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View Full Version : CRAZY Shipping prices!!



Yamahauler
03-17-2006, 09:03 PM
Is it just me, or have you guys noticed that a lot of the stuff you buy on ebay has extremly overpriced shipping costs.
Especially is you want something shipped to canada.
I just sent a message to one guy on ebay asking him how much to send some footpegs to me. In his auction, shipping to the states was $14. He said to ship it to me it would cost $29.25. That is way overpriced, kind of pisses you off when you get the package and see they only paid $10 to ship it amd they charge you $30.:mad:

88 Turbo Coupe
03-17-2006, 09:19 PM
Just another way to screw you out of some more doe. Pay it and weeep.

bondoboy
03-17-2006, 10:15 PM
Some of these guys have a low starting bid or buy it now, but they have this extremely high shipping. I guess they hope you see the cheap bid and buy it before seeing the shipping cost. Dishonest if you ask me.

TimSr
03-17-2006, 10:57 PM
Actually its a crooked way of trying to avoid ebay fees. Ebay fees are based on the final price of the item, before shipping fees are added. An example is one guy was trying to sell something for $1.00 with a $95.00 shipping fee. They killed his auction, but had it gone through, ebay would have charged him based on a $1 sale price.

Yamahauler
03-18-2006, 02:39 AM
Yea, Ive seen those ones, but I'm talking about 50% of any normal auctions. When you ask if they'l ship to Canada, they usually just double the price of shipping. Its a rip off!

dizasterzrfun69
03-18-2006, 10:07 AM
well some people dont like it but when i sell something i estimate the shipping alot of the time. Normally i make $2 or $3 extra on shipping but i figure this is enough for packing material and it should help cover the cost if my "calculations" on USPS.com are off any. Like if i sell a tailight, $5 shipping to the US. I dont think this is bad. However if someone charges $10-$15 to ship a tail light inside the US, thats bogus. I just estimate to cover my arse if it costs more then i expected but it's not like i'm trying to make money off of shipping. Yea i did notice some people try to get rich off of shipping though.


Kevin

sandpuppi101
03-18-2006, 10:27 AM
I too agree with the bogus way that some of the e-bayers go about there shipping! I actually do the opposite most of the time on my shipping,Last week for example I sold a bunch of items and put a set price on all my shipping,I actually sold a set of '85 200X fenders with shipping at 9.99. Sure I took a hit on the shipping ,it actually cost me an extra 20.00,but I walked away with a profit and my customer was very happy.Just one practice that I would like to see more often,but people are greedy- thats the bottomline!!!

Howdy
03-18-2006, 10:40 AM
On my auctions I get the items exact weight + 2-3lbs for packaging and $1.00 for s&h fees. But once the auction is over I automatically combine multiple wins and get the actual shipping weight. I then use this for sending out the end of auctions. I have actually had a few auctions that showed $8-10 to ship a item ( via the calcuator ), but when the end of auctions went out the shipping was $5.25 for 3 items combined. I charged the $5.25 for all 3 items combined. This actually saved the buyer $22 over the ebay shipping calculator. I think it's messed up any how. To me it's good for getting shipping cost estimates ( as a seller ). My feedback speaks for itself ( here and on Ebay ).
Howdy

chris200x
03-18-2006, 10:44 AM
I remember someone selling 250r fenders for a buck and charging 250 dollars for shipping! What a joke. What some of you guys have to realize is international shipping is more expensive. along with the hassle of filling out forms and such. I always end up taking a hit with shipping. I now always throw in an extra buck or two in the handling fee just to cover my buns.

If my memory serves me correctly didn't the post office just change someting with a flat rate on a certian size box... Can some one clarify this?

sandpuppi101
03-18-2006, 10:46 AM
I agree Howdy,I try to help out my customers like that! I love happy-REPEAT customers!!! And yep,your feedback shows!!!!

Infinity Cycle Supply LLC.
03-18-2006, 10:53 AM
Most people having a business on Ebay do it for income. If you are taking a loss anywhere that is very bad. You will have repeat customers but for how long before you business would go under?? You wanna do that go ahead. Shipping prices have gone up alot in the few month with fuel sur charges and such. I created a package for ausidunner and took it to the post office and they said it was to big so I made it as small as I could and at that point they told me it would be 800 dollars!!! Shipping costs alot of money and is always up and down, so as far as a Ebay based business they better atleast be charging what it cost to ship it plus some. What are you pay yourself a few hours at night boxing stuff up and taking it to the shipper nothin??

Dammit!
03-18-2006, 11:12 AM
I've been running into way high shipping costs when I'm trying to ship things myself. I screwed myself out of some money on a few transaction by underestimating the cost and then eating the difference rather than asking a winning bidder to pay for my mistake. UPS has been the biggest offender. I took a front wheel to a UPS Store and they quoted me fifty bucks to ship it! I got pissed and left and went 1/2 mile away to a staples and sent the same thing via UPS for under $25.

I'm going fedex ground from now on. Way cheaper. UPS wanted 70 bucks to ship a frame. Fedex ground was just barely over $40.

nouseforaname90
03-18-2006, 11:21 AM
Yeah. I have had bad experiences with UPS. They charge way too much and are way too slow. USPS can get something to me (for instance, a grab bar) in 3 days. It took UPS 8 days to get the darn thing to me!

And as far as eBay goes, I try to quote the buyer a few dollars more than I think the shipping cost is going to be, and then refund the extra money if there is any. A few times I have actually quoted them as much as $5 less than the shipping cost and I ended up having to eat that cost.

TimSr
03-18-2006, 12:14 PM
There is also a certain amount of buyer responsibility before you bid. I dont think an inflated shipping cost is unethical as looing as its clearly posted in the auction. You should figure the cost of shipping along with the cost of the item when deciding what to bid. Whether its $50 for the item and $20 shipping, or $20 for the item, and $50 shipping, you are still spending $70 to get the item. I avoid auctions seller is unclear or doesnt want to prequote shipping. Id rather deal with an inflated known shipping cost than having to wonder if Im going to get shafted.

The most common reason for incorrect shipping calculations going strictly by weight and not observing size limitations, and keeping packages within those limitations. One example is a pair of rear tires. Two rears are borderline oversize. Cutting down your box by an inch can make a $12 difference in shipping cost. Alwasy check box dimensions, and cut it down whenever possible if its borderline or slightly over.

nouseforaname90
03-18-2006, 12:28 PM
There is also a certain amount of buyer responsibility before you bid. I dont think an inflated shipping cost is unethical as looing as its clearly posted in the auction. You should figure the cost of shipping along with the cost of the item when deciding what to bid. Whether its $50 for the item and $20 shipping, or $20 for the item, and $50 shipping, you are still spending $70 to get the item. I avoid auctions seller is unclear or doesnt want to prequote shipping. Id rather deal with an inflated known shipping cost than having to wonder if Im going to get shafted.


That is exactly what I do. I hate auctions that do not include fixed shipping prices and I avoid them. Even if it is an item that I really want, I can't risk getting shafted on the shipping.

200x Basket
03-18-2006, 02:19 PM
i just no longer ship to canada or overseas very much. if the buyer is from this board i will but otherwise NO. its just to much hassel to ship 20 packages out of the US.

also the cost of shipping has gone WAY up in the last year. materials for shipping is not cheap and time is not free. I always feel like the shipping is good as long s it is within $5 of actual. i know that the seller has to make some $$$. hell i will not work for free.

I put a posted shipping price in all my auctions unless it a large item. if a person does not like the shipping price he does not have to bid. simple and easy!!

Orangecnty250r
03-18-2006, 03:07 PM
USPS is bad for bigger stuff ...way expensive...I looked at an ebay shipping link on ebay for a pair of wheel and the item was 25.00 to ship ups and 47 to ship usps!!! big difference!! but USPS priority much quicker and reasonable for smaller items.

UPS has been better for larger items but it does depend on whos sending it for you and how tough they are when taking measurements.

Fed ex ...I thought you had to have an account with them to ship???

I try my best to estimate and dont feel bad about tacking on a few dollars for my time, tape, ink/paper for labels... Heck a small roll of bubble wrap at staples (enough to do two fenders cost me 10 bucks...it hurts if you dont buy this stuff in bulk...So that was 5 dollars each fender in bubble wrap.!!...I try to save the boxes and supplies when it comes in but Ive had over 30 auctions the past month on ebay and have tapped out my supply of boxes and bubble wrap.

Dammit!
03-18-2006, 03:57 PM
You don't need a fedex account. You have to find a fedex staffed location. I have a kinkos near me that has a fedex staffed shipping department. I have not used them yet but I will real soon. I wish I would have checked them out before I sent you those wheels. Might have saved myself a few bucks. I spent $75 total to ship all three wheels via UPS.

grundlegrabber
03-18-2006, 05:59 PM
Like rangerover said, shipping prices have increased dramatically over the last year or so. I always throw on an extra 2 bucks or so to cover error, materials, etc. Doesn't pay to lose money! I use a digital scale and calculate each shipment myself on the USPS and UPS websites. You get much better rates with your own account at UPS or FedEx. I don't have an account because I have nowhere to take the packages for pickup. I gotta use a darn retail store, that's all we have around here. As far as FedEx Kinko's, I have one around here that I tried to use once. They have idiots working there. Couldn't even figure out how to calculate the cost of my package. I was there for 45 min to ship 2 boxes! Never again. Those people have no clue what's going on. As far as Canada shipments, they are always pricey. UPS is sometimes a good bit cheaper on Canada shipments.

Meat-BoX
03-19-2006, 10:43 AM
I post stuff on E-Bay, let them know im getting $3.00 for Handling Fees, to cover the Bubble wrap, Tape, labels and other packing stuff. I think $3.00 is reasonable. In my Auctions I give my Zip Code so people can get a figure on How much it will cost to ship. When auction is over I get on USPS.com and figure it out. If I cant, I box it up and go to the Post Office and get the correct Price, come home and E-Mail the winner the Correct price. I once did the USPS.com thing and it was like 60 cents over. The lady E-Mailed me Bitching about her 60 cents. I told her I lost about $2.00 with buying the Box, tape, and all that. But thats the name of the Game, sometimes you end up $2.00 ahead and sometimes $2.00 behind. I dont cry:naughty:

Infinity Cycle Supply LLC.
03-19-2006, 01:37 PM
Last shippment ot aussidunner was 233 via usps, wallet is still hot.

grundlegrabber
03-19-2006, 10:06 PM
Greenhuman sent me that missile kit last year (from down under), shipping was well over $200. The shippers are making a killing here. I've shipped entire bikes for a lot less than that. I've got a NOS set of TRX300 rear fenders that I can't sell, shipping is too high because they're big. Everytime I see the UPS truck roll up, looks like there would be plenty of room in there for those fenders. I don't see why they need to get $80-100 to ship a 10lb package, when I'm sure there would be plenty of truck space for them on any UPS truck on any given day. UPS is getting greedy.:mad: :mad: :mad: About 4 yrs ago I sent a 600+lb crate, 6 feet long, 3 feet wide, 4 feet tall containing an old dualsport dirtbike from PA to FL. It cost me just over $100 via Forward Air! Now UPS wants $100 to ship 10 lb fender out west!:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: