I know we’ve discussed this, but I can’t find it using Search. I’ve bought several things on ebay and been happy all the way around. I won a bid on a camera on Saturday, though, and the shipping seems too high – almost $30 for shipping and handling (from CA to DE). When I asked the seller why the high shipping, I got a very rude note in return. S/he says s/he “never has these problems.” As far as I can tell, this is the 3rd item this person has sold on e-bay. S/he doesn’t use credit cards or paypal either; money order or cashier’s check only.
I’ve found the same problems with “shipping and handling”. I never bid unless I know up front how much they’re gouging for handling. I’ve been buying some older FPS games from ebay and have seen upwards of 8 to 10 dollar charges to send a single CD 50 miles.
Since ebay does want their cut of the auction amount I’m sure people are offsetting that loss by charging more S&H…
Hi, Tery,
I work in shipping for a living. $30 is way too much for shipping, even with insurance, whether you go post office or UPS. Is it a heavy camera?
John’s right, best thing to do is to ask about shipping cost before bidding if the seller doesn’t specify in the auction. And personally, I won’t buy from someone with less than 10 feedbacks or so.
I think there was no reason for that seller to be rude.
It’s the perogative of the seller to state somewhere on the auction page, or in the description, any charges desired. By winning the bid, you agree to all the terms listed…it’s a contract. Some sellers charge for both shipping and handling, others just charge the exact cost of shipping. If no exact charges are listed in the auction, and all that is stated is for buyer to pay all shipping costs…this wouldn’t include extra “handling” fees. Handling fees must be listed somewhere before auction ends.
Any seller can take a pakage to the USPS, FEDEX, UPS, or other courier in advance, get a quote, and forward the shipping fees (and method-like Express) and insurance fee (if requested)…all before money is sent. Buyer can request a tracking# to monitor shipping progress online–to rest assured package has been registered, and also a shipping/insurance reciept. After all, the buyer is paying for it and deserves the reciepts.
If no specific shipping instructions are listed, except “buyer to pay shipping costs” then take charge and tell seller what you’d like…it’s your money.
The listing said shipping charges depended upon where the buyer was located. However, the seller claims he always charges $30, no matter what. I told him he should say that outright when listing something. I suspect he didn’t want to turn off buyers by listing a shipping charge so much higher than everyone else’s.
I’ve learned my lesson. In the past, when I’ve seen sellers say the charge depended upon your location, that always meant paying shipping, insurance, etc., from their location to mine. I will no longer assume that’s the case.
After much deliberation, I’m going to send the check and hope the guy is at least honest enough to ship the merchandise. Btw, he already said upfront that he doesn’t give a d*(n about his feedback ratings. This is not someone I would do business with again.
Believe it or not, the reason I wanted a digital camera in the first place is that I’ll be moving in the summer and want to sell some things on e-bay – and I never consider items that don’t have photos . . . so I’m learning more about how not to behave as a seller.
Thanks for the responses. It makes me feel a lot better that no one has said watch out – this looks like a scam!
That shipping rate is wayyy to high. But don’t hold it against a seller for only taking money orders. I’ve sold a few things on Ebay and I only take money orders. This way I don’t have to worry about bounced checks. Also I don’t have to wait for a check to clear. The day I get the money order is the day I send out the package.
Mary, I’ll actually do the same thing, I think – money orders. It wasn’t that that concerned me as much as the combination of out-of-line shipping charges, an extremely rude and defensive seller, and the knowledge that since this wasn’t on my credit card, I’d be flat out of luck if he’s dishonest.
I don’t think I’ll purchase anything else expensive on e-bay unless they take a credit card or PayPal though. It seems to make me too nervous.
I sure hope I can’t find the camera for a better price locally! That would hurt! I really wanted the Minolta Dimage S series because one of my hobbies is taking pictures of animals, often pets who live indoors. I don’t use flash for that, so I needed a lot of manual controls on the camera. I wouldn’t have bought a new camera just for that, but since I was getting one anyway, I figured I should get one I’d really use! I haven’t even seen the Dimage locally. I also bought one that’s a couple of models back, for price reasons.
Ebay actually has quite a strict policy on this. Some sellers charge excessive S&H in order to avoid having to pay Ebay their cut of the final auction value. I extreme cases, sell a 99 cent cd witih a $10.00 shipping fee thus avoiding a $1.50 final valuation fee. If you have the gumption to do it, you can notify ebay of the seller’s practice,