eBay Pet Peeve

CollectorBob

Sorry, I have to vent!

Why is it always the pathetic guy who wins your item for $5 (way less than melt) that then cribs about a $1.99 S&H fee?

mrpotatoheadd

The lower priced the item, the greater the odds are that the buyer will complain about the shipping cost. And the odds increase exponentially when the low price is also a steal. Fact of life on eBay.

Justhavingfun

Actually, your $5 customer's angst makes sense.

-- Look at it from your customer's point of view. If it's a $500 item, $1.99 shipping and handling nicks him for less than 1%. 0.4% to be precise.

-- If it's a $50 item, your $1.99 s/h is still a modest 4% surcharge

-- But when it's a $5 item, the $1.99 s&h is suddenly a 40% surcharge.

This is not to say that you're being unreasonable for charging $1.99 s&h. $1.99 is anything but exorbitant for the service. But you need to realize that the guy on the other end of the transaction is saying to himself: "40% extra, ouch."

But don't let it get you down. Just go right on enjoying yourself and making money.

Just Having Fun

theboz11

It should be lost in the mail and returned to your collection for that sort of pettiness

coinpictures

It's annoying in all cases, not just when the bid/buy price is low.

I can see complaining if the S&H is not clearly stated in the auction, but if it is, then calculate the total cost of the item, determine if you're willing to pay it, and if not, move on.

Complaining about clearly stated shipping and handling costs is beyond lame, especially if no gouging is occurring (your $1.99 is HARDLY excessive).

I'm continually amazed over on the Lightside forum by all the people who will whine and complain about an eBay seller charging $4-8 to insure and ship an item, yet have no qualms about paying $10-20 for the same merchandise to "established" vendors like Heritage or Teletrade. Talk about a double standard.

Oopsie I forgot: Heritage and Teletrade have a RIGHT to make a profit. eBay sellers do not.

</RANT>

CollectorBob

Irony is that the cribbing commences once the item is already in the buyer's possession. I don't offer to refund any portion of the S&H, but I do offer that if they return my coin to me, I will refund the price paid PLUS the S&H that they felt was so burdensome.

Seriously, some days I feel so disgusted that I never want to deal on eBay ever again.

ajbauman

I had a similar thing happen to me the other day... I have a few miscalenous trinkets on eBay and I am charging $3.59 for shipping. I get some guy saying that is rediculous, bla bla bla.

I'll never understand it! When I bid on something on eBay.... I take the TOTAL price I'm willing to pay, back out shipping etc... and the rest is my highest bid.

Morons!!

This is what I told him... "Well my terms of the auction are clearly stated, you always have the option not to bid."

Now my shipping might be a little high, but come on man.... the starting bid was $.01!

ormandh

Your s&h is reasonable. What bugs me is when you sell a coin and require insurance that a buyer can give you a lower rating based on the fact that you want to cover your ASSets. Do not bid if you think the shipping is too high. I feel that is one of the unfair policies, for sellers, that Ebay has. -Dan

zeebob

I gave up on S&H. I'm just listing all my auctions with ZERO S&H.

Hoping the feedback will be better from Customers.

What's a few bucks on S&H anyway? I just roll it into the BIN price or hope the bid prices go a few buck higher because of the free shipping...

SaorAlba

Oh, I had a British buyer stiff me on the $12 for registered post, because he paid with Paypoo and refused to pay the registered, wanted sent regular post - asking for trouble when you are selling a $400+ item. So I sent the item, and blocked him.