recently the postage prices have become rediculous just to get 1 single coin shipped from the US to Australia on ebay..i recently posted 2 ounces of coins to a friend in the US and it cost me $4..yet there are people trying to charge upto $26 to post 1 single coin to australia..how do they justify such a huge amount?i could understand if this was including insurance etc but they dont..i have been very happy to buy coins from the US in the past but its slowly becoming unaffordable..the occassional one still posts for free but thats rare.. thats my 2cents
Welcome to the neighborhood! Unfortunately, there are some SleazeBay sellers who will try to take advantage of buyers any way they can. The only thing I can suggest is that you either try to negotiate the shipping fees BEFORE you commit to a purchase, or if that fails, find another seller. Chris
Shipping from USA is expensive, I always check USPS to see the actual shipping costs and then add a couple of dollars for handling, I also noticed that shipping from USA takes a very long time, and that shipping from Australia is much faster and cheaper. I live in the Middle East .. http://postcalc.usps.gov/
The main problem with shipping eBay items from the US to ANYWHERE ELSE in the world is eBay's "proof of delivery" requirement. That generally means shipping Registered and that's expensive. The alternative is to gamble that the buyer is a nice guy and won't hit you with a NPS when you can't prove that the coin was delivered. That helps keep S&H sane. Of course then there's my solution. I restrict my sales to the US only.
To avoid ebay charges, some sellers would advertise an item for a very low price but would add their profit to the shipping charge. Ebay was supposed to put an end to this.
eBay modified their Final Value Fee to include the S&H, specifically to end the practice of fee avoidance. As pointed out, eBay requires proof of delivery and the only way to get that overseas is by Registered Mail, which is expensive. (See USPS.COM) I don't know how the OP determines what to bid for an item but I always consider the S&H charges when bidding. As long as the charges were disclosed in the auction, I don't see any problem here.
