Post sale shipping whiners.....

[stuffedmonkey]

Ok, so I sold a Turbografx system, and 3 games on ebay last week. In the auction, I clearly state that shipping will be $15.00, via USPS priority mail. I mailed the system out 1 day after getting payment. Since the buyer lived 2 states away, I only had to pay $9.30 to send the item.


Today I get an email from him, with this quote:

"also, why did i have to pay $15 for shipping when the delivery label said it cost only $9.30? (just kinda curious where the extra $$ went)."

I am I being out of line for shipping - or is this guy just whining for no good reason? I'm not trying to gouge for shipping - I really just estimated a price and put that in the auction. I so want to send a nasty response, but I don't want a negative feedback :)

[Anexanhume]

You may want to alter your practices. List the package weight and include a link to a postage calculator. Also, you can have them calculate shipping when they check out.

[imanerd0011]

I agree with the above poster. I know you probabley didn't mean to do that to the buyer, but he/she doesn't know that. Imagine how you would feel if you felt the seller ripped you off for $6 on shipping an item. I think using a shipping calculator is a good idea.

[Zing]

Placing bids on Ebay is a contract. By placing a bid, buyers agree to the terms of the contract. Your buyer may object to the "extra $$" on moral grounds, but he agreed to the terms.

Ebay has a stake in the matter since they make money based on your selling price, which is why the "fee avoidance" rules exist. I assume charging an extra $5 for handling/packaging/etc would not break this rule.

In short, he is a whiner.

[stuffedmonkey]

I had thought about doing that, but I have no idea what the package weight is. I have a small food scale - but that is only good for under a pound. I have a bathroom scale - but it isn't close to accurate for smaller stuff.

[Anexanhume]

I had thought about doing that, but I have no idea what the package weight is. I have a small food scale - but that is only good for under a pound. I have a bathroom scale - but it isn't close to accurate for smaller stuff.

Well, step on it, measure your weight, then step on it with the package and take the difference. Use this as the approximate weight, and say the package will approximately weigh that much, so add a dollar or so to the price to ensure you haven't shorted yourself.

[Emily]

Placing bids on Ebay is a contract. By placing a bid, buyers agree to the terms of the contract. Your buyer may object to the "extra $$" on moral grounds, but he agreed to the terms.

Ebay has a stake in the matter since they make money based on your selling price, which is why the "fee avoidance" rules exist. I assume charging an extra $5 for handling/packaging/etc would not break this rule.

In short, he is a whiner.

I agree! If that SOB bid on your auction, he knew that the shipping was final, agreed to pay it, and got his package slightly faster due to the shorter distance. If he wanted to say anything about shipping, he should have said something before the auction was over. Dont let idiot noobs jerk U around!

[jaybird]

I say he's a whiner. Don't bid if you don't like the shipping.

Postal scales cost way too much and home scales aren't going to come close to giving an accurate reading - unless you're holding a 40 lb monitor or something.

For us who only occassionally sell on eBay, it's not worth it to invest in postal scales, so guesstimates is the best we can do.

[Mattiekrome]

I had thought about doing that, but I have no idea what the package weight is. I have a small food scale - but that is only good for under a pound. I have a bathroom scale - but it isn't close to accurate for smaller stuff.

Well, step on it, measure your weight, then step on it with the package and take the difference. Use this as the approximate weight, and say the package will approximately weigh that much, so add a dollar or so to the price to ensure you haven't shorted yourself.

Sorta like what I used to do, only I would use a 10 lb weight and a digital scale... Never failed me, and pretty dam accurate ;)

[SegaAges]

hehe, at first i thought this was going to be somebody who whined about how long it took to ship, but it is about shipping cost. seeing as i have never sold anything on eBay and only buy, things like that you know you are paying for. one time i paid 5 or something, i don't know, around there, but i remember that it was much cheaper.

i sent the guy an e-mail (it was friendly, i am very friendly to people on eBay), and he told me that the rest of the money was to pay for gas to the post office. oh well, you have to get gas somehow

[Anexanhume]

I don't want it to sound like I disagree, I'm just saying people are going to complain, and that's what you need to do to safeguard yourself.

[Mad Chemist]

I am I being out of line for shipping - or is this guy just whining for no good reason?

He's a whiner. Here's why.

* You stated that there would be a fixed cost for shipping.
* You stated the method by which the stuff would be shipped and you shipped by the specified method.

If the guy can't read, it's His Own Damned Problem.

For the record, I''ve actually had one person on Ebay complain that the postage on the box was something like 13 cents below what I'd estimated it to be, beacuse my scale and the post office's scale were apparently not perfectly in synch.

I told the guy if he'd send me a self-addressed stamped envelope I'd mail him the 13 cents.

It was after that, actually, that I started just putting fixed shipping/handling costs on my auctions/sales.

[Jared_Vibelicious]

that extra $5 could be gas for your trip to the P.O., shipping materials ... unless he wanted you to throw it in a box with no padding etc.

[Griking]

For larger items like consoles I usually weigh the item and provide a shipping calculator. For smaller packages such as games I set a set price and make that shipping fee very clear. If your shipping fee was clear then the person's just being a whiner. If he didn't think $15.00 was fair (which I do) then he shouldn't have bid.

[Vroomfunkel]

I guesstimate prices, and state a fixed fee in my listings. If it turns out to be a lot less than my estimate I will refund some money - but this almost never happens. For $6 I probably wouldn't bother to be honest.

After all, I am sometimes out the other way, and I never ask for extra if I have understated the shipping - and no-one has offered to pay me the extra! (Although, in fact I have sent extra shipping once when I received a package that had cost more to post than I had paid. I got a very sweet BIN and felt guilty that the guy had lost out on the shipping too, so I sent him the extra .. )

Plus, it's not just weight - packaging also takes time, effort, materials etc. If the price I state is overestimated, the extra just goes towards that. Personally, I think that if you state a rate in the auction, and the bidder does not query it with you before the auction ends then they should just accept it.

Vroomfunkel