My first negative feedback. :(

[dkzzzz]

Originally Posted by Arethusa

Nothing you said is inaccurate, but shipping gouging is still lame. I do pad shipping, myself, but only by a few dollars (which, really, just ends up covering materials and packing anyway). Beyond that is just obnoxious.

None of this excuses the buyer basically engaging in extortion, but it's still a ****** practice.

I made one unintentional social study by way of posting an item with an opening price of 30 cents and shipping cost of 35 dollars. It was pare of brand new designer jeans.
You would not believe how many imbeciles asked me why the shipping is so high and if I could lower it, so they could buy my jeans for 30 cents. I was thinking that those must be just teenagers, but....
One marsupial was actually working as an assistant professor at North Eastern University.

On another occasion some guy left me negative feedback because my flat shipping rate was 10.00 and actual shipping cost on a 25 dollar item happened to be 5.50.
After I tried to explain to him that he saw shipping cost beforehand and still bid on my item therefore he agreed to the terms of sale, per EBay rules and a common sense.
He wrote verbatim: "Seller is not very honest, charging me the wrong shipping fee."
I hope he is in Iraq right now getting his testicles blown off.

 

[metkirk]

Originally Posted by dkzzzz

I made one unintentional social study by way of posting an item with an opening price of 30 cents and shipping cost of 35 dollars. It was pare of brand new designer jeans.
You would not believe how many imbeciles asked me why the shipping is so high and if I could lower it, so they could buy my jeans for 30 cents. I was thinking that those must be just teenagers, but....
One marsupial was actually working as an assistant professor at North Eastern University.

On another occasion some guy left me negative feedback because my flat shipping rate was 10.00 and actual shipping cost on a 25 dollar item happened to be 5.50.
After I tried to explain to him that he saw shipping cost beforehand and still bid on my item therefore he agreed to the terms of sale, per EBay rules and a common sense.
He wrote verbatim: "Seller is not very honest, charging me the wrong shipping fee."
I hope he is in Iraq right now getting his testicles blown off.

Some people should be banned from using eBay, they probably suck at life, too.

 

[A Harris]

don't get why some of you guys are giving him flack about the shipping costs. inflated shipping is common on ebay and people tend to bid lower with high shipping and vice versa. Most sellers inflate shipping to counter ebay/paypal fees. Whether or not you think that's right is really besides the point. regardless of the actual shipping cost, if you listed the item with a flat rate then the buyer shouldn't ***** if they think the shipping cost is unfair, after the fact.

Adding $5 or so to cover packaging and handling is ok. Any more is not, and is against ebay policy - they can and will end your listing if someone complains.

 

[jamesbond]

I think people are forgetting that shipping costs are not only the postage cost. They also include the cost of the box that your going to ship the item in, The gas and time that it costs you to drive to the post office and back as well as the place (if different) to buy tape and peanuts for packaging the item. Then yes, there are also people who like to add the cost of paypal fee's to there shipping. Im not sure about you guys but my time is pretty important to me and to have to spend half my morning packaging and shipping items out is a major hassle and i would like to get paid a fair amount for my shipping costs.

 

[grimslade]

One the one hand, the shipping costs were listed in the auction. But here's the psychology--people may be willing to pay that cost--if that's what it cost you to ship it. I'm quite certain that what irked the guy was not what he was charged for shipping, but the fact that what he was charged was double what it actually cost you to ship it. Maybe he expected that for that price, it would be fedexed second-day or something.

shipping gouging is not something that ebay encourages you to do. you can add to the actual post-office price to cover reasonable packaging and handling expense, but beyond that is, as someone noted, against ebay policy. This is true for a simple reason--ebay doesn't make money off the shipping charges. In an extreme case, one could sell a $400 pair of shoes for $5 + $395 in shipping and save on listing fees, etc.

That said, people should communicate on ebay, and he should've given you a chance to make it right before slapping the negative on you.

I once sold a camera on ebay. it was an old Canon. I was living in Belgium and some guy in Kentucky won the auction for $35--plus $25 in shipping. the camera went for so little though that I sent it the cheapest way I could and refunded him about $15 without being asked to do so--even though the $15 was 30% of what I took in from the auction (ex the actual shipping charges).

If you don't know what the shipping charges will be, I think it's reasonable to be conservative and estimate high, but if that turns out to have been too high, offering a refund before you're asked might prove to be good business. My $0.02.

 

[nairb49]

Originally Posted by A Harris

Adding $5 or so to cover packaging and handling is ok. Any more is not, and is against ebay policy - they can and will end your listing if someone complains.

Its against ebay policy?

My shipping was inflated by about 9 dollars. 12 for the actual shipping, 3 for packaging and we'll say a dollar for gas/time.
If I decide to add in paypal fees, which were about 3 bucks, then I've added 6 dollars as a net profit from shipping.

I don't think this is unreasonable.

Considering the number of times I've been charged about 15USD for shipping (less than I charge) and then receive the package and see that it cost 3USD to ship, if my shipping costs MINIMUM 12USD due to CanadaPost (before packaging/handling), I don't see charging 25USD as totally unreasonable.

Definitley not worth of negative feedback left in such a rash manner. You'd think I swore and cursed a blue streak at him.

 

[grimslade]

It is against policy if it's "excessive." See here.

 

[pkincy]

Originally Posted by A Harris

Adding $5 or so to cover packaging and handling is ok. Any more is not, and is against ebay policy - they can and will end your listing if someone complains.

I have complained many times about keyword spamming and have NEVER had them say a word to the seller.

In my experience Ebay is anarchy reigning supreme.

I would readily deal with a seller with your reputation but I will not deal with an unknown as there is no consistency to the marketplace other than inconsistency.

Perry

 

[A Harris]

If I decide to add in paypal fees, which were about 3 bucks

Doing that is actually against state law. I'm not trying to hassle you (I'm a seller too) just letting you know how it works.

I have complained many times about keyword spamming and have NEVER had them say a word to the seller.

In my experience Ebay is anarchy reigning supreme.

This is infuriating, as they have been ending my auctions for keyword spamming for years, when I'm not actually in violation. Not in spirit anyways, and often not even by the letter

 

[A Harris]

It is against policy if it's "excessive." See here.

The policy is indeed vague, and their enforcement is arbitrary. I had an auction ended based on this policy a couple of months ago. It was for a pair of new Vass spectators. I had a flat rate shipping charge in the auction of $25, which is what it would have cost to send them to an East Coast address (size 13 shoes with triple soles and trees = heavy package, plus they were insured for $700.) They ended the auction, claiming that $25 was "excessive"...

 

[Jovan]

All we need now is kitonbrioni coming in to explain that this is why he doesn't use eBay.

 

[dryice]

ebay and paypal are the devil... seriously. i've been doing business with them for 7 years or so and they decide to **** me over on a $1,000+ transaction for no goddamn reason. paypal doesn't give a ****. -10

 

[Lamo]

called paypal customer service once and they told me to call back later...

 

[sho'nuff]

Originally Posted by dryice

ebay and paypal are the devil... seriously. i've been doing business with them for 7 years or so and they decide to **** me over on a $1,000+ transaction for no goddamn reason. paypal doesn't give a ****. -10
i wouldnt stand for this. there are ways to get your money back, i think you can google paypal sucks or something like that and get a website dedicated on this matter.

if i could, i would drop an atomic bomb on top of the whole institution of paypal and ebay.

 

[rach2jlc]

Originally Posted by diorshoe

i wouldnt stand for this. there are ways to get your money back, i think you can google paypal sucks or something like that and get a website dedicated on this matter.

if i could, i would drop an atomic bomb on top of the whole institution of paypal and ebay.

By now, almost everybody realizes that Ebay/paypal really don't give a damn. Their day is certainly coming; I don't see how they can continue screwing people over without there being SOME repercussion. It's just that for now there's no good alternative.