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 Posted - July 02 2010 : 08:43:01 AM
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Ebay & shipping
Friday, July 02, 2010
Why do so many people charge so much for shipping box cars on ebay ? 3 Boxcars and the seller wants $12 for shipping, And there are a lot of them that way. I do not bid on some things I want just because of the shipping.
Russell
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Posted - July 02 2010 : 08:47:30 AM
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| hi 70elcamino,i live in uk,one guy wanted $42 dollars for shipping a mantua pilot (plastic i must add) using ebay rules as excuse,and like you say there are plenty of others ken
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Posted - July 02 2010 : 09:08:36 AM
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quote:Why do so many people charge so much for shipping (for xxxxxxx) on ebay ?..... I do not bid on some things I want just because of the shipping.
Russell
Originally posted by 70elcamino - July 02 2010 : 08:43:01 AM
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There's a couple reasons. one, UPS is more expensive than USPS, about double. I didn't bid on one lot at 99 cents because shipping was posted for UPS as $20 ! Then, the auction ended, and the shipping was USPS at $10...I would have bid on it if the seller had changed that up front! I don't know if the buyer convinced the seller to change or not. But I lost out because I didn't bid on it due to shipping expense posted.
Another reason is that people may be trying to cover their "handling" costs, so inflate the price, possibly by overstating the weight.
I don't have a precise home weight scale for occasional Ebay selling- do you? So, where can you weigh it? I either guess or estimate high. Make an extra trip to the Post office to weigh one item? More expense, inflate the price. See where I"m going with this? I rarely make any money on items under $10 selling, just due to the handling costs. If I have to drive to mail it ( and who doesn't?), then it costs you money every time. I'm not a business where I can have UPS or USPS pick up at MY place, with my own weight scale handy.
Granted, $12 for a few box cars does seem expensive, then again, where are they mailing from, which carrier, etc? I try not to be overly generous quoting weight, I'm pretty good at it now. But I've mailed some fairly heavy items, like recently a Yankee screwdriver I sold for $10, sent thru the Post Office, it was $8 due to the weight, which I didn't preweigh. Yikes! So I made only $2. And with my gas expense, even just a few miles, might as well say I broke even. It was to a friend, but again, I made virtually no money on it. Fuel for shipping is expensive, and if you haven't shipped anything on a regular basis lately, the prices have risen, even at the Post Office. The lighter the weight, the less it costs. Even a small item, if heavy, is more expensive to ship now. Size doesn't matter as much, it seems to be weight.
Bottom line is, don't bid if you think it's unreasonable. Or ask the seller if they'll change shippers, then you'll bid. That's worked for me a couple times on non-selling items that get relisted. I forget where I read it, but someone said that anything sold on Ebay for under $25 wasn't making money, and I believe it. Would you rather receive a single check for $100, or 100 checks for $1? Which would be more work to cash them? Sellers are trying to make money, and should, but for single items, just don't bid if the costs are unreasonable.
Jerry in Virginia, Ebay buyer and occasional seller.
" When life throws you bananas...it's easy to slip up"
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Posted - July 02 2010 : 09:44:10 AM
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Why they do it can almost not be awnsered. I belive some just don't inderstand that it kills their sale. Others I believe are just greedy and want to make more money.
Walt
Luck, usually comes dressed in work clothes...
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Posted - July 02 2010 : 11:36:46 AM
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most of the stuff like that could be shipped in a flat rate box. they are just trying to make more money. i wiegh all my stuff on a bathroom scale & add 1-2 pounds just to be safe on big items. these sellers are making $4-$8 bucks on each sale on shipping alone, & probably just shipping one or two times a week. if they sell 10 items & overcharge $4 buckes on each one, their making $40.00 more dollars for doing nothing.
what gets me is people that sell o scale lionel cars & charge $15 bucks to ship a single car. they don't get my money. fargin' greedy bastages. 
jerry
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Posted - July 02 2010 : 11:42:37 AM
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| i dont mind anybody who takes the time and effort making a good job on packaging adding a bit,but when they use old boxes and crumpled paper then add $ for their effort that cheeses me no end ken
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Posted - July 02 2010 : 1:41:03 PM
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| The answer is simple..... ADP = Added Dealer Profit
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Posted - July 02 2010 : 3:44:56 PM
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It's really not simple. I think some just don't know better. The "dealers" usually do have higher shipping cus they want paid for their time, their box, tape etc... Has people not heard of USPS First Class shipping for lighter packages? It's very reasonable & ships at the same speed as Priority. Then there are the ones who live close to the UPS store and expect us to pay $10+ to ship one box car to the nxt state away...
In my opinion, the high shipping simply stops people from bidding. I ONLY pay high shipping if it's a rare must have item that I really want.... But I make sure to leave that known on sellers 5 star rating in the shipping section....
Walt
Luck, usually comes dressed in work clothes...
Edited by - walt on July 02 2010 3:49:32 PM
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Posted - July 02 2010 : 9:21:51 PM
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I don't bid or purchase if I think the shipping cost is excess. One reason for the high shipping prices is so that the seller pays a smaller fee to Ebay. Ebay charges a percentage based on the final sale value of the item. But, not on the shipping charge. I've seen $1.oo items, weighing less than a pound with $30.oo shipping charges. The seller only pays final value fees based on $1.00.
The $26.15 difference in shipping costs he gets to pocket. I do agree with the seller adding a small amount of money for their time and effort to package and ship the item.
Unspoken expectations are premeditated failures.
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Posted - July 02 2010 : 11:48:12 PM
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I'm surprised that ebay doesn't attempt to advertise for people to use the cheaper shipping rates or have some control on this issue.. Ebay's profit depends on sales and higher bids. The high or extreme priced shipping kills the auction sale or at least lowers the selling price greatly. I've watched this now for $10 years. Most buyers know about what the item they want will ship for... and like many of you won't bid with high shipping costs....
Walt
Luck, usually comes dressed in work clothes...
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Posted - July 03 2010 : 10:18:58 AM
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It certainly appears to be unrelated to anything. For example, 10 days ago my mechanic told me that I needed to replace the steering column in my '94 vette. These are no longer made, of course. There is a used parts dealer in Illinois that had one and it was in my mechanics hands 3 days after I ordered it. I don't know how much the box weighed, but it wasn't "light".
The shipping cost: $20.
By the way, I also located another dealer on the internet that did charge shipping but his price for that item was more than double. So I stayed with the first choice - who also had many high recommendations on the Corvette forums.
Personally I don't ship many items so I don't know where to get the best deals, but then I don't sell things on ebay either. But - I would expect an "online" dealer to have that kind of information.
Cheers
Bill
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Posted - July 03 2010 : 10:40:22 AM
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quote:It certainly appears to be unrelated to anything. For example, ...I needed to replace the steering column ...and it was in my mechanics hands 3 days after I ordered it. .... it wasn't "light".
The shipping cost: $20.
Originally posted by cicsos2Â -Â July 03 2010Â :Â 10:18:58 AM
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Businesses pay different rates than homeowners/individuals, though. It's a matter of volume, if you ship regularly, they cut businesses a discount rate. For example, Shipping a 3-pound box personally thru a UPS store, they wanted almost $20 for that, shoe-boxed size. I said no, I shipped it USPS for $12. I also do shipping at my own company, and just shipped an 18 pound box, 24 x 20 x 14 inches, could hold over 10 shoeboxes, for $16.41. We have an account with them, so that gets us a discount rate. Just for fun, though, a few weeks ago, I DID try to input a personal package, to see how much it'd cost. It was still higher than the USPS costs, by 3-4 dollars, so I just shipped it USPS instead. Shipping can be an art, sometimes. you can't always blame the seller, some have shipping accounts for volume, and appear "cheaper" than others who don't, and they have to pay the individualized rates , basically. Of course, there's always the postal rapists, which you have to watch out for. They'll violate your wallet if you don't resist them. But I think you have to cut some sellers slack, as they may not always have the best shipping deals to work with. As always, Buyer Beware. :)
Jerry
" When life throws you bananas...it's easy to slip up"
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Posted - July 03 2010 : 10:45:08 AM
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| the other side of the coin is that if you demand seller to send cheapest method,and it gets lost or broken,you as the buyer could end up with a pile of rubbish,and all money lost,remember that if its a rare or expensive item,the seller could be making sure that you are covered for lose or damage ken
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Posted - July 03 2010 : 11:17:20 AM
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Unreasonable shipping prices are annoying, but my biggest complaint is insufficient or just plain lazy packaging jobs.
This is a locomotive that I bought off of the HO Yard Sale list.
Before:
As delivered:
These were the photos I took to document the damage. It's all diecast, and it was thrown in a box with a sheet of foam without being restrained in any way, so it bashed its brains in all the way from British Columbia to New Jersey. Who would'a thought that could happen? 
I've since rebuilt it, but it was a lot of work, e.g. reconstructing things like the tender steps was tedious. The seller refunded $15 of my money, but frankly it should have been more. It was sold by another model railroader who should have known better how to protect a locomotive in transit. This was the second time I bought something using HO Yard Sale; the first time, I bought a mint Rivarossi Great Northern Mikado in it's original box, and the seller shipped it in a triangular document tube. Guess what? He never taped the end shut, so it also arrived in pieces. He was so embarrassed that he refunded everything and let me keep it. And don't even get me started on some of my eBay experiences...
Seriously, I'm beginning to think proper packaging is a lost art, and common sense isn't that common...
The Tyco Depot
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Posted - July 03 2010 : 11:41:09 AM
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| hi NickelPlate759 you got it,packaging or lack of it,common sense or lack of it,time seems to be running out as everybody seems to want to get it in post so quick as possible rather than pack properly,then the post takes days to deliver it as they have to play a game of football with it before delivering,what happened to patience and pride in what you do ken
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Posted - July 03 2010 : 11:46:44 AM
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quote:what happened to patience and pride in what you do
Originally posted by catfordken - July 03 2010 : 11:41:09 AM
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I think that went out with the dodo. 
The Tyco Depot
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Posted - July 03 2010 : 12:13:40 PM
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hey Nelson:
That's pretty cynical fella. I take a lot of pride in my work. I work in moving & logistics and yesterday I worked a 16 hour day. Finished strong and was as careful at midnight packing in the last piece as I had been at 8am. It's a choice we all make. The guy who does the least he can get away with is himself the least. Most of us have to work for a living. Doing it well has it's own dignity.
...and I'll get down off this soap-box now and pack it carefully away.
-Gareth
"A is A"
-Aristotle
Law of Identification
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Posted - July 03 2010 : 12:16:51 PM
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hi gareth,you down yet,then we will continue ,ken
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Posted - July 03 2010 : 1:20:53 PM
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Gareth, so you were the guy who sold me that 4-6-0? I knew it! 
The Tyco Depot
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Posted - July 03 2010 : 1:40:59 PM
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4-6-0????
Don't think I ever owned one much less sold one!?
-G.
"A is A"
-Aristotle
Law of Identification
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Posted - July 03 2010 : 1:44:59 PM
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| gareth
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