Ebay sellers trying to recoup losses for cheap sales?..

[hotjoint]

Originally Posted by syee

^ This.

If it's not explicitly specified, I always send them a "question" asking them a shipping price and provide them with my postal code so they can give me a fixed number for shipping costs. IF they charge more, at least you have something documented in email that you can show them later.

When I'm selling, I prefer to give them a number up front. Hence, what I usually do is find the zip code for the furthest possible point from me (I usually pick a New York or Miami zip code) and calculate the postage price to ship to that location and use that as the shipping price to someone in the US. This way, I've given a shipping cost where in the worst case scenario so I don't have to lose any money in shipping.

same

[BlackZRoadster]

Im sure there were multiple listings with the same item you were buying. If you didnt like the shipping costs why didn't you buy from another seller? Did the other sellers charge more for the item, and less for the shipping? It kind of evens out...

[AzNightmare]

To answer your question, it was your right to know the exact shipping, but since
you didn't pursue to find out before buying, it's your fault, so you don't have a right
to get any refund or to put a negative feedback.

Next time... Confirm the price total before you commit to buy.
When I eBay, I see one price. That's Item + Shipping.
I don't care if it costs $30 with $5 shipping, or if $5 with $30 BS shipping.
I see $35 either way, and that's what I'm expecting to pay.
It doesn't matter what the postal price says once the item arrives. Because I've
agreed to pay $35 two weeks ago when I paid for the item. I don't expect everyone
to be honest on the shipping anyway.

There are going to be some good sellers, and some lousy ones. Some that will give all
the info, some that don't. Some that reply email/messages every day, some that never
do. Some that accurately respond to what you ask for, and some that reply with an
automated "cut and paste" answer from a FAQ booklet they have. Or some that just send
you to a FAQ page, with no other way to contact them if your question isn't in the FAQ.



This is what I like to do.
I see an item. I ask them how much is the shipping to Vancouver, BC.
So two things here. One, I'm getting the price total. and Two, I'm seeing how active the
seller is. Nothing pisses me off more than someone that does not reply within a day or
two. I've seen good sellers that actually post when they are on vacation on their ebay
store. So there's no excuse. I refuse to deal with anyone that does not reply when I ask
something. I always ask something before I commit to buy anything. Even if I have to
make up a question just to make sure the guy is active. I don't want to pay and then I
get no response after and the guy never ships the item.

The only problem with this is that if you are bidding, and you catch an item within the
final few hours, you probably won't be able to get a reply from the seller. So then you're
gonna have to go with gut feeling and see if it's worth it. Personally, I would say no,
because I'm the type that would rather pay a bit more to deal with someone else that
has good communication. Good communication is a very big thing for me when I do business.

Buying stuff and not knowing what's going on with the other side of the transition really bugs
me and makes me lose sleep... It happened once, and I had to wait a whole month in the "dark"
because the idiot wasn't replying to anything. And it turns out he shipped my item 3 weeks after
I paid. I was pretty close on filing a report. And ended up giving him a negative feedback.

[InvisibleSoul]

Originally Posted by syee

When I'm selling, I prefer to give them a number up front. Hence, what I usually do is find the zip code for the furthest possible point from me (I usually pick a New York or Miami zip code) and calculate the postage price to ship to that location and use that as the shipping price to someone in the US. This way, I've given a shipping cost where in the worst case scenario so I don't have to lose any money in shipping.

I've been a seller on about 60 transactions in the past two months, and it seems like the shipping cost to anywhere in the US is always the same, whether it's just across the border to Washington State or all the way down to Florida.

There are huge differences in price for the same service level within Canada though. The cost to ship the same package by Expedited Parcel within Vancouver is different than sending it to 100 Mile House or Calgary or Toronto.

[racerman88]

it is your responsibility to check before you buy. The cheaper the person sells an item for, the less they have to pay ebay. That's why some guys sell stuff cheap but charge a lot fo shipping.