*sigh* can't make everyone happy on eBay

[TheMud]

To want more than what the bottom line says when the action has ended would piss me off... A buyer must always know how much postal/ handling he has to pay in advance. That's law. In the EU ... Don't know bout' the US ...

[vic20owner]

Win one of HIS auctions and see how he likes it. lol

[LoadWB]

Most people put a flat-rate postage designed to cover postage and handling.  Other will say things like "buyer pays actual shipping costs," which I do when I have extra boxes laying around and use my UPS account to ship.  Some will say "actual shipping + x".

The few others which say "shipping determined after auction" should be mitigated by eBay's shipping calculator, or not bought from, period.

I use eBay's shipping methods and calculator, which is usually dead-on, in my auctions.  If I offer Priority Mail or UPS, then I use eBay's options for these.  It only takes a few extra seconds to set up and doesn't cost extra.  Aside from that, eBay has a space where you can include extra handling charges.

[CLS2086]

Hi,
just $1 for the litle protective box ? It's nearly a gift !

I remind to pay $20 for a new bios for a Taiwanese Mobo, and i received it by EMS Tawain. It was inserted on kind of hard polystyren but it was twisted and dead ...

@Tj : I still haven't tried the GVP Rom you sold me years ago  :lol:

Here in Europe too, you must not charge Paypal extra fees for the buyers  :rtfm:

And here there are nearly no one that charge extra fees for handling, the few who do that don't make good packet...

That's what happen to me weeks ago with a Sony SLV-725b.

Paid 20e S+H, asking him for a STRONG BOX with shocks absorbers and airball films wrapped all around... When i see the packet and the content it was the opposite, I saw that he paid 12e... and the only protection was a flat rectangular polystyren piece...

[yetihw]

I understand your pain, I don't know what extent your livelihood depends on ebay; hopefully its just a hobby.  I distribute fire alarm systems for a living and its very easy to be unfairly blamed by a multitude of people involved in the process of bringing a correctly installed system into a building.  The good news is the more you go through it the more you can overcome it with in fact a better reputation because "hey, that guy was right" comes into play.  Nothing better than a silent grim of "I told you so".  Keep your head up.

Neil

[guru-666]

it's not the fact you added $1 dollar, it's the fact that you assumed you could just add fees that's frustrating for a buyer.  Now I would NOT have gone as far as to give you negative feedback.  You should have stated the international shipping would cast extra OR at least told the buyer BEFORE charging him the extra cash.  Anyway I find the whole thing silly on you part actually, I mean is an extra dollar going to pay for your time?  I don't think so and dropping of a package for US delivery or international is NOT that big of a difference...I hope you would have used bubble wrap anyway.  Fact is you should NEVER add fees after the auction is up with out consulting with the buyer....

[gdanko]

Pull a Doomy and say he only gave you a negative in retaliation for the one you gave him!

[TjLaZer]

I stated $5+ for International Shipping and Handling and to email me for actual price.  I think that was fair and clear.  I charged him an extra $1.  Like I said, you cannot make everyone happy!  I now have 99.0% Positive thanks to him.  I had already gave him a positive before he even make the fuss!  I did make a comment to my positive though

[guru-666]

yeah well, then the dude is a freak and you are right, you just can't make everybody happy.  it's just eBay anyway, I would check your profile and see what happened and not worry about it.  Anyway I find it's better to post the shipping high so I never have to do that, if I feel like it I can make it lower and make somebody VERY happy.

[James]

There's quite a few of us here and over at the Atari forums that have dealt with you and can testify that you are a good seller.

I do understand where he's coming from though... To me, if yuo plan to use ebay to make money, you accept that there are fees to running "a business" and in this case I think it includes the time spent at the post office. Even if you wait an hour for a 20$, that's 20$/hour and is still quite a good salary IMO.

Both of you have valid arguments, even if he COULD just let it go....a freakin dollar for crying out loud. You shouldn't be allowed to use ebay if your break-even buffer is a single dollar.

[Wain]

I wound up giving up entirely on any kind of tiered or alterable plan regarding the pricing of shipping on ebay...too many arguments from too many idiots who either didn't know (read: didn't bother to read the website they quoted at me)anything about shipping (NO, books do NOT count as bound printed matter according to the USPS pricing systems, they count as media that's why I'm charging you an extra $.47), or didn't like the options I made available to them for shipping.

Now I'm one of the many sellers who simply puts a flat fee on shipping & handling, I try to keep it fair, if I'm moving a large amount of material it's generally set up so sometimes I'll make a buck and others I'll lose a buck depending, but about 1/4th of the time if my s&h was left up for emailing me for actual charges, too many ppl took it as an opportunity to debate me and try to rob me of shipping costs.

Thing is, I hate the flat fee shipping, I feel like I'm one of those jerks who prices something at $2.00 then adds a $22 shipping fee.  But at the same time, it leaves me with a basic reply "auction specifies $7.50 shipping, you've agreed to this, period." which can be invaluable.