What feedback would you leave?

Why is it dishonest?

 

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I don't believe it's dishonest, but it's something I wouldn't do. I'd suck it up and move on.

 

I don't care for them. I am not into varieties / errors. Would I mind having one? Sure, but I'm not going to go out of my way to obtain one.

 

After looking at the auction listing, the time you bid does not leave much time for the seller to respond to a combined shipping question anyway. So when you bid on a listing like that you have to ask yourself what the worst case scenerio would be even if you get all his coins for 1 cent each. And of course that would be each costing $5.01.
So I am sure on your end you were hoping for combined shipping and on the sellers end he was hoping for a few more bids.
I would pay. I would see what kind of attitude goes with the transaction and if the coins were as advertised. How quickly and carefully they were shipped and leave a comment on these points and most likely leave a low star rating on shipping since this seller did OVERCHARGE on the shipping. It is his fault and gamble for starting these at .01 cent.
Here is what I would do if it works out you get the coins in a timely manner as expected.

 

As would I but this particular seller decided not to which is ok with me.

 

Bottom feeding on the Bay can be Sooo tricky! What a joke.

 

And you paid for 5 separate auctions so you should receive 7 separate packages. The shipping fee should be equal to the cost to ship the items, if it costs the seller $35 to ship the items that is what you should pay, if they combine and it costs them $10 then you should pay that. A shipping fee is to pay the shipping and nothing more.

 

Yep, that pretty much sums it up, especially the last sentence. The shipping certainly did play a factor in the overall bid factor. I put in $2.50 max bid for the coin, knowing if it went that high I would possibly be paying $7.50 for each coin if the seller did decide to charge the full shipping. On auction end, I used the "request receipt with combined shipping" function, hoping for the shipping to be adjusted to what I thought would be a more reasonable amount.

Everything's paid for already, and this is the way I plan on going. If all things arrive in good shape, he will get a positive for the sale, but a comment and low stars on the shipping. However, if the coins end up in any way damaged or packaged poorly, it will go down from there.

Supposedly the coins have shipped, so I expect them by Wednesday coming from TX.

 

In a simple world perhaps yes. But eBay does not differentiate between actual shipping and any subsequent "handling" charges where "handling" is used to recoup costs associated with "shipping". These costs can include shipping supplies (since bubble mailers and packing tape are not free), packing supplies (such as Saf-t-mailers and/or bubble wrap are not free), and actual time spend packaging the item (time is money).

To think that ONLY actual postage costs should be charged for "shipping" is fairly short sighted.

Yes, some sellers can afford the luxury of not charging for these overhead expenditures but others simply cannot. If this were a high volume seller, then he would certainly cut his losses by combining shipping but judging from the feedback, I just would not classify the seller as "high volume".

It seems to me that a lot of folks like to nickel and dime some sellers to death. Until, that is, they start accruing some losses of their own in which case passing some of those losses off to the buyer seems like a reasonable assumption.

 

Since you already paid, I think that is probably the best way to go. I probably would have paid for each auction separately a few days apart. Or if he didn't say paypal only I'd have asked for an address and sent seven separate checks one day apart each of which listed a different address to send the coin to.

 

Ha! I never thought of that, but I like it.

 

There's already been plenty of responses, but I'll give my two cents.
I think many of the posters saying to leave negs or neutrals are buyers only, and have never sold anything on ebay. I've left one negative, back in 2004 I think. He promptly negged me back. Those were the days. But I generally do 5 stars on everything.

If I were this seller, I would have combined shipping in a manner that helps me get closer to breaking even. Maybe I'd bring shipping down to $25 or something like that.
But I agree, not combining shipping at all and using one package is no good. Yes, shipping charges are for postage and handling. But, there's a lot less handling associated with one package too. He should have done what I said, or shipped the items seperately.

 

Come on now! Seven checks on seven separate days?

Could you guarantee that two of those checks wouldn't arrive on the same day or are you assuming that when he receives a check he immediately runs down to the bank to deposit them?

How about since it tales at least a week for a check to clear that all seven checks have been received meaning that a single box would be used anyway?

Recently, I put up 3 1972 Type 2 IKE's. Two on one day and the third on the day that the previous two sold.

A single buyer bought one and I shipped it out that day. Well, I printed the label and packaged it up. After the package had been delivered to the post office, I check my email and the same fella bought the other coin. Both of these were Priority Mail with signature confirmation which I charged the buyer $7.00.

The day after I put up the third coin, this same buyer purchased this one as well.

I don't understand this thinking or buying practice but since I was charging exactly what I paid for shipping, I just could not see giving a discount.

 

I don't think there's any argument with that logic - if it really costs you that much to ship, then I can't see a reason why you would discount it. Without a timely request from the buyer otherwise, I can't see an issue with charging the same buyer separate shipping on the separate auctions especially if you already packed them up.

That being said, if the seller contacted you prior to you packaging up each separate coin and asked you to wait and combine the shipping, would you have? I think the argument can be had that while 3 separate 1-coin packages can easily require a charge of $7 each, stuffing the other 2 coins into the first package should only incur minimal up-charges so that instead of $21, it may end up being say $12 as an example. In that case, I would certainly say that I as the buyer could have a reasonable hope that you might be willing to lower the shipping since your actual cost was less. In my case, if the seller had said "I already packed them up individually and the actual cost was {equal|close} to the proposed rate so I can't really offer any discount", I can't see me really having much of an argument, unless I was trying to be a complete jerk.

 

I would leave positive feedback overall, if the coins are nice, and mention overly expensive shipping costs. After all, he did not advertise combined shipping, and you never requested that prior to bidding.

 

Always amazes me how petty folks can be sometimes.

You purchased something from a seller that took the time to "clearly" state all associated charges.
You assumed he would negotiate these costs towards your favor post purchase

He didn't,, and then you want to "make him pay".... lol.

Have you ever purchased anything else on line ? (sears, an HP computer, flowers, etc...) ?
Did you contact thier online department "after" the purchase and request reduced shipping on all items (assuming a multi-item purchase) ?
... and after they told you no, did you file a complaint with the BBB, or register a negative or neutral complaint on a consumer portal ? no ?
,, why not, 99.999% of the time they will charge more than actual postage.
So why stop with just ebay sellers,, get em' all I say !!!
You should file a compaint on every seller that has ever sold you anything in the past 10 years on line... If you don't, then those sellers have pulled the wool over your eyes,,, which should make you ever more ANGRY !!

because "all" sellers do this...

Shipping & "handling" charges are either baked into starting bid costs,
or are state seperately,
or are a blend of both...
...in the end it's up to you to do the simple math.

Bid + S&H = Total

If you don't like the Total, then get a dog.... and kick the crud out of it after every online purchase, instead of the seller.

 

I only read the OPs original post but here's my take- If I sold something and I offered combined shipping I would honor that even if that resulted in me losing money. If I didn't offer combined shipping but you had won multiple auctions, I would still attempt to work a deal with you were maybe I could get auction close plus shipping that equaled at least my face value loss. I have sold items before on Ebay and made a mistake with the listing and then honored that mistake. Ebay gives ample time to review your listings before you post so if I make an error I own up to it. Even though Ebay basically allows sellers to back out with no recourse besides a negative feedback. In my case I always have honored my errors and always will it's a matter of principal for me, although I realize not everyone is the same way. I also once sold an item that was a digital code that the buyer claimed was already redeemed, I calmly advised the buyer that I would immediately issue a refund while researching the issue. Turns out the person I bought the bulk codes from had indeed passed off on me a used code. I know a refund would have been sufficient and the buyer was ok with that. But I actually went out of my way spent more money to buy a single code for that buyer as I had none left and then sent it free to the buyer as it wasn't ok with me that I caused the buyer troubles. That buyer sent me a very nice email in regards to the issue after that which made it worth my while, basically stating that they had never experienced the level of care I had taken with their issue before and they truly appreciated it.
That being said if a seller sold multiple items and had a no combined shipping policy but then combined all items in one packaged and charged me individually for each shipped I would leave them a negative feedback. I have had instances where I've won multiple items at a low cost from the same seller and they have contacted me asking if I wouldn't mind them all being shipped together. In this instance I have always agreed and also stated that no change in invoice shipping charge is necessary. This being as they were honest and fourth right over the issue respecting my end of the deal and inquiring how I felt over it and I had no problems as I agreed to each auction price plus shipping on an individual basis. But if a seller charges multiple shipping charges say $3 an item x4 items and then combines all items together for a total of cost items + $12 shipping and then ships me all items in one bubble mailer with a cost of $2 or in some cases a single stamp or two, I myself would be inclined to leave neutral or negative feedback based on this. My reasoning may seem strange, but each item I bid on or buy it now is a separate business transaction and I agree to that items cost & shipping for that item separately. If a seller is trying to maximize their profits and are unhappy with sale price and then decides to take advantage of me by shipping all items together without offering combined shipping or at least contacting me over the issue and making a compromise, talking it over I have no problem leaving neutral or negative. In over eight years on Ebay as a buyer/seller I have only left 3 negative feed backs for sellers despite many issues that were amicably resolved. And as a seller I have never received a negative or neutral.

 

If the coins are nice, I’d leave positive feedback, as you got a good deal and the reason you got them for $0.01 and the reason no one bid on them was the shipping charge, so they were worth $0.01.

 

So, just as an update to end the thread. I received the package yesterday with the coins. They were all in a single manilla shipping envelope (the type with very basic "padding" lining the interior walls), wrapped up in paper towels (not bubble wrap) rubber-banded around each coin (see pic). Shipping was normal postage, $2.90. After unwrapping the coins they were all in good condition, so the paper towel seems to have done its job well enough.

So, my feedback will be generally a positive, with a low-star rating on the shipping portion. I am happy with the coins, and unhappy that he used the shipping to cover his bid price gamble, although in general still feel like I got a reasonable price for the whole lot.

Thanks everyone for commenting (and I have to say, signal-to-noise I found not too bad - I expected to take more potshots than I did). :thumb:

 

Can you take some pics of the coins. I like Presidential Dollars and would like to see some PCGS MS67's.