eBay seller charged me $42 to ship a medium FRB

[TBarn291]

Originally Posted by tristan20

How did you get ripped off? Weren't you aware of the shipping cost before hand? Did you receive the items you paid for?

I don't get it, if he sent you 40 packages would you be complaining? What difference would it have made?

I am not siding with the seller by no means, but at the same time he did nothing wrong. You knew the costs before you paid, and you got what you paid for. End of story.

How is it not wrong to charge $42 and only spend $20 or less? Yes I was aware of shipping charges, and if he had actually spent the money on shipping then it would not be an issue. In my case or OP's, how did seller not rip us off? If he charges more for shipping than he actually spends? Yes he stated the shipping cost, and if the shipping actually costed that much then there would be no problem. Which is my point with the 40 packages. If you charge shipping for each individual package, you should be spending all of that money on the shipping. Ebay even states that sellers are not allowed to charge unreasonable shipping prices, and shipping prices are only to include, the actual shipping cost, tracking, insurance, shipping materials, and other delivery services. So yes, according to ebay, he did something wrong, unless he used that money somehow in the shipping process that we are not aware of.

Originally Posted by shrevecity

This is how I feel, not right, but there is no rule the seller has to combine shipping on anything or is there a rule that says you have to ship items paid separately separately, yes the seller should have. However the buyer should ask questions before hand.

Look at it llike this what if you bought 40 items all with free shipping would you complain if the seller shipping them all together? or even if paid together would you expect a discount.. Shipping on those items is not free and is built into the price on each item. and does not get combined or discounted in most cases.

What buyers should know about shipping

Sellers can charge reasonable shipping and handling fees to cover the costs for mailing, packaging, and handling the items that they sell. However, charging excessive fees for shipping violates our selling practices policy. Review the item description carefully to make sure you understand what the shipping costs are.

Selling practices

What you can charge
Actual shipping cost: This is the amount for shipping the item. It should be what you paid the carrier.

Handling cost: This can include the cost of packaging materials and insurance cost, if any.

Delivery confirmation and extra services: If you choose to use these options, you must add them to your shipping and handling costs, and you can only charge what they actually cost. Examples of services include:
Certificate of Mailing
Certified Mail
Collect on Delivery
Delivery Confirmation - free with Priority Mail and discounted with some other services when you print shipping labels on eBay
Registered Mail
Restricted Delivery
Return Receipt
Signature Confirmation
Special Handling

Tax and government-imposed fees: Only applicable federal, state, country, city, Value Added Tax (VAT), or equivalent taxes may be charged.
Tips:
If your shipping and handling costs are higher than average, consider explaining in your listing what the shipping and handling costs include.
We recommend that you provide tracking information. Using tracking information, delivery confirmation, or signature confirmation can help protect you if a buyer reports that they didn't receive an item. This is one of the qualifications for getting an automatic 5-star rating for shipping time.

[Tvanho]

I may have missed it, but did the OP ever say he contacted the seller about this?

Communication should ALWAYS be the first step in something like this.

[ddearing]

Let me start by saying that I am not the seller in question.

I think that it does matter if you knew what the costs were ahead of time. I typically have around 3000 items in my eBay store and if somebody were to buy 80 different individual items, I have to pay a worker to go and pull them all. I charge $.50 for each additional item after the first one, so in this scenario I would probably be charging $40 and I would also probably use a flat rate box. Some people might object to that charge saying that it is only $10 of shipping cost but it is not just the shipping cost that I have to pay to ship that many items. I have to pay labor also. The charges are clearly stated in the auction listings and I don't understand how someone could complain about it afterward if they knew about it ahead of time. In that scenario, would I be making a little more then I have to? Yes, but that scenario is also very rare.

[Tvanho]

Originally Posted by ddearing

Let me start by saying that I am not the seller in question.

I think that it does matter if you knew what the costs were ahead of time. I typically have around 3000 items in my eBay store and if somebody were to buy 80 different individual items, I have to pay a worker to go and pull them all. I charge $.50 for each additional item after the first one, so in this scenario I would probably be charging $40 and I would also probably use a flat rate box. Some people might object to that charge saying that it is only $10 of shipping cost but it is not just the shipping cost that I have to pay to ship that many items. I have to pay labor also. The charges are clearly stated in the auction listings and I don't understand how someone could complain about it afterward if they knew about it ahead of time. In that scenario, would I be making a little more then I have to? Yes, but that scenario is also very rare.

I think there's a reason its not called shipping and handling charges. I'm sure a lot of people do this, but I don't feel its right as a buyer for you to add extra costs into your shipping like gas driving to the post office, or internet so you can use ebay or electricity so you can see the items being packed, or labor.

[nickha2]

I really fail to see how anyone is not siding with the OP in this case. The seller basically pocketed an extra $23 dollars by ripping off the OP. I would contact the seller right away and ask for the difference or neg the hell out of him. If you did pay $40 then he should have paid $40 to ship each individually. The only way this changes is to neg him. Anyone in this situation would be upset yet.

[TBarn291]

Originally Posted by ddearing

Let me start by saying that I am not the seller in question.

I think that it does matter if you knew what the costs were ahead of time. I typically have around 3000 items in my eBay store and if somebody were to buy 80 different individual items, I have to pay a worker to go and pull them all. I charge $.50 for each additional item after the first one, so in this scenario I would probably be charging $40 and I would also probably use a flat rate box. Some people might object to that charge saying that it is only $10 of shipping cost but it is not just the shipping cost that I have to pay to ship that many items. I have to pay labor also. The charges are clearly stated in the auction listings and I don't understand how someone could complain about it afterward if they knew about it ahead of time. In that scenario, would I be making a little more then I have to? Yes, but that scenario is also very rare.

If you refer to my post above, you will see, according to ebay, what you are aloud to include in shipping costs. Labor is definitely not part of that. I can understand your position, but it is absolutely wrong to include any other cost other than that directly related to cost of shipping. If you were selling the items yourself this would be ok, but you are selling through ebay.

Originally Posted by nickha2

I really fail to see how anyone is not siding with the OP in this case. The seller basically pocketed an extra $23 dollars by ripping off the OP. I would contact the seller right away and ask for the difference or neg the hell out of him. If you did pay $40 then he should have paid $40 to ship each individually. The only way this changes is to neg him. Anyone in this situation would be upset yet.

It would have been $30 that the seller pocketed, Medium Flat Rate is like $10-$13 I think.

[celtics]

You chose to pay correct? The eBay seller didn't force you to do it Im assuming.

[xavieronly1]

As a buyer, you would have to know what is the reasonable shipping cost. Is $42 being reasonable? And if you think it is, you pay for it. If not, you ask why this is so expensive.

[discostu]

I'll never understand why sellers charge for shipping these days.

It's simply not worth the headache and potential hassles after the sale. Start every auction/listing at $3 with free shipping and move on.

If you're spending your time listing items that sell for $1 and hope to make an extra $1 on shipping, you really should start looking at a hobby change.

[shrevecity]

Originally Posted by TBarn291

How is it not wrong to charge $42 and only spend $20 or less? Yes I was aware of shipping charges, and if he had actually spent the money on shipping then it would not be an issue. In my case or OP's, how did seller not rip us off? If he charges more for shipping than he actually spends? Yes he stated the shipping cost, and if the shipping actually costed that much then there would be no problem. Which is my point with the 40 packages. If you charge shipping for each individual package, you should be spending all of that money on the shipping. Ebay even states that sellers are not allowed to charge unreasonable shipping prices, and shipping prices are only to include, the actual shipping cost, tracking, insurance, shipping materials, and other delivery services. So yes, according to ebay, he did something wrong, unless he used that money somehow in the shipping process that we are not aware of.





What buyers should know about shipping




Selling practices

Ever since Ebay started charging sellers a fee on shipping they could care less about shipping charges there is no still not hard set rul that says what Ebay considers to be excessive or not.

Your link say what the CAN charge but it fails to detail what and how much those charges can be it leaves it very vague.

[shrevecity]

Originally Posted by discostu

I'll never understand why sellers charge for shipping these days.

It's simply not worth the headache and potential hassles after the sale. Start every auction/listing at $3 with free shipping and move on.

If you're spending your time listing items that sell for $1 and hope to make an extra $1 on shipping, you really should start looking at a hobby change.

Because smart buyers refuse to buy multiple purchase from these sellers When I dropped my prices and included a small one time shipping fee my sales went way up, they went up even more when I switched to shipping PWE on items 5.00.

[TBarn291]

Originally Posted by shrevecity

Ever since Ebay started charging sellers a fee on shipping they could care less about shipping charges there is no still not hard set rul that says what Ebay considers to be excessive or not.

Your link say what the CAN charge but it fails to detail what and how much those charges can be it leaves it very vague.

Well the charges for shipping can be as high as it actually costs to ship. He can charge that much for shipping if he spends that much on shipping. An excessive amount would be an amount that is in excess to the actual shipping costs. At least that is how I interpret it. How can the seller account for charging that much. Even if the seller bought bubble wrap to stuff the box, 3 packs of sleeves for the cards, and a roll of tape to secure the box, that is no where near the cost he charged.

But, even if Ebay rules are vague and don't completely spell it out, there is no way to morally justify it. To charge more than double actual shipping cost to pocket the money is just a deceitful and shady business practice.

[shrevecity]

Originally Posted by TBarn291

Well the charges for shipping can be as high as it actually costs to ship. He can charge that much for shipping if he spends that much on shipping. An excessive amount would be an amount that is in excess to the actual shipping costs. At least that is how I interpret it. How can the seller account for charging that much. Even if the seller bought bubble wrap to stuff the box, 3 packs of sleeves for the cards, and a roll of tape to secure the box, that is no where near the cost he charged.

But, even if Ebay rules are vague and don't completely spell it out, there is no way to morally justify it. To charge more than double actual shipping cost to pocket the money is just a deceitful and shady business practice.

When Ebay opened the new defect system they stated the reason they took away the effect of the shipping and handling DSR was for the very reason you know shipping when you bid.point is right or wrong Ebay does not care.

Also if say a buyer buys 5 items through the GSP the seller is not even allowed to send a combined invoice to the buyer.