eBay seller acknowledges shipping profit.

This was a first for me. A seller on eBay (onenavadadollar) stating that part of his shipping charges contribute to the profit on the sale. We all know this when we see inflated shipping costs but I never saw a seller advertise it in his listing. So now we have a game of what is your item really worth or selling for? How about a one cent "Buy It Now" and $100 shipping instead of $100 "Buy It Now" with free shipping? What a pain in the ask this is becoming.

 

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there should be a rule on eBay for shipping. you should not be allowed to enter your own amount. the shipping part of the listing should list you to the shipping providers site to make it impossible to make a cent off of shipping.

 

Some time ago, eBay started charging a final value fee on shipping costs to stop listings of 1 cent BINs with $100 shipping.

 

eBay is going to get their cut no matter where the seller tries to profit from the sale of his/her item. It amazes me that these types of sellers do not realize that fact and by doing so is driving potential bidders away from them.

A few years ago I had an issue with a listing and while talking to a customer support person she told me that eBay's ultimate goal was for all sellers to provide free shipping just like all other online retailers. What? Very few online retailers provide free shipping.

 

Yes, that is part of ebay's vision from what I can see: get all sellers to offer free shipping. That way the price they bid is the price that is paid and buyers are 'more likely' to want to buy, and the buyers also then perceive a value added in that the seller is paying their shipping fees (including materials costs, time and gas/other expenses to get the package delivered) or the seller is having to 'eat' the costs out of the purchase price so that either way the buyer is 'the winner'. What is not seen is that prices that start at 1 cent on items will have to either go away or any seller that starts at that amount will have to dump the sale anytime it goes south on him (i.e., the price doesn't go up enough to make completing the sale profitable to the seller, and incorporate what parts ebay and paypal, etc take from the sale). Ebay has gone over from a seller's market, offering a huge opportunity for nearly anyone to sell just about anything to forcing sellers to either go mainstream for the most part to be able to compete with the big boys of ebay (power sellers) to primarily power sellers who are essentially offering what Amazon does to buyers but without ebay having warehousing costs. Ebay is just about another Amazon but in different clothes. Underneath it all there is a lot that is the same.

I don't mind as a buyer, as buying with this mode has made it more mainline and given confidence that I won't be 'had' on most purchases I do. But I rarely buy coins on ebay as there are too many people selling things in ways that portray the coin (and note) as real or unaltered when in fact they are either not real or altered or something, and ebay doesn't have great practices in place to stop those people.

On the other hand, if I was running a huge company that wanted to make the best profit for me and the better mode for that was to be buyer driven and force sellers to give up their profits or meet certain other requirements as in power selling to be able to clear profits from selling on the company's turf, then perhaps I would let this happen too. Heck, messing with the seller and the seller's chances of profiting or increasing their profits is what is keeping people shopping at WalMart. The people shopping there don't care that their choices of what to buy have diminished and the shoppers there don't care that the people providing the goods that WalMart sells sometimes only clear a penny or two profit per item sold, and that WalMart clears many more times than that on each item.

 

I just won a coin (graded) in which the seller is charging $5 for shipping. IMO, not too much, but it's on the upper end. I'll be interested to see how the coin/holder are protected during shipment.

 

First, shipping isn't just shipping. It's shipping and handling, so I never sweat what a seller wishes to charge. Maybe he is in an expensive area and has staff do it for him. These bills need to be paid. I simply pay attention, and deduct this amount from my bid. So if someone charges $2 shipping, he gets a higher bid than someone charging $7. I don't get mad about the $7, I simply bid according.

 

I recently received an eBay item "postage due" from the Seller. It was only 40c, but I pointed it out to him, and he apologized. The "postage due" happened because that Seller is STUPID when it comes to packaging and postal regs.

He seems to "get it" now.

Up to four quarter-sized (or smaller) coins can be sent LETTER rate if you do it right, i.e. $1.12 without insurance. Most Sellers never figure this out.

 

Forty cents is not that much quibble over. When you get a postage due bill for $17.93 because all the sellers think all packages are 49 cents for the first ounce and just 21 cents for ALL subsequent ounces, that hurts.

I did have one eBay seller grossly underestimate postage on her auction and she placed a note inside the package asking if I would forward the difference. The coin set was exceptional and I did so, but paid her from my stockpile of leftover postage stamps from my other all-consuming hobby.

 

I don't understand this. If I'm reading it correctly, you bought an item, seller shipped the item but underestimated the postage. She put a note in it asking to forward the difference and you gave her stamps. Why would you give her postage stamps when she did not cover the complete cost of shipping in the first place?

What am I missing?

 

You are missing karma and kindness. The Seller can use the stamps on some other shipment (to anyone), so they are as good as cash, and if the Buyer has a large stock (of stamps) on hand, it's a good chance to get rid of some, rather than spend cash.

Not everyone tries to squeeze the last dime out of a transaction. I have done "favors" for Sellers myself, to help build a future relationship.

Incidentally, on my own 40c postage due, I simply mentioned it to the Seller, I did not ask for 40c back.

 

I'm confused too...did she underestimate the postage or did she overestimate it. It sounds like she overestimated. I think there is a typo in your original comment causing the confusion.

 

I completely disagree with this. Everyone's shipping costs vary a little. Allowing eBay to set their own "standard" will not solve anything. I think what eBay has already done has made great strides toward solving this issue. In the "old days" of eBay...the shipping fee did not count towards the final value of the sale, so eBay did not take a cut. So, sellers could avoid paying eBay fees by having a low price with high shipping. That all changed a few years ago and now shipping costs are included so no fees can be avoided. eBay will get their cut.

Now, I think the buyer should be responsible enough to look at the auction before bidding...so they know what they are getting into. Just yesterday, I was looking for a new phone case (mine has a bunch of breaks in it and is full of sharp edges) on eBay. I found one I liked for $9.99...but the shipping was $9.50. I wasn't willing to pay $20 for it so I passed. If I had failed to read the auction and just bid on the item...it's my fault for not reading the "contract" I am agreeing to. I don't think eBay should amend their policies further just because people are too lazy to read the auction.

 

My reading was that the Seller did not charge the Buyer enough postage, and made up the difference out of her own pocket, and asked the Buyer to chip in. I would say the response depends on the relationship. The Buyer liked the item he bought and sent the Seller some additional stamps/postage in lieu of cash, which seems reasonable.

Until I bought a good scale, I did this sometimes, myself. But no more.

 

You know that site where you can calculate your usps postage costs? i'm saying eBay would link the seller there to make sure that sellers can't overcharge for shipping. Sure eBay gets their cut already but the seller can make a lot more money if a few people don't notice the $100 shipping on something worth $40.

 

Ebay has waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too many "controls" already. Forget it. Anybody that can't read the listing and discover outrageous shipping costs -- deserves to get screwed. And I pass up plenty of items over shipping, including one chap on CT.

 

1. I have stated before shipping does not need to be only shipping costs. What about the cost of packaging, self insurance, and wages to get it packed and taken to the PO? I do not think anyone has a right to dictate what a firm charges for shipping and handling, it is that firm's decision.

Put it this way Josh, if we should have a say in what a firm can charge for shipping, is it that far of a leap to say we should have a say in what profit margin the seller has to sell for too? How would you like to be told what is the maximum profit you are "entitled to". Overt Intrusiveness does not sound so pleasant now, huh?

2. Why is it our concern if people aren't paying attention to the listing? If someone does not pay attention to $100 shipping, that is their problem. Same could be said about people buying fake coins, fake handbags, 1 gram gold "bars", etc. Maybe I am just old fashioned, but I believe Caveat Emptor is the way to run a free market.

 

The problem is, it's not just the postage cost. Shipping also includes packaging and handling expenses. That includes the bubble mailer, any additional packaging, tape, gas to drive it to the post office and time...plus an up-charge to offset the eBay fees just to break even. I'm not saying that reasonable shipping isn't possible, but one needs to take into account things other than the straight postage.

Personally, I offer free shipping and I build those costs into my item price.

 

That's good to know in case I am ever tempted to buy anything from you.

 

I think you need to be careful when buying things...and that's all that medoraman said. He didn't say it was right to cheat people...but buyers need to be held accountable for their own actions. If someone simply fails to read the ad before they buy...then that's their problem. Personally, I tend to agree.