• When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Dealing with another shipping profiteer

Started by Darthdiesel,

37 posts in this topic

Darthdiesel

Darthdiesel

Posted
Posted

Read this series of emails and see if I'm just a plain rude 893censored-thumb.gif , all for an item I haven't won yet? :

 

----- Original Message -----

From: darthdiesel@yahoo.com

Sent: Tuesday, September 23, 2003 4:54 PM

To: rspanke@msn.com

Subject: Question for seller -- Item #2193226677

 

list of marvel comics in there? I see 2 MOKF and a daredevil issue - anything else?

--------------------

 

 

Question from: darthdiesel

Title of item: COLLECTION OF 25 COMIC BOOKS

Seller: pjspanke

Starts: Sep-21-03 15:33:16 PDT

Ends: Sep-28-03 15:33:16 PDT

Price: Starts at $5.00

To view the item, go to:

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2193226677

 

================REPLY to my inquiry===============

 

richard spanke wrote:

HI - THERE ARE MARVEL COMICS; ARCHIE SERIES; MASTER OF KUNG FU; IRON MAN; RICHIE RICH;CONAN THE BARBARIAN; BLACK HAWK; BATTLE BRADY; ARMY AT WAR; SUPERMAN WITH NO COVER; BEETLE BAILEY; DENIS THE MENACE; GOLD KEY COMICS. SOME ARE IN VERY GOOD CONDITION AND SOME ARE IN FAIR CONDITION. IN ADDITION TO THE TWO MOKF THERE IS THE IRON MAN (MARVEL COMIC) AND TWO CONAN THE BARBARIANS (MARVEL COMICS). RICHARD

 

==============my next question=======================

 

----- Original Message -----

From: Carl De La Cruz

Sent: Wednesday, September 24, 2003 9:48 PM

To: richard spanke

Subject: Re: Question for seller -- Item #2193226677

 

Thanks Richard - can you possible send them using USPS media mail with delivery confirmation for $2.50 instead of the $6.95, which I assume is priority mail? No point in the higher rate for books that are readers smile.gif LMK. Thanks

 

==========Richard's 2nd reply====================

 

richard spanke wrote:

HELLO - MEDIA MAIL AT THIS WEIGHT WILL BE $2.68. I CHARGE A MINIMUM OF $1.00 FOR WRAPPING MATERIAL (BOXES, BUBBLE WRAP TAPE ETC.) I CHARGE A MINIMUM OF $1.50 FOR LABOR FOR EACH PACKAGE (I PAY A LADY $8.00 AN HOUR FOR WRAPPING). I CHARGE A MINIMUM OF $1.00 PER PACKAGE FOR MILEAGE AND TRAVEL TO THE POST OFFICE. (14 MILE ROUND TRIP). THEREFORE IN THIS CASE SHIPPING AND HANDLING WILL TOTAL $6.18. I MUST CHARGE THESE HANDLING AMOUNTS OR I WOULD LOSE MONEY TO MY OVERHEAD. YOU WILL SAVE ABOUT $.77 ON S&H. REGARDS, RICHARD

 

======HERE's WHERE I LOSE IT!!!!==============================

 

And here I am deducting these things you mentioned as the cost of doing business on my taxes... maybe I'll consider passing on the hidden costs of shipping to my customers in the future.

 

I feel weird about paying towards your employee, the $8/hour lady packing? I'm not her boss, so should I be responsible for her payroll? I pack my own stuff that I sell on ebay for exact postage cost and charge accordingly. I wouldn't ask you to pay towards my hourly rate or my gas/mileage, otherwise, folks would find themselves paying $10 - $15 extra per auction.

 

As advice, you should build these costs into your initial price and not load it on the shipping charge as hidden fees. Ebay has some strict rules about what to charge for shipping (within reasonable ranges pertaining to postage costs) and asks that you separate the cost of handling and make bidders aware.

 

The books in the condition you describe can all be placed in a large envelope w/o bubble wrap, bags, boards, etc for $2.68.

 

In spite of all this, I will honor my bid and stick by it. It is my fault for assuming that the $6.95 charge was close to actual postage cost. I will pay you promptly if I win because that is the kind of person that I am. However, I don't think I'll be returning to your auctions anytime in the future unless your business methods change. Thank you for your time and honesty.

 

=============================================================

 

Had he not broken it down that way, maybe I would have just let it slide without reply - but I'm not here to pay someone $8/hour to pack readers into an envelope, or for their gas and travel time, for Chris'sakes! I am buying an item not an auction consulting service

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Bugaboo-migration

Bugaboo-migration

Posted
Posted
----- Original Message -----

From: Carl De La Cruz

Sent: Wednesday, September 24, 2003 9:48 PM

To: richard spanke

Subject: Re: Question for seller -- Item #2193226677

I think the first mistake you made was having an email conversation with a " Spanke" in the first place. 27_laughing.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Shield

Shield

Posted
Posted

No, you're quite right. He's trying to pass most of the "cost of doing business" onto his sellers, and that's just not right. By his logic, he could've said "And EBAY charges me X.XX to list this item, and X.XX for final auction value fees, so that's why the shipping is $12.00.

 

He made the decision to pay his girlfriend/wife $8.00 an hour to package up his junk, and shouldn't be passing that cost onto you. I'm like you; most of the time I'd just pass on the deal, but when they try to articulate such an irrational point of view, I get involved as well.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Darthdiesel

Darthdiesel

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Nothing wrong with paying $7 for shipping - but did you see the books?

 

I can see what you mean though that I saw the $6.95 in there and should have been prepared to pay that if I bid. Maybe I would have just been blissfully ignorant had I not asked him to cut me a deal and ship the [!@#%^&^] books via a lower priced rate, and gotten that breakdown of what my $6.95, a supposed shipping charge, was really going towards.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Darthdiesel

Darthdiesel

Posted
  • Author
Posted
----- Original Message -----

From: Carl De La Cruz

Sent: Wednesday, September 24, 2003 9:48 PM

To: richard spanke

Subject: Re: Question for seller -- Item #2193226677

I think the first mistake you made was having an email conversation with a " Spanke" in the first place. 27_laughing.gif

 

Then we'd never be allowed to speak with Greggy, if that were true ... 893scratchchin-thumb.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites
joe_collector

joe_collector

Posted
Posted
Yet another reason for eBay to be kind to buyers and have a kill file listing sellers you never want to see come up in your searches.

 

That would be a dream come true, with no DiscoDada or Blackbird listings to parse through. cloud9.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Fan4Fan

Fan4Fan

Posted
Posted

Yeah, I can understand how pissed off sellers might be, but it would really save me a lot of time and frustration (not to mention irrational temptation in the wee hours when my defenses - and IQ - are low)...

 

One can dream... cloud9.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites
joe_collector

joe_collector

Posted
Posted
Yeah, I can understand how pissed off sellers might be...

 

That's too bad. EBay makes more money on Sales Fees than listings, and some of these sellers post (and repost and repost) what can best be described as Auction Spam.

 

EBay should understand that the needs of both the sellers and buyers should be equalized, and I know that if I didn't have to parse all that DiscoDadda/Blackbird crapola, I'd likely buy double what I do now. This type of Spam is just to tiresome some days that once I see one of the major offenders listing a few thousand asinine BINs, I don't even bother looking.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Comic_Diva

Comic_Diva

Posted
Posted

If we could all pass off costs in the manner he did, we'd be rich. Let's see, every time I invite someone to my home, there's an initial cover charge of $10, that way $3 goes to heating or air conditioning depending on the season. I can put $4 toward house keeping, sweeping the junk mail into the can. And lastly $3 goes toward the cost of any beverage I may have to supply while I'm entertaining.

Oh and if I'm invited to dinner, there's the cost of gas and my time spent on makeup, oh and to wear that red dress is extra because I have to work my way into it. Gee this could go on and on.

 

What a schmuck. Darth, you are right. Thanks for letting the rest of us know about this guy. STEER CLEAR.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
MMMarvel-migration

MMMarvel-migration

Posted
Posted

If he stated in his auction that the shipping was $6.95 I don't see the problem. However, I would have assumed that meant it was being shipped Priority at that price. If he didn't specify that you should have e-mailed him to confirm. Then if he gave you the media mail breakdown you could have refused to bid. Basically, you shouldn't have bid on the item if the shipping was a problem.

 

As a seller I had a shipping snafu with a buyer. In this case I was shipping bulk comics and charging media mail which wasn't even enough to cover my expense and actually went into the hole a little. Well, the guy won 2 of my auctions and wanted me to combine shipping and give him a deal. I informed him I couldn't do that because of the weight. What I was charging per auction was what I actually had to pay whether I shipped separately or not. Long story short the SOB neg'd me. I complained to eBay and they wouldn't do anything (I neg'd him and did a NPB). He is my only neg in 1,500+ transactions.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Fan4Fan

Fan4Fan

Posted
Posted
Yeah, I can understand how pissed off sellers might be...

 

That's too bad. EBay makes more money on Sales Fees than listings, and some of these sellers post (and repost and repost) what can best be described as Auction Spam.

 

EBay should understand that the needs of both the sellers and buyers should be equalized, and I know that if I didn't have to parse all that DiscoDadda/Blackbird crapola, I'd likely buy double what I do now. This type of Spam is just to tiresome some days that once I see one of the major offenders listing a few thousand asinine BINs, I don't even bother looking.

 

Definitely agreed!

 

I, too, just say f--- it if all I run across are neatstuff and samco1 listings that take up pages.

 

It is becoming sort of like yahoo/google/etc. in that you get so many false positives that it is hard to wade through all of that chaff.

 

Thanks,

Fan4Fan

Link to comment
Share on other sites
brian1227

brian1227

Posted
Posted

My only neg is similar, someone who got pissed that she was charged 25 cents too much for shipping. Gah. However, this neg, and my 3 neutrals, were all from auctions that my wife ran. I've got a clean slate. Women!

 

I usually point out in my auction what type of shipping I will supply. I recently won a run of books, and was POed to see them arrive in two separate manila envelopes by Media Mail.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Rickdogg

Rickdogg

Posted
Posted

If he stated in his auction that the shipping was $6.95 I don't see the problem. However, I would have assumed that meant it was being shipped Priority at that price. If he didn't specify that you should have e-mailed him to confirm.

 

That is the reason why I state which way I plan to ship each auction in my shipping quotes. I know that I wonder what the s/h quote is for when I view a seller's auction....priority, media, etc. so I state exactly which way I am going to ship and at what price. Makes things much easier tongue.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Darthdiesel

Darthdiesel

Posted
  • Author
Posted
If he stated in his auction that the shipping was $6.95 I don't see the problem. However, I would have assumed that meant it was being shipped Priority at that price.

 

I agree with you here. It is my faultfor ASSUMING it would be by priority and not asking first.

 

If he didn't specify that you should have e-mailed him to confirm. Then if he gave you the media mail breakdown you could have refused to bid. Basically, you shouldn't have bid on the item if the shipping was a problem.

 

$7 is not really a problem - I never intended on renegging or negging him on feedback as I don't have any grounds to do so. I just wanted to bring up this thing about covering costs and building that into the Shipping fee? Is that allowed according to ebay? We know sellers can't add credit card transaction fees to the handling/shipping charge...what about the cost of gas and the salary of an employee? If he had to, I mean MUST, add $1 here and there then he should have started his bid price at $10 instead of $5, not fooling me into getting a potential deal?

 

As a seller I had a shipping snafu with a buyer. In this case I was shipping bulk comics and charging media mail which wasn't even enough to cover my expense and actually went into the hole a little. Well, the guy won 2 of my auctions and wanted me to combine shipping and give him a deal. I informed him I couldn't do that because of the weight. What I was charging per auction was what I actually had to pay whether I shipped separately or not. Long story short the SOB neg'd me. I complained to eBay and they wouldn't do anything (I neg'd him and did a NPB). He is my only neg in 1,500+ transactions.

 

Your situation above puts you in a similar spot as the seller I'm dealing with. However you have every right to ask for the postage cost of shipping as that is what is expected of the buyer. You were charging him what it actually cost you, not asking that he pay for your car's maintenance and his maid at home.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Go to topic listing