Watch Out On Shipping!

Welcome to our Antique Bottle community

Be a part of something great, join today!

John Sudul

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 29, 2003
Messages
118
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Here is another thing to watch out for on e-bay, the shipping. I had a last minute bid on e-bay ,so wasnt able to contact the seller first to find out what shipping would be to my area. He ended up charging me nearly as much for shipping as what I paid for the bottle!! If the shipping is not listed , I highly recommend contacting the seller first. Some of these people on e-bay make a living ripping you off on ridiculous handling/ packing fees .
 

kumtow

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 14, 2004
Messages
165
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Location
Australia. Tropical Queensland
That sort of thing has been going on for a long time John. I sometimes also get caught out with other associated costs as well ie. cost of money orders etc. I recently bought a bottle for $US14.99. Last minute bid, no-one else had bid on the bottle at all. I really did not expect to win the auction. Shipping was $US20.00 to Australia from the USA. That price of shipping is about right for the size of the bottle. Cost me another $$AU8.00 for an international money order and then another $AU10.00 to send the money order by registered mail to the US. In all, the bottle I won for $US14.99 has cost me nearly $US50.00 in total. Don't think it is worth that much.

To be honest I would rather use Paypal for international deals as the costs to me are much less even if the seller wants an extra 4% to cover his costs. Although that is against eBay rules is it not.
 

John Sudul

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 29, 2003
Messages
118
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Hi Kumtow! Ouch that sounds like real bad deal you got! International shipping is understandable, but this guy lived in N.Y. and Im in P.A. adjoining states! I buy /re-sell on ebay all the time and am familiar with shipping costs. This particular bottle would have cost me $3.85-$ 5.00 to ship to him. He charged me nearly double that. Not to mention came off as a wise ass ,when I questioned the shipping. I had a great experience with a seller in your area, I bid on a bottle , won it & found out shipping was going to be $25 bucks! I notified him that I had no idea it was going to be that much to ship, and I could not afford the price.He not only bent over backwards trying to help , but came down on shipping to take a loss himself. He had every right in the end , to leave me negative feedback and did not. You folks down there are honest and understandable. John
 

lacolobiger

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 5, 2004
Messages
66
Reaction score
0
Points
0
hello. I sell some on e-bay and charge a 3.00 handling fee. I dont feel thats unfair when ebay fee's can eat up your profit if you only get a couple of $'s for your product. I also state in my product discription that there will be a 3.00 handling fee. people who dont investigate and bid then wine later irk me something bad!!! ebay sales are a binding contract. you wouldnt negoiate buying a house after you singed the contract would you? Granted there are some who don't show there shipping cost. thats the BUYER beware not the seller. dont get burned. INVESTIGATE.
 

BRIAN S.

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 27, 2003
Messages
1,610
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Location
The Mountains of Tennessee
I have to agree with lacolobiger..... It's important to read the ebay sellers description carefully. And if they don't have S/H/I costs listed in there auction description, you need to take a few moments and email them to see what the costs of shipping , handling , and insurance will be. A few moments will save a lot of headaches for both parties.

I always have a fixed price on S/H/I listed in my ebay auction description. Just to keep from having this problem with a seller not agreeing with my S/H/I costs. I put the cost right up front and then there is no disagreement . And if they don't agree with my costs in my item description then they don't need to bid on my item.
My S/H/I price on my items I believe is fair . I usually charge from 8.00 - 10.00 depending on the value of the item ( 15.00 - 20.00 on the higher end stuff )and the size/weight of that particular item. I won't sell an item without the buyer getting it insured (which insurance cost is included in my fixed price ) And I don't charge any handling fees. My fixed price usually turns out fairly close..........sometimes a buyer will pay a few cents more or less than actual costs of S/H/I . I have never had any complaints.....but then again the costs are listed up front. And of course a buyer would never complain if I didn't charge him enough S/H/I to cover my actual costs of S/H/I. ;o)

I feel it is the buyer/bidders responsibilty to read very carefully the sellers ebay description for costs of Shipping / Handling / Insurance. If it's not in the description then it is the buyers responsibilty to email them and ask what the costs will be before bidding on the item. My two cents worth anyway !
 

John Sudul

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 29, 2003
Messages
118
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Hi Brian, Sounds like you are a really fair ,upfront, honest e-bay seller. Wish I had been dealing with you. The guy I dealt with was not only dishonest, but rude and obnoxious. His feedback also shows 4 negative feedback ratings, well 5 NOW!
 

Carmo

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 29, 2003
Messages
84
Reaction score
0
Points
0
All I can say is " caveat emptor" .
Though there is a particular auctioneer in Australia that charges an additional 10% for GST - Goods & Services Tax. Hope he is forwarding the money to the Australian Taxation Office and not just collecting a bit on the top for himself????
Carmo
 

kumtow

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 14, 2004
Messages
165
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Location
Australia. Tropical Queensland
Hi John,
Regarding your earlier post about me getting a bad deal. I dunno, it was expensive in the end and unfortunately for me the cost of money orders etc was something I didn't consider at the time. I wanted the bottle and it is in very good condition as it turns out. The seller was great and shipping fast. I would like to see more sellers accepting some form of electronic payment as it is fast secure and in the long run cheaper. Shipping to and from Oz is expensive as we are so far from other bottle collecting countries.
I suppose the moral of my story is avoid sellers who don't accept paypal unless the bottle is worth the extra cost of associated fees. Definitely not worth it for low end items.
Beware insurance as well. Most postal services will insure for loss only and don't have a fragile service that covers breakage, especially if shipping internationally. Not that many items get lost. A UK collector has posted over 2000 items and only had one get lost. If a buyer wants insurance he accepts the money but does not insure with the postal service. If anything goes wrong he pays the money out of his own pocket. He doesn't see the point of paying money to the postal service for something that he is not going to get. He just makes sure he packs really well. I think you would have to be a major seller to be able to do this though but it is not a bad idea.
 

idigjars

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 24, 2004
Messages
2,150
Reaction score
1
Points
0
Location
SW Michigan
Hi Folks! I'm new here so hope I don't put my foot in my mouth [;)]
I sell on ebay. I used to wait until auctions were over and then figure everything out but found I was getting emails all the time asking for shipping price. I finally tried just putting up a general amount based on experience. Sometimes you win, sometimes not. I use priority mail because you can get boxes for free and they are flat so they store nicely. Some folks on ebay are a little over the top on their shipping costs, but I think most are fair. Best advice is if in doubt email them and ask why they are charging so much. Take care and Merry Christmas all [:)]
 

Members online

No members online now.

Latest threads

Forum statistics

Threads
83,220
Messages
742,916
Members
24,237
Latest member
Fancy2cu
Top