Experimental eBay auction: check this out.

Why is it illegal? The shipping and handling is set at $135. That doesn't mean he's claiming he's paying $135 for postage. It means he charges $135 for postage and his work to package and ship the item. There is nothing illegal here at all.

As for saving eBay fees...I have no idea if it will work or not.

 

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well then, thank you for that sir, and now WE are laughing at him too. but still, did we really need to tattle tale?

 

ebay charges 10% of the total sale price including shipping. 6% if you have a store. he will pay the same amount of fees either way. The people here that are reporting him, are wasting their time. Even if he was dodging fees, why do you care that much? Do you patrol your neighborhood looking for j walkers and people with building code violations?

 

Here's the language that listing, in my opinion, falls under:

http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/listing-circumventing.html

Yes, they pay a combined fee now so it works out in the end regardless.

However, when the seller specifically states in his listing description he is charging that shipping fee to circumvent policy (which, granted he is misguided about), to me that's dishonest and I'm going to report it.

And please don't argue about calling it "handling". Had any attempt been made to really disguise his obvious disdain for their policies and him wanting to do whatever he could to not let eBay get a cut of "his" money, I'd probably agree and call it a day. I have nothing against sellers charging a fair price for shipping and handling. Again, had it been stated as anything other than trying to be dishonest to begin with, it's a different story.

And reporting this isn't all about killing the seller. It's also possibly helping the seller avoid a chargeback and negative feedback from the bidiot who didn't read the whole description and then gets a shock when going to pay. Maybe he gets a note from eBay telling him "nice try but it doesn't work that way anyways" and he realizes his mistaken thinking and won't bother the hassle again, who knows.

 

The auction ended already.

 

Yep, and nothing happened because of the report. So be it.

No, I jaywalk too and I don't know a thing about building codes.

If I see something while browsing eBay, I'll do something about it, and it doesn't have to be all about violations. I've come across listings that are wrong - wrong pic, description, etc - and have used the report function, or messaged the seller. If you screwed up a listing that would have not ended in your favor or caused the item not to sell, wouldn't you be happy someone said something to you?

 

yes, if I make a mistake, I appreciate when people contact me, so I can fix it.

 

He didn't save anything. He's paying the fee on the total cost.

He did score some extra cash from the bidder who didn't read the description and didn't notice the $125 shipping fee. So I guess his "experiment" worked for him.

It's idiots like this that led ebay to charge everyone a fee on the total price including shipping.

 

Now that I have reviewed the eBay rules...I agree, he didn't save a dime.

 

Chances are that the buyer won't pay, when he gets the total invoice

 

Idk about that, the same coin goes for $240 on Apmex and he got it for $207, so I think its quite likely he seen the shipping charges.

 

I think they will. It was very clear in the auction description that the shipping was $135. Plus, based on my understanding...the amount he paid wasn't a bad price for this piece.

 

The specific rule that is (or was formerly) being violated is the circumventing of eBay fees. Gives this guy an unfair advantage against people like me who sell our items in accordance with the rules and pay the proper fees.

I'm glad they fixed it.

 

It has been so long since I have sold anything on eBay I did not know that the final value fee is now a flat rate of 10%. The rate used to be value based on a flat rate plus a percentage at different incremental levels. The fee on the shipping charge is also 10% so this guy actually doesn't realize that he is going to pay the same amount regardless of using inflated shipping & handling or just letting the bidders bid up the item to its market value.

When he gets his monthly invoice he will soon realize the eBay will get their usual cut and not a cent less.

 

What ever. Try as they might, folks simply cannot control what other people do (or don't do)!

 

There are only 2 things you can control: How you behave and how you react. The rest is out of your control and is an illusion.

 

One thing to consider that I don't think has been brought up yet is how auctions with high shipping fees can screw the buyer.

While final value fees ARE assessed on shipping fees, buyers do NOT earn FeeBay Bucks on shipping expenses.

$100 item with $0 shipping = $2 FeeBay Bucks.
$1 item with $99 shipping = $0.02 FeeBay Bucks.

With this in mind, why would FeeBay police any abuses of shipping expense, so long as those shipping expenses are declared up front?

 

Excellent point. Sellers like this one are actually putting more money in eBay's pocket at the expense of the buyer!

For the same reason, I don't know why anyone would choose to list in a Bullion category if the same item can be listed under a Coins category. By listing in Bullion, you're depriving your buyer of a 2% cut. If enough people bid 2% lower as a result, it's costing you (the seller) money.