You know I've ordered tons of stuff off of Ebay and I'm sure many of you guys have but it never ceases to amaze me how many people that sell things are clueless about the marketplace. One of the things that really sticks in my "craw" so to speak is how people handle shipping. They blatantly mark it up sometimes as much as %100 and then expect people to pay it!! I know full well what it costs to ship something and while I'm not completely opposed to a Retailer making something off of packing material and labor, etc. its wrong for individuals to attempt to make up for losses by over charging for shipping. A shipping charge should be just that shipping!! Not shipping plus profit...sorry for the rant I had to get it off of my chest.

I agree with you totally, Andrew. The practice seems to be becoming more commonplace than ever. As a longtime seller, I try to get my shipping costs as exact as possible.

I'll take the irritation with shipping prices a step further - I love how many online retailers do the same thing. I love nothing more than paying $4 shipping for some decals, only to have them show up postmarked at a $1.50.

Grrr....

Andrew, good call. One of the reasons I (now) avoid e-bay is this reason. I frankly am sick of the sleazy litle gits who are not selling but ripping-off. Sadly, the honest sellers are losing business because of the activities of these individuals.

Perhaps the bubble has burst on e-bay. Until they put their house in some kind of order, they are going to continue losing business.

Another of my 'pet' hates and it is already raising some flak on other sites, is the people who register here only to announce their auctions. They never post in any forum apart from the Buy, Sell and Trade Forum. They contribute NOTHING to the site in my opinion. These people should not be confused with the participative members who sell on e-bay as well as contributing to the forums....Jim

I 'shop' ebay regularly and I have a few benchmarks that I look at before I even consider watching an item.

One of those is shipping. I refuse to pay doubled shipping rates. I won't even watch these items.

I have no problem with someone charging a bit more that actual postage to cover materials, time, and gas etc. to get to the post office etc etc....But there is a limit, boxes are cheap and newpaper is already paid for.

I know what you mean RF, have come across a couple folks like that in ebay.. needless to say I've not bought anything off ebay in a while, the local hobby shop and Kings Hobbies down in Austin seem to get what I need.. so I stick with them.

I know what you mean RF, have come across a couple folks like that in ebay.. needless to say I've not bought anything off ebay in a while, the local hobby shop and Kings Hobbies down in Austin seem to get what I need.. so I stick with them.

P.S. what part of tx ??

I'm @ Ft.Hood Myself

DFW...Are you active duty?? I was a 13F Artillery!!!!!!!!
OOOOOSHA!!!!! 4/82 FA

I have a couple of simple rules for Ebay. I always check the sellers price against shops, and the shipping rate against those published on the web by most of the postal & courier services. If the trader is making a profit from shipping then I don't buy - simple. Example - I've just bought a Dragon Panther II - $11.50 + $15 shipping; for a smaller box someone else wanted £15 - nearly !00% difference, and both from Hong Kong. In fact the whole thing cost me the £15 - about 50% of most Dragon kits in the UK.
I've got a few good buys like this, but there are even more kits that I'd like but won't buy because of problems like the charges etc.
I have seen quite a few posts on this site about bad traders - always check the feedback comments. Any bad posts withing the last two months or an overall feedback rating less that 98% and I don't buy.

Ah, lovely Ft. Hood. I was stationed there for four years, but I think I spent about 2 years deployed during those 4 years. My first born child was born at Darnell Army Community Hospital. I lived around the corner from the O-Club in Wainwright Heights.

The latest eBay trick is to have low opening bids and a jacked up price. One seller even went as far as stating in the text of his auction "$6 + $18 s/h (get it? $18 + $6 s/h)". Very blatant.

They do this to cheat eBay out of money earned on a percentage of the final bid. In the above example, the buyer pays the same $24 for the item, but the seller receives more since he is charged a percentage of the $6 price and not on the higher $18 price.

While he was upfront about this, I still hesitate to do business with someone who is dishonest. Even when they tell you they are being dishonest.

EBay is still a great place to shop but has become very congested with online virtual store listings. The inventory never changes. The buy-it-now prices for the online store are not any better than Squadron or Great Models once you add in the $5-6+ shipping charge per item. I've found that rarely will one of these places combine shipping reasonably.

Like PT Barmum Said...theres a sucker born every minute.

Once the typical Ebay buyer does better research on the said product..theres no reason for them to pay huge shipping charges. For your typical model, it shouldnt cost more then $7-8 bucks for first class shipping to anywhere in the contential USA.

Once people relize this, those sellers will have to change their ways if they want to sell anything. Ebay seems to be made up of a bunch of idiots at times from what I see...I've seen people bidding on Spiderman 2 and the demo disk that comes with the Sony PSP when you buy one! I dont get that...

I see people all the time bidding way more than retail on a model just to win the auction! I always check against retail sites for the best price before I bid. If I can't get it cheap at a reasonable shipping cost I'm not going to buy.

I guess I am one of the more honest ones then.

I know I hate getting hosed on the shipping, which has happened more than not. Which is why I tell them to contact me for shipping rates, and I already have the measurments and weight. So all I have to do is plug it into the Canada Post website, and charge what it says.

If when I get to the post office it ends up being more....then oh well....my loss.

Haven't had any complaints on shipping as of yet....mind you I haven't had much to sell....but still have a 100% feedback rating after 2 years.

Will be starting an Ebay store in the next month or so....will keep you informed.

I have listed items with the shipping to figured based on buyer's location, and a flat rate. It seems the flat rate listings sell better. When I sell something, I want to get it shipped off as quickly as possible, so I find that the flat rate system works better for me as a seller.

I figure rates based on what similar items are listed as. Sometimes I come up short and don't charge enough, other times I charge a little more than the postage ended up costing me. I never count boxes, stuffing or packing tape. That should part of the deal. I've never overcharged on purpose. I always try to charge shipping as close as possible without having to make the buyer send me the address, then go to the post office and weigh the box, then send the total; you get the point.

When I buy, I always add the postage onto my bid, and if I'm not saving money compared to the LHS or mail order, I don't bid.

Patrick

Patrick,

That's a good point on flat rate shipping. I've read on several message boards that people prefer the shipping cost upfront. I guess they don't want to wait nor deal with emailing the seller for the correct amount.

One tool I've used with success is the built-in shipping calculator that you can add to your listing. I've found it to be pretty darn accurate. You just have to have your packaging figured out ahead of time.

Here is a recent encounter with a seller who just was DUMB as Dirt!!!! I win a Delta Dart , in his payment instructions he say " Seller's payment instructions
Payment is due within 10 days of the auctions end or I will reserve the right to relist the item. Shipping will be determined based on buyers desires. If none are specified, I will ship via USPS priority mail. If you have a preferred method of shipment, I can accomodate your wishes. Insurance and delivery confirmation is optional and at your discretion. Please understand that these options will add to the shipping costs. "

Now the guy send me an Invoice with $8 FLAT RATE shipping?? did I miss something??? I specified Priority Mail which the USPS website listed as $5.40 based on a 2Lbs package From Jersey to Colo. Now I know the thing does not way 2Lbs , so I was being generous on the estimate. Now he is pissed because I won't pay $8. Am I not the "BUYER" whose "DESIRES" must be met?? THen when I suggested Parcel Post he REALLY got mad and went to name calling!!! Again, Does it not say"I can accomodate your wishes"??? and does ANYONE see the ANY reference to FLAT RATE??? You can imagine what I wish for him at this point

Yes i agree about shipping. Charge what the actual shipping rate is and "pad" it by a buck or two for "handling" and I have no problem.

Inflate by 50 % or more and I am a little "peeved".

I only bid on items that post shipping or Email me a price when I contact them.

When I sell I list most of the shipping options.

Shipping rates are reflected by my journey to Canada Post Web site and their on line shipping calculator. I have a scale sitting beside me (right now in fact) I weigh the item before I list.

Over 300 transactions and nary a complaint about shipping ...

Cheers, Michael

Want to see crazy S&H, check out this listing.

Trumpeter 1/35 MI-4 Hound

Going price $9.95... plus $32.95 flat rate shipping and required insurance and only 7 days to pay.

What?? No wonder it has 0 bids.

Gino - You are right that almost 400% shipping is outragous, but to the rest. USPS does not just base it's rate on weight. It cost me $12 and change to ship a 1/48 B-17 from California to Arizona because of the box size, it cost the same thing to ship a 1/72 ESCI diorama set to Milan, Italy. I shipped a 1/48 Ground Support Equipment Set to New Zealand for $24 and change. I only include the shipping costs for your reference.

Chuck,
I got you on the shipping prices, depends how you ship it. I ship stuff a lot in trades and the like. Agree that the rates some people do charge are crazy though.

I'd just like to throw out one small thing. My wife is trying to start a business selling cheesecakes. (They're really yummy and I've got the belly to prove it) Anyway she started doing research on what other such on line stores were charging for shipping and quickly found that either they are getting some huge discount for bulk shipping, or they are eating part of the shipping costs. There was no way she could ship something for as little as they were paying. If you are comparing the shipping charges to places like Squadron or Great Models it's quite possible they're not charging what it's really costing them, figuring they're make it up in volume.


I'm not saying there aren't ebay sellers ripping people off, but don't blame them all for doing this.

Everybody is exactly right though, you really have to shop around to see if it's a good deal, all things considered, or not.

Have to agree Rodger, bulk mailers are getting deep discounts and make up for any loss by volume.

Funny thing is using standard delivery USPS, for me to send Gino (HeavyArty) a 1/48 model, would cost about the same as driving out there and handing it to him. Even at todays gas prices.

I even tried what some online shops do and made shipping a percent of selling price (bad idea). I listed an item at $29.95, didn't know if anyone would even bid on it, stated the shipping as a percentage of that. The damned thing sold for $174 plus the shipping percentage and the fellow paid me, I felt terrible.

Now I set my reserve on an item so as to have something left if I have to ship it. Most of the stuff I have is old so it goes for more than the reserve anyway, if it goes at all.

What gets me is people who list something like the tamiya quad gun tractor which I can get new for $15 canadian for about $23 USD plus shipping. Are these clowns nuts?

HastyP

Go back to my first post on this thread. The seller is reversing the amount for the kit and shipping price.

He does this to cheat eBay out of a percentage of the true final value of the item. This way he pays eBay a Final Value Fee of 5.25% of $9.95 instead of 5.25% of $32.95.

I'd rather not do business with someone this dishonest.

Yes Andrew I agree!
But just snatched the Tamiya FMAO for
$41 with shipping!
You just have to watch and be carefull!
have fun~
Ron