How does e-bay get away with charging the seller for shipping costs?
 

I never realized that this was happening before as shipping cost for baseball cards/photos is not very significant. Recently, I have been selling more large memorabilia items on e-bay, a lot of times, the shipping cost is close to equaling the final selling price.

I am just reviewing this month's e-bay invoice and see that I am being charged the same 10% seller fees for shipping charges as I am for final value fees. I am making nothing on these shipping charges, all goes to USPS, FedEx, etc. Doesn't seem fair to me, I'm sure that e-bay has everything done for legal disclosure but does this make it LEGAL?

I'm sure many legal action cases have been brought against e-bay for this so why try to "reinvent the wheel" but can anyone provide more insight on why this is right for e-bay to do?

Not that I would ever want this to happen either but auction houses do not charge their consignors a portion of the shipping costs that the buyer of that specific item incurs. What's the difference?

Looking forward to everyone's responses.

People used to carge less for the product & more fro shipping. Example, i could put a $35.00 T205 card up for sale asking $20 and make the shipping $15

I don't think that is his argument. They are charging a fee on someone else's service (USPS).

Thanks for the reply, Steve. I knew that would be the reason brought forward. Sellers still do that, maybe they too don't realize that they are being charged the same fees for shipping as sale price of the item.

As a buyer, I have used this practice to my advantage on several occasions by buying from someone local and picking up the item after I win the auction for free. Hard for the seller to refuse having me pay just the sale price and no shipping charges (they would then be admitting that what they were doing is unethical), they really lose out then. I have gotten $10.00 items for .99 that had $15.00 shipping charges attached, like you said, so no one else bids on them because the item is not worth it. Sometimes, you have to be a little smarter than the system....

I'm curious, is this E-Bay's Global shipping service or is it any form of shipping a seller decides to use?

I have, for a while now, refused to purchase cards from anyone who uses Global shipping as their fees are are way out of line!

I also can't understand the benefit(s) of using it or the need as I have seen everything from "Free Shipping" to as low as $3.00 dollars.

Global is usually around $16-$17 dollars even if the card(s) you won are $1-$2 dollars. :confused:

Actually it was much worse than this. Using the same $35 item several people would list it at $.01 with $34.99 shipping to avoid paying eBay fees. eBay really had no other option but to charge for every aspect of the transaction to keep from getting screwed.

Well they do have other options. It was against their rules to overcharge for shipping. All they had do do was enforce their rules. This is just greed and punishing honest sellers instead of just dealing with the dishonest ones.

Adjust your rates accordingly, nobody is being "Punished." I offer free shipping on all items and figure what I need into the price. This is mountains out of molehills.

They raised the prices on honest sellers because of dishonest sellers, I would call that punishing. All you are doing is trying to pass that on to your buyers. In the end Ebay is still collecting on shipping, because shipping is not "free."

Shipping
 

Agree about boycotting any auction using Global Shipping on Ebay..total rip. I just move on. In the past I have contacted sellers and asked why they can't just mail a $3 card in a pwe for 2 bucks, they would still make extra on their transaction. Too hard a concept for some I guess.........

I just can't figure out why sellers can't just do free shipping. Sometimes you gotta say WTF :D

I do PWE's with people I know all the time. Would never do it on eBay because you would have way too many did not receive item claims. Sadly if there is a way to screw someone IT IS being done on eBay.

It's too bad for the sellers (and me) that use Global as I have seen numerous times, cards I have wanted for good/great prices but when shipping is 2-3-4 times more than the card(s), I simply move on.

Just the other day I noticed some decent deals from a seller selling 52 topps cards, (that I have contacted in the past about him using Global shipping), who didn't sell or got very few bids on his cards.
To me, they were good deals, and if it weren't for his refusal to stop using Global shipping, I would have gladly paid/bid his asking prices.

I guess I will never understand it fully as I don't have enough experience in the game, but I am now, and have been for a while, way more careful/frugal as I always look for the best shipping rates before bidding.

This seller, who stated in his E-Bay ad shipping was $3 dollars, returned a $1 dollar to me as he said it only cost him $2 dollars.

This seller will definitely be getting my business again! :)

The Global shipping program is a scam. The seller ships to a 'warehouse' in Kentucky, and Pitney Bowes broker a customs deal with the importing country. Especially on lower priced items it is unnecessary.
I always ask sellers to send direct to my address, then I only have to pay the taxes and no brokerage fees.
It's hard to be a baseball card collector in Canada :mad:

Figured it was pretty much a scam, especially since you see sellers with free shipping or for $3.00 dollars. :confused:

Was just watching this card, Vic Wertz, a card I need at a decent price, which I'd gladly pay, especially considering it is slabbed, but with shipping costing 95% of the asking, I, again, walked away. (It didn't get one bid!)

Not sure what you in the U.S. can see, but the asking bid was $20.99 and shipping was $18.49 using Global Shipping.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1952-Topps-2...torefresh=true

For what it's worth, I did win this card tonight. $16.50 and "Free Shipping"! :)

You Canadian gentlemen need to find someone down here that you trust and have all your cards sent to them. Then once every month or so have them send you a package with all your stuff.

I use COMC this way to save on shipping. I buy several things over month(s) and then have it all sent at once to save serious cash on shipping.

I no longer have relatives in the States (my Father is half American/has a dual citizenship) but all his family are deceased.

I have to look further into the Comc thing, Ben, as I have been told that before, but unsure how it works?

I am a member there as I recently got a great deal on a 52 Topps Bob Feller card.

using ebay's international shipping is incredibly lazy, especially in the sports collectibles world where 99.9% of your international sales are only going to Canada. I have shipped some 1955 Topps All-American football cards to the UK, but buyer's like that understand they're the exception and are usually easy to work with.

Phil, if I remember correctly, it has been a few years now that eBay and PayPal have been applying their % to a seller's shipping charge, in addition to the price of the item sold.

I don't understand what you mean when you say "I am making nothing on these shipping charges, all goes to USPS, FedEx, etc." My wife and I have sold a variety of items on eBay for many years. We only ship via the USPS, so I am not familiar with FedEx & UPS. We charge our purchasers the USPS retail prices, whereas eBay/PayPal charges us the discounted USPS commercial prices, thereby usually leaving us enough to cover and frequently more than cover the eBay & PayPal fees. And, for Priority Mail shipments, eBay provides the seller with free USPS insurance for items valued up to $100.
Val

I have done the PWE with non-US buyers I know as well but on ebay all the buyer has to do is say they never got it and ebay will side with them every time because there is no tracking number, then as a double whammy your rating can go down and they can limit the number of items you can sell.

I buy quite a bit Internationally (Hockey and Non-Sports) and I just try to maximize my purchase prior to checking out so I try to bundle a bunch together if at all possible.

I sell quite a lot of hockey and non-sports cards to Canada, Australia, and the UK. It literally costs me $9.50 to ship to Canada and $12.50 and $12.75 to ship to The UK and Australia.. I charge less than that but USPS International rates have skyrocketed over the past 3 years (used to cost about $3.50-5.00) and the process of going to the actual USPS counter takes forever with International as they have to type everything out themselves.

Val:

I don't really get into commercial rates vs. personal, not a business for me, just sell some extra stuff from my personal collection so I probably get the worst rates on both ends. I also don't use postage labels or anything, do things the old fashioned way and bring everything to the post office for shipping calculations and mailing. Guess I might have to reconsider, huh?