Inflated shipping charge ebay!

[agmama]

I am looking for a previously loved Kit doll on ebay. I found one that looked good but the seller is charging $30.30 to ship her from Nevada to Ohio! I sent the seller a message stating that I would like to bid on her auction but felt her shipping charges were very high when I've had other dolls shipped to me for around $10-15.00. She wrote back and said she was only charging what the post office charges!!! Then I check her other auctions and she has a Molly bed, pajamas and nightime accessories listed and is charging $60.00 for shipping! I think this is so wrong. Can I report her to ebay? I've never done anything like this before.....it just makes me mad! [img]mad.gif[/img]

[Donna Cotterman]

This is very upsetting to me. I was the seller when someone asked about my shipping charges. I weighed the packages and was using the e-bay calculator. IT WAS WRONG!! Parcel Post was more than First Class or Priority.
Go to Live Chat and ask them to check with the seller and see what method they are using to determine the shipping charges. Handling fees are permitted but shouldn't be outlandish.
It just might be a misunderstanding and the calculator she is using is off.
Be patient and give them the benefit of doubt.
Mrs. C.

[EmilyMarie]

I'm not sure if you can report her to ebay, but I agree, those prices are outasight!

I wonder if she takes her auctions to a mailing center where they get packed for her? Perhaps that would explain, to some extent, the high prices. Hmmmmmmmm. Does she even sell anything with such high shipping? Maybe if people quit buying from them they'll change & get more realistic.

I hate to overcharge shipping so often we don't include that price in our auctions. But then we get bombarded with questions about shipping. For smaller items we use a $5 flat rate; for items more than 1 pound, then we like to have it as close to actual as possible. Sometimes we round up to the next dollar though--$7.70 might become $8 for example.

[dalmatian101]

I was watching asn Addy and Josefina auction and the seller wanted $80.00 to ship. I emailed them to see if that was correct and they replied they don't know why the shipping calculator said that, but they didn't give a new fee so I stopped watching it. I shipped a doll from Ohio to CA and it was $12.XX for insured priority mail. I won't bid on things with inflated shipping. I'm watching several things now and the seller wants $7.90 to ship an outfit, which I also think is a little high.

<font color="#33CCCC" size="1">[ August 05, 2006 10:51 AM: Message edited by: dalmatian101 ]</font>

[agmama]

Yes, I have heard of the shipping calculator being wrong.....maybe that's what happened. I certainly don't mind if a seller charges a slight handling fee of a couple of dollars and yes she could be using a mailing center that charges more but she did mention the word post office in her reply to me. I have just heard of sellers charging more for shipping so they don't have to pay the ebay fees and I know that's against ebay rules. I'm obviously not going to be buying anything AG from this seller, because I can't afford her shipping charges, LOL. I may as well buy new from AG! I just wanted other people's opinions. Thanks for your reply Mrs. C and Emily!

[jrtmom3274]

Yes, you can report a possible over-inflated shipping charge. eBay will investigate and pull the auctions if necessary.
I have had the calculator mess up on my auctions before. It was charging about $20-25 more than typical to ship a Lee Middleton doll. It ended up that I had to add a note to my auction stating not to use the calculator and quoting a flat rate for shipping. I had five auctions up at the time and ended up losing a dollar or two on two of them with the flat rate.
Additionally, I have used a very pricey mailing store to send American Girl dolls. Well packed, as they insist on 4" of padding around all sides, it cost $11-12 (that's UPS fees and the pacing service, I provided the boxes) to send a one doll from Michigan to southern California. It was only slightly less to send to nearby states. I sold 7 dolls around that time.
Something's amiss, either the calculator or the person's calculations, so I'd report it. It may be a scam, or it may be an honest mistake. Either way, I'd do my best to help eBay know about it so they can check it out.

<font color="#33CCCC" size="1">[ August 05, 2006 11:06 AM: Message edited by: jrtmom3274 ]</font>

[Melissa*Olivia]

Ebay may be able to investigate her for fee avoidance. Some people list auctions at low prices and charge outrageous shipping because the seller has to pay eBay a percentage of the selling price, but eBay takes nothing on the shipping. That's why sometimes you will especially see BIN auctions for a low price but with high shipping. The seller is trying to make money without giving eBay its cut -- that's called fee avoidance, and it's against eBay rules. This seller may or may not be doing that, but eBay can look into it for you.

[Jeanette M.]

I saw four auctions from the same seller just last night - each auction an AG doll. Her shipping calculator was showing $32+ to mail one doll! Not being an eBay seller, I didn't realize the calculators were sometimes inaccurate; so thanks for the heads up on that. [img]graemlins/rose.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/rose.gif[/img] I will go ask the seller if that is truly the correct amount.

[3castles]

I recently received an email from Ebay about how they are tired of this happening and will be cracking down on sellers who do this.

Here is a copy of Ebay's policy on inflated shipping:

Sellers may charge reasonable shipping and handling fees to cover the costs for mailing, packaging, and handling the items they are selling. While eBay will not prescribe exactly what a seller may or may not charge, eBay will rely on member reports and its own discretion to determine whether or not a seller?s shipping, handling, packaging, and/or insurance charges are excessive. Shipping and handling fees may not be listed as a percentage of the final sale price.

Sellers who want to be sure they are in compliance with this policy may charge actual shipping costs plus actual packaging materials cost (or less).

In addition to the final listing price, sellers are permitted to charge:

Actual Shipping cost: This is the actual cost (i.e. postage) for shipping the item.

Handling Fee: Actual packaging materials costs may be charged. A handling fee in addition to actual shipping cost may be charged if it is not excessive.

Insurance: Sellers offering insurance may only charge the actual fee for insurance. No additional amount may be added, such as ?self-insurance?. Sellers who do not use a licensed 3rd party insurance company may not require buyers to purchase insurance. This is a violation of state law.

Tax: Only actual applicable federal, state, country, city, VAT, and equivalent taxes may be charged.

For cross border transactions, sellers may not collect tariffs and duties. However, buyers may be responsible for actual, applicable tariffs, and duties as requested by respective country laws.

Violations of this policy may result in a range of actions, including:

Listing cancellation

Limits on account privileges

Account suspension

Forfeit of eBay fees on cancelled listings

Loss of PowerSeller status

[EmilyMarie]

Ebay might not get a cut of the fees for shipping but paypal sure does!