What's with eBay shipping & handling prices these days?
DBSTrader2
Posts: 3,460 ✭✭✭✭
I guess I've been away from eBay for too long (maybe a year or 3?), but am I crazy, or have S&H prices just EXPLODED since then?
Back in the day, I could count on a buck or 2 (or maybe up to $5) in shipping for individual loose (or in 2x2's) raw coins. But now, looking at Darkside coins shipped from/to within the U.S., for the most part I'm seeing shipping charges ranging from $10 to $17 to $22!!
Are people trying to avoid eBay fees by building their profit within their shipping charges, or am I missing something? Even with certified, insurance, etc, what else can explain such high charges?
As a small-time collector, compared to the eventual selling prices of the coins themselves, I'm being priced-out of the market by those shipping charges.
I'd be interested in hearing feedback on this one. Thx!
Comments
I saw a coin that I was interested in, and the guy had a shipping charge of $50. I asked if that was correct,and he said he could do $35. It's a $40 coin.
I got a package from Norway, and the guy only charged $2.
No, you're not crazy DBSTrader2. The shipping costs these days are brutal. They will eventually make you crazy.
I went back into one offer & saw the shipping price quoted was to Canada (since I had been looking for an acquaintance previously), so I asked myself whether the S&H prices could have been inflated coming out of the U.S. to Canada by mistake. So I changed the destination back to the U.S., and saw very little, if any, change.............. Stinks!
Shipping has gone way up. I sell mostly small value items and used to have free shipping on a lot of them. No more because even first class takes away so much. Some items are not even worth it because the shipping costs as much as the item will sell for.
K
eBay jump-started my collecting from being long-dormant to once again active a decade or so ago, but there seems to be less & less opportunity for the small-time raw collector like me these days, looking to fill a few more holes at reasonable overall cost. Pity.........
you now have to pay e bay fees on the shipping too, so they are not trying to avoid fees. the cost of a first class package just went up to close to 5 dollars just recently. final value fees are about 13 percent if you include the paypal charges without a store
So now I blame the Post Office!
I noticed sending out a few small bubble envelopes of my own recently that prices just keep going up there as well.....
it is the Postal system (all owned by Gov'ts who all got creedy and decided last year at the world postal conference to unanimous raise prices and change conditions of what you can and can Not put in your envelopes!!!!!!!!!!!! No longer are you "allowed" to put anything but paper into an envelope.
My postal girl (very attractive) says: just simply do not tell me the contents !!!!
I know, they have the same issue in Europe.
It is all political greed...so the PO's will make money and get out of their $$$$ holes.
IMO, they would be better off if they would get serious and improve their service from rotten to just barely acceptable. they could start by making their web sites easier to use.....to find a postal rate.
end of this rant...
Yeah, their website stinks, as does their guarantees/follow-thru on certified mail problems.........
Here's a fine example of outrageous shipping and handling--$45 from Israel! If genuine, it's a rare piece. The seller has two other examples for sale with only $29 in S&H. And that's "Economy Shipping."
https://www.ebay.com/itm/BON-PIECE-COIN-SOCIETE-COOPERATIVE-DU-CANAL-DE-SUEZ-10C-1892-RARE/163619410543?hash=item26187a126f:g:UP8AAOSwuaBcm0ER&frcectupt=true
https://bishopricquid.com/
teleporters can't get here soon enough...................
Not outrageous IMO. Ebay requires proof of delivery and if the seller wants to cover his butt by getting insurance, $45 isn't too far off.
DPOTD-3
'Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery'
CU #3245 B.N.A. #428
Don
For shipping within US, I ship priority free which can be any were from $7.50 to $10 (with signature confirmation). For international I ship priority and charge $33 for under one K, for over one K I ship express and charge $63. I only charge actual postage for international. All US for free priority. Postage is very high now.
so, where does the stinky Global shipping come in to the equation?
I will not buy from anyone using it!! as it is a serious rip off!
It comes into the equation for sellers who don't want the hassle of worrying about proof of delivery when shipping outside the US.
they loose a lot of sales to Fee bay's scare tactics..
not wishing to go in to details at this time,
to ship a 1 cent Canadian coin from FL to Canada is shipping cost 15 and 6. 85 customs fees.
looking at another 1 cent coin from FL to Canada it is 18$ + 4. 85 fees?? these are the same weight and dimensions...
the coin can be shipped for less than $ 7 with receipt confirmation.
customs fees??? every recipient in Canada is entitled to be their own broker....at NO cost. and under $ 80 it flies right through without issues even with a truthful declaration.
However, if it comes to customs with paperwork completed, they accept it and send it on....just like they would without Feebays interference.
Feebay is scaring everyone to use GS. this deserves the... what do you call it when a certain finger is out??
I rest my case...
The only way to get confirmation of delivery where I live is to pay $10.50 (1 oz) for First-Class Package International Service and go to the post office and stand in line to hand the package to the clerk at the counter. Maybe that works for others, but not for me.
Selling and shipping low value stuff is no longer an option for me on feebay. Fees are added to shipping and shipping without tracking no longer is feasible. I stopped using any overseas shipping other than the global shipping program after I shipped a Morgan to Germany, tracking went right to the door and the buyer said they didn't get it. You guessed it, I was out the price, the fees, the shipping... Won't ship overseas on my own again. I try to keep the fees down but unless I inflate the price of the coin I have to charge for shipping. That said most light raw coins ship for under $3.50 in the US.
please note:
I am not against the shipping costs with Global. I am against the extra fees added:
I am against them charging different prices for the very same coin type** to the very same countr**y. it is the same postal fees regardless if shipped from HI or from FL to Halifax or Yellowknife. mailing fees are the same. It is the same fees from anywhere in Canada to anywhere in the USA and vice versa. However, there are slight fifferences with parcels.
I am against Feebay creating import papers , i. e. creating profits by doing so unnecessarily where such import papers are not directed by a respective countries customs laws.
I am against being charged import fees based on the value of the item and brokerage fees when NOT required to use a broker by the receiving country. AND I am totally against the rip off inventing such import fees when there are NONE payable. Canadian coins sent in to Canada are legal tender (1858 to now) and as such there is NO fee. I also have the legal right to do my own customs formalities if these are requested by border services.
Also for someone acting on my behalf with Canadian customs will need a legal PA on file specifying details. They most certainly do not have mine. and small print saying: by agreeing etc.... you agree to agree does not count by law.
And I am fed up being ripped off under a false pretense by Feebay and their small print.
Has anyone ever had a claim or a return when using GS? .....a nightmare when you wish it would go away... and many will abandon the claim because of it.