Ebay enforcing maximum shipping costs in certain catagories now?

[norkusa]

Don't know if this is old news, but I just listed some big box PC games on Ebay yesterday and got the following message immediately after listing them:

Attention Sellers:

Starting in October, the maximum shipping cost in this category will be $4.00. You'll be asked to enter a shipping cost less than or equal to this cost for the first U.S. flat rate shipping service.
Get a head start on these changes by updating your shipping costs for this listing

I'm glad to see Ebay is finally cracking down on the S&H gougers, but some of these games I'm selling weigh over 3lbs (like Falcon 4.0 with the 300 page manual) and there's NO WAY shipping will be anywhere near $4. Maybe if they were sent Media Mail but my local post office doesn't consider PC games Media. WTF?

[Kitsune Sniper]

You can get around that if you use calculated shipping. Enter the weight, then add a handling fee. Bam. Price gouging again.

[norkusa]

You can get around that if you use calculated shipping. Enter the weight, then add a handling fee. Bam. Price gouging again.

Ahh, good to know. Thanks for the tip Kit!

[megasdkirby]

You can get around that if you use calculated shipping. Enter the weight, then add a handling fee. Bam. Price gouging again.

Great...a way around shipping gouging for crooked sellers...

[zektor]

Well, ebay should be protecting buyers if the seller cheats the weight. If you buy a game and the seller entered 30lbs for example (ad it is under 1lb) there should be a way to inform ebay after receiving the merchandise and creating a dispute for the shipping money back.

They probably have not gotten that far yet, but I can see this happening down the road. I actually think the category shipping is kind of fair. There are many times I purchase things like a joystick extension cable which was $1 buy it now but $8.95 to ship...then I get it media mailed to me for $1.10.

[megasdkirby]

I agree with zektor. Either companies who inflate shipping will adjust or leave Ebay.

However, Ebay's new move is bad as well. Companies can simply accept the changes and then send the slowest, possible way. For example, the extension cable zektor mentioned.

Or even worse, they will not combine shipping, forcing buyers to pay $40 shipping on 10 items in which shipping charges were $4 a piece.

I wonder how Ebay will combat this...

[Kitsune Sniper]

Great...a way around shipping gouging for crooked sellers...

Yes.

But, on the upside, if they charged you $8 and your package only cost $4 to send, you now have a better case against them due to price gouging.

[Cornelius]

Well, ebay should be protecting buyers if the seller cheats the weight. If you buy a game and the seller entered 30lbs for example (ad it is under 1lb) there should be a way to inform ebay after receiving the merchandise and creating a dispute for the shipping money back.

They probably have not gotten that far yet, but I can see this happening down the road. I actually think the category shipping is kind of fair. There are many times I purchase things like a joystick extension cable which was $1 buy it now but $8.95 to ship...then I get it media mailed to me for $1.10.

OOOhh... they could even build this into paypal, and make it so all a buyer has to do is claim that it weighed less than they were charged for, and get refunded automatically! Out of the seller's account, of course. That is, unless the seller has paid an "item weight verification fee" to paypal up-front, in which case it will enter a dispute where the buyer has to get a third party to weigh the item and submit the results on some sort of official letterhead. :eyeroll: /end sarcasm

Seriously, I've never understood buyers' beef with shipping charges, so long as they are listed clearly. Now, sellers that give reasonable shipping rates have a legitimate beef with the gouging sellers, since they could both sell the same item for the same total amount (including S&H), but the inflated shipping seller actually nets a larger amount, since they don't pay fees on as much of the sale. Note, in both cases the buyers are paying exactly the same amount.

The only real solution is to eliminate S&H altogether. The fee structure would have to be redone so you could list a game starting at 4.99 for 10 cents (or somesuch). This would seriously mess with things for a short while, but the market would correct itself pretty quickly.

[Simply Dave]

Ebay is charging a 15 percent final value fee on all video games, on top of the listing fee, paypal fee, ect.

That's gouging.

[jb143]

The only real solution is to eliminate S&H altogether. The fee structure would have to be redone so you could list a game starting at 4.99 for 10 cents (or somesuch). This would seriously mess with things for a short while, but the market would correct itself pretty quickly.

I've done this many times on light stuff that doesn't cost much to ship anyways. And the "FREE SHIPPING" attached to it seems to bring in more bids. I think Ebay has some sort or promotion for sellers to save on fees or something if they offer free shipping.

[megasdkirby]

Seriously, I've never understood buyers' beef with shipping charges, so long as they are listed clearly. Now, sellers that give reasonable shipping rates have a legitimate beef with the gouging sellers, since they could both sell the same item for the same total amount (including S&H), but the inflated shipping seller actually nets a larger amount, since they don't pay fees on as much of the sale. Note, in both cases the buyers are paying exactly the same amount.

As you mentioned, if a buyer agrees to shipping, then there is no reason to complain.

This however does not mean that what those sellers do is correct and they should not be allowed to put in practice such action.

[p_b]

Well, ebay should be protecting buyers if the seller cheats the weight. If you buy a game and the seller entered 30lbs for example (ad it is under 1lb) there should be a way to inform ebay after receiving the merchandise and creating a dispute for the shipping money back.

They probably have not gotten that far yet, but I can see this happening down the road. I actually think the category shipping is kind of fair. There are many times I purchase things like a joystick extension cable which was $1 buy it now but $8.95 to ship...then I get it media mailed to me for $1.10.

Don't buy from them. It's as simple as that. I can't believe that this was the only seller offering a joystick extension cable?

[The 1 2 P]

I'm glad to see Ebay is finally cracking down on the S&H gougers, but some of these games I'm selling weigh over 3lbs (like Falcon 4.0 with the 300 page manual) and there's NO WAY shipping will be anywhere near $4. Maybe if they were sent Media Mail but my local post office doesn't consider PC games Media. WTF?

I have been getting the same message over the last two weeks. While I'm glad that it will put a stop to "some" price gouging, it also dawned on me that I am going to be taking a real hit on shipping fees. I guess the biggest problem will be when I list systems. I should probably list them all before this goes into effect.

[Dark_Sol]

Recent changes suck. What can i say.... shipping fees are a rip-off. And adding it as a handling charge will definitely make every buyer angry.

[Japan-Games.com]

The new maximum shipping policy has nothing to do with protecting buyers. In a lot of cases eBay set the price below actual shipping cost, meaning it will cost more than the max even if you simply put a stamp directly onto the item and put it in the mailbox. Just be thankful you don't sell books...

What eBay's doing is a creating a way to charge selling fees on shipping. They've admitted that some of their max fees are below actual shipping prices, and they have encouraged Sellers to list their items in auction. They believe that Buyer will look at the total price, so a $75 item with $50 shipping is $125 total. If shipping is maxed at $15 then Buyers will pay $110 for the item and $15 for shipping. That means the total price for the Buyer is the same but the seller pays fees on $110 instead of $75.

That's what it's all about....

[megasdkirby]

Don't buy from them. It's as simple as that. I can't believe that this was the only seller offering a joystick extension cable?

It's not that...it's actually a trend. For some odd reason, sellers would hike shipping costs. I dunno why either...my guess is that if someone does it, why not others?

[smork]

It's too bad there's no good way to do post-paid shipping like they do on Yahoo Japan.

It's perfect for all involved -- the price of the item is the price of the item, buyer pays shipping costs directly to the shipping company or post office. I've bought tons of stuff this way and hate the thought of doing it any other way now.

[Japan-Games.com]

It's perfect for all involved -- the price of the item is the price of the item, buyer pays shipping costs directly to the shipping company or post office. I've bought tons of stuff this way and hate the thought of doing it any other way now.

With that you run into the problem that Sellers really have no incentive to take the time to find the cheapest way to send it. Japan Post charges by the size of the box, not the weight. I've received a small game in an oversize box with a ton of stuffing that worked out to be $12-$15. Since the Seller doesn't know or care what the shipping prices will be sometimes you end up paying a lot more than you should...

[vincewy]

It's not the worst part, they're now forcing everyone to use Paypal, screw that! I've been buying (not selling) on eBay for a while and there's no way I'd reopen my paypal account again after a security breach.

[smork]

With that you run into the problem that Sellers really have no incentive to take the time to find the cheapest way to send it. Japan Post charges by the size of the box, not the weight. I've received a small game in an oversize box with a ton of stuffing that worked out to be $12-$15. Since the Seller doesn't know or care what the shipping prices will be sometimes you end up paying a lot more than you should...

Very true - but most of the sellers seem to either tell you what it will cost ahead of time, or give you their preferred method, or give you the option of choosing the method.

I suppose I haven't gotten burned on excessive shipping yet -- and if fact have gotten some rather nice deals on bulk lots..