Excessive US shipping costs on Ebay

Gazza

There seems to be a trend developing on Ebay for US seller to charge excessive shipping costs for overseas mailing, $40-50 is not unusual. Is this to put off oversea bids as the shipping charge can often exceed the value of the coin.

nicholasz219

No, from my experience it seems to be sellers trying to recoup the costs of the shipping fees from Ebay that they get charged for charging buyers of their items. I don't know all of the details because I do not sell much but between Ebay and Paypal they have the sellers coming and going. But it is possible that some sellers are trying to excessively pad their shipping costs to extremes. If you really want the item, send them a note and ask why shipping is so high. If it remains super high even after that, don't buy from them and tell them that their shipping is the reason you are not buying.

amwldcoin

Are they charging for express mail? That seems to be the only way to get signature confirmation and it does cost around $50. This is only available to select countries. I stopped selling internationally because even with registered mail all the buyer has to do with ebay is say they didn't receive their coin. Perhaps 1 day ebay will come up with a solution to protect sellers....until then it is no international for me.

MacCrimmon

What are the general values of these coins with "excessive" charges?

ajaan

Look here. The only accepted methods to mail overseas from the US that satisfies eBay/PayPal is the more expensive ones. That is the only tracking PP accepts as proof of delivery. Otherwise a dishonest buyer can say they never received the item, file a charge back and PP will side with the buyer who now will have his refund and the item.

wybrit

Unless the coins are very expensive, you can insure the pieces you ship overseas for $1.50 per $100 just using regular first class international and a third party insurer. So postage can go for $6.55 plus $1.50 (plus whatever the mailer costs) for coins up to $100 in value.

Gazza

<< <i>What are the general values of these coins with "excessive" charges? >>



Usually a few $ to a few tens of $.

Just picked at random.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=251325235834

MacCrimmon

<< <i>

<< <i>What are the general values of these coins with "excessive" charges? >>



Usually a few $ to a few tens of $.

Just picked at random.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=251325235834 >>





WARNING! Overgraded junque with excessive charges, and listed under the wrong monarch


Nice random pick. Not inferring you'd remotely consider that coin, but anyone in the UK buying that POS deserves to "spend" an extra £30.


Oh yeah, the extra charges are probably for the silver plating.

Pokermandude

I've noticed this trend too. If US sellers only want to ship uber securely with full insurance and tracking, I can't blame them. But if their non-US coins sell for pennies on the dollar because non-Americans aren't going to bother bidding, then they only have themselves to blame.

JCMhouston

To be honest I'm either going to have to do the same when selling on the 'bay, which is very seldom, or simply stop accepting bids from overseas. I recently had 2 items sent insured with tracking "go missing" according to the buyers. And these were shipments to the UK, unfortunately the tracking stops when it goes out of the US and ebay/paypal don't care. For inexpensive items, between the fees and risk of loss, it's just not worth it.

Gazza

<< <i>

<< <i>

<< <i>What are the general values of these coins with "excessive" charges? >>



Usually a few $ to a few tens of $.

Just picked at random.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=251325235834 >>





WARNING! Overgraded junque with excessive charges, and listed under the wrong monarch


Nice random pick. Not inferring you'd remotely consider that coin, but anyone in the UK buying that POS deserves to "spend" an extra £30.


Oh yeah, the extra charges are probably for the silver plating.


>>



Here's a better example. $39 BIN $60 flat rate international shipping.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1887-Great-Britian-1-2-Crown-km-764-Silver-VF-XF-Cleaned-/281137229482?pt=US_World_Coins&hash=item417515aeaa

Gazza

<< <i>To be honest I'm either going to have to do the same when selling on the 'bay, which is very seldom, or simply stop accepting bids from overseas. I recently had 2 items sent insured with tracking "go missing" according to the buyers. And these were shipments to the UK, unfortunately the tracking stops when it goes out of the US and ebay/paypal don't care. For inexpensive items, between the fees and risk of loss, it's just not worth it. >>



Perhaps the problem is not squarely with ebay/paypal. From the UK to the US signed for at delivery is about $8.50 and another $12 to increase the insurance to $750.

Andres

<< <i>Are they charging for express mail? That seems to be the only way to get signature confirmation and it does cost around $50. This is only available to select countries. I stopped selling internationally because even with registered mail all the buyer has to do with ebay is say they didn't receive their coin. Perhaps 1 day ebay will come up with a solution to protect sellers....until then it is no international for me. >>



Protect sellers on eBay ? That can be fixed in a second by eBay , simply allow sellers to leave negative feedback for dishonest buyers, as was common in the old days.
current theres is almost no protection at all for sellers.

mrpotatoheadd

I've been selling on eBay for a long time and up until recently, I shipped worldwide but not anymore. Funny thing about lost international shipments- I never had much of a problem with them until PayPal started requiring proof of delivery. That's when my international shipments really started disappearing. I wonder why. No, wait- I don't.

RobP

I think we are talking about two separate problems here.

A significant number of missing items are down to the inadequacies of the various postal services. My worst case was in 2006 when I had a couple of items go missing in the post from Heritage - 1 unique, 1 four known. Luckily they were returned to Heritage 7 months later, but that was no thanks to the USPS which didn't allow tracked mail all the way through. I questioned Heritage whether the items had been sent or not and asked for proof, which was not available because of the services offered. You cannot have a service that is only tracked once it reaches the destination country as it clearly can go awol before arriving there!! This is the first problem.

The second is eBay. People are honest in the vast majority and that includes both buyers and sellers, but ebay and the way it is set up are the biggest obstacle to an equitable and hassle free business model for both buyer and seller in equal measure.
1. Ebay have a policy of buyer good, seller bad - they will always side with the buyer.
2. Paypal is required as a means of payment giving the buyer a failsafe method of reclaiming their money in whatever circumstances.
3. Negative feedback is not allowed to be given by a seller.
4. Bidder ids are now anonymous, encouraging shill bidding.

The automatic siding with the buyer means that any sane seller will protect his/her backside from fraudulent claims and if it costs $XXX, then so be it. Remove the obligation to offer Paypal and I for one would consider using eBay again as the scope for the seller to eliminate anonymous dodgy buyers is dramatically improved by having the ability to refuse Paypal. Negative feedback is usually only given by either side when the counterparty is a real pain, but does offer an objective means of exposing the problems encountered. Most things are resolved by rational discussion. The hiding of bidders' ids behind a line of *****s can only help the shill bidder. Before this, if ABC123 made a series of incremental bids and made a habit of doing the same on many items, it became blatantly obvious what was afoot and you could take steps to mark down the sellers who shilled and advise other buyers of the same. eBay do not share the same enthusiasm for exposing shill bidders as that of the buyers who are being taken for a ride. There are good and bad parties on both sides, but unfortunately the policies adopted have skewed the situation to favour the less scrupulous ones.

The basic problem is that eBay is an international trading floor which allows everyone in without adequate checking of credentials. Paypal is anonymous and unfortunately I can personally verify that its controls are less than ideal. The price to be paid by the honest buyer is that for insuring the seller again the irrationalities of both postal service and eBay in equal measure. i.e. $30-50 from the US, or £10-15 from the UK. Sad, but true.

ajaan

Hey Mac, that seller is local.

mrpotatoheadd

<< <i>I think we are talking about two separate problems here. >>

Or maybe three. Even if the package arrives, sellers still have to deal with shipping time and shipping & handling charge DSR ratings that get dinged due to the time/cost involved in international shipments. I'd be happy to ship internationally, but eBay/PayPal make that option impractical.

Bjorn

<< <i>

<< <i>To be honest I'm either going to have to do the same when selling on the 'bay, which is very seldom, or simply stop accepting bids from overseas. I recently had 2 items sent insured with tracking "go missing" according to the buyers. And these were shipments to the UK, unfortunately the tracking stops when it goes out of the US and ebay/paypal don't care. For inexpensive items, between the fees and risk of loss, it's just not worth it. >>



Perhaps the problem is not squarely with ebay/paypal. From the UK to the US signed for at delivery is about $8.50 and another $12 to increase the insurance to $750. >>



Ah, I deal with both sides, as I often sell on Ebay while visting my parents in the United States, but live in the United Kingdom for most of the year. Covering one's self is earier with Royal Mail prices - Airsure usually runs about 8 to 12 pound but is only available to parcels going to select countries. That said, Signed For and regular Airmail are no good - if the package is lost abroad, Royal Mail will not compensate you. For parcels under about 50 pounds I just send as Airmail and hope it makes it.

In the US, I don't think one can really ship safely for under $50... so my break point there is about $100 to $200 when shipping abroad. I think charging $20 or $30 for shipping on an item that sells for as much is a waste of time, and causes said item to close for $5 instead of $30. As a rule, its easier to take the occasional hit when dealing with low value items, at least in my opinion.

Some sellers will add an extra dollar or pound in shipping fees to every parcel they send as a form of self-insurance, while others may try to go with a third-party insurer. I haven't really looked into this second option yet though.

MacCrimmon

<< <i>Hey Mac, that seller is local. >>




Yeah, well, I did notice that. Maybe you can contact them and sell a bulk bag of foreign to them which they can send to be, "HAND POLISHED, BY SPECIAL COIN HANDLERS".

LochNESS

Many good points here. In my personal experience [on eBay] most non-US buyers will message me prior to bidding to get a shipping estimate. I always reply the same way, "priority mail international flat rate."

I choose "flat rate" because it's typically cheapest. When it's not, I go regular "priority international" and package it myself.

Most buyers seem to be unaware that USPS international "flat rate" is actually not flat; the cost varies by location. They are also not pleased by the wide range in price. Some nations are only $12, while others can be $20-30. Most recently I shipped some coins to United Arab Emirates for $24.

I've never used "express" service. Ever. Not even for domestic. If I need something better than "priority," I use Registered or else a different carrier altogether.

AUandAG

Here's a good one. Sold a coin for $122 and sent to Austria. No problem, filled out the forms and such and
it got there after 9 days. However, buyer refused it as he expected the 8% VAT but there were two new
taxes added that he did not know about. Seems his Gov't has gone the extra mile to collect money and
now it's been three weeks coming back but no show yet.
He wants his money but I have not seen the coin back yet!

So, now I don't bother selling out of the US anymore....just too many problems and idiots.

bob

Andres

Bob, why didn't you tell him there were new taxes introduced in his country on coins ?
a bit more service to your buyers can't hurt.

Seriously, does he have proof ( accepted by eBay & PayPal standards ) that he did send the coin back to you ?

and If there is a next time , never mention the word coin in your paperwork, but amulet, metal disk , token etc

YQQ

Bob,
your customer is unreasonable.
Perhaps you should take it up with Ebay and Paypal (assuming PP payment)
There may be a section in their rules covering GOV levies. These are always the buyers responsibility.
I would insist the buyer cover all expenses, including return cost AND shipping the item back to him.
I believe you will now be stuck with the cost of shipping it back to you.
When you receive it back, you will have proof of the buyer refusing to accept for reasons other than damage etc...
This might even backfire on the buyer.....
What next????? Feebay and Feepal must have this covered somewhere?????
but maybe they are too busy creating new fees ( maybe a shipping back insurance and permission fee??)
good luck, I would not let it rest...
H

MacCrimmon

<< <i>Bob, why didn't you tell him there were new taxes introduced in his country on coins ?
a bit more service to your buyers can't hurt.

Seriously, does he have proof ( accepted by eBay & PayPal standards ) that he did send the coin back to you ?

and If there is a next time , never mention the word coin in your paperwork, but amulet, metal disk , token etc >>




Those coins could be listed as, "metal stampings - samples". Maybe add "prototypes". Hey, how should know that they were definitely production run "parts"...???

Gazza

Guys, customs do open packages when they think someone is trying to pull a fast one.

Andres

Yes, they do open parcels , but enveloppes ? maybe when one of their custom dogs smells something funny inside .
Forinstance I never put in the paperwork: rare gold coin - market value $ 3000 , then its possible that coin disappears , somewhere down the line between seller and buyer.

LochNESS

I usually put "numismatic - gift" and hope the customs are too dumb to know the definition of numismatic. I put the value of the coin not the value of the sale, for insurance purposes, in case it has to be compensated or replaced.

Gazza

<< <i>I usually put "numismatic - gift" and hope the customs are too dumb to know the definition of numismatic. I put the value of the coin not the value of the sale, for insurance purposes, in case it has to be compensated or replaced. >>



That doesn't work here in the UK. Coins are rated at 5% VAT, if you don't put the correct commodity code on they just hit you for the standard 20% VAT, sometime even with the correct code attached as they don't train monkey the way they used to anymore.

LochNESS

So, Gazza, what is the correct commodity code for UK? and is it the same for each country?