Been looking at CW Bruticusses on ebay, and I saw a G2 set for only $50. Hmmm... good deal, but what's the shipping? Just as I thought: too damn much. $50 USD economy (yes, it said economy- bwa-ha-ha!) from Orange, California. I was burned once by this type of stuff, so I know to look for it. So remember everyone: look for shipping charges before you bid.
Obviously ebay are not to blame, just the specific seller. And yes, everyone should check what's the total cost before they buy (or bid), not just on ebay
This is likely because the seller put the proper box dimensions in and is shipping it USPS. When I sold my extra TRU Soundwave with the proper box dimensions (15 x 20 x 15, IIRC) it showed shipping as $48 from WA to NV, due to the size. Once I changed the box size to a shorter box it came down to about $35. When I shipped it it jumped down to $21 after the paypal discount.
Excellent point. Another reason that a legit seller would put what looks like abnormally high rate is due to ebay's newest return policy, which in some cases can force a seller to accept a return, even if not a normal circumstance the seller would accept one. (Buyer's remorse is a major one) By splitting the cost of the item and bulking half onto shipping, if the seller is forced to accept a return they are forced into, it's less of a loss for them in the end - and if you get what you wanted, and the total price looks good, it won't be an issue anyway.
I thought high shipping costs was because sellers aren't charged ebay's 10% fee on shipping, only on the actual price of the item. Or is that not the case anymore?
You are charged 10% sellers fee including shipping plus final bid/sale amount. This is due to a lot of sellers years back listing items for $0.99 but with shipping charges up to a $100.00 as the original eBay fee system did not charge the 10% fee on shipping. eBay noticed this and changed the policy. In addition USPS, UPS and FedEX have all started to charge for dimensional weight meaning a 5lb package in a very big box could be charged as a 20lb package.
They started including shipping charges into the fee calculation years ago. If filing as a business or if itemizing in a qualifying manner, you can claim it on your tax forms as costs, but ebay and Paypal still yank their portions immediately.
People still use it as a way to fetch sales by appearing to the untrained eye to undercut competition. But anyone with half a brain can look right through it.
Well like they said, it used to be that eBay/Paypal took their fees from the sales price, not the total transaction price with shipping. Now because people used to abuse that to the nth degree ( such as selling stuff for as little as$0.01 and then charging the hell out of shipping) they switched to where fees are calculated from the total transaction price. It's curbed abuse, but it hasn't really ended it as being sales tactic, or as a way to hide profit from taxation down the line quoting what they charged as shipping costs when they in reality might only be a fraction, and quietly pocketing the rest.
Sellers can charge whatever they want for shipping but most don't appreciate a seller who tries to make money by charging more than just the required shipping costs, even charging for supplies or a handling can turn off some buyers. I personally use recycled materials. Where I work we get lots of shipments in a variety of box sizes and with many of varieties of packaging materials, of which most are discarded so we are allowed to take and use what we need.
Was looking for some Titan Masters. Found a seller listing them for a good price, but the shipping was $4 each. Contacted the seller asking if I could buy a bunch and have them all shipped at once to save on shipping. They said if I did the cost of shipping "could be lower" and gave me instructions on what to do. Up to the last step I realized ebay's buy in bulk system, whatever it's called, basically has you commit to buying without any idea what the shipping might be. So I could buy them all for maybe $5 shipping or $20 shipping. Won't know unless I commit. Yeah, no. Why are the smallest of transformers the hardest to get a hold of? Ebay was only my option to begin with because HTS doesn't have stock of all the ones I want at the same time.
I have to charge slightly more for shipping just to cover the fees on said shipping. If shipping is actually $5, and I charge $5, I'm only receiving $4.35 (after eBay AND PayPal fees) towards it, so the rest of the shipping cost comes out of the item price. To make sure that the entirety of the shipping cost is covered, I used to charge a tad more (so that I receive the full amount after fees) but some buyers would complain that the shipping charge didn't match the price shown on the package. Since then, I've added the extra charge onto the item price. It's also difficult to estimate the actual shipping cost, since (as a seller) you don't know where the item will go to until the auction ends. I live on the West Coast, so if an item ends up going to New York or Florida, it's gonna cost a bit more than going to Cali. Additionally, I reuse boxes and choose the least expensive shipping options that I can, to not only maximize my profits but also provide the best deal to the buyer. As a buyer, it's frustrating when there's a good deal on an item, but the seller will only ship it two-day Priority. I'd gladly wait a week or two for an item if it meant that the shipping cost would be a third of what they're charging. (I mean, I realize that most people don't have boxes laying around, and the Priority boxes are free or they'd have to spend money on boxes to send them a less expensive way which wouldn't actually be less expensive due to the cost of the box), but I digress.
Enay has an option to charge "actual costs" when you list an item. You'll need to enter the weight and package measurements, along with the service type in the sales listing in order to utilize it. You end up doing all of that at some point anyway, if you print labels at home. @TheAmazingBrave - that seller sounds more than reasonable. 1st class USPS is typically $2.60 up to $5.50 for a small parcel, depending on weight and distance traveling, and if you buy a bunch, it means the weight goes up and could bump it out of the 1st class service thresholds. And Priority has gone through the roof in the last year, so it's not unreasonable that they couldn't just lop off shipping charges before buying. Any and every seller on ebay that has ever mentioned combining shipping for a discount (even if undisclosed total up front) has taken care of it, so I wouldn't worry about it.
The 10% fee on shipping hasnt helped. But the oversize extra charge from USPS is one reason I dont really like selling larger items on eBay. Its a double edged sword. If I sell a large item and charge too little for shipping, Im losing money or if I post on eBay with a higher ship cost, I get complaint messages. I found this out the hard way selling a couple of MISB Trendmasters Voltron sets. Shipping to CA was $30 and people were messaging me complaining of $20 shipping on the listing.
This thread reminds me why I try to buy and sell on forums as much as possible. eBay can be a cesspool.
Ebay doesn't really have a say in shipping. The seller either has the option to get a shipping quote from USPS, Fedex, or UPS based solely on package size, weight, and zip code, or they can set an arbitrary fixed rate. Sounds like the seller in the OP went with the latter option, chose economy shipping, and picked $50 to pad the sale. Bad seller.
Selling on ebay sucks. Especially if you're in Canada. Some people don't understand that it costs to ship things and expect the seller (me) to eat most of the costs involved with selling there. Oh at what point did I say I was doing the world a favor by losing money on associated costs just to give them a good deal in the hopes that they won't fuck me with shitty feedback and sone bogus return reason asking for a refund. One guy bought a MOTU figure from me and took pics of a broken one trying to get a refund. Upon comparing the pics I found that the dumbass didn't realize his was a different variant with unpainted parts that were painted on mine. If I hadn't done that, ebay would have sided with him and I'd have lost out on the sale AND lost the figure. In short- ebay sucks When I decide to do e commerce again, I will just set up a website with a PayPal sales option and drop product lists and a link to it in places like this where people can just go on there and order if they want to.