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James Brown wrote:
> In lugnet.general, Thomas Stangl writes:
> > TWS Garrison wrote:
> >
> > > My major irritant at Ebay is sellers who won't tell you upfront how much
> > > shipping will be, what forms of payment they accept, or even what they're
> > > selling. . .
> >
> > How can you expect someone to tell you the shipping costs up front, unless
> > they give a flat fee that will most likely overcharge you? Especially with
> > the new USPS rates hitting July 1.
>
> Anyone who's done a significant number of sales can fairly accurately
> estimate their shipping costs. It's becoming more complicated for domestic
> US because of the rate change, but it's still quite do-able.
Sure, assuming you take the time to box up lots ahead of time. But how many
people have the room to do so? I certainly don't, so simply list an estimate.
Box weight can often push the shipping costs up a bracket or more, so unless you
pre-box everything, it is often a crapshoot as to the final shipping total.
Personally, I'd rather give someone the "correct" shipping costs at the time of
their winnings (especially when people bid on multiple lots) than estimate.
It bugs me to no end to see "$10 shipping costs" when I KNOW that it will probably
only cost $3.50 to ship to me. It's even worse when a buyer won't combine lots to
save shipping - I don't bid on lots from sellers that do that.
> Especially so for E-Bay sellers who (can) know the size of the package
> before they even put it up.
>
> > I mean, I could list "$10 shipping in the continental US" on most of my small
> > lots to be sure I don't lose more on shipping than I make on the lot, but I
> > doubt people would bid on a $20 lot with $10 shipping.
>
> Or say "Shipping will be via (blah service), and I charge $1 above my
> straight shipping cost to cover shipping material." Tell people how you
> ship, and they can go check for themselves how much it costs. If you don't
> want to do the legwork, make them do it.
That's fine, and works OK, as long as you know the shipping weight, i.e. you
already have the box you will ship in. Often I don't, as I try to find the
smallest box possible (with adequate packing protection), but I simply don't have
the storage space for more boxes (I already have a 2x4 ft floorspace area used up
by shipping boxes).
> I know I avoid places that don't state at least some shipping standard up
> front, because experience has taught me they often overcharge shipping.
I find the reverse - ones that state a flat rate often make a lot off of shipping,
as when I get the packages, the shipping costs are almost always less than stated,
and sometimes FAR less.
--
| Tom Stangl, Sun ONE Internet Technical Support, Sun Microsystems
| iPlanet Support - http://www.sun.com/service/support/software/iplanet/index.html
| Please do not associate my personal views with my employer
|
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: Where is everything going?
|
| (...) <blink> Did I not say "estimate"? You sound like you're disagreeing with me, but then you go ahead and say that you estimate shipping. I'm confused. (...) I think you misunderstood me. If you say "I charge exact shipping + $1.00", why do you (...) (22 years ago, 11-Jun-02, to lugnet.market.services)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: Where is everything going?
|
| (...) Anyone who's done a significant number of sales can fairly accurately estimate their shipping costs. It's becoming more complicated for domestic US because of the rate change, but it's still quite do-able. Especially so for E-Bay sellers who (...) (22 years ago, 11-Jun-02, to lugnet.general, lugnet.market.services)
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