posted on May 6, 2002 08:57:38 AM new
This week I sold a sealed retail copy of Microsoft Office for Mac. Closed at $49. Go to Microsoft's web site and you will pay $459 for the same item. I don't care because I paid $5 bucks for it at a flea market. But if the bidder came back with "you overcharged me $2 on shipping," I would probably give that bidder a piece of my mind.
posted on May 6, 2002 09:25:05 AM new
I think every buyer out there has a horror story when it comes to a seller overcharging them on S&H, and yes, there are some sellers who do rip people off on S&H.
On the other hand, every seller has a horror story about the buyer who wants them to eat the expense of shipping. Heck, I had a guy in Greece a couple months back to win a CD from me and instead of e-mailing for the S&H to Greece from the US before he bid, he waited until the auction ended and TOLD me what he was willing to pay on S&H.
We worked things out, and he was cool once he knew why I couldn't charge straight postage for the item, but the fact remains he should have talked to me before he bid, and certainly before the auction ended.
It is very important for me to have a good reputation with buyers, and a cordial relationship with them. This means that I want the buyer to be happy with their purchase. Thus, all my auctions have the S&H fees, and how the item will be mailed, whether it be Media Mail, First Class, Priority, or through another service. All my auctions also state that if you have questions, please contact me before you bid.
If a buyer asks me why my S&H are "too high," I tell them exactly what I have tied up in the item and why I can't ship it cheaper than I have listed. If they don't want to pay those fees, they are welcome to find the item through another buyer.
I've been selling for several years now and I still get the person who wants to dicker me down on the S&H. I accept that as a way of life on eBay and spewing at the buyer does no good but earn you a reputation as a seller they don't want to do business with.
Them's my views on the matter, your mileage likely varies.
posted on May 6, 2002 09:44:09 AM new
Sellers never, ever overcharge for shipping. They put down what they want to charge. It is the Buyer that pays too much for shipping. Why?
They do not read
They can not read
They ignore the reading
They do not ask questions
I ask you, how many sellers would be charging what you consider "excessive" shipping and handling charges if buyer did the above 4 thing?
None. Because no one would buy from them and they would go out of business.
The charge of "excessive" shipping costs are merely false statements by buyer who...
did not read
can not read
ignore the reading
did not ask questions
posted on May 6, 2002 12:28:43 PM new
If I see shipping that is far more than I'd ever spend on that item, even more than the manufacturer would charge, then it's <b>my opinion</b> that the seller's S&H are too high.
If I see the same item being sold by 10 other people and all the bids are within a couple of dollars of each other, and one guy's S&H is twice what everyone else is charging, then it is <b>my opinion</b> that he is charging too much and so long as the other sellers have good FB I'll probably buy from one of them.
But that's the beauty of eBay: you have choices and people should realize that your choices end when you bid, and most certainly when the auction ends.
The long and short of it: ASK BEFORE YOU BID!
We have signs from God because some of us are too stupid to figure things out for ourselves.
posted on May 6, 2002 01:19:43 PM new
I hope I'm not beating a dead horse, but along the lines of quick shipping, I always ship the next business day after receipt of payment.
I do not wait for checks to clear unless it is a very expensive item.
I go to the post office each day whether I have 1 item or 100.
While you may see a postage mark for 80 cents and I charged $2.50, 80 cents is the postage and not the total shiping charge.
Out of that $1.70 "profit" comes the packaging, and the trips to the post office.
While $1 "profit" for shipping may seem like alot if I take 50 packages to the PO, it isn't when it is only your package, nor when I spend an hour getting the 50 items checked in and ready to go.
If I used the federal standard mileage charge for transporting the packages to the PO and driving back home, I may break even, but more likely than not I am losing money.
However, I could reduce shipping charges and mail at my convienence, perhaps 3 days after payment, perhaps 10 days after payment when I have 20 or more items to ship- which some sellers do. But in my experience, customers are quicker to complain about slow shipping than shipping charges.
In any event, if the shipping is stated in the auction, it is disengenious to complain after you make the purchase.
posted on May 6, 2002 01:31:53 PM new
Reamond, God, yes on fast shipping! I've got friends who nitpick the seller to death if they see the postmark is more than 2 days after payment was received.
They want it cheap, fast, and preferably now!
We have signs from God because some of us are too stupid to figure things out for ourselves.
posted on May 6, 2002 02:02:47 PM new
I recently ordered a software program from Amazon and they charged me $5.00 for shipping and sent it Media Mail, weighed less than a pound. Think I should complain to them that they ripped me off on the shipping? Or, should I feel sorry for them since they are desperately trying to make a profit.
posted on May 6, 2002 02:06:07 PM new
I certainly would make note of the excessive shipping charges in the feedback. As a seller and buyer it is not right to overcharge. If you can't sell the item and make a profit then don't. Adding on ridiculous amounts for shipping is not right. A few months ago I saw a sterling silver charm for sale on a lady's website. It was $6.00 or something. I emailed her to ask how to order and the shipping costs. She wanted $7.00 for shipping. It costs about a $1.00 to ship a charm in a padded mailer. Needless to say I never ordered the charm. Now if the charm had been $10.00 with a shipping charge of $2.00. I would have not had a problem. I have to buy bubble mailers and boxes for items not shipped via priority mail. I do not add on extra shipping costs. I want to be treated as I treat others. It is a big turn off when sellers do this.
posted on May 6, 2002 10:05:03 PM new
mystical cat: Sellers do not add "ridiculous amounts" for shipping because they WANT TO. They do it because the vast majority of eBay bidders are bottom-feeding scum-suckers.
If you list your widget for $1.00 Buy It Now with $9 shipping, or $9.00 Buy It Now with $1.00 shipping, you still get a $10.00 payment assuming the silly thing sells. But the $1.00 BIN auction is far, far, FAR more likely to get a bid than the $9.00 auction.
Why does it matter to you how it's broken down? $10 is $10, either way. As long as the amounts are disclosed up front, the only way you're being cheated is in your own mind.
posted on May 6, 2002 10:56:24 PM new
I guess if the P.O. COULD hide the postage amount, there wouldn't be so many complaints.
I do have to say, though, that 80 cents vs. $4+ is an awfully big leap and would bring me up short. I can't imagine asking that much to ship (and "handle" a tiny item unless I'd said it would go priority. I think this is just going to be, forever, a philosophical disagreement among us sellers.
And. . . there seem to be a lot of sellers right now who have nothing but contempt for buyers (and many of us are both!). If you feel this negative about buyers, why are you still in this business? This IS a people business, after all, IMHO.
posted on May 7, 2002 05:05:05 AM new
EXCUSE ME, roadsmith!? I think we sellers think MOST buyers are GRRRrrrreat! Even downright wonderful! There are only a comparativly few PIA's, most of whom are probably PIA's in every aspect of life, not just Ebay..And as an afterthought, I do not think any retail business is in biz just cause they "like" the consumers! (If you do not like the buyers, why are you doing Ebay?" Wo! That was a good one!
posted on May 7, 2002 07:24:08 AM new
on amzn cd,if you buy it from third party instead of amzn,the seller does not get that full 5.00 shipping,amzn takes away a portion for processing your credit card.
but amzn does have a customer satisfaction guanrantee,if you cannot settle the dispute from the seller,amzn will reimburse you .
this is a touchy issue right now with amzn sellers on books,booksellers only get 2.23 for shipping a book even though customer pays 3.49
back to 4.95 shipping of jewelry.buyer may think the seller is going to take extra care in shipping jewelry,sending it via usps priority,insured and well packaaged with a gift box??so 4.95 is not unreasonable 3.50 plus 1.10 insurance ,plus a gift box.
posted on May 7, 2002 07:49:59 AM new
I assume people are taking exception to my characterization of most eBay bidders as "bottom-feeding scum-suckers".
I meant what I said. It has nothing to do with how lovely or sweet or nice someone is; the fact is that we have a culture where people shop based on price alone. It has been proven time and again to be a stupidly short-sighted method (you buy cheap, you get cheap, and it falls apart in a few weeks), but is still wildly popular nonetheless.
We don't just theorize about shopping habits; we track actual auction results. You do that when your livelihood depends on people buying your stuff. So we have multiple eBay seller ids. Here are our three currently-active selling modes and the results:
alpha: High opening bid, all reserves. 22% sellthrough.
beta: Most items start at $9.99, no reserve. 35% sellthrough.
gamma: Everything starts at 1 cent, no reserve. 98% sellthrough.
The numbers tell the story. Bottom-feeding scum-suckers they are, and (apparently) ever more shall be.
posted on May 7, 2002 08:40:53 AM new
STOPWHINING .... "back to 4.95 shipping of jewelry.buyer may think the seller is going to take extra care in shipping jewelry,sending it via usps priority,insured and well packaaged with a gift box??so 4.95 is not unreasonable 3.50 plus 1.10 insurance ,plus a gift box. " .. . When I started this discussion (not realizing how heated and long it would get), my original thoughts were that for putting the jewelry back into white cardboard (original?) box, using a padded envelope and seeing the 80c postage, I thought 4.95 was too much. I was offered optional insurance. Now, if it would have been shipped priority and had insurance, I would have no problem. I contacted the seller, she offered to refund the difference and I asked her not to. We have exchanged a few emails since then exchanging ideas about ebay. She is a newbie and told me that she is still in the "guessing" part of selling. Even the veteran ebayer's, both buyers and sellers, are on opposite sides of the fence. Perhaps when Meg has some spare time (grinning), she could set a perimeter that everyone could follow .... but then we wouldn't have these lively discussions, eh? Now I hope this doesn't set a bunch of people off so keep in mind ... THIS IS A SCENARIO. I go to Store A, look at an item that is priced $YY.YY. I take it to the checkout and sales tax is added to the price and I pay for it. I then proceed to Store B, see an item priced at $XX.XX, proceed to the checkout and when the sales person is finished, I am told that the total price is $ZZ.ZZ. "WHAT", I exclaim. "Well, you are paying for the item, PLUS, the rental on the shelf space plus the gasoline costs for it to get to the store plus the bag plus etc, etc, etc." THAT would get pretty confusing when you shop and that's where all the lines gets blurred. Just some more thoughts .....
posted on May 7, 2002 08:49:25 AM new
make it Greedy bottom feeding scum suckers with a capital G.
bidders whine and whine on items which are not real ivory (and i mean elephant ivory) which they paid 10 dollars for,but when you list an item which said genuine ivory tested and all that with a higher open bid.no one wants to bid.
but many of them are resellers who want to flip and make a profit ,so they view you as their source of bottom feeding bargains.
so what is the future of ebay?
i would say some sellers are not selling because it is no longer profitable for them to sell,plus they have a large cc bill which they have to pay interest on.
some buyers are not buying as their intention is to resell and as bids get lower,they lose money.
many brick and mortar shops just dont see how they can sell on ebay for so little to the BOTTOM FEEDING SCUM SUCKERS
posted on May 7, 2002 08:49:55 AM new
But seriously, though. There may be something to this "buy it cheap" mentality. In the store where I work, my least favorite aisle is the ball point pen aisle. Customers who shop there think nothing of taking 15 minutes of a seller's time over a $.69 cent refill. And of course they want to take every pen/refill out of the package to try it.
Typical conversation:
Do you have this pen?
I'm sorry, we don't carry that one. Try one of these thousand or so other pens.
But you must have it. I bought this pen here.
(Yeah, maybe 10 years ago.)
Where is the refill for this pen?
Sorry, we don't carry it. (Here's 100 other refills.)
You must have the refill. Go check in the back.
Maybe you'd like a nice printer or scanner instead?
*****
I got snagged there yesterday by a few customers and had to take a valium afterwards.
posted on May 7, 2002 09:03:27 AM new
to.. JinkiesVelma ..
WA WA ...You must be stubborn and deaf to the majority board as well! You are STILL whining about 4.95 shipping and STILL badgered the seller..Every seller should charge a 4.95 MINIMUM shipping charge ..NOT UNREASONABLE! ...and then maybe whiners like you who try to run other peoples business would shut up! >> and...NO! ...You did NOT have the right to "ASSUME" any method of shipping! The energy and pettiness you have displayed here would have been better spent asking shipping costs BEFORE you bid!..End of discussion! ...You were too lazy to do that and now you are judgemental and complain! ...Whoopeetedo! You sell too? Who cares how you run YOUR business??!! Get a life and I hope our paths never cross on an auction transaction! If I remembered your ID, I would cancel the bid!
posted on May 7, 2002 09:14:27 AM new
C'mon, Kiddo2 ... tell me how you REALLY feel. Sorry if I sounded like I was whining. I settled the issue with the seller, put down my sword and we exchanged FRIENDLY emails about ebay in general, not THAT transaction. As usual, you have read between the lines and rewrote my reply to suit your own purposes. And, as usual, you have missed the entire point. Thanks .... you always give me a smile!
posted on May 7, 2002 09:48:59 AM new
JinkiesVelma.. "As usual", YOU do not read the lines, much less "in between" .. YOU SHOULD NOT HAVE QUESTIONED THE SELLER AFTER THE AUCTION ENDED ABOUT SHIPPING...duh ..YOU DO THAT BEFORE BIDDING! And a "newbie" to boot, PSHAME! ...what a nice welcome for the sweet person "newbie" that you bullied into offering to refund the dif. You neglect to say what bargain price you acquired the jewelry for.. do not bother now unless you produce the proof, duh (web page url).. but...you probably got an excellent deal, even with the shipping cost! How big of you to refuse the refund AFTER you made such a big stink out of it....
Think that makes you a better person? The ole "never mind now technique" is but a thin veil to cover your own petty tracks.. You made your bossy, egotistical point. Just ask first, duh (how much is shipping to this zip code?)or say NO! duh, (do not bid). Is that too simple a concept for a know it all to grasp? You were WRONG no matter how right YOU think you were...say you are sorry and move on..
posted on May 7, 2002 09:59:14 AM new
To say that buyers are bottom feeding scum just annoys me. When I feel that way about the people who bid on my auctions, I'm going to get off eBay and take a day job outside my home.
I try to respect the people who buy from me and if they make an offer I'm not capable of accepting I tell them so. No need to get irrate with them, because I can always tell they don't have any idea what it takes to sell stuff on eBay and make a profit. I educate when I can so they aren't left with the impression that sellers are out there to rip them off.
As a buyer, I research what I buy so I know what I'm buying, and yes, I look for the best price and the most cost-efficient shipping out there.
If people are willing to buy something below the quality of what you are selling, why do you even care? People who are looking for quality are going to buy your item, and people who know what they are buying will buy what you are selling.
If this makes me a bottom feeding scum, so be it. No one is forcing anyone to sell their merchandise on eBay and no one is forcing anyone to sell below the profit margin.
Start your own site, but please stop assuming that everyone hates sellers, because it's been my experience that that is not the case.
I start my auctions with a built in profit and I charge a fair rate for shipping and handling, which I have found attracts more bidders. You guys already know from experience that the buyers complain about S&H charges, so find a way to load the profit elsewhere. I swear, but if I knew what worked and what didn't, I'd find a way around it. People hate high S&H, so give them what they want!
We have signs from God because some of us are too stupid to figure things out for ourselves.
posted on May 7, 2002 10:17:22 AM new
we should all mail a free starbuck coffee coupon to JINKIESVELMA for putting up with all these ramblings/frustrations and bitching.
can we move on to something else ,like dynergy and merrill lynch??
posted on May 8, 2002 12:35:21 AM new
fluffythewondercat
>>"I assume people are taking exception to my characterization of most eBay bidders as "bottom-feeding scum-suckers".">>
If I was a potential buyer and read this forum I would NEVER purchase anything on Ebay ever again. Fluffy it is sellers (with an attitude) like you that are giving Ebay a bad name.
I've said it before and I will say it again. 99.9 percent of our customers are great. PLEASE Fluffy, send me all of your "bottom feeding scum-suckers." I will gladly take them off of your hands.
a tiny item unless I'd said it would go priority. I think this is just going to be, forever, a philosophical disagreement among us sellers.
