Boy that gets irritating
illinifan912
Posts: 1,462 ✭
When people bid on your items and complain about the shipping costs. They're stated right in the listing yet they feel they need to complain
0
Comments
<< <i>If you don't like it, don't bid!!! I can charge .50 cents and ship it in a plain white envelope, if they want!!! >>
Why not offer that as one of your shipping choices?
Working on the following: 1970 Baseball PSA, 1970-1976 Raw, World Series Subsets PSA, 1969 Expansion Teams PSA, Fleer World Series Sets, Texas Rangers Topps Run 1972-1989
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<< <i>Why not offer that as one of your shipping choices? >>
Then, the graded card case would be broken in half, and I would get my stars dinged for "not as described" and I would have to refund. Then I would be out the money AND the card! Ebay makes it so the sellers can't win!! I hate them!
Looking for 1970 MLB Photostamps
- uncut
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Scroll to the bottom for his shipping rates.
WTB: 2001 Leaf Rookies & Stars Longevity: Ryan Jensen #/25
<< <i>Be thankful that they are just complaining and not dinging your stars!!! I have had these idiot buyers bid on my items - be the only bidder who bids - wins at the opening bid, and then gives me a '1' for Shipping Charge because I charge $4.00 shipping!! If you don't like it, don't bid!!! I can charge .50 cents and ship it in a plain white envelope, if they want!!! >>
oh im expecting that they will.
WTB: 2001 Leaf Rookies & Stars Longevity: Ryan Jensen #/25
$7 for first 10 cards
80 cents for each additional card (110 extra cards x 80 cents=$88)
$7 + $88= $95.00 shipping
If that is not your policy, you should change the wording.
If that IS your policy--Then GOOD GOD MAN
<< <i>When people bid on your items and complain about the shipping costs. They're stated right in the listing yet they feel they need to complain >>
It might be irritating, but call it the amazon effect. People hate paying for shipping, whether or not it is disclosed. Amazon has conditioned consumers to expect free shipping on $25+ purchases. Even on <$25 purchases, people simply don't like paying for shipping. In every consumer survey our company has ever done about internet purchasing behavior, free shipping is always near the top as things that delight customers and conversely having to pay for shipping is always near the top as things that customers do not like.
As long as the card is undamaged and packaged with reasonable care, he'll get five stars from me for S & H. Why? Because he charged me the exact shipping amount that was clearly stated in the auction.
(Now if he does a cheap, crappy shipping job for that $6.00, then, well...........)
-CDs Nuts, 1/20/14
*1956 Topps baseball- 97.4% complete, 7.24 GPA
*Clemente basic set: 85.0% complete, 7.89 GPA
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<< <i>When people bid on your items and complain about the shipping costs. They're stated right in the listing yet they feel they need to complain >>
It might be irritating, but call it the amazon effect. People hate paying for shipping, whether or not it is disclosed. Amazon has conditioned consumers to expect free shipping on $25+ purchases. Even on <$25 purchases, people simply don't like paying for shipping. In every consumer survey our company has ever done about internet purchasing behavior, free shipping is always near the top as things that delight customers and conversely having to pay for shipping is always near the top as things that customers do not like. >>
I'm honestly at a loss how to price raw for sale these days. If you price it a bit higher than normal in order to provide free shipping, then you probably lose out on the amount that buyers will pull the trigger on as those bits begin to add up. Put another way, is a buyer more likely to buy 20 cards from you that start at $0.99 with $3.00 shipping or 20 cards that start at $3.99 with free shipping?
Working on the following: 1970 Baseball PSA, 1970-1976 Raw, World Series Subsets PSA, 1969 Expansion Teams PSA, Fleer World Series Sets, Texas Rangers Topps Run 1972-1989
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Successful deals to date: thedudeabides,gameusedhoop,golfcollector,tigerdean,treetop,bkritz, CapeMOGuy,WeekendHacker,jeff8877,backbidder,Salinas,milbroco,bbuckner22,VitoCo1972,ddfamf,gemint,K,fatty macs,waltersobchak,dboneesq
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<< <i>When people bid on your items and complain about the shipping costs. They're stated right in the listing yet they feel they need to complain >>
It might be irritating, but call it the amazon effect. People hate paying for shipping, whether or not it is disclosed. Amazon has conditioned consumers to expect free shipping on $25+ purchases. Even on <$25 purchases, people simply don't like paying for shipping. In every consumer survey our company has ever done about internet purchasing behavior, free shipping is always near the top as things that delight customers and conversely having to pay for shipping is always near the top as things that customers do not like. >>
I'm honestly at a loss how to price raw for sale these days. If you price it a bit higher than normal in order to provide free shipping, then you probably lose out on the amount that buyers will pull the trigger on as those bits begin to add up. Put another way, is a buyer more likely to buy 20 cards from you that start at $0.99 with $3.00 shipping or 20 cards that start at $3.99 with free shipping? >>
If you are selling BINs, factor shipping into the price. If you are going the auction route, to still offer free shipping and make more than enough incremental topline on final bid price to cover the shipping, you have to believe that offering free shipping will attract incremental bidding customers you wouldn't have otherwise had (thereby causing more competition for the item and therefore a higher price) AND/OR offering free shipping will cause all bidding customers to get a little more aggressive with their bids than they otherwise would knowing that there is no shipping charge.
Most people on here don't seem to believe the latter half of that argument, in which case BIN would be the foolproof way to go. I think most on this board underestimate how much customers hate paying for shipping and therefore how much they stand to gain by offering free shipping.
Having said that, I wouldn't bid with those shipping rates.
it is fairly easy to tell where the division exists......on eBay, it is and has become, quite simply, an undeniable fact that you will need to become tolerant of anyone's foolish behavior or just walk away.
my most recent episode: numbskull wins an auction from me, then eventually pays with an eCheck, which as we know, takes 3 or 4 business days for funds to clear and seller isn't supposed to release the goods until that happens.
my reward in the interim is to receive reminders from the numbskull, that he HAS paid and his bank HAS verified such, however, i'm left in the unenviable position of needing to explain the above facts to him.
now today, i see that i've received my first ever low score for Shipping Time......WTF? so eBay's retarded system allows people to diss sellers, even though the seller has followed protocol?
i guess i can draw my own conclusion here, not that i give a crap......some other a-hole already cost me my 20% discount last month over the disclosed and quite reasonable shipping charges, which he of course committed to pay simply by bidding.
put a target on your back. it doesn't matter guys. even if the idiot shooters miss, they win. it is what it is. it won't get better. deal with it.
Its clearly stated in each auction and I have people continue to buy them and not have problems with DSR's or anything. Plus its only international buyers that have problems and many of you know that shipping 20+ the cost dramatically increases. I'm going to continue to list at those prices and I'll have bidders if they want these cards.
<< <i>many of you know that shipping 20+ the cost dramatically increases. >>
If you're selling graded cards, yeah, but raw? No.
WTB: 2001 Leaf Rookies & Stars Longevity: Ryan Jensen #/25
We also allow combined shipping at no additional costs. Win 1 card 2.95, win 20 cards 2.95.
Yet over the last 2 months I have taken over 25 hits from people dinging us with 1's on p/h. That meant I lost the 20% discount on ebay fees this month -- over $900.
Buyers know the shipping going in -- if you consider it too high bid somewhere else please -- but one of the things that bothers me most is the number of dings we get from buyers who are also sellers. We recently had a seller who charges 3.95 for his auctions order 7 items from us and he left us 2's across the board on shipping.
That's just messed up.
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<< <i>many of you know that shipping 20+ the cost dramatically increases. >>
If you're selling graded cards, yeah, but raw? No. >>
shipping internationally it rises pretty quickly
<< <i>shipping internationally it rises pretty quickly >>
Not quickly enough to justify a $95 shipping fee for 120 cards.
WTB: 2001 Leaf Rookies & Stars Longevity: Ryan Jensen #/25
You should set the shipping as low as possible to cover what it costs yourself after feeBay takes away their BS fees out of shipping now. If you are profitting more than 25 cents off shipping charges per auction you are overcharging in my opinion.
<< <i>1 raw card should never be more than $2 shipping IMO. Everyone knows first class mail 3oz and under is $1.75 w/delivery confirmation printed through ebay shipping. That leaves .25 cents for a bubble mailer and piece of paper to print the label. You can buy bulk bubble mailers and have a single one average out to under .15 a piece. Trying to profit from shipping will result in dings and no 20% discount. Speaking for domestic mailing. >>
What many buyers don't understand is this, if someone sells a $2 card, ebay's fees are around .85. That is almost half the value of the card. So if the seller has $1.50 in the card, they lose money on the deal. You can do the same math on higher $ items. Although the % ebay takes is lower on higher $ items, a seller's profit margin is usually smaller on higher items.
Ebay takes 11% right off the top, + a % of shipping. Sorry, but sellers have to cover that cost somewhere. Sadly, most of these buyers don't know much about business. When you go out to get a steak at a restaurant, the price of your meal is not just determined by how much the restaurant spent on your food. It is also based on labor costs and payroll tax, rent, licenses, supplies, accounting expenses( even if you do your own accounting, there is lots of time involved with this).
Do you think UPS just delivers packages based solely on what gas costs? NO!
There are way too many buyers who think a seller should not make something for selling that item to you. They want to complain over that $1 or $2 being made on shipping to cover some of these expenses that continue to go up(yes everything costs more these days). They expect the seller to just give their stuff away and make no profit. Guess what, if card dealers become non profit organizations, they will disappear and you will have a more difficult time finding what you want.
The funny thing is (well not really funny), the same people that are complaining about shipping charges are the same people complaining about all the overpriced BIN's on ebay. Well guess why there are so many high BIN's? It's because of the cheap skate people complaining about a seller who is spending time money and energy to find stuff for you, making a buck or two.
It's not coincidence that the higher BIN's have come about as the cost of doing business has grown. It is also the reason you see less and less quality items up for auction. Sellers can't afford to put quality items up for auction because of what they have in an item and what their fees are.
So for all those people who are being so cheap they don't want a seller to make SOMETHING for his item, keep on dinging the seller's stars over a dollar or two and in the long run you will be paying more for that item than the dollar or two you are complaining about.
For disclosure, I am a buyer and seller on ebay, I have never dinged anyone's stars for shipping charges because when they list it in their description, I am agreeing to those charges as part of my total cost of the item. It's just silly to me to ding someone because of that. That's like buying an appliance and agreeing to have it delivered based on the price they tell you, then complaining because they charged you what they did.
Sorry, but as a buyer, I am not so cheap to complain about a seller that made a dollar or two on shipping when I agreed to those terms when I bought the item. I mean in most cases we are talking about a dollar or two! How cheap can people be? If a seller lists their shipping charges in advance, you should base your decision whether to buy from them with those charges in mind. Don't agree to pay $10 for a card and $3 for shipping and then cry that you have been ripped off because it didn't cost $3 to ship. You agreed to pay $13 for the card. If you weren't willing to pay $13, don't bid $10. Bid $8.
it befuddles me that anyone could possibly think that all we sellers do is collect money. there IS actual work involved here.
if you have that much energy to waste over a paltry sum of money which is nothing more than a blip on a balance sheet, perhaps you should be collecting aluminum cans.
<< <i>to justify the act of endangering someone's livelihood over is a handful of coins is both ignorant and stupid.
it befuddles me that anyone could possibly think that all we sellers do is collect money. there IS actual work involved here.
if you have that much energy to waste over a paltry sum of money which is nothing more than a blip on a balance sheet, perhaps you should be collecting aluminum cans. >>
Haven't you heard? People who sell items on ebay are non profit organizations. We gladly volunteer our time, money and energy to find items people want and the only thing we ask for in return is them to complain about terms and policies they agreed to in the first place to purchase said item.
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<< <i>to justify the act of endangering someone's livelihood over is a handful of coins is both ignorant and stupid.
it befuddles me that anyone could possibly think that all we sellers do is collect money. there IS actual work involved here.
if you have that much energy to waste over a paltry sum of money which is nothing more than a blip on a balance sheet, perhaps you should be collecting aluminum cans. >>
Haven't you heard? People who sell items on ebay are non profit organizations. We gladly volunteer our time, money and energy to find items people want and the only thing we ask for in return is them to complain about terms and policies they agreed to in the first place to purchase said item. >>
yeah. i heard. i must be the ignorant one. i thought the only non-profit organization we have out here is the Dodgers.
<< <i>The last couple of posts really hit the nail on the head for me. I lost my 20% discount because of some buyers deciding they didn't like my charging $4 to ship a card. FOUR DOLLARS!! With 50 cents extra for each additional card. Give me a freaking break!! Look at what PWCC and Probstein charges!!! My fees aren't out of line with theirs, in fact, I think PWCC charges more. I take the same care in packaging cards as all the big guys. I don't think Ebay gets the fact that sellers have no incentive to sell more when they lose a discount. If anything, it will make them sell less, therefore, reducing their fees/revenue!! I want to give them a piece of my mind when they call me on the phone - unfortunately, they NEVER call at a convenient time! It's a shame the users can't band together like they did against the banks when they tried to implement that stupid debit card fee! >>
Right on! I wonder if these people that complain about shipping charges from ebay sellers have ever bought from an auction house? They charge a lot more for shipping and they don't even tell you their rates up front! I guess it's ok for the Auction Houses with sales of 1+ million a year, but not for the little guy trying to either make a living or make a little extra money for his family in a down economy and times when unemployment seems to get worse and worse.
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<< <i>The last couple of posts really hit the nail on the head for me. I lost my 20% discount because of some buyers deciding they didn't like my charging $4 to ship a card. FOUR DOLLARS!! With 50 cents extra for each additional card. Give me a freaking break!! Look at what PWCC and Probstein charges!!! My fees aren't out of line with theirs, in fact, I think PWCC charges more. I take the same care in packaging cards as all the big guys. I don't think Ebay gets the fact that sellers have no incentive to sell more when they lose a discount. If anything, it will make them sell less, therefore, reducing their fees/revenue!! I want to give them a piece of my mind when they call me on the phone - unfortunately, they NEVER call at a convenient time! It's a shame the users can't band together like they did against the banks when they tried to implement that stupid debit card fee! >>
Right on! I wonder if these people that complain about shipping charges from ebay sellers have ever bought from an auction house? They charge a lot more for shipping and they don't even tell you their rates up front! I guess it's ok for the Auction Houses with sales of 1+ million a year, but not for the little guy trying to either make a living or make a little extra money for his family in a down economy and times when unemployment seems to get worse and worse. >>
So two questions about this:
(1) A buyer is supposed to give a seller who offers free shipping the same number of stars he is supposed to give a seller who charges $4 for shipping in the "Shipping and Handling Charges" category as long as the shipping charges are clearly stated in the auction. In other words, the "Shipping and Handling Charges" category is really a "Shipping and Handling Charges are Stated in the Auction" category, correct? And sellers should not be surprised when buyers don't understand this unwritten law of ebay etiquette.
(2) With the recent fee changes, why wouldn't all sellers simply add their previous shipping charge to their minimum bid and offer free shipping? What incentive is there to not offer free shipping?
<< <i>What many buyers don't understand is this, if someone sells a $2 card, ebay's fees are around .85. That is almost half the value of the card. So if the seller has $1.50 in the card, they lose money on the deal. You can do the same math on higher $ items. Although the % ebay takes is lower on higher $ items, a seller's profit margin is usually smaller on higher items. Ebay takes 11% right off the top, + a % of shipping. Sorry, but sellers have to cover that cost somewhere. >>
Sellers are supposed to cover those costs--but not in shipping/handling fees.
Unless they have changed their policy--eBay has stated for a LONG time that charges for shipping/handling fees should only be covering shipping/handling costs--not all the extra listing fees, sale fees,etc. You are supposed to cover other fees in the sale price.
IF eBay has done away with that policy--then I ask that everyone disregard this post and accept my apology.
Otherwise--knowledge is power--and buyers who know the rules about shipping will probably keep dinging sellers who misuse shipping charges. And, of course, many of us will not ding a seller for only a buck or so of misuse--but some sellers are really bad at charging 2,3, 4 times or more what the actual shipping charges are.
I received in the mail yesterday a shipment of 18 cards I had paid $20 shipping for--one of those sellers who charge 50 cents per each extra card with NO CAP. I knew going in what the charges were, but I figured the cards would be extra protected and seller would be using those extra fees he was charging to me to put each card in a penny sleeve and some type of top loader. Instead, it was a bubble mailer with all the cards in one plastic snap shut case--no top loaders--not even a single penny sleeve. With postage, the seller probably spent no more than $5 (depending on how much he paid for the bubble mailer and that one snap shut plastic case). I have not left feedback nor dinged any stars--but this type of transaction is one that really makes me think about misuse and vast profits on shipping--and I wasn't paying 1 cent per card either--they were all Autograph cards with the cheapest card around $5. I will have to think about what I will do--as I knew charges going in--but then feel really put off by the vast profit he took me for in shipping fees after seeing how they were actually shipped.
i bet they sell cards, too.
If the prices are clearly stated, I dont care if the seller charges $100 to ship in a PWE, it was CLEARLY stated. Do you really think that set of Ginzu Knives costs $19.99 to ship?
A bubble mailer 2 years ago cost 64 cents to ship, now it costs $1.71
The prices of bubble mailers vary, but for a seller who doesnt sell that often, it can range upwards of 40-50 cents each as they are not likely to buy in bulk
Ebay and Paypal now take cuts of shipping costs.
People are going to complain no matter what....charge actual shipping ($1.71), delivery confirmation (.75), cost of bubble mailer (.18-.40), cost of penny sleeve/hardcover (.06), ebay/paypal cut of shipping if charging $2.95 @ 9% (.27) and your actual cost of shipping is over $3.00. Sell a card for $.99 and after ebay/paypal fees, and your total gross is under 80 cents after taking into account your .24 cent loss if you are a smaller seller. Really, is that worth it? SO your alternative is to NOT pay for DC, ship in a PWE and charge less for shipping and guess what? People complain about the PWE.
Honestly, its ebays fault to begin with, but people who complain are just as bad. Its like the guy who fills his tank up with gas for $3.50 a gallon, then goes into the store and complains about it.
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<< <i>The last couple of posts really hit the nail on the head for me. I lost my 20% discount because of some buyers deciding they didn't like my charging $4 to ship a card. FOUR DOLLARS!! With 50 cents extra for each additional card. Give me a freaking break!! Look at what PWCC and Probstein charges!!! My fees aren't out of line with theirs, in fact, I think PWCC charges more. I take the same care in packaging cards as all the big guys. I don't think Ebay gets the fact that sellers have no incentive to sell more when they lose a discount. If anything, it will make them sell less, therefore, reducing their fees/revenue!! I want to give them a piece of my mind when they call me on the phone - unfortunately, they NEVER call at a convenient time! It's a shame the users can't band together like they did against the banks when they tried to implement that stupid debit card fee! >>
Right on! I wonder if these people that complain about shipping charges from ebay sellers have ever bought from an auction house? They charge a lot more for shipping and they don't even tell you their rates up front! I guess it's ok for the Auction Houses with sales of 1+ million a year, but not for the little guy trying to either make a living or make a little extra money for his family in a down economy and times when unemployment seems to get worse and worse. >>
So two questions about this:
(1) A buyer is supposed to give a seller who offers free shipping the same number of stars he is supposed to give a seller who charges $4 for shipping in the "Shipping and Handling Charges" category as long as the shipping charges are clearly stated in the auction. In other words, the "Shipping and Handling Charges" category is really a "Shipping and Handling Charges are Stated in the Auction" category, correct? And sellers should not be surprised when buyers don't understand this unwritten law of ebay etiquette.
(2) With the recent fee changes, why wouldn't all sellers simply add their previous shipping charge to their minimum bid and offer free shipping? What incentive is there to not offer free shipping? >>
I'll give you a perfect example of why it is not always feasible to offer free shipping. Suppose someone is selling 1959 Topps baseball commons and is starting them at .99 with free shipping, how many of those cards do you think will only get that initial .99 bid? Most of them. And you can't even ship for that price. That is why a seller sometimes has to charge for shipping with additional cards at a certain price.
And yes, I think if the seller states $4 for shipping, you are agreeing to those terms and should not make life difficult for him by dinging his stars. That just shows you only care about getting something for as cheap as possible and could care less about actually building good relationships with sellers. I personally tend to stay away from listings with $4 shipping for a card, that is just my choice. If I were to buy something from a seller that charged that, I would not ding their stars just because I want the item for $2 less.
Adding a higher minimum bid is just what Ebay wants the seller to do. That way they get more for the listing fee. Not to mention, higher minimums means less people bidding on your item.
If you think $4 shipping is unreasonable, why don't you just pass on the seller's listing? Oh I know, because you want the product and service the seller is offering, but once you get that item, you show your appreciation to that seller by dinging him. Nice concept.
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<< <i>The last couple of posts really hit the nail on the head for me. I lost my 20% discount because of some buyers deciding they didn't like my charging $4 to ship a card. FOUR DOLLARS!! With 50 cents extra for each additional card. Give me a freaking break!! Look at what PWCC and Probstein charges!!! My fees aren't out of line with theirs, in fact, I think PWCC charges more. I take the same care in packaging cards as all the big guys. I don't think Ebay gets the fact that sellers have no incentive to sell more when they lose a discount. If anything, it will make them sell less, therefore, reducing their fees/revenue!! I want to give them a piece of my mind when they call me on the phone - unfortunately, they NEVER call at a convenient time! It's a shame the users can't band together like they did against the banks when they tried to implement that stupid debit card fee! >>
Right on! I wonder if these people that complain about shipping charges from ebay sellers have ever bought from an auction house? They charge a lot more for shipping and they don't even tell you their rates up front! I guess it's ok for the Auction Houses with sales of 1+ million a year, but not for the little guy trying to either make a living or make a little extra money for his family in a down economy and times when unemployment seems to get worse and worse. >>
So two questions about this:
(1) A buyer is supposed to give a seller who offers free shipping the same number of stars he is supposed to give a seller who charges $4 for shipping in the "Shipping and Handling Charges" category as long as the shipping charges are clearly stated in the auction. In other words, the "Shipping and Handling Charges" category is really a "Shipping and Handling Charges are Stated in the Auction" category, correct? And sellers should not be surprised when buyers don't understand this unwritten law of ebay etiquette.
(2) With the recent fee changes, why wouldn't all sellers simply add their previous shipping charge to their minimum bid and offer free shipping? What incentive is there to not offer free shipping? >>
I'll give you a perfect example of why it is not always feasible to offer free shipping. Suppose someone is selling 1959 Topps baseball commons and is starting them at .99 with free shipping, how many of those cards do you think will only get that initial .99 bid? Most of them. And you can't even ship for that price. That is why a seller sometimes has to charge for shipping with additional cards at a certain price.
And yes, I think if the seller states $4 for shipping, you are agreeing to those terms and should not make life difficult for him by dinging his stars. That just shows you only care about getting something for as cheap as possible and could care less about actually building good relationships with sellers. I personally tend to stay away from listings with $4 shipping for a card, that is just my choice. If I were to buy something from a seller that charged that, I would not ding their stars just because I want the item for $2 less.
Adding a higher minimum bid is just what Ebay wants the seller to do. That way they get more for the listing fee. Not to mention, higher minimums means less people bidding on your item.
If you think $4 shipping is unreasonable, why don't you just pass on the seller's listing? Oh I know, because you want the product and service the seller is offering, but once you get that item, you show your appreciation to that seller by dinging him. Nice concept. >>
The concept is really really really simple: As a seller, figure out the cost of selling your item on ebay (including shipping) plus your minimum acceptable profit, start the minimum bid at that price, and offer free shipping. If you don't get as many people bidding on your item that way, then the item is priced too high. Trying to sucker someone in at a lower bid and then making up your profit on shipping is, well, sleazy.
I can tell you right now, if I see an item I want and I'm willing to spend $12 on it, I'll bid $8 if shipping is $4 and I'll bid $12 if the shipping is free. I'm going to be happy both ways, but there's no way in you know what that I'm going to give the guy who charged me $4 to ship the card the same # of stars for shipping and handling charges as I give the guy who offered free shipping, even though I paid the same total in both cases. Why? Because the seller offering free shipping has a level of what I'll just call "business sense" or "desire to put the customer first" that the seller charging $4 to ship doesn't have. I don't view it so much as punishing the seller who charged $4 to ship as I do rewarding the seller who charged free shipping.
And much like you telling me to not bid on items that charge $4 to ship a card if I don't like those charges, I could tell you to avoid selling on ebay if you don't like their fees. Speaking of nice concepts, you want to be able to nickel and dime ebay up front on how you structure your auctions, and then you want ebay to reward you with the same discounts for having high star ratings at the end as those sellers who guarantee themselves high star ratings by doing things like offering free shipping.
WTB: 2001 Leaf Rookies & Stars Longevity: Ryan Jensen #/25
<< <i>The concept is really really really simple: As a seller, figure out the cost of selling your item on ebay (including shipping) plus your minimum acceptable profit, start the minimum bid at that price, and offer free shipping. If you don't get as many people bidding on your item that way, then the item is priced too high. Trying to sucker someone in at a lower bid and then making up your profit on shipping is, well, sleazy.
I can tell you right now, if I see an item I want and I'm willing to spend $12 on it, I'll bid $8 if shipping is $4 and I'll bid $12 if the shipping is free. I'm going to be happy both ways, but there's no way in you know what that I'm going to give the guy who charged me $4 to ship the card the same # of stars for shipping and handling charges as I give the guy who offered free shipping, even though I paid the same total in both cases. Why? Because the seller offering free shipping has a level of what I'll just call "business sense" or "desire to put the customer first" that the seller charging $4 to ship doesn't have. I don't view it so much as punishing the seller who charged $4 to ship as I do rewarding the seller who charged free shipping.
And much like you telling me to not bid on items that charge $4 to ship a card if I don't like those charges, I could tell you to avoid selling on ebay if you don't like their fees. Speaking of nice concepts, you want to be able to nickel and dime ebay up front on how you structure your auctions, and then you want ebay to reward you with the same discounts for having high star ratings at the end as those sellers who guarantee themselves high star ratings by doing things like offering free shipping. >>
I agree with everything you wrote, and I do the same thing. If you charge shipping, I subtract that amount off my max bid every single time. I find some of these posts to be almost disdainful of customers--this attitude of, if you don't like it, don't bid. Don't you want as many customers as possible to bid? Don't you want to find a way to grow your business by offering the customer what is important to them (i.e. free shipping being at the top of the list)? I like the idea of just starting your bid at a higher amount so that you don't lose $ on shipping. Most customers understand that you're in business to turn a profit and don't begrudge you that.
The DSR feedback is about the satisfaction level of the transaction. Just because you disclosed shipping doesn't mean the customer is happy about it. This can be said 100 times and some people on this board still don't get it. And if you think you're not going to get some dings to your DSRs by not giving the customer what they want (i.e. free shipping) even though you clearly disclosed it (i.e. your VERY fair shipping rate), you are just kidding yourself.
Bottom line: customers don't like paying for shipping. You're not going to change that sentiment, and it's only going to get stronger as Amazon grows bigger, so essentially there are three options:
1) Evolve and figure out how to offer free shipping to delight (and attract) more customers while still turning a profit in the sports collectibles category
2) Stay in sports collectibles and post on CU every time somebody dings your shipping DSR on eBay about how unfair eBay is and how unreasonable customers are.
3) Stop whining about eBay, go start a competitor site, or go invest in some internet marketing and sell directly off your own site.
<< <i> I'm going to be happy both ways, but there's no way in you know what that I'm going to give the guy who charged me $4 to ship the card the same # of stars for shipping and handling charges as I give the guy who offered free shipping, even though I paid the same total in both cases. Why? Because the seller offering free shipping has a level of what I'll just call "business sense" or "desire to put the customer first" that the seller charging $4 to ship doesn't have. >>
Just an FYI in case you didn't know, or had forgotten, you don't get to give a star rating for S&H charges if the seller gives free shipping.
Tabe
<< <i>I can tell you right now, if I see an item I want and I'm willing to spend $12 on it, I'll bid $8 if shipping is $4 and I'll bid $12 if the shipping is free. I'm going to be happy both ways, but there's no way in you know what that I'm going to give the guy who charged me $4 to ship the card the same # of stars for shipping and handling charges as I give the guy who offered free shipping, even though I paid the same total in both cases. Why? Because the seller offering free shipping has a level of what I'll just call "business sense" or "desire to put the customer first" that the seller charging $4 to ship doesn't have. I don't view it so much as punishing the seller who charged $4 to ship as I do rewarding the seller who charged free shipping. >>
If some can tolerate this question because I would like to explore the psychology of the above statement because it runs counter to how I make purchases. I simply look for the best deal. But if I missing something then I need to rethink our business model.
For example if one seller offers something at 8.00 plus 3.00 p/h then according to this logic you would ding him on shipping as opposed to the guy who sells at 12.00 with free shipping. Or how about I find a seller who has five cards I want. One seller offers them at 12.00 each for a total of 60.00 with free shipping and another seller offers them at 8.00 with 4.00 p/h and an extra 50 cent per card. That means those same five cards cost 47.50. At the same time the seller who sells the actual item for less gets the buyers wrath for charging on shipping. I don't get that. Personally I just look for the best deal and if the item comes in a timely fashionand is well packed then shouldn't I be satisfied?
On the other hand my original comment was that other sellers had purchased items from me and hit my stars when they in fact charge similar amounts for items they sell. Of the 25 dings I have had in the last 60 days 18 of them came from other sellers. I view this as unethical. If I am buying from you simply to leave you low DSR's what's up with that?
<< <i>
<< <i>I can tell you right now, if I see an item I want and I'm willing to spend $12 on it, I'll bid $8 if shipping is $4 and I'll bid $12 if the shipping is free. I'm going to be happy both ways, but there's no way in you know what that I'm going to give the guy who charged me $4 to ship the card the same # of stars for shipping and handling charges as I give the guy who offered free shipping, even though I paid the same total in both cases. Why? Because the seller offering free shipping has a level of what I'll just call "business sense" or "desire to put the customer first" that the seller charging $4 to ship doesn't have. I don't view it so much as punishing the seller who charged $4 to ship as I do rewarding the seller who charged free shipping. >>
If some can tolerate this question because I would like to explore the psychology of the above statement because it runs counter to how I make purchases. I simply look for the best deal. But if I missing something then I need to rethink our business model.
For example if one seller offers something at 8.00 plus 3.00 p/h then according to this logic you would ding him on shipping as opposed to the guy who sells at 12.00 with free shipping. Or how about I find a seller who has five cards I want. One seller offers them at 12.00 each for a total of 60.00 with free shipping and another seller offers them at 8.00 with 4.00 p/h and an extra 50 cent per card. That means those same five cards cost 47.50. At the same time the seller who sells the actual item for less gets the buyers wrath for charging on shipping. I don't get that. Personally I just look for the best deal and if the item comes in a timely fashionand is well packed then shouldn't I be satisfied?
On the other hand my original comment was that other sellers had purchased items from me and hit my stars when they in fact charge similar amounts for items they sell. Of the 25 dings I have had in the last 60 days 18 of them came from other sellers. I view this as unethical. If I am buying from you simply to leave you low DSR's what's up with that? >>
You know Cav, I was going to make the same exact points you made and ended up just deleting it, figuring they will not listen to that. They don't realize that many times they are paying more for an item with free shipping, than paying for an item with shipping. It's the old department store trick for women, they put a SALE sign on something but it is marked down from an already inflated price. The shopper sees SALE and buys anyway.
To be completely honest, if I am looking to buy multiple items from a seller, I tend to stay away from the people with free shipping because I usually end up paying more than I would with the seller who charges for shipping and then charges for each additional item. Many times the same can be said for single items as well. When I am working on my 1952 Bowman FB set, I do much better buying from people who have multiple cards and charge for shipping. A common from that set in EX condition with free shipping will usually go for around $5-$6, but if I buy from a seller who offers combined shipping rates, i can usually get my price per card lower.
As a buyer, if I spend $5 or more for postage to ship a graded card, I expect the seller to at least provide DC if not insurance and a properly packaged card. If a seller can't do this,
then he/she doesn't deserve 5 stars. I may not ding them, but I'm not going to waste my time giving out any stars.
I do have a question: how do you know when you've been dinged? I thought it was anonymous?
Finally, the reason Ebay started taking shipping fees was because sellers were selling items like I pads for 99 cents, then charging $600 for shipping to circumvent fees.
<< <i>I do have a question: how do you know when you've been dinged? I thought it was anonymous? >>
You can run reports by item numbers. Run a report with the minimum 10 items. Replace just one and subsitute it with another items and see if the results change. It is a pain in the butt, and time consuming, but by process of elimination, you can find out who dings your stars. I block all my star dingers. If they are a seller as well, I will buy from them, and they will get their just rewards. I usually don't have to try too hard however, because alot of the sellers really ship poorly (compared to me). One long time seller who did this (over 24,000 feedbacks - bbcardstor), even had the audacity to send me a card that looked like it had MUD on the back of it!! Give me a freaking break!!! And they dinged my stars for a $4 shipping charge. A card that was bubble wrapped by itself, placed into a bubble mailer yet again, and insured with delivery confirmation. Give me a freaking break!!! If they aren't trying to harm the little man, I don't know who is!
<< <i>I block all my star dingers. If they are a seller as well, I will buy from them, and they will get their just rewards. >>
Retaliation like that is exactly why Ebay took away the ability to neg buyers.
Tabe
<< <i>Retaliation like that is exactly why Ebay took away the ability to neg buyers >>
Call it what you want - I never asked for a '1' on shipping charge from a fellow seller, who charges the exact same shipping charge as me, and can't even ship as well as me! To add insult to injury, the card he won from me via auction for $45, he wound up selling in his store BIN for $80. Make money off of me and ding my stars to boot?? No thanks! Take your business elsewhere.
<< <i>
<< <i>Retaliation like that is exactly why Ebay took away the ability to neg buyers >>
Call it what you want - I never asked for a '1' on shipping charge from a fellow seller, who charges the exact same shipping charge as me, and can't even ship as well as me! >>
Just so I understand, you're going to literally buy something from the guy, and pay for it, just so you can ding his shipping stars?