OK, I’m not interested in getting involved in somebody’s auction dispute. I’m not taking sides. What intrigues me is this guy’s ingenuity, and the questions it raises.
Background: The guy wins a little statue (about a foot tall) with a winning bid of about $13 USD. The shipping, however, will be well over $100 USD. (The shipping was listed in the item description.) The item location is listed as Shanghai.
First off, nobody should EVER bid on an eBay auction without understanding what the shipping charge will be. That’s just common sense. But suppose one day you slip up. Maybe you misread it, or maybe you mistakenly thought you had checked it, but however it happens you buy an item for ten or fifteen dollars only to discover that the buyer is charging over one HUNDRED dollars for the shipping! What now? Aside from giving yourself a quick kick in the arse, what can you do?
Well…
(1) You could pay the invoice total and promise yourself to read more carefully next time.
(2) You could not pay anything, figuring that if the seller files a complaint with eBay, he– not you– will be the one in trouble. (Offically, at least, eBay frowns on excessive shipping fees.) You can hope that eBay agrees with you, but what if they don’t? This option is a gamble.
But maybe there’s a third alternative, and one that I would never in a million years have thought of: Pay for the item but NOT the shipping, and tell the seller to keep it!!! That’s what this fellow did:
Ha!
True, you still lose a few bucks, but at least you don’t lose over a hundred bucks. And the seller can’t complain, can he, if he’s got the money and gets to keep the product too?
Hmmm… well apparently the seller might complain….
That is pretty awesome. If they do complain it would be because they are doing the bad thing and making extra money on the shipping. If they do complain it would end up dishonoring their parents. Obviously.
I’ve done this.
I won an item. The roads were covered in snow and ice, and I was heading overseas the next day, so I didn’t feel the urge to head out to the PO.
The guy didn’t accept PayPal, so I did the stupid thing and sent cash.
Of course, the seller “never” received the payment, and went crybaby for getting it. So I sent him the winning bid, and told him to keep the item, have fun and have a nice day.
It was a lesson learned, and an affordable way to get away from a bad /unnecessary deal.
That is a pretty good idea. I wish that Ebay was a bit more aggressive about excessive shipping charges. One fellow wanted $60 to ship a $20 box of software to me. I checked online, found that it would be $15 at most plus packaging, so I replied that I’d be willing to pay $20. He said no. I didn’t bid.
Never bid until the shipping price is confirmed is my simple rule.
Asking to meet them in person seems to scare most off.
I once asked a seller why he charged 6 times more for shipping and handling than the price of the item. They told me because eBay only takes their cut from the selling price, so handling is pure profit minus the actual shipping fees.
If you’re buying an item worth $20 for $3 and the shipping and handling is $17, what’s the difference? Except to eBay, which only gets a cut of the $3 price. I’m surprised eBay and their shareholders let this loophole continue.
I just sold an item on Ebay. I got an online estimate of $6.50 for shipping. The actual shipping wound up being $1.15. I sent the customer a $5.00 refund.
Ebay excessing shipping charges, and buyers who dont leave feedback bother me a lot.
Don’t worry.. before long Ebay will buy its own shipping company and force sellers to use it for the good of everyone. I’m suprised they haven’t done this already.
I too have refunded money because it cost less for me to ship the item than my original estimate. The buyer seemed to be quite surprised and commented on my honesty.
I usually guess the shipping and end up paying a couple bucks out of my pocket to ship it.
Great idea but doesn’t this incent the odd seller to inflate the shipping charge even more in hopes that he/she will entice the buyer to avoid paying the shipping while still paying for the product? Such a seller receives money for the product but doesn’t have to deliver it. Money for nothing, eh?
At the least I think eBay should establish limits on shipping charges (based of course on size, weight, source, destination, etc.). A warning should pop up if the published shipping charge exceeds these limits.
So… the guy bought something without reading the description. Then he decided to give the guy negative feedback because he refused to admit that he was dumb enough to buy something without seeing how much it would cost him. Wow.
Sometimes you have to actually *ask* for the shipping costs. I’m in Portugal, and usually the shipping costs aren’t listed when, for example, I buy something from the UK or Germany. If I’m in doubt – for instance with big items – I email first to get an estimate and then decide, otherwise I usually pay what the sellers ask.
I only had one case where the shipping cost more than the item, but in that case I gave the benefit of doubt to the seller, it was one of those cases where I should have asked.
However, if THIS happened to me, I wouldn’t pay a DIME! I’d post negative feedback and not send anything! I’d get a negative feedback point and a non-paying bidder strike. If you don’t overdo it, apparently it’s OK. I’ve done it once, with no problems, I don’t actually remember why it happened, it was a few years ago (and my memory’s going with age :\ )
And I NEVER, EVER buy anything from the far east! China, Japan, Taiwan, Hong-Kong, whatever. They speak/write english badly if at all, it’s very difficult to sort anything out with them, ask questions, etc. Stick to people who speak english fluently and have more than 99% positive feedback. Otherwise just wait. Create a ‘Favorite Search’ . Some other item just like the one you want will eventually show up. It always does.
I hate this about eBay. Some sellers perposly under cut the competition and then add unreasonable shipping fees. I would have just paid and not have the idem shipped scenario.
Buyer Beware!
As you can see, the seller had a less than perfect command of Engrish…
I would’ve found out the sellers address and surprise him with a visit at his doorstep. I’d pay the auction price but walk away with the satisfaction that I didn’t pay the shipping charges. THAT is the power of money.
I ordered 5 items from China…
the shipping was $5 PER ITEM.
It was a small light weight item, and after I got it, I lloked at the stamps on top. Hong Kong dollars..I went to the net and figured the conversion, at about $3.15 to send the package.
I gave him a BAD review. He paid for the goods with the Handling charge and had money to spare.
As a buyer and seller, I don’t mind the shipping charge thing. Since I don’t sell alot, adding a couple bucks for my scrounging up boxes and packing materials and making a 10 mile trip to the post office shouldn’t be a big deal. I’ve bought items (HDMI cables) that were .99 with $5 shipping. Of course shipping was padded but it was still a good buy.
I had a buyer who griped about some old but unused shoes I sold, but would have just thrown out anyway. I refunded his bid amount, but of course shipping was non-refundable. I told him to keep the shoes and got a good feedback to boot!
Just don’t be stupid and read the description. I can’t believe these idiots who buy things like empty XBox 360 cardboard boxes for hundreds of dollars.
Here is a little trick that sellers are using: You agree to bid on an item with S&H of $6.87. When you win, the seller changes the Paypal invoice to S&H of $8.67. Most people don’t notice the change. The auction can state one thing and the Paypal invoice another. Beware.
Look at the bottom of the auction and you will see a REPORT THIS ITEM button. Since excessive shipping is against ebay policy if you see it you can report it under the item for listing violation, avoidance of fees, excessive shipping. Ebay does seem to be trying to crack down, but reporting a seller with this practice will help get rid of them a lot quicker.
I never use E-Bay, as it seems you have to operate at a professional level to keep from being skinned alive by all the nefarious scams, spams and damn all just out and out stupid stuff that goes on there. I don’t have the time for something that started out as a low-rent online flea market then achieved monster status as a skin’em alive and leave laughing monster viper’s nest.
Huh? Pay for the item and tell him to keep it???? That is just plain dumb.
So you get a negative review on eBay… BFD!!! Just answer back explaining the problem and that’s it. Who cares what an eBay rating says.
Pay somebody to stay quiet? F(*& that!
Yes, I bought it–and don’t want it shipped–BUT DON’T YOU DARE SELL IT!
It’s mine, after all, and I may stop by to pick it up some time. So put it away–or buy it back from me. The cost for that? 150% of the price you charged me.
WICKED BUYER sounds like a good eBay ID. Or “this dog thing”.
#22,
except the seller may charge you storage fees if you try that don’t you think?
Another downside to high S&H. I bought an item for 25c and paid $7 S&H. The item was broken, but the good news is the seller gave full refunds….. a whole 25c back and I would have to pay the return shipping.
ebay has become a very poor place to buy and sell. I’ve moved onto Amazon. Pay a little more but have peace of mind.
Ok…..am I like the ONLY person in the friggin world that has NEVER even been to eBay, let alone bought or sold anything??????
After reading the comments here, I think so.
eBay should make it mandatory to list shipping and also a Total Price (= bid + shipping). That will make it a lot easier for buyers to gauge and compare prices.
Allow users to list and sort according to Total Price.
Have any of you shipped anything international? it is a PAIN in the Ass! You have to go through sooo much red tape. I like how buyers feel that an hour or two of my time filling out forms, getting boxes (PS, check out the prices of boxes and peanuts sometime at places like http://www.uline.com) packaginig and shipping is worth, what 2 0r 3 dollars? Do YOU work for a Dollar an hour?
You can also ask if they don’t mind putting the shipping charge on your account if you have a UPS, FedEx, or DHL account. I work with http://www.onlinelabels.com and that is one option the customers alwalys love because they don’t feel like they are getting ripped off on shipping.
Excessive Shipping Charge on Ebay: Good or Bad for the Buyer?
I’ve often heard buyers complain about a seller who overcharges on shipping. They feel that they are being cheated. Let’s look at a couple of examples to see if this is really the case.
For our purposes, let’s assume that a seller is wanting to sell a $30 product and make a 10% or $3 profit on the sale. Since the actual shipping charges will be the same regardless of how much is charged, we can ignore that amount. Ebay final value fees are 10% of the actual item amount. PayPal fees are roughly 3% of the total amount (item + shipping).
Example #1
Shipping Charges = $0 (free)
In order to make the desired profit of $3, the seller would need to charge $37.93.
$37.93
– 3.79 (10% ebay fees)
– 1.14 (3% paypal fees of cost + shipping)
= $33 (the seller’s product cost of $30 + $3 profit)
The total cost to the buyer would be $37.93 (item cost) + $0 (shipping) = $37.93
Example #2
Shipping Charges = $10
In order to make the desired profit of $3, the seller would need to charge $26.79.
$26.79
– 2.68 (10% ebay fees)
– 1.10 (3% paypal fees of cost + shipping)
+ 10.00 (shipping charges)
= $33 (the seller’s product cost of $30 + $3 profit)
The total cost to the buyer would be $26.79 (item cost) + $10 (shipping) = $36.79.
As you can see by the above examples, while the seller is still making the desired $3 profit, the buyer is actually paying $1.14 less in example #2. This is the amount that has been saved in Ebay and PayPal fees.
Perhaps the next time that we see a seller who we feel is overcharging on shipping, we should thank them for passing the savings on to us.