Excessive postage!

[wizeguy101]

Because unfortunately there are calculative sellers who will do anything to save on fees, even if the fees in question are low... I do hope such a situation never comes to pass where so many sellers transfer the cost of the item over to the shipping charge, and eBid is forced to start taking percentage of shipping charge fees. Like what happened on the Bay a couple years back.

I couldn't agree more! The cost of the item should be able to reflect the value of the item so that necessary fees are properly assessed. A small but growing minority of sellers on feebay transferring profit to shipping to avoid fees is what caused the change in policy there. When ebid becomes popular enough those things will happen more often here as well.

Although it can be said that all sellers play with both numbers to some extent in order to make their store more attractive. Offering free shipping is a perfect example, since everyone knows that no shipping is free. So is the seller being deceptive? Yet the buyers never complain in feedback about the price of the item being too high after they bought one with free shipping, now do they? :-) So I'm not even sure I'm opposed to the policy -- except for the obviously painful result of actual higher shipping costs, which are bad enough -- since 99% of all buyers really just want to know, "what is the total cost for me to get this item?" as is evidenced by the popularity of the "Total cost including shipping" search function there, and why it is so prominently displayed on auction pages here (thank you for that, btw!)

As a side note - Even with the institution of fvf on shipping, there's still plenty of motivation "over there" to place the money in the shipping column... insertion fees balloon like crazy, depending on your starting price. And for the truly deceptive sellers, offering refunds minus shipping means you won't bother trying to return it, but by offering refunds, their auction gets placed higher in Best Match listings. It is an *evil* system, that best match!

Here in the US, calculating actual post costs without standing in a queue has become next to impossible for some items, thanks to the new changes in regulations. And those that you can figure out are costing double what they were. With the new USPS shipping rates comes some changes to the definitions of mail types as well. An item I sold just last week and shipped to Canada for $1.28 will now cost twice that, because it's considered a parcel instead of a letter. I was warned of it at my post office just this morning. International buyers make up half of my customers, and I currently only sell to Canada/Uk/Australia. I'm not sure I'll be able to compete with UK sellers when shipping outside of the US.

I'd like to give a personal kick-to-the-crotch greeting to every member of my government who seems to have let the people responsible for our confusing tax rules design our new postal rules!

[JJcards]

Here in Canada it is near impossible to determine exactly what a larger package will cost to ship outside of the u.s and Canada,if I sell 1-200 sports cards the shipping is usually 8-12$ shipped in a card box and large bubble mailer(which cost money)so it comes to more like 9-13$ if I ship the same amount to the UK it would be about 18 finland 22 germany 22 etc etc

I try to be as fair as I can on my postage charging what I am charged in total,this includes my mailing supplies paper ink to print my labels packing material etc

Almost every buyer I have sold to online understands this as I am sure a good % of them also are sellers and are aware of the cost involved in shipping items,materials time etc

I have asked this in a previous reply and will do so again,how would the op feel if someone were to agree to buy an item from them only to leave a comment about how inflated the shipping was

Your getting an item you agree to purchase knowing the shipping fees ahead of time so no suprises,as long as it arrives in the stated condition than you really have nothing to complain to anyone about

Shipping fees vary from seller to seller and the type of item(s) being sold I purchased a book online from the states for my daughter,rather large book,shipping was close to 20$ the package arrived and the total paid for shipping was 16$ but the item was wrapped in bubble wrap placed in a slide in box and a large bubble mailer all of which I am sure come close if not exceed the 4 extra bucks I paid,did not even think of complaining,the item arrived safely very well packaged and it was obvious the seller charged the extra couple of bucks to recoup packing materials and perhaps a small % of their fvf

Too many different factors play a part in determining shipping fees and unless you come across a seller with obviously inflated fees (which you still should not complain about cause if your willing to buy it then you made your bed)

I can justify the extra bit sellers may charge for their shipping,especially when as a seller myself I know too well the variables that go with sending an item especially a bulky item anywhere

[wizeguy101]

Here in Canada it is near impossible to determine exactly what a larger package will cost to ship outside of the u.s and Canada

My problem is with the smaller packages. I've taken the exact same letter-sized bubble mailer envelope to be mailed at various times to the same post office. And I've been charged as little as $0.44 and as much as $1.75 (now $1.95). I literally never know for certain how they are going to treat it so I have to assume the most expensive, or take the risk myself that a $1.25 sale won't cost me $2 to ship this week.

Here's a good example of confusing postage in the US... A 2 pound medium size box sent from Texas to New York costs $11.50 if I use the flat rate box, or $9.45 if I use my own. Sending that same box to Canada by first class mail costs less -- $9.15.

[BAGHAG999]

My problem is with the smaller packages. I've taken the exact same letter-sized bubble mailer envelope to be mailed at various times to the same post office. And I've been charged as little as $0.44 and as much as $1.75 (now $1.95). I literally never know for certain how they are going to treat it so I have to assume the most expensive, or take the risk myself that a $1.25 sale won't cost me $2 to ship this week.

Here's a good example of confusing postage in the US... A 2 pound medium size box sent from Texas to New York costs $11.50 if I use the flat rate box, or $9.45 if I use my own. Sending that same box to Canada by first class mail costs less -- $9.15.

Must be a nightmare, at least over here they charge a flat rate to anywhere in the Uk.

[JJcards]

Guesswork when shipping is never fun and more often than not results in a loss,I know all to well.A buyer in hong kong purchased 3 of those mcfarlane figures,they do not weigh much and I knew from shipping magic the gathering sets over there was costing which was 33$ so I set my shipping at 30$ and told him if there was anything substantial left over I would refund him,what I did not factor in was a mtg card set fits in a bubble mailer,the dolls had to be shipped in a large box and even though they weighed less my cost to ship it by ground was 55$ if I chose air would have been 96$

I explained this to the buyer linking him over the canada post site the dimensions weight and the destinations so he could see for himself(something I should have done first off before I set my rate)thankfully he understood and opted for the ground shipping,which when sent internationally takes anywhere from 4-6 weeks

So now even before I list a bulky item I check my cost as I would hate to go through and put another buyer through that again.

[wizeguy101]

Guesswork when shipping is never fun and more often than not results in a loss,I know all to well.A buyer in hong kong purchased 3 of those mcfarlane figures,they do not weigh much and I knew from shipping magic the gathering sets over there was costing which was 33$ so I set my shipping at 30$ and told him if there was anything substantial left over I would refund him,what I did not factor in was a mtg card set fits in a bubble mailer,the dolls had to be shipped in a large box and even though they weighed less my cost to ship it by ground was 55$ if I chose air would have been 96$

I sell those as well, and there are times where it is actually cheaper to ship multiple envelopes and boxes than a combined shipment. They even have a category called "balloon rate", so they know they're screwing us, haha.

[JJcards]

It was actually cheaper for me to ship a case of mcfarlanes,I get them from our distributor by the case,used to open them up and sell off single ones to our walk in clients,sometimes we would be left a case or 2 when the next series came out(seems to be a new series or variant every month) so I sold and shipped a case to germany ground mail,cost 28,if I had shipped 3-5 to the same place by ground 36$ I guess cause they fit so perfectly in the sealed case and when you have to try and package them up the box size will differ and such but at that extra amount for such less a shipment was shocking

I am sure the rate has gone up as that was maybe 2 years back and now just to send a box of 2-400 cards there is about 20$

[OvertheRainbow4U]

Think Amazon charge 2.70 for postage on books but does the seller get the 2.70 or does Amazon take a cut?

Amazon charges $3.99 for the Standard, and $6.99 for the Expedited postage on books. This is what they call Shipping Credit, and the seller does get it, but then again, their commissions sometimes exceed the price if it's too low. And don't you forget about the recent postage increase.