Ebay shipping, so what's a BUYER to do?

[davepesc]

For all the complaining about the new ebay star system (which does suck) what's a buyer supposed to do when an auction charges outrageous shipping.

 

It's the old fee-avoidance scam. Suppose I win 10 games for $1.99 plus $25 shipping? Do I 1-star him for the shipping? Not leave feedback? 5-stars and be happy with the total price of the auction?

[AtariLeaf]

I hardly ever use ebay BUT, I did just win something last night and the ONLY reason I bid was because the item was local and I could pick it up free. Otherwise I'll just make trades here or buy on the chuckwagon where I know I'm going to get some damn honesty.

[Warriorisabouttodie]

For all the complaining about the new ebay star system (which does suck) what's a buyer supposed to do when an auction charges outrageous shipping.

 

It's the old fee-avoidance scam. Suppose I win 10 games for $1.99 plus $25 shipping? Do I 1-star him for the shipping? Not leave feedback? 5-stars and be happy with the total price of the auction?

 

 

I'm not advocating jacking up the shipping, but you knew what it was going into the purchase, so I wouldn't turn around and penalize the seller. If you don't like paying 25 dollars for shipping dont bid to begin with. Personally I take the shipping and price into account before I bid and consider the grand total amount I am willing to spend and don't go higher.

[Atarian7]

For all the complaining about the new ebay star system (which does suck) what's a buyer supposed to do when an auction charges outrageous shipping.

 

It's the old fee-avoidance scam. Suppose I win 10 games for $1.99 plus $25 shipping? Do I 1-star him for the shipping? Not leave feedback? 5-stars and be happy with the total price of the auction?

 

 

I'm not advocating jacking up the shipping, but you knew what it was going into the purchase, so I wouldn't turn around and penalize the seller. If you don't like paying 25 dollars for shipping dont bid to begin with. Personally I take the shipping and price into account before I bid and consider the grand total amount I am willing to spend and don't go higher.

 

 

Exactly. I think the star rating for shipping cost is stupid. If the shipping cost is so bad why bid to begin with?

[bojay1997]

What happened to the new limits on shipping? It seemed like everyone was complying, but I checked out some auctions yesterday and people were again charging $8-$10 for a single game. Did Ebay back down?

[Captain Beard]

I think the star rating for shipping cost is stupid. If the shipping cost is so bad why bid to begin with?

I generally agree, but if I win an auction which clearly states that flat rate shipping in the U.S. will be $35, if the box doesn't show up for a month because they cheaped out and sent it parcel post for $11, I think that warrants expressing some dissatisfaction. I'm happy to pay for shipping and handling, but that willingness comes with an expectation that it's actually paying for something. And especially since eBay (idiotically) won't let me rate sellers on their packing job, I sometimes factor that in as well. Because if you charge me $10 to ship 3 games, I'll pay it expecting they'll be in a box with appropriate packing materials and sent Priority Mail, not simply inserted into a 39-cent manilla envelope with no protection whatsoever.

[Atarian7]

I think the star rating for shipping cost is stupid. If the shipping cost is so bad why bid to begin with?

I generally agree, but if I win an auction which clearly states that flat rate shipping in the U.S. will be $35, if the box doesn't show up for a month because they cheaped out and sent it parcel post for $11, I think that warrants expressing some dissatisfaction. I'm happy to pay for shipping and handling, but that willingness comes with an expectation that it's actually paying for something. And especially since eBay (idiotically) won't let me rate sellers on their packing job, I sometimes factor that in as well. Because if you charge me $10 to ship 3 games, I'll pay it expecting they'll be in a box with appropriate packing materials and sent Priority Mail, not simply inserted into a 39-cent manilla envelope with no protection whatsoever.

 

Good points. So there should be a packaging rating too. Usually I comment on packaging in my feedback if it's really good or really bad. If it's just so-so I don't mention it.

[STGuy1040]

For all the complaining about the new ebay star system (which does suck) what's a buyer supposed to do when an auction charges outrageous shipping.

 

It's the old fee-avoidance scam. Suppose I win 10 games for $1.99 plus $25 shipping? Do I 1-star him for the shipping? Not leave feedback? 5-stars and be happy with the total price of the auction?

 

Your best bet is to report the seller for excessive shipping if you haven't already done so. Just scroll to the bottom of his auction and click on the Report this item link and select Listing Policy violations as the reason. EBay will tell you that it’s up to the buyers to report these abusers (I know from personal experience on this one).

 

These sellers will continue to abuse the shipping system until enough people report them.

 

I always avoid sellers that charge excessive shipping; one person was selling a loose Atari Jaguar game and the shipping was $15.00 via Parcel Post; I reported him for excessive shipping. The most I’ve ever paid (on a loose Jaguar cartridge) was $2.60 via First Class mail, and that included Delivery Confirmation.

 

Edit: the item also arrived in a padded envelop.

Edited December 1, 2008 by STGuy1040

[phaxda]

If you have shipping calculated, you can jack up the price by claiming that a cart weighs 5 pounds or something. I have seen this a few times, more often recently. Make a rule, people will find a way to get around it.

 

What happened to the new limits on shipping? It seemed like everyone was complying, but I checked out some auctions yesterday and people were again charging $8-$10 for a single game. Did Ebay back down?

[jetset]

Give one star for shipping, neg him/her, and report them to Ebay for violating the TOS by using shipping costs to pad their profits and/or offset ebay fees.

[Captain Beard]

If you have shipping calculated, you can jack up the price by claiming that a cart weighs 5 pounds or something.

Yep.

You can also add a handling fee on top of that. I have no idea if eBay limits how much those can be.

 

I also should have mentioned earlier in response to the "why bid to begin with if the s&h is too high" question is that I have no easy way of determining what a lot of 108 carts, 2 consoles, 17 assorted controllers, a pile of manuals, a handful of RF switches, a ROM scanner, and a couple MusicMates should cost to ship, especially without knowing what size box and what kind of packing materials they'll be using. And although I am willing to pay a little extra if I'm buying a particularly large lot (it's got to get to me somehow, right?) since a seller can estimate the actual costs fairly easily (everyone's got a bathroom scale) if the calculated shipping is $20 higher than the actual costs, I'm still going to feel cheated and I may dock a star or two when leaving feedback even though I still only paid what I "expected" to. My expectation going into any transaction, after all, is that I'm not being ripped-off.