Odd email received re shipping (eBay)

[+LS650]

I am just starting up a collection of 2600 items. I saw an auction for six 2600 commons, but none that I have yet, including a copy of Solar Fox, Berzerk, etc. The auction listed the shipping and handling as a flat fee of $15 US, with a starting bid of $0.99. My bid was the only bid submitted, so I won the carts for a total of $15.99 US, and I made an immediate PayPal payment.

 

Check out this email from the seller I received shortly thereafter:

Hi, I just wanted to say that I'll send the package tomorrow. Because of the really cheap price, I had to use the cheapest way to send the package, but it should be yours in 3-9 days. By cheapest package I mean protectives bubbles and a plastic bag, a lot of tape. So, there won't be any problem, the package is just, well, weird. Thanks again for winning the auction.

Hmm. I don't find that too encouraging. If I paid $15 for S&H, I think I can have a reasonable expectation that the seller is not going to ship things for only $5 to make up for a low winning bid.

 

I guess I'll see if everything arrives okay....

[Atarimania75]

I am just starting up a collection of 2600 items. I saw an auction for six 2600 commons, but none that I have yet, including a copy of Solar Fox, Berzerk, etc. The auction listed the shipping and handling as a flat fee of $15 US, with a starting bid of $0.99. My bid was the only bid submitted, so I won the carts for a total of $15.99 US, and I made an immediate PayPal payment.

 

Check out this email from the seller I received shortly thereafter:

Hi, I just wanted to say that I'll send the package tomorrow. Because of the really cheap price, I had to use the cheapest way to send the package, but it should be yours in 3-9 days. By cheapest package I mean protectives bubbles and a plastic bag, a lot of tape. So, there won't be any problem, the package is just, well, weird. Thanks again for winning the auction.

Hmm. I don't find that too encouraging. If I paid $15 for S&H, I think I can have a reasonable expectation that the seller is not going to ship things for only $5 to make up for a low winning bid.

 

I guess I'll see if everything arrives okay....

 

 

Wow! Thats one fine sellere there can u forward the email to ebay to report him for overcharging on shipping since he is admitting it right there in the message he sent you? What a moron!

[jetset]

....Waits for all the sellers to jump in and tell ls650 he knew the shipping charge up front and tough shit and all that.

[+LS650]

I'd like to see the quality of the packaging. To domestic ship 6 unboxed 2600 carts as a bundle with some wrapping and bubble wrap shouldn't cost more than a few bucks. If he does a terrific job of wrapping with a thick layer of bubble wrap, decent box and such, i won't complain - but the tone of his note sure doesn't come across like that.

 

I sent him this reply:

I've shipped plenty of items for eBay auctions, so I can understand that there needs to be some overhead for packing materials and such. The actual postage on such a package is minimal, but for $15 I expect the items to be wrapped securely with good protection such as bubble wrap, a box, etc.

Thanks for your note.

Edited April 17, 2008 by ls650

[nathanallan]

I'd like to see the quality of the packaging. To domestic ship 6 unboxed 2600 carts as a bundle with some wrapping and bubble wrap shouldn't cost more than a few bucks. If he does a terrific job of wrapping with a thick layer of bubble wrap, decent box and such, i won't complain - but the tone of his note sure doesn't come across like that.

Definitely. If you don't see a little TLC in the packaging, I would complain first to him then to eBay on overcharging shipping. If you get an envelope with a few stamps, be upset.

 

Did you ever reply to him?

 

Nathan

[Dino]

....Waits for all the sellers to jump in and tell ls650 he knew the shipping charge up front and tough shit and all that.

 

I'm with you. Its definately not tough shit. If you are told the shipping is $15, then you expect them to spend that on shipping. If not, they should refund you the difference. The problem is when you just "assume" shipping will be a lot less and it doesn't turn out taht way because the seller is sending it tracked.

[lemoncurry]

That shipping amount was plenty padded even if he had used a box and sent it Priority Mail.

 

Sounds to me like he isn't, I've gotten homemade bubble envelopes like he describes before.

 

The 3 to 9 days sounds like he's using Parcel Post. Does the ad say Priority?

 

Still, you can't expect him to spend the entire $15 on shipping, eBay allows handling fees. So there is some gray here.

 

You can always neg the guy if he doesn't satisfy you. If you wait a month or so, when the new "no negs for buyers" policy takes effect, he won't even be able to neg you back. (I think, unless they make the cutoff based on the transaction date and not the feedback date.)

 

And of course you can nail him on the Detailed Seller Rating for reasonable shipping...

Edited April 17, 2008 by lemoncurry

[the.golden.ax]

....Waits for all the sellers to jump in and tell ls650 he knew the shipping charge up front and tough shit and all that.

 

EXACTLY! I CAN NOT $&%& STAND SELLERS who say "you knew the cost". Especially when you put the words PRIORITY MAIL on your listing, and it comes FIRST %^&$ CLASS! I'm paying for the nice crisp BOX, the DELIVERY CONFIRMATION, and the slightly elevated SERVICE and HANDLING from the post office (if that exists... but I want to think it does). When it comes in an envelope, or in a plastic bag for 41 cents or $1.30 whether I knew the cost up front, the seller VIOLATED TRUST. There is a place in the on-line world for HANDLING, but it should NEVER exceed a reasonable percentage of the shipping, certainly never more than DOUBLE the real cost.

 

the.golden.ax

Edited April 18, 2008 by the.golden.ax

[+LS650]

Respone from seller:

Don't worry, the package is secured and bubble wrapped. If I used a box, postage would have been higher. Already, in Canadian money, I have about 14.75$ less about 11$ for shipping, 1$ for ebay fees, 10 cents for the auction and 50 cents to transfer to a bank account. So, you must understand that I only get peanuts of the 15.99$. Anyway, I assure you that the package is well protected.

I guess we'll see how I feel when the package arrives and I can see just how well-wrapped it is.

[the.golden.ax]

Respone from seller:

Don't worry, the package is secured and bubble wrapped. If I used a box, postage would have been higher. Already, in Canadian money, I have about 14.75$ less about 11$ for shipping, 1$ for ebay fees, 10 cents for the auction and 50 cents to transfer to a bank account. So, you must understand that I only get peanuts of the 15.99$. Anyway, I assure you that the package is well protected.

I guess we'll see how I feel when the package arrives and I can see just how well-wrapped it is.

 

I bought a colecovision with 24 games on ebay, was $60 + $40 shipping from Canada. Came with $16CA postage on it. Case in point, TRIPLE the actual shipping. How was it packed? Newspaper and a custom box made from a bigger one, with tape on every part of it. And what can I do? Tell them via email, that's not right, and move on. Sad, isn't it.

 

the.golden.ax

[+LS650]

Update: the package arrived yesterday. The six unboxed 2600 carts were wrapped together in a secure bundle with bubblewrap, then wrapped in a thick plastic bag and lots of clear plastic tape. The postage was printed off a meter, so I don't know what the seller spent on postage but it was sent regular freight so I assume it was just a few bucks.

 

Overall I'm okay with it and left a positive feedback.

Edited April 25, 2008 by ls650

[lemoncurry]

If you're okay with paying 5x actual shipping cost, then that's your prerogative. I realize the $.99 item price was a mitigating factor!

 

You didn't give him 5 stars for shipping, I hope!

Edited April 25, 2008 by lemoncurry

[+LS650]

My complaint wasn't the shipping charge per se, because the auction was upfront with stating $14.99 for "shipping and handling" - there was no surprise there. I was just miffed that I got the note stating that because the winning bid was so 'low', he was going to be cheap on the S&H to make up the "shortfall". That's total garbage as far as I'm concerned: if you want a minimum bid of a certain amount, you should set it at that amount and live with the consequences.

[ATARIPITBULL]

Update: the package arrived yesterday. The six unboxed 2600 carts were wrapped together in a secure bundle with bubblewrap, then wrapped in a thick plastic bag and lots of clear plastic tape. The postage was printed off a meter, so I don't know what the seller spent on postage but it was sent regular freight so I assume it was just a few bucks.

 

Overall I'm okay with it and left a positive feedback.

 

I'm sorry but that person ripped you off!!! I sent a 2 pound package to Canada from here in Detroit, Michigan and it was only about $10.00. I know your just happy to received your games but the bottom line is that seller is a thief.

 

[atarian63]

Update: the package arrived yesterday. The six unboxed 2600 carts were wrapped together in a secure bundle with bubblewrap, then wrapped in a thick plastic bag and lots of clear plastic tape. The postage was printed off a meter, so I don't know what the seller spent on postage but it was sent regular freight so I assume it was just a few bucks.

 

Overall I'm okay with it and left a positive feedback.

'

Seems a little high, maybe $9 for slow boat would be more reasonable buy hey.. it's disclosed in the auction. If a person does not like it, don't bid. Glad you got your games and sounds like they were reasonably packed. I'll pay higher shipping charges myself for more rare items as I have no other place to buy them.

[theking21083]

Since I'm in Alaska I always pay the extra money for priority mail because it only takes 3-4 days to get here. What I hate is when a seller ships it parcel after I paid the extra for priority. Parcel takes 20-30 days to get to Alaska so it realy pisses me off. The other thing is when the auction says shipps to the United States and then after I win the auction the seller bitches because I'm in Alaska and then tries to charge me extra for shipping, after I already made the payment. Those are usually the people that send it parcel when I pay priority. Ebay has an option that lets you put a price for the continental US and then a different price for the non continental US. Recently I won an auction and the auction said $12 for USPS priority mail. I paid the $12 knowing that it would probably only cost him $8. He sent me a nasty email bitching about how it cost him $38 to send it UPS ground and I should have told him I was in Alaska before bidding. I asked him why he paid an extra $26 to send the item when the auction said UPSP priority. Not only did he pay more but it took 10 days longer for me to get it.

[midnight8]

Since I'm in Alaska I always pay the extra money for priority mail because it only takes 3-4 days to get here. What I hate is when a seller ships it parcel after I paid the extra for priority. Parcel takes 20-30 days to get to Alaska so it realy pisses me off. The other thing is when the auction says shipps to the United States and then after I win the auction the seller bitches because I'm in Alaska and then tries to charge me extra for shipping, after I already made the payment. Those are usually the people that send it parcel when I pay priority. Ebay has an option that lets you put a price for the continental US and then a different price for the non continental US. Recently I won an auction and the auction said $12 for USPS priority mail. I paid the $12 knowing that it would probably only cost him $8. He sent me a nasty email bitching about how it cost him $38 to send it UPS ground and I should have told him I was in Alaska before bidding. I asked him why he paid an extra $26 to send the item when the auction said UPSP priority. Not only did he pay more but it took 10 days longer for me to get it.

 

I don't remember what game it was but I almost got caught by shipping charges last week. there was a game bin for 2 bucks I clicked and then hit the back button and saw the 30.00 via parcel post. thank god I clicked the back button