Buying from e-bay

[Warren]

I have sold some items on E Bay also. I don't list shipping charges as they vary as to distance shipped. If bidder asks in advance and sends Zip Code I can tell him/her the cost. It is not fair to put a flat rate and have some one 300 miles away to pay same as one 2000 miles away. I pack so well that nothing has ever been damaged. I drive

10 miles into town to ship. For this I add $2. Had one person complain because he bid $3 on a heavy item worth many times more, and complained about $8 shipping. I have no control over UPS prices. I told him if he would have bid $70 the shipping would have been the same. I have 100 percent good reviews and most say "WOW what a packing job" WW

[Larry Jaques]

On Thu, 15 Jul 2004 01:08:41 -0500, Elwood Dowd calmly ranted:

If you cared about your business or your customers, you'd invest in a new/used scale and KNOW how much it costs to ship things before they're sold. I'm now using Stamps.com and they gave me a free 5 lb digital scale. I can re-zero it to weigh a lot more. It helps me to set my pricing beforehand. The USPS gives you downloadable charts and software to check pricing from zip to zip, so what's the deal? You'd probably sell more if customers knew exactly what they would be charged ahead of time. I won't buy an item without knowing the actual shipping cost. I had someone like you, who didn't quote a price, go down to a shipping place and had them put it in a box and ship it. A 3-pound item cost me nearly $17 in shipping & handling through them while I could have shipped it for $5. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

--- Annoy a politician: Be trustworthy, faithful, and honest! ---

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[J. Clarke]

Read what he said. A person having a yard sale is not interested in running a business, he's interested in getting rid of some stuff that he doesn't need and prefers selling it to someone else over tossing it in the trash.

Even if you have the most sophisticated scale in the world, you don't know what the shipping will be until you know the destination.

Most ebay sellers do say exactly what will be charged ahead of time. But it's usually more than the postage.

The actual cost or the actual amount that you will be charged for shipping?

[Doug Miller]

Which is why eBay provides a "Shipping Calculator" which you can add to your listings (look for that the next time you sell something). You put in what method(s) you will ship by, and the amount of any handling fees that you charge. The shipping calculator appears as part of your listing, and potential bidders can get an accurate quote for shipping without having to email you.

Here's an example. Scroll down toward the bottom of the listing, and you'll see the calculator.

Doug Miller (alphageek-at-milmac-dot-com)

Get a copy of my NEW AND IMPROVED TrollFilter for NewsProxy/Nfilter by sending email to autoresponder at filterinfo-at-milmac-dot-com You must use your REAL email address to get a response.

[Joe Emenaker]

Some sellers do try to get a little extra gravy by inflating their shipping costs, but ebay does frown upon that.

As somebody who's sold a lot of stuff via ebay, I can say that the real shipping costs usually end up being more than I feel they should. If I were shipping a plane, say, I'd take it down to the UPS store and say "ship this to so-and-so...". They'd get out a box for it (there's about $2-$3) and then maybe wrap it in bubble-wrap (another few bucks) and then top the box off with foam peanuts (which sometimes seem to cost about a buck per peanut). I'd expect to have to fork over about $20 to pack/ship a simple plane to someone. And keep in mind that about $12-$14 of that goes toward the actual shipping.

- Joe

[Tom Kohlman]

Hi Dave

Your first point about paying you or any other EBay seller for packaging and handling...doesn't Amazon or anybody else have to do that too? Or do they operate from the North Pole where elves have some spare time after the Xmas season?...I'll hold my ground on that one...

Reporting "shills" on Ebay is the same as reporting Spam or better yet hitting that "button" for "walk/don't walk" on any street corner...goes nowhere.

Having been suckered on EBay too often for all the reasons I stated (put me in that slow learner category), I now check it rarely and when I do I end up buying elsewhere. No bargains there, all things considered.

[Dave Hinz]

Do you know how amazon works? They don't stock _anything_, they don't ship anything. Their supplier drop-ships the product to you, in an amazon box, with amazon labels and paperwork. They also have this thing called _scale_ where they do this for a living.

Our experience differs. Maybe it's in your approach, or that you haven't really tried it and would rather complain?

Riiiiiiight. If you've been "suckered" about shipping costs, it's because you haven't bothered to read the item's description and terms before bidding. As others have said, if the shipping costs aren't listed, ask. If they won't tell you, don't bid. If the shipping as listed is higher than you want to pay, don't bid. Blaming a seller for something when that information was right in front of you is, er, a bit backwards.

It's simple, really. If I list something with $8.00 for S&H, that's because I'm guessing at my expenses and padding it a bit to cover the hassle factor, and the inevitable low guesses. It's all right there, listed up front, and anyone is welcome not to bid based on if they feel it's worth it or not.

[Elwood Dowd]

[Jack]

I've reported half a dozen cases of shilling. It continues. No action on Ebay's part at all. Why should they care? Their fee is based on bid price.

-Jack

[Dave Hinz]

Our experience differs. When I report it, I give the item numbers, seller IDs, bidder IDs, and so on related to it, doing their homework for them so it's convenient to see the pattern immediately. Maybe you have done it differently.

Right, it's a big conspiracy, that's it.

[J]

corner...goes

Of course, how are you going to report it without the specifics? "uh, ebay, someone is using shills..."

No, just a lack of concern. Simple as that.

-Jack

[Dave Hinz]

Our experience differs.

Our experience, and impression, differs. But the nice thing is, you're free to not use eBay, isn't that wonderful news?

[Trent©]

There's ALWAYS handling charges...whether charged or not. How do you think the thing gets put into the shipping container?...and gets to the shipper?

Yes...you should get the exact S&H charges...not just shipping charges...and add that to your bid. If the S&H seems too high to you, simply don't bid.

I generally charge at least $5-$10 extra for handling...often more. This is to cover the cost of the container, tape, wear and tear on my car or truck, insurance...ANYTHING associated with getting the package to the purchaser.

Watch QVC some night...pay attention to the shipping charge in relation to the price of the item.

Also, don't forget that the sale might also be taxable in some cases. That fact is usually stated as a separate item.

Have a nice week...

Trent©

What do you call a smart blonde? A golden retriever.

[Tom Kohlman]

...S&H not always listed up front my friend...on bigger/heavier stuff the S&H is calculated AFTER the auction has ended...guess that's where I've been burned.

My mistake for lumping everybody into the same category, but then again on the smaller light-weight stuff, I usually need it now and still haven't seen any real bargains on EBay that come close to HD retail. I truly hate the place with a passion but all things considered, you get to see what you are buying and get to take it home with you.

[Tom Kohlman]

Hi Trent...

Be careful on using the "taxable" argument to justify buying On-line...you may skip the "sales tax" charged by the seller, but then YOU are responsible for paying a "use" tax (same thing other than it shifts from them to you). More and more states are putting a line on their income tax returns for you to "ante up". Lie to that one and everything else you lied on in your return is vulnerable.

We ain't in Kansas anymore Toto...

[Trent©]

How can you skip sales tax charged by the seller? If he charges you, you must pay his bill...or he won't ship the item.

That's not always true...especially on interstate sales.

For instance, if I'm in business in Kansas...and I sell to someone who lives in Kansas...as the vendor, I'm responsible for the sales tax. Its always assumed that the sales tax is included in the selling price...if its not itemized that way.

When the state does an audit...if they catch it...they will list it as sales tax due...from the seller. Its always assumed that the purchaser has paid the sales tax.

This becomes very important with cash sales...where the state has no way to collect the money from the purchaser.

Yeah...I've heard that! I'll hafta look into it someday. lol

Have a nice week...

Trent©

What do you call a smart blonde? A golden retriever.

[B a r r y]

How hard is it to ask for an estimate during the auction?

Example:

Dear seller, How much to ship the fruraffer to 06016?

Thanks, Potential Bidder

No satisfactory answer = no bid

Barry

[B a r r y]

It certainly is in CT. They go as far as making you enter a "0" on a line on your 1040-CT, if you claim no out of state purchases. Leaving the line blank gets your return rejected, entering a "0" and getting caught adds intent to the filer's tax fraud charges, erasing claims of forgetting.

If the seller is out of state and dosen't collect the tax, the resident is required to submit it.

I'm sure this goes state by state.

Barry

[Tom Veatch]

Speak for yourself on the Kansas part there, Tom.

On the rest of it, you've got it right. Purchasing something out of state (or online) doesn't exempt the purchase from sales tax in your home locale. Recently, the Kansas legislature even went one step farther. Anything purchased in Kansas, by a Kansas resident, is supposed to be charged the sales tax rate effective in the buyer's home area. So, if you live in a city or county with a high local sales tax you can't avoid the tax by purchasing in some other political jurisdiction

I think that turned into such an implementation and enforcement nightmare that it has been "temporarily" put on hold while the legislature/courts/etc. scratch their heads over what to do about it.

Tom Veatch Wichita, KS USA

[Brian Elfert]

Do you really think Ebay has some magic bullet to stop all schills? ARe the same exact Ebay users still schilling after your report?

Ebay wants customers to come back again, and customers won't come back if they fell Ebay isn't handling problems like shills that end up costing customers more money.

Brian Elfert