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Rest in Peace
United States
2684 Posts |
Zuh, it is apparent from your response that you prefer not to take the moral and ethical high ground on this issue. That is your choice albeit certainly not one representative of most participants of this forum community. While many of us, myself included take issue with the nature of many of ebay's operations, we do not condone fraud nor any other illicit behavior on the part of, nor at the expense of buyers, sellers, or ebay itself. Quite a few of us have already contributed much toward abatement of these problems and are continuing such efforts at this time. The second half of your rather incoherent response regarding shipping and handling charges has already been addressed above and in many previous threads. |
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Valued Member
United States
62 Posts |
Im not trying to be a edited or anything. I dont support fraud either. All I'm saying is, if a person chooses to charge a high shipping price, that is their business. A friend of mine lives out in the sticks and is 30 miles from the nearest post office. She only lists a few things on ebay every so often. She put a shipping and handling charge of $16.00 on a lot of 10 books. Of course, it didnt cost her $16.00 to ship it. The rest was a handling charge. Does that make her a bad person for charging a "high" S&H price? Edited by Metalman
06/13/2006 2:09 pm
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
4870 Posts |
It's the cost of doing business. There is no need to make a special trip to the post office. Just stop there when you are already in town anyways. So it's gas you would have used anyways so why pass that cost onto the buyer? I won't bid if I feel the s&h costs are unreasonable.
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Valued Member
United States
458 Posts |
I will make 1 comment only--S&H is not just the cost of the stamps if you use USPS--There are other "variables' involved--If you sell on ebay, you know what they are already--  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4870 Posts |
I understand the cost of packaging, stamps, etc...I think high s&h costs are a big turn-off to fellow eBayers. I try to offer lower cost than competitors in hopes of gaining a bid. Personally I'm not sure if sellers should charge a handling fee as that is part of the business and perhaps not should be passed along to the consumer. Nothing like charging $5 s&h to mail a coin in a 2x2 in a regular envelope for a .39 cent stamp.
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Rest in Peace
United States
2684 Posts |
A seller who charges what seems to be a high shipping and handling fee should explain him/herself and what the buyer is getting for his/her money. I explain in all my auctions that for their $1.65 to $2.65, they are receiving an item enclosed in a Safe=T-Mailer packaged in a bubble envelope sent by First Class Postage with Delivery Confirmation (insurance extra, of course). I break even most of the time; that should be enough. Never received any complaints except once back about 2000 when a buyer griped that I charged him $2, but that postage was only about 80 cents; when I explained to him about the packaging and DC, he thanked me for the info. Many or maybe even most honest and successful ebay sellers explain their shipping methods and costs. I live 25 miles from the nearest PO, so also explain in my auctions that I ship only twice per week. At $7.50 to $8 round trip in my gas guzzler, I also combine trips as nds76 suggests, picking up my RV park's mail and grocery/other shopping, so I cannot justify adding on gas and other travel expenses to a buyer's tab. If a seller is gonna charge me $5 to $20 s&h (sans insurance) or more for a single coin, I wanna know in which type gilt casket s/he will send it. More likely, if no explanation, I won't bid and will place him/her on my "discouraged sellers" list. And also likely, most other potential bidders will just pass over such an auction. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4870 Posts |
Also some food for thought, if you can print your own postage, it will save you time and gas money. I print my own postage via PayPal so I just have to walk to my mailbox at the end of the driveway. I'm not going to charge a handling fee for the food I eat to give me energy to walk out to my mailbox. There all kinds of things sellers can do to reduce costs but choose not too as it would cut off their profit from s&h costs.
Edited by TheForce
06/12/2006 9:51 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
590 Posts |
As a buyer look at the total price, it's only common sence. Let ebay worry about their fees. If someone sells me a 2005 roll of Oregan Quarters for buy it now $7.00 shipping $7.00 I am paying $14. If they say $2 of the $14 is for ebay fees or packaging it don't matter I have agrreed to the total. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
751 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
853 Posts |
I do not know the law fully in the US but in Australia it is illegal under competition laws for anyone to tell another what they can or can not charge. It is therefore illegal under Aussie law for ebay to specify in their user agreement or to shut down auctions that charge paypal fees or high rates of shipping. ebay being an offshore company (although trading via internet in Australia on the Australian ebay site) get away with it. This shows the morals of ebay who will take measures to disregard the law in the country they operate in. Whether charging high postage or paypal fees is moral or ethical is another question I will not answer but the bottom line is either factor those costs into your bid amount or do not bid. The question everyone here needs to asks themselves is whether they will deal with ebay when they are trying to charge a seller for over $400 of ebay fees for services they have not provided. They are in clear breach of the Australian Trade Practices act by charging for services not provided and have now suspended the seller from ebay for not paying for the services they did not provide. A seller that charges a paypal fee or high postage costs will generally still send you the item you paid for. ebay on the other hand will bill you for something they have not provided!!!! |
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Moderator
 United States
23522 Posts |
quote:
Originally posted by texasmick
This is the most blatant example I've seen yet:
"I will accept paypal if you add the (2% fee or $1.50) whichever is greater, that I get charged to collect my money."
http://cgi.ebay.com/1901-BARBER-HAL...cmdZViewItem
That's completely contrary to ebay and Paypal rules. Did you report the auction, by chance? |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
751 Posts |
quote:
Originally posted by SuperDave
That's completely contrary to ebay and Paypal rules. Did you report the auction, by chance?
I did not. I thought I'd bring it to the attention of this board as a starter. |
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
1091 Posts |
It seems what people are complaining about is the additional expenses added to the final bidding price. Some auction houses have a buyers fee of up to 19.5% of the final bid price. So if you bid $100 you pay 119.50. In the USA when you go to a shop and buy a hundred dollars worth of goods and go to the checkout, they add any city, state, or whatever tax and you end up paying more than what the cost of the items shown on the price tag. In Australia, The price tag is the final price. Take off the shelf $100 worth of goods and that is what you pay at the checkout. The taxes are already in the Price shown. Now If ebay made it that the minimum bid of your auction covered your ebay fees, your postage and handleing, paypal fees, etc, etc. Then the price you bid for an item would be more expensive to start with, but you would have certainty as to the price you need to pay. ebay probably don't like the idea that the item seem more expensive and therefore less will bid. In fact the hidden fees (undisclosed P&H) just catch the unwary. People think in round numbers. You may think I'll pay $100 for that and end up paying $119.50. As a buyer only, I'd prefer to know that my final bid is all that it will cost me. |
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
853 Posts |
Toast...what you say is in a world where there is no such things as postage etc. There are always addons such as postage. I do whole heartedly agree with you that all addons...such postage...need to be advertised clearly in the auction. What still gets me here is that everyone shows more than enough concern to the point where it is almost obsessive when it comes to adding extras to final prices on ebay. At least they are advertised. ebay and paypal have stolen from me yet the thread continues without one comment. It appears a paypal fee is a huge crime while ebay overcharging sellers incorrectly and refusing to refund is not. People are happy to boycott a seller that charges a paypal fee which only attempts to cover their cost of selling (not that I agree with it) but ebay blatantly rips a seller off and noone will boycott ebay. What are people more concerned about here...a small paypal fee that is advertised to covers the costs of the seller or a large multi national company that does not advertise they rip people off. |
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Valued Member
Australia
205 Posts |
It is not a good practice at all from ebay's perspective. Why? ebay loses money. How is this possible? Well suppose in a perfect market I listed a coin worth $20, and the ebay fees were l $2. If this $2 would be passed on to the buyers, informed bidders would only bid up to a maximum of $18. Thus ebay loses their percentage from the final value fee (x% x $2). As seller's, if this practice became somehow "legal", we would benefit in the short run. In the long run, ebay would simply raise their fees. Passing ebay fees to buyers is a negative sum game: Sellers gain but buyers lose and ebay loses--> thus sellers ultimately lose in long run. Just a little off-topic here: I listed an item today on ebay with featured, border, gallery etc because it is a high value item. Fees were $US 32. That doesn't include Final Value and paypal fees. However, if I were to consign the coin to an auctionhouse, they would take around 20% commission off Final Value, so I guess around $38 total is not bad. I'm not saying ebay doesn't overcharge sellers (they do), but just adding a little perspective. --Peter |
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Posted 06/12/2006 1:31 pm
