Grrrrrr shipping complaints [Archive]

Vicious

05-17-2006, 04:46 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Steve_Man said:
Are sellers allowed to use less on shipping then they designate?

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes, they can spend whatever they want on shipping as long as they ship by the method indicated. So if they're charging you $15 for priority mail shipping, they can spend only $5 of that on actual shipping costs and pocket the rest as long as it is shipped by priority mail.

something

05-17-2006, 04:51 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Steve_Man said:
Are sellers allowed to use less on shipping then they designate?

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes, by spouting some bullshit about how it cost them so much to "handle" it and buy the packaging. Hence "shipping and handling" not just "postage". To an extent it is legitimate (gotta buy the boxes and pay gas to drive to the post office and all), of course. But no, not to the tune of $8.

Basically, they're bastards.

Steve_the_Talking_Pie

05-17-2006, 04:56 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Vicious said:
[ QUOTE ]
Steve_Man said:
Are sellers allowed to use less on shipping then they designate?

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes, they can spend whatever they want on shipping as long as they ship by the method indicated. So if they're charging you $15 for priority mail shipping, they can spend only $5 of that on actual shipping costs and pocket the rest as long as it is shipped by priority mail.

[/ QUOTE ]

Shoot, "Flat shipping Rate", though he didn't own a store, he didn't specifiy. I'm not that mad, $53 for a season of Ranma from VIZ Video is mint.

porkchopexpress

05-17-2006, 09:20 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Steve_Man said:
Are sellers allowed to use less on shipping then they designate?

[/ QUOTE ]

It's an easy way to make more money. Overcharge for flat rate shipping. If you do the postage online you can choose to not show the postage, and the buyer would never know the real cost. You can charge someone $8 flat rate shipping to send them a dvd (which some jerks do), then pay $1.50 for media mail shipping and pocket the rest.

kimani

05-17-2006, 11:58 PM

I do free shipping on all my items so I am not "thieving bastard".

If you agreed to pay why does it matter? Factor the cost of the shipping into the max amount you are willing to spend and case closed.

Most people use the handling to offset the Pay Pal, Ebay and shipping materials cost.

ape2020

05-18-2006, 01:49 AM

[ QUOTE ]
Steve_Man said:
Are sellers allowed to use less on shipping then they designate?

[/ QUOTE ]

Sure, while you may not like it some people count their time as part of handling cost. Unless they posted they will ship via Priority and they ship via media mail instead, you can't really do anything about it.

-chimp1010

Vicious

05-18-2006, 05:38 PM

[ QUOTE ]
kimani said:

If you agreed to pay why does it matter? Factor the cost of the shipping into the max amount you are willing to spend and case closed.

[/ QUOTE ]

Basically. I never understand why some people always bitch about the same thing over and over again(not steve_man because he's just wondering). Are they just not bright enough to add the two together before bidding?

Puppet Master

05-18-2006, 05:51 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Vicious said:
[ QUOTE ]
kimani said:

If you agreed to pay why does it matter? Factor the cost of the shipping into the max amount you are willing to spend and case closed.

[/ QUOTE ]

Basically. I never understand why some people always bitch about the same thing over and over again(not steve_man because he's just wondering). Are they just not bright enough to add the two together before bidding?

[/ QUOTE ]

While I'd like to think so no they just want something to rant on about because of their lack of attention.

Bibulb

05-19-2006, 12:59 PM

[ QUOTE ]
kimani said:
If you agreed to pay why does it matter? Factor the cost of the shipping into the max amount you are willing to spend and case closed.

[/ QUOTE ]

Because it's a big PITA to do price listings when some schmuck decides to play the "I'll have a low BIN and then have S&H at three times the actual cost" game - unless eBay actually has a "compute final price" in list view option that I was unaware of, schmucks like that are just wasting my time.

And timewasters like that can go eat a lump of pure sodium for all I care.

(Or, to put it in your phrasing : If you want my business why does it matter? Price the cost of the shipping at a realistic amount and case closed.)

Puppet Master

05-19-2006, 01:01 PM

Bibulb

05-19-2006, 01:18 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Puppet Master said:
What's the difference you have to calculate the total cost anyways.

[/ QUOTE ]

And if the item and shipping are priced in a realistic fashion, going through fifteen pages of listings sorted by price works as a starting point. But when about 2/3rds of the listings are jackasses who have everything as a BIN of $.99 and varying idiotic S&H costs, they're screwing my time.

Add to that that those people are never the ones with the best total price, precisely because they jack the S&H so far. So I'm STILL not gonna buy from those jerks because their total pricing bites. But I still have to wade through their mounds of manure to get to the real listings.

kimani

05-19-2006, 02:15 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Bibulb said:
[ QUOTE ]
kimani said:
If you agreed to pay why does it matter? Factor the cost of the shipping into the max amount you are willing to spend and case closed.

[/ QUOTE ]

Because it's a big PITA to do price listings when some schmuck decides to play the "I'll have a low BIN and then have S&H at three times the actual cost" game - unless eBay actually has a "compute final price" in list view option that I was unaware of, schmucks like that are just wasting my time.

And timewasters like that can go eat a lump of pure sodium for all I care.

(Or, to put it in your phrasing : If you want my business why does it matter? Price the cost of the shipping at a realistic amount and case closed.)

[/ QUOTE ]

It's a pain to to add 2 sets of numbers?

If a seller has Gunslinger Girls vol 1 for 0.99 cents BIN and $9 S+H is that a bad deal? No it's not, OTOH if it was 99 Cents BIN and $15 S+H you see that's about normal price . You'll probably move on and and wont give the seller a second thought. What's the big deal?

I don't get why people buy from sellers that have low BIN and high S+H and then complain about the price. Don't buy it or put the 2 prices together and see if that's as much as you are willing to spend.

I've seen feedback left saying "good price, but shipping to expensive". Stuff like that is just silly.

And I am not defending their practice as I offer free shipping on all my auctions, even to Canada.

something

05-19-2006, 08:34 PM

[ QUOTE ]
kimani said:
It's a pain to to add 2 sets of numbers?

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes, because even if you do add the two numbers, the sorting by price is still completely wrong and the whole point of sorting in the first place is lost.

Then factor in all the auctions where you have to check the listing for the S&H price, or have to use their shipping calculator, and it can be a significant waste of time.

Iridium

05-19-2006, 08:38 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Puppet Master said:
[ QUOTE ]
Bibulb said:
[ QUOTE ]
kimani said:
If you agreed to pay why does it matter? Factor the cost of the shipping into the max amount you are willing to spend and case closed.

[/ QUOTE ]

Because it's a big PITA to do price listings when some schmuck decides to play the "I'll have a low BIN and then have S&H at three times the actual cost" game - unless eBay actually has a "compute final price" in list view option that I was unaware of, schmucks like that are just wasting my time.

And timewasters like that can go eat a lump of pure sodium for all I care.

(Or, to put it in your phrasing : If you want my business why does it matter? Price the cost of the shipping at a realistic amount and case closed.)

[/ QUOTE ]

What's the difference you have to calculate the total cost anyways.

[/ QUOTE ]
eBay doesn't charge fees (http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/fees.html) on the shipping cost, so sellers can keep their overall expenses down and net prices lower by lumping the cost of the item into S&H and forking over less to eBay. In theory, this is good for both the buyer and seller because IMO eBay's fees are stupidly high.

But I do agree that it is misleading and annoying when the price looks so good but the S&H cost throws everything off.

kimani

05-19-2006, 09:03 PM

kimani

05-19-2006, 09:14 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Iridium said:
[ QUOTE ]
Puppet Master said:
[ QUOTE ]
Bibulb said:
[ QUOTE ]
kimani said:
If you agreed to pay why does it matter? Factor the cost of the shipping into the max amount you are willing to spend and case closed.

[/ QUOTE ]

Because it's a big PITA to do price listings when some schmuck decides to play the "I'll have a low BIN and then have S&H at three times the actual cost" game - unless eBay actually has a "compute final price" in list view option that I was unaware of, schmucks like that are just wasting my time.

And timewasters like that can go eat a lump of pure sodium for all I care.

(Or, to put it in your phrasing : If you want my business why does it matter? Price the cost of the shipping at a realistic amount and case closed.)

[/ QUOTE ]

What's the difference you have to calculate the total cost anyways.

[/ QUOTE ]
eBay doesn't charge fees (http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/fees.html) on the shipping cost, so sellers can keep their overall expenses down and net prices lower by lumping the cost of the item into S&H and forking over less to eBay. In theory, this is good for both the buyer and seller because IMO eBay's fees are stupidly high.

But I do agree that it is misleading and annoying when the price looks so good but the S&H cost throws everything off.

[/ QUOTE ]

Scam artist use this on their bootlegs. They explicitly put "no refunds on S+H". So if they get a Pay Pal dispute, all the refund is the initial 99-cent BIN.

A way around this is to do a CC chargeback.

jecca-neko

05-20-2006, 12:50 PM

[ QUOTE ]
disarm said:
[ QUOTE ]
kimani said:
It's a pain to to add 2 sets of numbers?

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes, because even if you do add the two numbers, the sorting by price is still completely wrong and the whole point of sorting in the first place is lost.

Then factor in all the auctions where you have to check the listing for the S&H price, or have to use their shipping calculator, and it can be a significant waste of time.

[/ QUOTE ]

Then don't buy things from eBay if you're not willing to invest that much time into it. There's usually other places where you can buy that stuff for equivalent, sometimes even BETTER, prices.

something

05-20-2006, 06:08 PM

[ QUOTE ]
jecca-neko said:
Then don't buy things from eBay if you're not willing to invest that much time into it. There's usually other places where you can buy that stuff for equivalent, sometimes even BETTER, prices.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes, that's a fantastic solution there. Give up entirely! That solves everything. Anyway, I look at eBay every few days or so hunting for various series (for example, Fumoffu, which I'll get now if I can find at about thinpak prices, rather than waiting for a thinpak itself), so if I don't find something today, I might in a few days. Yes, looking on eBay inherently involves a measure of frustration and annoyance, even if only to sort out the bootlegs. Heaping this other nonsense on there just makes it more troublesome, and more that just the "pain of adding two numbers" as it was phrased, and to which I responded. I'll still do it when I have time, and the rare deals I find make it worth it in the end, but that doesn't mean I can't call it what it is, particularly when it's the topic of conversation.

ape2020

05-20-2006, 11:10 PM

[ QUOTE ]
disarm said:
[ QUOTE ]
kimani said:
It's a pain to to add 2 sets of numbers?

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes, because even if you do add the two numbers, the sorting by price is still completely wrong and the whole point of sorting in the first place is lost.

Then factor in all the auctions where you have to check the listing for the S&H price, or have to use their shipping calculator, and it can be a significant waste of time.

[/ QUOTE ]

I wonder do you set up your search result list to show price and shipping cost? I do so when I do sort I see the two right next to each other and quickly scan out the any that are too high. Most that have a flat shipping rate post it in the shipping cost and even the ones that require calulations have the button right there in the list so I can check it out before even bothering with investigating the actual auction.

-chimp1010

Vicious

05-21-2006, 02:49 AM

[ QUOTE ]
jecca-neko said:
[ QUOTE ]
disarm said:
[ QUOTE ]
kimani said:
It's a pain to to add 2 sets of numbers?

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes, because even if you do add the two numbers, the sorting by price is still completely wrong and the whole point of sorting in the first place is lost.

Then factor in all the auctions where you have to check the listing for the S&H price, or have to use their shipping calculator, and it can be a significant waste of time.

[/ QUOTE ]

Then don't buy things from eBay if you're not willing to invest that much time into it. There's usually other places where you can buy that stuff for equivalent, sometimes even BETTER, prices.

[/ QUOTE ]

That would actually make sense and give him nothing to bitch about. /images/graemlins/relief1.gif

PsychoRabbitt

05-21-2006, 06:44 AM

[ QUOTE ]
disarm said:
[ QUOTE ]
Steve_Man said:
Are sellers allowed to use less on shipping then they designate?

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes, by spouting some bullshit about how it cost them so much to "handle" it and buy the packaging. Hence "shipping and handling" not just "postage". To an extent it is legitimate (gotta buy the boxes and pay gas to drive to the post office and all), of course. But no, not to the tune of $8.

Basically, they're bastards.

[/ QUOTE ]

You want some real bullshit? Check out the "note from the seller" that was on a recent invoice I got.

[ QUOTE ]
P.S.(1)The Actually Prices are Final bidding + Shipping, because I want save the Insertion Fees & Final Value Fees. (2)Please send money within 3 days.

[/ QUOTE ]

Now THERE'S a bastard. He's breaking eBay's rules and flaunting it!

something

05-21-2006, 09:16 AM

[ QUOTE ]
Chimp1010 said:
I wonder do you set up your search result list to show price and shipping cost?

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes, I thought I said as much, but might have worded it unclearly. There are still a lot of auctions (in my experience anyway) that don't show their shipping cost right away (either because you need to use the calculator or because they force you to check the auction). Not sure why they do that really.

ape2020

05-21-2006, 09:10 PM

[ QUOTE ]
disarm said:
[ QUOTE ]
Chimp1010 said:
I wonder do you set up your search result list to show price and shipping cost?

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes, I thought I said as much, but might have worded it unclearly. There are still a lot of auctions (in my experience anyway) that don't show their shipping cost right away (either because you need to use the calculator or because they force you to check the auction). Not sure why they do that really.

[/ QUOTE ]

So let me get this straight. Are you more annoyed by people that don't post their shipping in the listed section or people with high shipping?

I mean say Vicious and Chimp1010 are posting a .99 cent starting auction. Like standard operating procedure Vicious lists his $10 shipping, while Chimp1010 list shipping of say $3 but only list in the text of the auction itself or state he will find actual shipping cost at the end of the auction. Which one of us will annoy you more for they way we ended up listing shipping?

-chimp1010

something

05-21-2006, 11:57 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Chimp1010 said:
So let me get this straight. Are you more annoyed by people that don't post their shipping in the listed section or people with high shipping?

[/ QUOTE ]

Both. As for your hypothetical situation, I don't much like either, and in terms of bidding, I can't compare directly. Both throw off the sorting by price. The former can be calculated before opening the auction. The latter is simply a much better price.

In the end, I'll naturally always prefer the lower price... total price, of course. But purely in terms of ease of viewing the listings... Neither really has any positive benefits, although the $10 at least lets me calculate there, and isn't a problem if I'm not sorting by price. The $3 outside the correct area does not. But it's of course an artificial situation, and a real search could net any number of possible combinations on the theme (low displayed, high not; high displayed, low dislpayed; etc., etc.)

KevinTRod

05-23-2006, 02:36 AM

Nothing drives me more crazy then winning a DVD for around $5.00, and then finding out the guy is charging $10.00 for shipping. It only costs about $1.24 to ship a DVD, even less to ship a manga. $3.00 should cover the shipping, the package, and the gas (esspecially if you're shipping more then one item that day). The shipping situation is one of the biggest problems eBay has, since people get ripped off more this way than any other way.

Ambers79

05-23-2006, 03:08 AM

I never buy anything on ebay unless the shipping is stated in the auction. It is just part of the price of the auction. It doesn't matter how much it cost to actually ship the item, only how much I am willing to pay for shipping. It does make a lot of auctions less appealing, and a lot more work to buy dvds on ebay, but I have gotten some really good deals despite to time it took to find them. If I don't want to worry about shipping I look at half.com for good deals.

Captain Impulse

05-23-2006, 04:35 AM

[ QUOTE ]
disarm said:
[ QUOTE ]
jecca-neko said:
Then don't buy things from eBay if you're not willing to invest that much time into it. There's usually other places where you can buy that stuff for equivalent, sometimes even BETTER, prices.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes, that's a fantastic solution there. Give up entirely! That solves everything. Anyway, I look at eBay every few days or so hunting for various series (for example, Fumoffu, which I'll get now if I can find at about thinpak prices, rather than waiting for a thinpak itself), so if I don't find something today, I might in a few days. Yes, looking on eBay inherently involves a measure of frustration and annoyance, even if only to sort out the bootlegs. Heaping this other nonsense on there just makes it more troublesome, and more that just the "pain of adding two numbers" as it was phrased, and to which I responded. I'll still do it when I have time, and the rare deals I find make it worth it in the end, but that doesn't mean I can't call it what it is, particularly when it's the topic of conversation.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm entirely with disarm on this, agreeing with his reasons but also with some of my own. As an occasional EBay seller, the noticable increase in listing fees, not to mention Ebay/Paypal's "cut" of the final price, has increased over the years. It would be ignorant to say that this isn't at least partially due to people lowering their auction price but jacking up their shipping "costs".

And that's not even going into the arguement that it's just plain against the Seller agreement to do so. But of course, since some people have an aversion to obeying rules/laws, it's not surprising at all. Regardless, I shouldn't have to suffer because other people can't play by the rules.

Taking a defeatist or evasive attitude towards the situation is not the solution. If that were the case, we might as well turn a blind eye to everyone who breaks the rules rather than try and confront/solve the problem. Ridiculous.

something

05-23-2006, 11:07 AM

[ QUOTE ]
Kevin T. Rodriguez said:
Nothing drives me more crazy then winning a DVD for around $5.00, and then finding out the guy is charging $10.00 for shipping.

[/ QUOTE ]

As much as I agree that it's a rediculous price, how can you win an auction without knowing the shipping price beforehand? What would you do if it was $25?

You're supposed to know the total price you're paying, at all times. Sellers that say "email for rates" don't get bids from me, for example, because I want it there in the auction up-front. If they can't do that, then I'm not interested.

Puppet Master

05-23-2006, 11:42 AM

[ QUOTE ]
disarm said:
[ QUOTE ]
Kevin T. Rodriguez said:
Nothing drives me more crazy then winning a DVD for around $5.00, and then finding out the guy is charging $10.00 for shipping.

[/ QUOTE ]

As much as I agree that it's a rediculous price, how can you win an auction without knowing the shipping price beforehand? What would you do if it was $25?

You're supposed to know the total price you're paying, at all times. Sellers that say "email for rates" don't get bids from me, for example, because I want it there in the auction up-front. If they can't do that, then I'm not interested.

[/ QUOTE ]

Now that I agree with only a fool would bid on an auction where some of the information is missing.

Chloe

05-25-2006, 08:27 PM

It really boils down to the fact that you have to do your homework and pay attention. Every one of my personal Ebay horror stories has at the root of it the fact that I either didn't pay attention, or chose to take a calculated risk knowing that something "might" be fishy, but I wanted that low, low price. So if Viscious wants to charge $10 for shipping and I don't pay attention when looking at his auction, that's on my account, not his. Ebay has always been a tradeoff of my time/attention in exchange for saving my $$.

BiBulb: It is an extra bit of work, but if you set up your sorting to show shipping cost side by side with price it isn't that hard to work with. The ones that don't show shipping cost I just ignore, there are plenty more fish in the sea. Yes, it is a PITA, but more of a pita to me.

ape2020

05-25-2006, 09:36 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Kingmole said:
BiBulb: It is an extra bit of work, but if you set up your sorting to show shipping cost side by side with price it isn't that hard to work with. The ones that don't show shipping cost I just ignore, there are plenty more fish in the sea. Yes, it is a PITA, but more of a pita to me.

[/ QUOTE ]

Its how I do it except I don't search by price just newly listed. I find its easy enough to scan the prices and shipping together to not worry about cost, (you know the math is pretty easy even if they just have the calulate link instead of fixed price). Plus I alway open the first 3 to 5 listing to sort of mark them on my list. So when new stuff comes up I don't repeat looking at auction.

It also allows me to get first crack at some listings with BINs or fixed prices. I'm not even annoyed if they only have it listed in the body of the auction since I check out most promising listing no matter what (for bootlegs, scams, and possible combo deals).

-chimp1010