Well, I haven't heard from her even though she said she'd send payment by PayPal as soon as I let her know about the shipping cost. I wonder if she'll opt for parcel post to save herself 40 cents...
The strange thing is she bought a couple of pieces from me a while back, paid $5.20 postage for a $7.50 item with no whining about the shipping. We agreed it didn't make a whole lot of sense to spend another $1.10 for insurance.
This time, though, her total is $36.50 and I'm definitely not sending anything that expensive without insurance.
Amazing how she's stepping over the dollars to pick up the dimes.
posted on May 7, 2002 11:25:09 AM
Hey, tCell! Ship the way you want. Your auctions clearly state when you ship, so anyone who expects special treatment should be willing to pay for it.
Speed is just a question of money. How fast do you want to go?
Send the complainer a timeline of events, including your auction terms that give shipping. If the continue to harrass you, you have proof that you are not being unreasonable.
We have signs from God because some of us are too stupid to figure things out for ourselves.
posted on May 7, 2002 11:57:53 AM
Do not throw the baby out with the bath water. Some sellers cannot ship more than once a week. Some of us live to far away from a post office that if we mail everything the same or next day, we would not have the time to sell since we will be on the road more than we are posting auctions. Not to even mention the price of gas these days.
This is the reason we sellers have TOS. It would be nice if bidders would only read them. If someone won an auction from me, and told me it was a gift I would certainly get the item in the mail the same day I received payment. But, what if a bidder did not pay until 14 days or later and then let me know that the item was needed sooner. Shouldn't they have made sure they paid sooner?
We have to have some rules. I did not for two years until I had so many rubber checks, I state in my TOS that I do not take CHECKS, only electronic checks, and lo and behold 14 days later there it is, a check that I refuse to cash. If I changed my rules to suit everyone it would be a total mess.
What The seller tcell posted was, the buyer wanted to commit a fraud after buying a 5 dollar item, and after 2 months wanted the seller to say that the item was worth 50 dollars instead of 5 dollars.
I know of sellers who insure to cover the shipping and handling also. I won't, and if the item is lost or broken, it is still only worth what the buyer bid price is. I wonder how many people do this only to get more money from the USPS. It looks like a few buyers are doing exactly that.
Only my opinion, if others disagree with my TOS that is their opinion. I will follow the sellers TOS if I choose to bid, or if I do not agree with their TOS, I have the choice not to bid.
posted on May 7, 2002 04:58:21 PM
You can insure the item for as much as you like, but, the USPS will only pay what the actual winning bid is. I can speak from experience and yes they do pay the postage and insurance. At least they did on mine.
posted on May 7, 2002 05:05:53 PM
I never get upset when a buyer asks for cheaper postage. I usually ship in packages, but if they would like it cheaper I will use bubble envelopes. I understand why people would like cheaper shipping and I will accomodiate them if it is possible. When I list my auctions I start at a price that I will make money so I do not make any extra on my S/H. So in the long run it makes no difference to me as I have everykind of packaging imagineable and I can change it. I guess I am easy....
posted on May 7, 2002 08:41:29 PM
I just had someone tonight pay for a $5.00 item with paypal. In the message section of the email he wrote "I paid promptly so I expect it to be shipped promptly. Please reply with confirmation". I ship everyday so it's not a problem, but it just rubbed me the wrong way for some reason.
posted on May 7, 2002 11:23:02 PM
{i}Nasty sellers who can't be bothered shipping more than once or twice a week but expect payment NOW are my big problem with ebay.{/i}
I ship only twice a week. I also put that directly in my TOS/FAQ. I have never had an irate, or upset, or mildly concerned customer contact me for an item I had shipped.
posted on May 8, 2002 12:22:43 AM
Buyers against sellers and sellers against buyers. Can't we all just get along?
Seriously, IMO, good buyers/sellers make up the 99.9% majority. We seem to spend so much time focusing on the few bad apples that we seem to forget all the good transactions..
