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I totally sympathise with you! I just bought a book from ebay from a seller in the US and he charged me a $6.95US handling fee. I couldn't believe it! I paid $11.65 for what I thought was airmail. The book turns up 3 months later. It was shipped surface mail for $4.70 and when I asked the seller about it he said it was a flat shipping and handling fee. It even says in my invoice that it is airmail but he certainly didn't ship it airmail. Grrrrrrr!
I sell on ebay myself and I only ever charge people the actual postage. I get all my boxes from our local shopping mall and I got the bubble wrap from my husbands work (they had a large shipment of robotic parts come in all wrapped in bubble wrap and they were going to throw it out.
I NEVER charge my buyers any extra that the actual postage so I get so annoyed that I always seem to have to pay handling fees to everyone else! Sure it takes time to go to the Post office and stand in lines - I know that all too well but I would never actually charge someone for my time.
Next they will be charging us to set up the auction and take the darn photo! (that takes time too)
Juliette
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Charging a handling fee for insurance is absolutely ridiculous, in my opinion! You don't stand in line any longer than you would have for just mailing the package any way, and there is NO form to fill out. The postal worker does it for you, as I recall. But if their post office doesn't work that way, they could always use the time waiting in line to fill out the form--no extra time at all. We even have a machine that can do it for you, at our post office, if you don't want to stand in line to see a live person.
I save all the boxes and bubble envelopes and styrofoam peanuts and bubble wrap our family receives in the mail, and I re-use them, so most of the time I don't need to pay anything for packaging when I'm mailing something out. Also, you can get Priority Mail packaging (both boxes and envelopes) from the Post Office for FREE--so why spend money on other boxes?
I charge only the actual postage/insurance/whatever, when I sell on ebay. Anything else is a total rip-off, in my opinion.
Joy
<font color="#051E50" size="1">[ January 24, 2006 10:58 AM: Message edited by: djsnjones ]</font>
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I don't mind paying some sort of handling fee, because it does take time to package things, and money to buy the materials, but when it is way over the actual cost of postage it really irks me.
Most of the time the sellers who do this are trying to recoup their sellers/paypal fees which is against ebay rules, and you can, and should report them to ebay for this.
A handling fee for insurance is ridiculous if you are already paying a handling fee for the postage.
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I'm sorry I have to post. You don't have to buy from those sellers. As a seller and buyer it takes not only time at the Post Office but it also takes gas to get there plus the packaging costs. The one you should be mad at is E-bay and Paypal. Oh yeah there the same company. The charges for sellers to do business has risen substantially. Everyone wants it fast and no one wants to pay. Sorry, but just have to add my 2 cents.
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I agree that you can choose who you want to buy from. But I do disagree that high shipping/handling prices are reasonable.
I am a seller. I set the opening price or reserve with the fees in mind, so that I don't actually lose money in the process. I do not use a "business" account for a paypal account. Instead, I use a "personal" account because the fees for a business account are just outrageously high. Then I just do not allow anyone to use credit cards, because the fees for allowing credit cards are outrageously high. They can use paypal transfers or money orders. It can be done, folks. You don't have to charge high prices for shipping to make a go of it.
I don't send the buyer the shipping amount until the item is packed up and labeled and weighed for her area code specifically. I do know that it takes some time for packing, but that hardly seems worth charging for, to me. And when you have a lot of packages to do, how do you split up that time to come to a couple of cents per package? I think that I sometimes fix my auction start times so that the ending times are spread out a little bit, so that I don't have to deal with them all at once, so that it's not that much time out of every day.
I also got a tip from another buyer that a way to save time at the closing of the auction is to package the item when the first bid is placed, and then label it when you finally know who the buyer is. When I do that, I write a note on it, so that I can keep straight on what is in which box.
And my post office is only 4 blocks away, although I usually go to the larger one, about 5-10 min drive away (about 1 mile), which again hardly seems worth charging for, to me.
And I can choose to go at times of the day when the line is likely to be very short or nonexistent, or I can use the machine, which usually has no line or only 1 person.
And like I said before, if you save packaging from items you receive, or use free USPS packaging, there's no excuse for buying all new materials for things that you ship out (and then charging the buyer for that). If I ever have something extra large or an odd shape, that requires a new box, then I let the buyer know about that, and what the box will cost.
So I still think that charging so much for shipping and handling is unnecessary and unfair.
Joy
<font color="#051E50" size="1">[ January 24, 2006 11:54 AM: Message edited by: djsnjones ]</font>
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I also try to charge the closest to actual shipping as I can get. I charge the actual cost for delivery confirmation and insurance if the buyer wants insurance.
I use free priority mail boxes and/or recycle boxes from things I receive. I also recycle packing material, etc. Very rarely do I have to buy any packing material.
I can usually include my post office runs when I'm out and about anyway, so no extra trips there to charge for.
And if my shipping estimate is "off" by say $1.00 or more, I will refund the buyer the difference. But I will say that after years of selling on ebay, my "estimates" are very rarely off by more than maybe .25-.50 (and that's only for the larger pkgs. that I don't deal with as often).
Joy~ In regards to Paypal, Ebay has changed the rules as of August 19th of 2005, and if you indicate in your auctions that you accept Paypal, you must accept all forms of Paypal. You cannot specify that you will only take a certain kind of Paypal payment. (This only applies to ebay transactions - you can accept whatever kind of Paypal payment you want outside of ebay). Ebay can and will pull your auctions for saying you only accept certain types of Paypal.
<font color="#051E50" size="1">[ January 24, 2006 12:10 PM: Message edited by: beccachris ]</font>
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I am a seller on ebay too, for the last 6 years, and I never charge handling fees. I don't stand in Post Office lines either as I use click to ship. The only time I really have to go to the post office is when it is international.I get all my supplies free from the P.O., except bubble wrap and tissue paper which I recycle and get from the dollar store. I think many times people overcharge on shipping because they don't take the time to package and weigh before they put the item up for auction. So they are making a guesstimate, and of course they are going to err on the side of the shipper.
I always look at the shipping total before I bid, and it seems obvious to me when it is inflated. I hate to put it this way because it sounds prejudice, but it seems like men overcharge for shipping more often than women.That has been my experience.
~Annie
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Just have to add my 2 cents. I also was one of those sellers that only charged exact shipping, but after ebay and paypal raised their rates it started to be less worth selling all of the work of selling on ebay. What people never seem to take into consideration (I know I didn't until it was pointed out to me by another seller) is that paypal takes a percentage fee out in the shipping costs also. I went back through one month's transactions and figured out how much money I was losing on postage fees that I wasn't making any money on. When you multiplied that out over the course of a year, it was a significant amount.
I also get shipping boxes from USPS and and save boxes and packing material, but there still are outside expenses to pack and ship items. I used to be able to get the priority shipping tape free at my post office, but the workers said that they were told that they can no longer give it free to customers. I ordered some off ebay to save money vs buying from an office supply store and bought in bulk because it was so much cheaper-I would guess I have at least a years supply, but it was 50.00. I do the click and print shipping from home-my last black printer cartridge lasted for one month and I am basically the only one using the black-it cost 27.00 on sale, and as I said that was a one month supply.
95% of my customers use paypal. If you refuse to accept payments from them, you will definitely limit your customer base, because as one poster said-everyone wants their items as quickly as possible. I include the shipping calculator in all of my auctions, so everyone knows right up front what the costs will be-there are no surprises unless they didn't use the calculator, which is just stupid on their part. I personally am very leery of bidding on an auction where the seller says they will give the cost after you've won. I don't agree with grossly inflating postage (besides the fact that it will get you in trouble with ebay) but I personally don't feel badly if I make a dollar or two on shipping. JMO.
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I have heard that many people look at the shipping cost in determining their final bid price. That makes a lot of sense to me. That way the buyer is determining what an item is worth to them. If it's too high... don't pay it.
As long as the shipping is clearly stated, no one should complain. My problem would be with sellers who quote a shipping price after an auction ends... and grossly inflates that.
I recently bought a small jewelry item. The seller charged $3 shipping. It arrived in a padded envelope and cost 66 cents to mail. I wasn't upset because I was TOLD the $3 fee upfront... and bid accordingly.
At my post office we have to step to the side and fill out delivery confirmation and insurance forms ourselves. I now keep a batch at home.. and fill them out when I address packages.
My guess on the $4 handling fee for the insurance was that the man didn't know how to do it... and was trying to discourage it. (I'd make a comment on the fragility of the male ego at times... but it might sound a bit sexist LOL)
Mary Kate
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I used to get upset over being over charged shipping. Now I figure if I agree to the shipping cost, then I have no right to complain. I always figure the cost of shipping into the final price I'm willing to pay. I never bid on an auction that does not state the shipping cost up front.
When I sell, I charge a flat shipping rate, and it is usually a bit over what it will actually cost. My gas and time isn't free. [img]wink.gif[/img] I don't grossly overcharge...just a bit to make it worth my while.
As far as the insurance quote from the seller: That was obnoxious! I think another poster was right when she said he just didn't know how to do it, and was trying to discourage it. I would never over charge for insurance! I have seen some auctions that list higher insurance rates, and I refuse to bid on them!
