost but because their items are such a good deal very few people ever complain about it.
Since the shipping charges are clearly stated in their auctions I tend to think of the compainers as flakes. I personally could care less if the seller makes money on shipping......
posted on June 3, 2001 10:10:53 PM newThe complaints I receive are from people who got a good steal, the one's who bid it's true value or overbid never complain
posted on June 4, 2001 01:37:38 AM new
The main thing to consider is that excessive shipping pisses people off. And when enough of that happens we all lose.
An example. I recently acquired some unusual toys and I realized I really needed a good toy book. I did a search and found one that seemed to suit my needs. Perfectly willing to go for one a couple of years old since I only deal with vintage toys anyway. Checked eBay and a couple other auctions. Found one for $2 with $5 shipping. Another for $4 with $4.50 shipping, and I know darn well that this book packed doesnt weigh 8-10 lbs. I sell alot of books myself.
It ticked me off so much I went to half.com, which I consider the greatest evil on the planet. Got the book for $4 plus 2.25 shipping. I would deal with the devil himself rather than pay twice shipping costs. And I'm a blue star vendor that sells alot of books! I charge a flat rate on most average books to simply spare me the time of weighing them and calculating on my current sizes of boxes available. It averages out to 30-50 cents in my favor, but this is hardly a 'profit' overall since I do make occasional mistakes in my other items that can cost alot, so this extra is used as a cushion and it all averages pretty much even. This is not a deliberate overcharge since if I am certain that a book can go at a lower rate, I will price it as such. As an example, I would charge $1.75 for a paperback and never $2.65.
What this means is that if enough people get annoyed with excessive shipping charges they will likely wind up in places like half.com where it is impossible to overcharge on shipping. And this might just be the reason eBay gives for switching over to the half.com format and screwing us all....
posted on June 4, 2001 02:15:34 AM new
The $2 book with $5 shipping would have cost you $7 total...75 cents more than what you paid. For that 75cents extra the book would probably have been sent priority (if not so stated in the auction all you needed to do was email the seller and find out for sure) as opposed to media rate from half. Priority would normally have gotten to you in a couple of days, while media rate would probably have taken a week (or longer).
Getting it a week earlier by priority would have meant you could have done your research, listed the toys and sold the items BEFORE you got the book from half. Not a bad deal for an extra 75 cents
Somehow 75 cents (or even the extra $2.25 of the other seller) doesn't seem like much "padding" of shipping costs.
posted on June 4, 2001 04:47:16 AM new
I clearly state my S&H in my auctions.
S&H Fees
FIRST CLASS (12 Ounces Or Less)
$3 in a padded mailer.
PRIORITY MAIL
Up to 1 lb. $5,
2 lbs. Flat Rate $5.45,
Over 2 lbs., up to 3 lbs. $6.65,
Over 3 lbs., up to 4 lbs. $7.85,
Over 4 lbs., up to 5 lbs. $9.05
Over 5 lbs. Email Me
PRIORITY MAY BE REQUIRED FOR BULKY OR HEAVY ITEMS.
Insurance Is $1.10 extra! Seller accepts no responsibility for uninsured items.
Since I sell mainly vintage jewelry. (final selling price from $1-$75) I single ring or pin in a padded mailer with bubble wrap in total may cost me $.80 to pack and ship. But to try and figure out each ring, brooch, and necklace's weight would be impossible.
I also will allow as many pieces shipped as weight allows for one flat rate.
My customers never complain. Even the ones who buy a brooch for $1 and pay $3 to ship.
As long as you are upfront about your S&H and state your TOS you are fine
posted on June 4, 2001 07:19:44 AM new
snakebait, I know how you feel. When I go into Macy's and see a Polo shirt I want for $75, I get real mad because I know it doesn't cost that much to make to justify that markup. When I go to Disneyland, those scammers charge me $30. If I had not shown up the cost to operate the rides would have been the same. And can you believe the movie theater wanted $2.75 for a small Coke that costs them only .5¢ plus a a few cents for the cup? Unbelieveable. You gethe idea, I walk around like a mad man pissed at every business because they all want to rip me off. All except the dollar store. I wish they started selling clothes!
By the way snakebait, did you possibly realize that the seller may have been shipping priority mail, at $3.95? The $4.00 he was charging would have been a .5¢ markeup.
)
First of all, at least in my area, there are only pennies difference in the prices of gas from one station to the next, and the car washing gas stations have all gone out of business -- or at least have closed their car wash. (It's a huge financial sink-hole.) And secondly, I find your class-ist stereotype offensive -- and untrue as far as my own experience goes. In my limited experience, it seems like people who throw their trash around and expect other people to clean up after them come from ANY "class" of people, and I have especially noticed it from those with MORE disposable income. There is nothing inherently "trashy" about bargain hunters. It does seem to me that trash attracts trash... so how the owner upkeeps their place (cleans up, repairs, has accessible trash receptacles, etc.) has more to do with how trashy it gets than who the clientele are. How much of the profits s/he invests back into the business probably has a lot to do with this factor.