posted on July 10, 2001 10:13:33 AM new
Here's a nice one!
Had an auction end recently for about $12, it was a piece of US Fractional currency, which would weigh almost nothing and could be mailed in a regular envelope with 34 cents postage. The bidder asked to do this (My shipping fees were $3) and pay with paypal.
I wrote back, and explained that it was much more than the cost to mail the item. The cost of online auctions have increased so much. I then gave him a breakdown of the fees involved:
Mailing Cost: 57 cents (I explained that I used extra "padding" because I did not want the item damaged
Bubble Mailer: 25 cents (I buy them in bulk, so that is my cost)
Ebay Fees: 90 cents (30 cents for listing, 5% FVF)
Paypal Fees 55 cents (soon to be more) 2.2% + 30 cents
Insurance Fees: $1.10 (I like to insure all banknotes that I mail out, not worth losing them. This was a cheap one, but others can go for much higher)
That's $3.37 right there, and I am only charging $3. Those aren't even all my expenses of course, it would probably be more like $3.50, going up to almost $4 with the new paypal rates this week (guess I will start charging $4 next round of auctions) I explained that I have to make up these fees in the shipping fees, because I can not put them in the final price of the item, since it is up for auction and I don't really have much control over that.
What I did was offered him the following. If he sent a check or money order, if he wanted the note placed in a basic envelope with 34 cents postage, and if he waived the right to expect compensation if the item was misdirected or damaged, then I would let him pay $1. If he wanted to use Paypal, he then would have to pay $2. (I do try to be reasonable when dealing with customers, I have repeat business I think because of that)
Know what? He sent me a paypal payment with the full $3 shipping. He THANKED me for explaining this to him (apparently he is a seller too) and he said that he was really short changing himself because he didn't do the math with all the fees involved.
posted on July 10, 2001 10:22:13 AM new
Umm ... It is against both PayPal and eBay's policies to charge the bidder for PayPal fees. Of course, since you have it "hidden" the bidder will never know.
posted on July 10, 2001 10:33:21 AM new
your reasoning is garbage........to charge for paypal and ebay fees is a joke......those monies should come out of your profit not the customers profit.....it amazes me how auction sellers feel they need to gouge the buyer for these fees. its the cost of doing business my friends.......please spare me the garbage excuse about sears and other catalog merchants doing the same because it my eyes that excuse is bull!!!!! what you are doing is stealing from the customer and trying to justify it in your mind......HA what a joke!!!!!!!!..........i see your auctions state $3 for shipping fees, thats an outright lie......time to come correct and add handling to that line.........i also see you say feedback is very important and you have no negs......i guess its time you learned a lesson, time to bogus bid and win several of your auctions and then drop the neg bomb on you followed with some comment in your fb about be a postage fee thief!!!!!
[ edited by bustervein on Jul 10, 2001 10:36 AM ]
posted on July 10, 2001 10:39:58 AM new
bustervein-- Your response re "bogus bidding" is extremely unprofessional and meanspirited. Whatever you feel about handling fees, you have no business interfering with someone else's auctions.
posted on July 10, 2001 10:45:39 AM new
bustervein,
Your comments in your last post are disruptive and insulting in nature.
You have been warned against posting in this manner a number of times - posting in this manner again will result in the suspension of your posting privileges.
posted on July 10, 2001 10:49:30 AM new
There is a HUGE difference between retail outlets and auction sites. They set a fixed price which covers all their costs and include a good profit.
An auction price is NOT fixed. Sure we can set a fixed starting point and can (in most cases) include all our expenses in this break-even total. Thus anything else is gravy.
However, the perception to the buyer and seller is that the final price is the price for the ITEM itself. Shipping is seen as an after value item -- a cost required to get the item from point B to point C.
But there were costs to get the item from point A to point B in the first place, right? And yes, these are part of the cost of doing business -- acquiring the item in the first place.
There is also the time it takes to package and ship an item -- not the shipping itself, but the HANDLING involved. This is not a real cost, but an estimated cost that levels out over many auctions.
It's a fine line -- but just remember to ALWAYS call Shipping as Shipping AND Handling and leave it at that. Whatever you build up into there is other costs of doing business.
You may not pass on PayPal fees -- but you are valuing your handling time more.
posted on July 10, 2001 10:57:22 AM new
bustervein:
"your reasoning is garbage........to charge for paypal and ebay fees is a joke......those monies should come out of your profit not the customers profit.....it amazes me how auction sellers feel they need to gouge the buyer for these fees. its the cost of doing business my friends.......please spare me the garbage excuse about sears and other catalog merchants doing the same because it my eyes that excuse is bull!!!!! what you are doing is stealing from the customer and trying to justify it in your mind......HA what a joke!!!!!!!!..........i see your auctions state $3 for shipping fees, thats an outright lie......time to come correct and add handling to that line.........i also see you say feedback is very important and you have no negs......i guess its time you learned a lesson, time to bogus bid and win several of your auctions and then drop the neg bomb on you followed with some comment in your fb about be a postage fee thief!!!!!"
So....I guess what you are saying is this: If I purchase an item, for say, 5.00 to sell on Ebay, I should include the costs of packaging, shipping, fees, etc into the opening bid, that way, if you win the item, I am not out a bunch of money. In this case:
Cost of Item: $5.00 (my cost of item)
Mailing Cost: 57 cents (I explained that I used extra "padding" because I did not want the item damaged
Bubble Mailer: 25 cents (I buy them in bulk, so that is my cost)
Ebay Fees: 90 cents (30 cents for listing, 5% FVF)
Paypal Fees 55 cents (soon to be more) 2.2% + 30 cents
Insurance Fees: $1.10 (I like to insure all banknotes that I mail out, not worth losing them. This was a cheap one, but others can go for much higher)
In this example I used original posters shipping explanation
Now, we have an opening bid of $8.37, and if you win, you have free shipping. But, if I had listed it at $5.00 with $3.00 shipping, you would have gotten it cheaper (yeah, only 37 cents cheaper, but still cheaper.) If you wanted the item, would you bid at $8.37, or would you bid at $5.00 considering they are identical items? And, no one is stealing from the customer, if the customer reads the TOS, and doesn't like them, then he should not bid. Period. If he does bid, then he has agreed to WHATEVER the shipping charges, handling fees, etc are. And as far as bogus bidding just to leave neg feedback, I thought only children did that.
BTW: not my ebay ID, to keep people like you away from my auctions!!!
posted on July 10, 2001 11:12:56 AM new
bustervein,
Your last post has been deleted as it is Disruptive and unproductive to the Topic of the Thread here.
Also, Moderation is to be discussed via email only.
Consider this your Final warning.
Edited to add: bustervein, your posting privileges have been Suspended, due to your continual disruption of the Message Center - and your last post has been deleted as again, it was unproductive to the discussion here.
Sara
[email protected]
[ edited by SaraAW on Jul 10, 2001 11:15 AM ]
Ten Nine Eight seven Lol