this ebay shipping gouging is getting a bit out of hand....

[nullb0y]

i just opened up an auction for a circular saw....
http://cgi.ebay.com/7-1-4-CIRCULAR-SAW-2-3-HP-12-Amp-By-SKIL_W0QQitemZ7604016923QQcategoryZ43600QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
calculate the shipping on this
it says $65 FOR PARCEL POST for DUCKS sake wouldnt it need to be like 80 pounds!!! parcel post is like uber cheap
anyways my random itch of the moment i figured here was a good place to rant mabey not ok night all

 

[BobA]

Says it includes any handling and packaging fees by seller.   Looks to me like he is charging extras.  You can buy a saw alot cheaper at home depot.   Excessive shipping fees are a plague and will cut down on ebay sales.

 

[hypernova]

I'm in SW Ohio, and it's $57 for me.  For my company, UPSing that thing wouldn't cost any more than $8.

There are two reasons people do this:

1.  Make more money.

2.  Sometimes they're not, but assuming the winner IS smart, bidding won't go that high, so the seller will make their money on shipping fees, and ebay won't make jack on the final value fee, which, in essence, refers back to #1 up there.

So yeah, if ebay was smart, they'd start cracking down on blatant abuse like this.  It SEVERELY cuts into their profits.

[locash]

...It SEVERELY cuts into their profits.

I don't know about that, in the fourth quarter of FY05 eBay posted Net Revenues that were 42% greater than the same quarter the previous year.  The previous 11 quarters all performed similarly or better (36%-94% increases).

[missioncontrol]

I stay away from sellers with inflated shipping

[mr.Curmudgeon]

I sell, and always let my auctions run with the shipping calculator. That way, the buyers know the exact price up front.




mrC

[nullb0y]

its ok to charge a little for your ebay fees and boxes and tape and such but not that much

[hypernova]

I sell, and always let my auctions run with the shipping calculator. That way, the buyers know the exact price up front.

But there's a way to "fix" that calculator, isn't there?  I don't use it myself when I sell, I just set a flat fee, based on how much it weighs, going across the US to the opposite coast, usually around LA.  And it's usually rounded up to the next dollar, or the dollar after that if I'm not sure what the final weight will be.  In other words, I'll charge 7, maybe 8 dollars.  Not 15 or 20 and whatever some of these people are doing.  Or in this particular case, 60.

I don't know about that, in the fourth quarter of FY05 eBay posted Net Revenues that were 42% greater than the same quarter the previous year.  The previous 11 quarters all performed similarly or better (36%-94% increases).

What does that have to do with what I said?  They're running more and more auctions every year.  That's why profits are better.  Plus they've been raising their fees overall.  I'm saying they'd be even higher if they could get what they SHOULD be getting on final value fees. 

On a 60 dollar item with 10 dollars shipping, they make ALOT more than a 10 dollar item with 60 dollars shipping.  Until they start making a percentage on the shipping costs just like the final value fee, or start taking action against it, they're getting reamed, and if they were smart, they'd do something about it.  We're talking about a GOOD percentage of sellers anymore.  It's getting harder and harder to find cheap shipping sellers.  When you're talking about the thousands of sellers practicing this kind of selling technique, it translates into...who knows how much money in one year!

Me sending a parcel post of 15 pounds from OH to CA only costs $24.  Most corded circular saws only weigh 14 lbs.  Heck, OH to KY is only $7 parcel post.  It doesn't cost him but a few dollars for packaging supplies.  So for a saw to cost $50 more from KY to OH is practically thievery.  Only ebay's the (apparently) unwitting victim.

[locash]

I can assure you that the people at eBay are hardly the witless rubes you make them out to be.  They are aware that some gouging on shipping is going on and has been going on for years.  I doubt the impact on their profits is greater than the cost of policing these activities would be.

[brophog]

I sell, and always let my auctions run with the shipping calculator. That way, the buyers know the exact price up front.




mrC

That only works on fools. Most people let you know the prices up front.....the calculator just makes people think you're somehow being more honest. You can still gouge all you want with the shipping calculator.