Shipping Profiteers, I Hate Them

[Dave_Hennen]

I think there're a few different scenarios with regard to shipping costs

 

A seller charges a price for postage and delivers a quality service, for example CGC charged me something like $30 for registered mail to send back a lot of ten modern graded books a month or so ago. The shipping is fast and the packaging is excellent but if they offered a similar service using insured Priority mail for 2/3 the cost I might have gone that route instead. They won't hear any bit#$ing from me in this situation. The cost was spelled out ahead of time and the seller made a good effort to justify the cost.

 

A seller charges a price for postage and delivers that they do an acceptable job of delivering on. If I pay $10 for shipping/insurance and the it arrives securely packaged with $7 as the cost you won't hear any bit@*ing from me.

 

A seller charges a price for postage and fails to do an acceptable job of packaging and delivering the value I paid for. It seems like one out of three auctions I win lately falls into this category to some extent. Just a couple of weeks ago I paid $10 for shipping and insurance on a auction and the item arrived in a bubble wrap envelope, not insured and the postage cost on the envelope was $1.06. That's not acceptable to me and I will give the seller a hard time about getting ripped off like this each and every time it happens. Additionally, I will definitely never bid on that sellers sales again and let them know they've lost a customer

 

In this case I agree with tkg2627 He was overcharged and he has every reason to push back on the seller. Whether it was a mistake at the PO might be relevant but he's got no way of knowing that's what happened. If the seller had come back from the buyer's inquiry with an offer of a partial refund that might change things. But paying $22 and receiving a service valued at $8 is not acceptable in my opinion

 

dave h

[PovertyRow]

Some people use their shipping costs as a way to make money without being charged the high Ebay fees. Because Ebay does not charge you anything for the shipping charges but they do for the end of auction price.

 

Obviously this seller is amoung those "some people" and, as such, any normal argument should be considered invalid. The seller simply is using shipping charges to make more money and avoid ebay fees. It is not right and indefensible, in my opinion.

[richnerd]

To once again side with The_Greatest, here is what you get when you run the freakin thing through postal calculator..

 

International Calculator

 

 

Global Express Guaranteed Document Service

(See Service Guide Before Mailing) 2 - 3 Days $33.00 .

 

Global Express Mail (EMS) 3 - 5 Days $16.25

Global Priority Mail - Flat-rate Envelope (large) 4 - 6 Days $7.00

Global Priority Mail - Flat-rate Envelope (small) 4 - 6 Days $4.00

Global Priority Mail - Variable Weight (single) 4 - 6 Days $8.00

Airmail Letter Post 4 - 7 Days $3.75

Airmail Parcel Post 4 - 10 Days $13.25

Economy (Surface) Letter Post

(Rate for pieces 16 ounces or less) 4 - 6 Weeks $2.70

Economy (Surface) Parcel Post

(Rate for pieces 5 pounds or less) 4 - 6 Weeks $15.25 (Rate for pieces 5 pounds or less) 4 - 6 Weeks $15.25

 

We shall all notice the $15.25 and thats not insured.

 

I know you all argue the point that if it even was a mistake by the P.O.clerk the seller should of reimbursed you.

 

Well I say if you would of sent this person a nice email instead of attacking him you might of received part refund. The last thing to do when you want to get something from someone is to send them into defensive mode, right away you made this man put his guard up.

 

Well I took our little research farther and emailed some of his past winners and found one from Canada. I told them what was up and asked them the actual cost to ship the package there and they said it was stated in the auction $19.00 and the actual tag on the box was $18.45. And this was for a pair of nice dress shoes. So once again to back The_Great I don't believe he intended to screw you!

 

Honestly I don't believe many of us would admit to a buyer that the P.O. Screwed up and say I'm sending you a refund. Unless a buyer was nice and emailed me and pointed it out in a nice manner.

 

And now I'm done!

[tkg2627]

Well I say if you would of sent this person a nice email instead of attacking him you might of received part refund. The last thing to do when you want to get something from someone is to send them into defensive mode, right away you made this man put his guard up.

 

Strange, I must be missing something here. Where did I attack him in my email?

 

Hi,

 

I received the shoes today. Thank you, they are very nice and as advertised. However, I have one problem. I was charged $22 for shipping to Canada, and it only cost you $7.65 to ship it! I would like a partial refund for this gross overcharge. Thanks,

 

Vince

 

I thanked him twice, explained my position, and never threatened him or cussed him out. Here is an example of a hypothetically offensive email:

 

Hi,

 

I received the shoes today you [!@#%^&^] scammer. I was charged $22 for shipping to Canada, and it only cost you $7.65 to ship it!!! I demand a [!@#%^&^] refund for this [!@#%^&^] overcharge or else.

 

Vince

 

See the difference?

[richnerd]

I just rated you 5 stars. Since you have been my pupet for the day.

 

I guarantee if you buy any comics from me I will ship for free you only pay for handling fee

[THE_BEYONDER]

See the difference?

 

 

I do.

[greggy]

See the difference?

 

 

I do.

[tkg2627]

I guarantee if you buy any comics from me I will ship for free you only pay for handling fee

No thanks, I only buy comics from people I trust.

[THE_BEYONDER]

I just rated you 5 stars. Since you have been my pupet for the day.

 

[richnerd]

I guarantee if you buy any comics from me I will ship for free you only pay for handling fee

No thanks, I only buy comics from people I trust.

 

Ohhhhh, I see the difference now!

[THE_BEYONDER]

I just rated you 5 stars. Since you have been my pupet for the day.

 

 

[Rickdogg]

Yes, I'm probably SOL. Personally, if I was the seller in this case I would have emailed & refunded the buyer the minute I got home from the post office. That's the type of person I am. It's too bad for the seller that he lost a repeat buyer. I was happy with the product and the price I paid. However, I'm not responsible for paying all his fees and more. I would have bought from him again, but I won't now. Not dealing with this situation in a satisfactory manner cost him in terms of future business from me. In other words, $14.35 potentially cost him hundreds in the future.

 

I agree on that point. I overquoted s/h costs many times when shipping stuff INTL since I was charged letter post versus parcel post and immediatelyt refunded the buyer the money left over after everything was said and done.

 

 

[Smokinghawk]

knightdemonrb19 charged me about $24 shipping for a book that cost $7.95 to ship, including incurance. I really wanted the book so I bid, but I've avoided further business with him. Oh, and his original demand was $13.95 for REQUIRED insurance. I argued that compared to his previous auctions, he had apparently mistyped the amount. He agreed, and adjusted it to $3.95.

 

Look at this auction for an example (note his shipping/insurance terms at the bottom). Most of his auctions have completely arbitrary shipping and insurance amounts--just whatever he decides to charge.

 

For some reason, all his buyers give positive feedback with no mention of the shipping profiteering.

 

[CosmicBob]

Last week I won a book from Harley Yee. One CGC book from Michigan to Minnesota (including insurance): $7.00. I got Harley's book today, it cost him $7.35 in postage plus materials. Harley's overcharged me before and has undercharged me before. I figure with him it will all wash out.

 

I just won a book from the All Star Auction and got the invoice today. One CGC book from New Jersey to Minnesota: $15.00. It shouldn't cost more than $7.35 in postage and insurance. This will be the last All Star Auction I bid on, probably.

 

I won seven books from the latest Heritage auction. Seven CGC books from Texas to Minnesota: $30.35. I bet it won't cost more than $20 to ship. I think Heritage has increased their fees lately.

 

Usually I'm pretty good on my postage estimates. I've accidentally overcharged people on shipping before. If it's no more than a buck or two I don't sweat it. If it's more, I offer to refund money or give them a credit without their asking. No one has actually ever wanted money back. Only one guy took a credit.

 

This is also why I rarely ship internationally. I can't accurately estimate the cost without knowing the actual destination. I shipped something to Europe and it was much less than I expected. But once I shipped to Canada and it was much more.

[garthgantu]

I get the feeling the seller was planning to make $ on the S&H charges from the get-go. Your email of inquiry was certainly polite and respectful enough that any sane/normal seller on eBay would have checked their records and said "wow, how did that happen? I'm at least gonna split the difference on the shipping overcharge, so that this buyer doesn't think I'm profiteering on the shipping." But the seller didn't do this at all. Seller didn't even come up with the explanation about how the shipping SHOULD have come to $22.

 

Neg the SOB and move on... your neg will cost them far more than the $14 difference, hopefully...

[scottish]

Vince was ripped off period IMHO. I DO tend to overcharge for shipping, but once I get home and have access to paypal (or whatever) I ALWAYS refund the excess.

 

Then again, I state that pretty clearly in the auction despcription so there isn't a problem most of the time.

 

I always look at a seller's shipping charge. If it's abnormally high I bid accordingly. 14.00+ is frickin' ridiculous.

 

I recently ordered a book from CA and shipping was 7.00 or so. Can't remember if insurance was included, but that seemed pretty reasonable.

 

I ship worldwide myself, but caution international buyers (not Canada) that shipping cost will be high.

 

Hope it all works out for you Vince!

[sckao]

Last week I won a book from Harley Yee. One CGC book from Michigan to Minnesota (including insurance): $7.00. I got Harley's book today, it cost him $7.35 in postage plus materials. Harley's overcharged me before and has undercharged me before. I figure with him it will all wash out.

 

I just won a book from the All Star Auction and got the invoice today. One CGC book from New Jersey to Minnesota: $15.00. It shouldn't cost more than $7.35 in postage and insurance. This will be the last All Star Auction I bid on, probably.

 

You would think that the people who do a lot of business via the mail would qualify for discounts on shipping. A 12 x 8 x 2 one pound package (1 CGC'd comic?) from Northern CA to Southern CA would be $4.95 without discount. With a 20% discount, it'd drop to about $4. Delivery would be in 2 days.

 

When I sell certain things on eBay, it turns out that Fedex Ground is the cheapest way to go. (For non-media related items.)

 

Many internet vendors are able to give free shipping terms precisely because they have substantial discounts or want to encourage higher volume spending.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jeff2004]

 

When I sell certain things on eBay, it turns out that Fedex Ground is the cheapest way to go. (For non-media related items.)

 

Many internet vendors are able to give free shipping terms precisely because they have substantial discounts or want to encourage higher volume spending.

 

 

I have to agree FedEx Ground is the cheapest way to ship by far. And it includes online tracking and some insurance. I used to ship exclusively FedEx on ebay unless someone requested priority mail (i.e. they had a post office box).