Shipping Gouging (?): Arrrgghh!

[K]

Hello, Everyone.

Yeah, I know. We've all seen shipping gouging, but please indulge my venting and let me share my latest tale.

I bid on an item and the seller used the eBay shipping calculator. I put in my zip code and it said it would cost $4.50 to ship the item. I placed my bid accordingly in an amount I was comfortable with, assuming I'd pay $4.50 shipping.

I won the item and the seller sent an invoice with $7.50 shipping! I contacted the seller and explained the situation with the shipping quote from the ebay shipping calculator.

The seller said (I'm paraphrasing) the eBay shipping calcualtor is error prone and they've lost money on shipping. Then he rudely said "we'll accept the $4.50 for now and let you know if it cost more than that to ship". Long story short, before I could reply, he sent a second message saying that priority shipping would cost $9 dollars plus and standard shipping would be $7.05.

It frankly wasn't worth getting into a tussle for the few bucks, so I contacted the seller and said I'd pay the $7.05 but I said "as a fellow seller, I suggest you discontinue using the eBay checkout if it's that error prone". I then deducted 0.45 cents from the $7.50 on the seller's invoice and sent paypal payment.

I'm not sure if the above is technically shipping "gouging" and I do realize that shipping costs have recently increased, but shouldn't most sellers be sensitive to this and/or abide by their stated shipping costs? I know I do. If I happen to list a shipping cost that's too low, I pay the difference and learn for next time.

Ugh. Thanks for listening to me, Everyone! I appreciate it!:muh:

[MegoSteve]

That seller is full of garbage. The eBay shipping calculator has almost always been right on the money for me, with the exception of international shipping, which is a nightmare.

It's his own fault if he's losing money on shipping. The problem is that you have to enter the correct weight of the package when you list the item on eBay for the calculator to work properly. I typically just guess the weight carnival style and add a pound just to be on the safe side. It's not difficult.

That said, I don't think $7 or even $7.50 is terribly unreasonable since the postage rates have gone up. I'm pretty sure the lowest Priority rate these days is around $5 for a pound or less... once you add delivery confirmation for 50-75 cents you're right near $6. I would raise hell with them if you pay $7.50 and get the package in an envelope with $3 postage, though.

What I hate is the eBay sellers who list an item for a penny and then jack the shipping to something completely outrageous to circumvent eBay fees.

[K]

^ I agree 100% Steve.

It's not that the shipping couldn't cost $7+, but that he listed it as $4.50 initially. While I'm not nuts about sellers jacking up shipping unreasonably, at least one knows the cost up front so if it's too high for my taste, I don't bid.

As I said, it wasn't worth a battle over <$3, but it's just the principle that irked me. *sigh* Thanks for commiserating! LOL!

[kingcarm]

I was going to bid on a carded Mego when I noticed the seller was charging $12.99 to ship. In my opinion...that's high. I email him and ask him if this was correct (hoping at least it was an honest error). I also asked him a trivial question about the figure (really I was more concerned with his s/h price). He emailed me back answering my question about the figure but made no mention about s/h. I could see this was just another seller trying to make something off of s/h gouging. I decided not to bid in his auction. His figure sold for half of what it should've. I chalk that up to other people that are sick of s/h gouging. I emailed him back after his auction and politely told him that if he charges a fair s/h price, he will get more bids. :biggrin:

[megojim]

it is about intent here, right? A dollar or so doesn't bother me at all but over that and I'm pretty miffed. I always make sure to check the shipping on every auction now as some are totally ridiculous, i.e the 12.99 mentioned above.

[K]

^ I agree totally.

An honest error is one thing, but intentional "shipping manipulation" is another! :angry:

[polyester]

The post office has even told me the eBay shipping calculator was off. I discovered this when they first started offering it so I simply don't use it. If the seller goofed, they should cut their losses, not charge the buyer. There are a lot of unscrupulous people dealing on eBay. It's disheartening.

I recently won two auctions for ten dollars each and the seller wasn't happy with the selling price, and so refused to combine shipping and charged me 30 dollars for 8 dollar shipping. In the past when I bought from him, he combined.....

So I feel for you. Some people suck. :juggleyes_y:

[jemboy2004]

I bought 2 Dinah-mite outfits a few months ago, I was shocked when the seller insisted the shipping was 17.00!! Of course they paid only about 5 and took almost a month to send it. Long story short I really wanted the outfits so I just forgot about it but won't buy from them again.

On the other hand I don't think 12.99 for a carded figure sounds like alot? I am thinking a carded figure can get damaged in shipping so you need to pack it well and don't think that is too bad. even the 7.50 doesn't seem too bad. If they charge that much and then you see they paid alot less that does tick you off though. I do see the point about them listing 4 shipping but then charge you 7 they should just take the 3 loss as it was their mistake. I've done that myself.

[AcroRay]

What burns me is the so-called 'shipping charges' from China (source of many of the Japanese toys I collect). And sellers who offer the item at a low buy-it-now but charge the equivillant of the retail value of the toy for postage ($4.99 for the rare diecast transforming robot item, $74.99 for the shipping!) - which seems like another scam by Chinese sellers. They make huge profits on postage, or save huge eBay fees by shifting what the buyer pays over into the postage column.

Grrrrr :angry:

[toys2cool]

That's BS if the calculator said $4.50 he should honor that,I know the calculator thing hasn't worked to well for me,as it says one price and then when I shipped it out it was more,but that's why I don't use it anymore,so yeah i would be mad to if it was me

[Lynn TXP 0369]

I want to get a Playing Mantis Captain Action Action Boy from eBay but the seller wants $18 to ship, WTH?? For standard flat rate shipping no less!!
That should be no more then $10-11 tops....

For $18 it better be here yesterday!! :lol
Lynn

[K]

^ That does seem a bit steep. WOW.