Shipping and handling - how much is too much?

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Posted By: <b>Jeff S.</b><p>So I recently received an item that I was charged $6.50 to have shipped. Pretty light piece - cost under $10. I figured it would arrive Priority, hence the charge. Nope, just first class, at a grand total of $1.51. I understand a little extra for handling etc., but does this seem out of line?

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Posted By: <b>Rick McQuillan</b><p>Yes

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Posted By: <b>Bob Pomilla</b><p>That's a rhetorical question, right?

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Posted By: <b>Robert Klevens</b><p>I buy tons of cards and memorabilia from Japan. They always charge exact shipping. A few times I was overcharged by 50 cents and they wanted to refund the difference. I am amazed by what sellers charge for shipping here.

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Posted By: <b>Jeff D.</b><p>I've seen this debated countless times between buyers and sellers. The prevailing argument from sellers is that they should be compensated for every aspect of the "costs" they incur while shipping your package. This includes (but may not be limited to) the bubble mailer, tape, ink, gas to and from the post office, their time, actual postage, and possibly the electricity to power their computer and printer when printing the postage/invoice.<br /><br />I usually try to ship for free.

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Posted By: <b>Jodi Birkholm</b><p>I think there should be a happy median between the two most common U.S.-based scenarios. Personally, my drive to the last post office I lived closest to was ten minutes @ 55 mph. It was approximately a gallon of gas round-trip. Not everybody lives in an urbanized area. My advice is this: if you're informed of the S&H cost ahead of time, take it into consideration of the amount you're prepared to bid. If it seems a little too high for your liking, either bid accordingly or move along.

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Posted By: <b>Misunderstimated (Brian H)</b><p>"Out of line?" Yes, probably.... But I assume you figured the shipping into your bidding so its really just a matter of what you call the money you paid. The other difference is whether eBay took a share. Over the past few years eBay has done a good job (at least from its perspective) in fighting this practice by making the reasonableness of shipping charges -- measured in terms of the actual postal cost -- a concern for buyers even though it should make no difference to the informed buyer whether the disclosed shipping charge is greater than the postal cost. Sellers, as Jodi's post demonstrates, incur other costs in shipping an item besides the amount of money paid to the post office.

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Posted By: <b>Jodi Birkholm</b><p>I think it only proper to add that I felt just like the original poster in the days when I was strictly a collector. Sometimes it can be difficult to see the other perspective when you've only lived on one side of the mountain. Keep in mind that some dealers are not strictly one-man operations; the higher-volume sellers have to employ people to package and ship everything, hence their extra "handling" fee. While I agree that these extra fees can hardly be considered as fun as attending a Peaches & Herb reunion concert, it's unfortunately a fact of life. People who are in the market to purchase a Ronco "Pocket Fisherman" know that they're not going to talk Mr. Popeil down to 41 cents in shipping simply because they take issue to the handling charge! To reiterate, if the shipping seems too high, perhaps patience is your best virtue. If the item in question is too rare to pass by, then factor shipping costs into your bid in order to secure an item that's long been on your want list!

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Posted By: <b>Eric Pugh</b><p>S&H is a 2 way street. For every seller who gouges, there is a buyer who complains about legitimate shipping and handling charges. The debate will never be agreed upon by all.

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Posted By: <b>Lance</b><p>I agree 100% with Jodi on this one. What someone charges for shipping should not effect what you bid on, as long as it's figured in the bottom line. You can purchase 2000 bubble mailers all day for $15.95, but shipping will be $80-100. It's still a great deal compared to a strait purchase from a supplier, but it looks horrible on paper. It's the total that counts for me.

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Posted By: <b>Jimmy</b><p>With the new feedback system on eBay, I thought I had low shipping rates, My rating shows that even 1.95 for ungraded cards and 2.95 for graded cards was too high. Changed them again to 1.50 and 2.50, I will give it some time and see what happens. Really hard to please buyers, on the B/S/T I send for free. If things do not change I will start to have free shipping as I have on my website and on the B/S/T. Maybe it will help my sales and interest for my auctions.<br /><br />Jimmy <br />

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Posted By: <b>Jodi Birkholm</b><p>Free shipping would work best in straight sale situations such as the B/S/T or "Buy it Now" (with no "or best offer"). <br /><br />Jimmy, one way you can circumvent this issue is to insist that your sellers pay insurance on each package shipped. eBay will still sometimes advise against what it perceives as a "...shipping fee [that] appears to be higher than similarly-listed items". Apparently, the people in that eBay department don't seem to understand that even though you start a Cy Young autographed 3X5 at $9.99, you are charging $15-20 for insured shipping because the item is guaranteed to sell at a price that dictates an expensive insurance rate. $15-20 is perfectly fair in this instance. Sellers should not have to deduct shipping costs from their profit margins due to a small percentage of buyers who don't understand simple business procedure. And if any buyers actually believe in the existence of "free shipping", then my client, a Mr. S. Claus, would like to sell you a bridge in Brooklyn.

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Posted By: <b>Tom Boblitt</b><p>the first time a 'Peaches & Herb' reference has been used on the board.<br />Bravo sir..........<br /><br />

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Posted By: <b>Tom Boblitt</b><p>And it feels so good..........<br /><br />(Peaches & Herb hit for those who didn't remember)<br /><br />

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Posted By: <b>Eric Brehm</b><p>The Detailed Seller Rating on eBay for shipping and handling charges is really stupid. What does it mean for charges to be "Very reasonable" (to get 5 stars out of 5)? That the seller eats some of the charges? That the seller eats all of them? If you charge the buyer exactly what the shipping cost actually is, you should get 5 stars. I recently offered <I>free shipping</I> on a bunch of items -- if that's not "very reasonable" I don't know what is -- and some of the buyers still gave me less than 5 stars for shipping and handling charges. I think they must have given me 3 stars (for "Neither unreasonable nor unreasonable") because there <I>weren't any</I> shipping charges. So as a result of offering free shipping, my Detailed Seller Rating went down. Ridiculous.

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Posted By: <b>Jodi Birkholm</b><p>Tom,<br /><br />I was debating whether to go with Peaches & Herb or Rockapella in this instance. In the end, P&H won out. <img src="/images/happy.gif" height=14 width=14>

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Posted By: <b>Jimmy</b><p>Jodi,<br /><br />Thanks for your response, I already include insurance and tracking for items 50.00 or more and have always gone back and forth about free shipping. I understand what you are saying, and maybe I just need to look at the situation more.<br /><br />Thanks Jimmy

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Posted By: <b>Steve Murray</b><p>So that doesn't happen (3 stars) why not charge 5 cents? There is a charge and no one can argue that it's not "very reasonable".

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Posted By: <b>Eric Brehm</b><p>Steve -- that was my thought too - charge a low amount, but not zero. Or if I really want to increase my ratings, maybe I should offer <I> negative shipping</I>: it will cost 10 dollars to ship it to you, and not only will I pay for that, I'll give you 5 more dollars as well. That would impress them.<br /><br />For the DSR's eBay should have buyers rate sellers on quality of packaging or something, rather than on shipping cost, which is not a service issue.<br /><br />Or maybe the DSR for shipping and handling should be re-defined along these lines:<br /><br />5 stars: in line with actual costs<br />4 stars: too much<br />3 stars: way too much<br />2 stars: egregious<br />1 star: highway robbery

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Posted By: <b>Rich Klein</b><p>That included Peaches & Herb; France Joli; Anita Ward; Sir Monti Rock III, and whomever else the promoter would like to include <img src="/images/happy.gif" height=14 width=14><br /><br />Regards<br />Rich

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Posted By: <b>anthony</b><p>i know its not a card but i bought 1 signed baseball the other day for my son and the shipping was $8...anything over $5 or so, i'll deduct it from my bid.<br /><br />i emailed a guy who was charging $12 for regular shipping of 1 baseball and $4 extra for insurance, i didnt bid but the ball went for $8.50, wasnt even an official MLB baseball...too high for me

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Posted By: <b>Jodi Birkholm</b><p>I would dole out a bit of change to see you trip the light fantiastic to a little "I Love the Nightlife" or something by the Andrea True Connection.

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Posted By: <b>Dan Bretta</b><p>Eric, I know exactly what you're talking about...my shipping is low..so low that most of the time I lose money and I still get nailed on my DSR. Ebay called me out of the blue today to try and get me to sell more, I guess and I told them I don't have time for their survey, but they can let their boss know that I am unhappy with ebay and will use it very sparingly until they return to the old rules.