OT: Two out of Three eBayers ...

[perezfan]

And as for the card in the plain white envelope... I would send it back just on principal. Lazy and cheap on the seller's part, and he definitely put the card's condition in jeopardy.

I've had to resort to asking every eBay seller to sandwich the damn card in a toploader between two pieces of rigid cardboard. And about a quarter of them still won't do it.

I really wish that eBay would include "Quality of Packaging" in their Feedback Criteria (1 - 5 Stars). Doing so would force sellers to think harder about protecting peoples' purchases. IMHO, it's much more important than the somewhat meaningless "Communication" criteria they currently have.

[Jewish-collector]

Let's say a seller lists a graded card for $20 + $4 postage. Can someone please explain to me (seriously) why they just can't list it for $24 and free shipping ? I'm serious. WTF can't they do that ?

[brianp-beme]

Originally Posted by Jewish-collector

Let's say a seller lists a graded card for $20 + $4 postage. Can someone please explain to me (seriously) why they just can't list it for $24 and free shipping ? I'm serious. WTF can't they do that ?

When I sell on Ebay, I charge $3.25 for shipping for a raw card, which typically barely covers the shipping. I offer any additional cards that are purchased at no additional shipping charge if bought at the same time.

My thought is that I am trying to encourage multiple purchases, whereas if I had posted the card at the same overall amount with free shipping, there would be no incentive for people to buy additional cards from me at the same time (which is a lot easier on me as a seller...less time spent packing, less packing materials, less trips to the post office). If a customer were to buy two cards with free shipping a week apart, then everything becomes less ideal and more costly for me as a seller.

Brian

[Jim65]

Originally Posted by Jewish-collector

Let's say a seller lists a graded card for $20 + $4 postage. Can someone please explain to me (seriously) why they just can't list it for $24 and free shipping ? I'm serious. WTF can't they do that ?

They can but free shipping discourages multiple sales. If the shipping is factored into the price and I want to buy 3 cards, then I'm basically paying $12 to ship those 3 cards. If the seller accepts Best Offers, I can try to offset that but some don't.

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by perezfan

What about the reverse?

I have had more than a few sellers say they under-charged me on shipping, and then came back via email, to ask for more money. Happened just last week... the guy claimed postage was $14 higher then he charged, and he said that I had to pay him the difference.

I'm pretty sure he had no leg to stand on, but I paid him $7 (half the difference) as a measure of semi-goodwill. Anyone else have this happen with any frequency?

Could have been an honest mistake. My one and only example. I had a very large item I sold on eBay. Before listing it I went t UPS with the dimensions and weight and got a price. After it sold I took it to UPS and they said they could not ship it even though they earlier said they could and gave me a price. Ended up costing around an extra $150 to ship by special freight. I contacted the buyer explained exactly what happened and asked if they would split the extra shipping with me. They did and we were both happy in the end.

Originally Posted by perezfan

And as for the card in the plain white envelope... I would send it back just on principal. Lazy and cheap on the seller's part, and he definitely put the card's condition in jeopardy.

I've had to resort to asking every eBay seller to sandwich the damn card in a toploader between two pieces of rigid cardboard. And about a quarter of them still won't do it.

I really wish that eBay would include "Quality of Packaging" in their Feedback Criteria (1 - 5 Stars). Doing so would force sellers to think harder about protecting peoples' purchases. IMHO, it's much more important than the somewhat meaningless "Communication" criteria they currently have.

WOW, seriously you send sellers shipping instructions and would return a card that arrived as described.

[Buythatcard]

Let's not forget that S/H just doesn't cover what it costs to ship. Besides eBay charging a fee, there is also insurance costs. I buy insurance for almost all the items that I ship.
There are many times where the actual S/H plus insurance is higher than I charge the customer. It comes from my pocket. I don't ever contact the buyer and say that they now owe me for the difference. There are times where the S/H is actually lower than what I charge. Over time, it just evens itself out.

A buyer has no right to complain if the S/H rates are disclosed up front and then they make the purchase.

If seller ships in a white envelope with a postage stamp, then that's another story.

[G1911]

I'm an American, buying mostly from American sellers. Even I get ripped off on shipping all the time. Now, I don't mind paying the X price to ship that is in the listing; I know it before hand, if it is excessive I simply don't bid. Easy

What bothers me though is when it becomes fraud. If the seller lists a $4 shipping charge and states it will ship via a method that costs somewhere around $4, that is fine. However, half the time it feels, they then actually ship it in a PWE. I actually prefer a PWE as its cheaper and I'm a low grade unimportant collector, but when they state they are shipping via a $4 method and charge $4 and then PWE it for .50 cents or whatever, that is a fraud. I've gotten tired of it and now hit them with a negative for the lies.