posted on December 25, 2000 10:16:50 AM
Do you ever get flack from bidders complaining about the shipping cost? I recently had a bidder(who paid promptly) send me his bid price plus .33 to cover shipping. In his WBN I charged $1.50 for s/h and he thought that was too much and only sent the amount for 1st class. Do they not understand that the envelopes, labels, tape, etc. cost money too?
posted on December 25, 2000 10:28:25 AM
I dont say Shipping and handleing in my listings no more with the new rate Hikes I call it fixed shipping rate .
Any one who complans is not really interested in buying your item just in finding something to moan and groan over.
I try to use as low cost new clean card board and boxes as I can to ship in if there is no time to buy in bulk on line I have to buy my packageing locally cheapest boxes you can get locally run from .98 to $3.75 each that is the cost just for a box I dont think 30% to 50% of actual shipping is to bad at all.
ON auctions you cant really make this cost in your sale price because the bidders set the price of the Item which you must make from 33% to 55% above cost to break even on other fees and costs. http://www.Dman-N-Company.com
posted on December 25, 2000 11:02:18 AM
Yep, I have changed all my listings to reflect the "Fixed SHipping Cost" and it is working out good. All the fees are killing me like ebay listing, FVF, Paypal and Billpoint. My items sell for $2-10 so there is not alot of room for more .25 and .35 fees. Where do the fees end? It seems as though all auction sites and payment services are looking for more ways to extort money from auction sellers. You have to give AW credit though, they are one of the only listing and hosting services that remain free.
posted on December 25, 2000 05:28:20 PM
If I state $1.50 shipping and handling, and my buyer sends only $.33 I would tell them they either pay the rest or they get SQUAT !!!
I do not appreciate idiot buyers bidding on an item that clearly states a shipping cost and then try to re-negotiate shipping after they win !
I would also leave this idiot a negative feedback so that they don't think they can pull this stunt on other sellers.
posted on December 25, 2000 08:02:56 PM
There is nothing wrong with charging shipping and handling, but as a buyer, sellers' terms can be confusing. Everyone is different. I wish sellers would come up with a standard so buyers could look at an auction and tell immediately what is included. It gets so tiresome to have to send emails on almost every auction to find out what is and is not included.
Some of the current TOS regarding shipping that cause me to have to email the seller are:
1. Actual shipping cost. Does this mean actual postage or will gas and supplies be included under the heading of shipping?
2. Shipping will be $3.20. Does this mean the seller is mailing priority, or will I have to pay extra if I want the item mailed priority?
3. Shipping will be $1.50. If I know that the item can be sent for 33¢, then I have to email the seller to find out if insurance is included, or if the amount over 33¢ is a handling charge.
It would be so much easier if sellers would simply say, "Handling charge of xxx in addition to postage cost" or "Fixed price of $1.50, does not include insurance or delivery confirmation.
posted on December 25, 2000 08:11:28 PM
Listen, I will only say this once.
If an auction says, "Shipping will be XXX" that means that is what the seller is charging for shipping. Whether it is high or low, it does not matter. That is what the seller stated, and that is what you will pay if you bid.
NO IF'S, AND'S, or BUT'S about it!
If you are a buyer you do not have to read to deep into it. The seller states a shipping charge and the seller should not have to go below what he stated. Nor is the seller allowed to go above what he stated.
Let me ask you this.
If you won an auction that stated $1.50 shipping, and you knew it could go out for .33 cents, then you would email the seller to ask if it can be shipped cheaper right ?
But if the same auction stated $1.50 shipping, and you knew for a fact it was going to cost more, are you also going to email the seller and tell him that you know it will cost more to ship so therefore you are going to send extra ?
In your case the bidder is trying to change the terms of your shipping policy.
When this happens to me and I have a portion of the money that is susposed to be sent to me I send them a polite email stating that apparently they didn't read my TOS which clearly stated the cost involved for the transaction.
I relate that the item will be shipped when the rest of the money is received. This makes it necessary to set on the first payment until the second payment arrives, but I stick to my terms and if necessary I do NPB, FVF and negative feedback and return the first payment.
I don't let bidders change my TOS. More than likely this won't be a repeat bidder anyway.
posted on December 25, 2000 08:26:23 PMcix, Yes, I would email the seller if I the TOS stated a fixed shipping cost of $1.50 and I knew the item could be mailed for 33¢. I sometimes like insurance, so I would want to know if it was included in the $1.50 charge; some sellers do include it in the fixed shipping but don't say so and some sellers don't include it but don't say they don't. I would want to know which group my current seller is in. Wouldn't it be easier to say "Fixed shipping of $1.50, insurance and/or delivery confirmation will be an extra charge."?
Your Idea of all sellers getting togeather on these shipping fees would be great but there is not really much chance of getting millions of people to do this easily just when you think you have all in agreement on it several will find fault with something.
And I believe buyers will be thinking twice on many shipping extra such as insurance when the price goes up to $1.45 for up to $50 of insurance.
More buyer will be decideing parcel post is worth the wait of 5 to 7 day to save big $$$ on shipping.
Priority for 1 lbs $3.50 and 2 lbs will be 3.95 parcel post will be $2.97 up to 2 lbs frist class will be $2.97 for 13 oz.
for 3 lbs priority will be $5.15 parcel post will be $3.36 for 3 pounds Buyer are going to start being willing to wait longer and take chances and not pay insurance and save big.
I can see this comeing and have started restocking card board and boxes I think one thing that will be way down is the use of free priority boxes as seller and buyer move to hold down costs.
posted on December 25, 2000 08:43:18 PM
Let me tell ya'll a funny story about Priority. I shipped two like packages to Cary, NC. One 2-3 Priority and the other 1st Class. You know what happened, the 1st Class arrived 1 day ahead of the Priority. What gives?
posted on December 25, 2000 08:51:09 PM
Foolproof,
Thatsbecause "Priority" is not guaranteed for a 2-3 day delivery. We have a big sign promoting priority 2 to 3 day mail, in our post office, but in the small print it says that that is not a guaratee. So I even checked with the clerk, who said yes it was not a 2-3day delivery guarantee, and even she couldn't figure out why people paid that price when first class gets there in the same time!!
No two sellers are alike. Some sellers have very little explanation as to what your cost will be and some lay it out so that there is no questions as to shipping cost.
Most sellers learn after trial and error that if they don't go into detail about shipping cost they will spend alot of time answering email about cost. This can be very time consuming and I myself don't have time as I run 100 - 400 auctions at all times.
It's hard to put all details about shipping cost in an auction without getting very lengthy. Then the problem is to get the bidder to read everything in your auction.
Most of the items I sell are quiet heavy and below is a cut and paste of the shipping terms from one of my auctions, but bidders will still send me an email wanting to know what shipping cost are:
I ship six days a week, Monday thru Saturday.
For Next Day shipment Use Billpoint.
Merchandise is shipped NLT the day after payment is received,"Including payment by personal check"
Winner pays actual shipping cost & combined shipping charge on multiple auction wins unless otherwise stated.
Items are shipped from zip code 12345 by Priority mail. I will ship by Parcel Post on merchandise weighing 20 Pounds or more if requested.
I do not ship UPS. There are no handling charges/fees.
Insurance of 0.85¢ should be included if desired for purchases under $50.00.
Insurance cost on items over $50.00 is $1.80 up to $100.00.
All Email will be answered in a timely manner. (Here I give a link to my email)
All Email will be answered in a timely manner.
All of the above looks like a lot to read, but it really isn't as it is in small letters at the bottom of each auction. In items of 5 pounds or less I still tell what the items weighs and state the cost for Priority mail shipping. If a potential bidder sends me an email wanting to know what shipping cost are I give them a link back to the auction page and say "READ HERE"
