Wow, that is some shipping!!

[Canadian_Jim]

Just finished buying an auction from E-Bay for 3 cards as I was the only bidder the auction finished at .99 cents. Now I live in Canada and have bought numerous items from people in the US and all over the world. I was expecting to pay in the $3-$5 range for shipping. Boy was I surprised when the seller sent me a charge of $11.35 for shipping and the 3 regular cards are coming from a seller in Michigan. The shipping was not stated in the auction listing, but I took a chance and thought what the hell it is .99 cents opening bid.
So I contacted the seller informing him that there is no way that I am willing to pay $11.35 for shipping, and hope that we can work this out. So far he has not responded back but was curious as to what the other members here would think if they were charged this fee?
Jim.

 

[opcfan]

I feel your pain man. I would ask the seller to ship first class mail for 3-4 dollars and if he wants over eleven bucks just ask him to cancel the transactions.

 

[OriolesFan8]

I never bid on an auction where the shipping not clearly stated. Too much room to be taken advantage of.

Todd

 

[avstars]

ask the seller to justify why he charged that much shipping. For the seller to charge that much, he has to at least be shipping international priority mail or something.

 

[dan5]

ask the seller to justify why he charged that much shipping. For the seller to charge that much, he has to at least be shipping international priority mail or something.

That's probably what he is doing because it is the only way you can track something to Canada to verify delivery.

That is why I put in my auctions that I only ship to the USA and anyone else must contact me first because I will only use this option and most people don't want to pay that amount.

 

[mrmopar]

I think your seller is unreasonable. I have had personal issues in this same area so I always TRY to get clear shipping rates, especially on combined shipping though, but it doesn't always work out.

I will admit and I am not ashamed of it (although technically I was in the wrong) that I have refused to complete transactions with sellers who I won multiple items from. In all of these cases, the s/h term was reasonable for 1 item, but their "combined" shipping rates or lack thereof were completely unacceptable. No matter how you try to justify not combining shipping, it will ALWAYS cost the sender more to send separate packages (more fees for separate PP payments, more in packing materials, more in postage), so they want to charge you the full rate and mail everything in one package!!! I was also burned once by a seller who after refusing to combine shipping, agreed to send separate packages at my insistence. As I suspected, the tool shipped everything together. He earned himself a couple negatives for that move.

My policy now is to know what the exact rates will be or plan for no combined shipping and bid accordingly (often meaning I won't bid at all). I didn't like cancelling my transactions as I wanted the items, but I am NOT going to pay someone $25 to ship 10 cards because they offer $2.50 s/h, don't mention combined shipping discounts and then refuse to offer any discount. I'll take the non-paying bidder strike first!

I hope it works out for you. Most sellers are pretty good, but there are always a few jerks to make life difficult for everyone.

 

[Canadian_Jim]

Thx for the input guys just hope I can work this out as I do not want to get a non payer strike against me for a 99 cent auction.

 

[Tim Carroll]

Thx for the input guys just hope I can work this out as I do not want to get a non payer strike against me for a 99 cent auction.

Won't happen. If he tries it, contact ebay for excessive shipping charges. While they really don't give a crap about any of their members, they really don't like the price gouging on shipping charges.


Tim

 

[valediction]

Won't happen. If he tries it, contact ebay for excessive shipping charges. While they really don't give a crap about any of their members, they really don't like the price gouging on shipping charges.


Tim

But if he is shipping international priority because that's ebays only acceptable proof of delivery, he is NOT gouging, 11.35 is the cost of online postage for that service from Flint, MI to Canada.

 

[Tim Carroll]

But if he is shipping international priority because that's ebays only acceptable proof of delivery, he is NOT gouging, 11.35 is the cost of online postage for that service from Flint, MI to Canada.

My bad....didn't take the international part into account. Hopefully, the seller will just let you cancel the auctions. Due to a bad deal (albeit a small one) with a buyer in Canada - I know longer even ship there when Paypal is involved. If this guy is just trying to protect himself with a tracking number, I almost can't blame him for going the higher route.

Again, hopefully he'll respond by simply canceling the auctions.


Good luck!


Tim

 

[mintman2]

My bad....didn't take the international part into account. Hopefully, the seller will just let you cancel the auctions. Due to a bad deal (albeit a small one) with a buyer in Canada - I know longer even ship there when Paypal is involved. If this guy is just trying to protect himself with a tracking number, I almost can't blame him for going the higher route.

Again, hopefully he'll respond by simply canceling the auctions.


Good luck!


Tim

So the buyer has no culpability here ? When one purchases something shouldn't they have some idea of what the costs are ? The seller is only covering the shipping costs because of the way the BUYER wanted to pay. No extra is about as fair as a person can be.

Maybe Canadian_Jim should ask the seller if they'll accept a money order in US funds and then just ship the card regular mail ? (no dc required to protect from paypal abuses)

 

[Tim Carroll]

So the buyer has no culpability here ? When one purchases something shouldn't they have some idea of what the costs are ? The seller is only covering the shipping costs because of the way the BUYER wanted to pay. No extra is about as fair as a person can be.

Absolutely....the buyer should have some idea of what the s&h charges are. However, that is a two-sided street. If I was buying something, I'd know what I was paying before hand - especially if it was being shipped across borders. In that case, it is as much the responsibility of the buyer as it is the seller. Not sure/can't get in touch with seller - that's a good reason to stay away.

Canadian_Jim should ask the seller if they'll accept a money order in US funds and then just ship the card regular mail ? (no dc required to protect from paypal abuses)

That would be the ideal situation. It is sad that ebay doesn't even offer that option anymore. They say it is for buyer protection.......we all know better.



Tim

 

[mrmopar]

Although I believe that buyers should do their due diligence before bidding, it doesn't always happen. Buyers should bid responsibly, but they are not always perfect. I have bid before fully reading descriptions or before seeing unreasonable rates for shipping. Usually these issues can be worked out, but sometimes not without hard feelings. Target isn't going to MAKE ME BUY their item if I misread the price tag. I realize the difference between a retail outlet and an auction format, but in real auctions, you know what your additional costs/fees will be up front. The auction house doesn't hide them or fail to disclose them up front.

This is an interesting case though, because most US sellers probably assume most of their business will be with other US residents. Sending internationally is a whole other story and can be very confusing and expensive.

I think the seller needs to be as clear as possible with their descriptions. Leaving a shipping price blank doesn't excuse them nor does it mean the buyer will know about what it will cost them. Sellers need to provide a clear understanding of what they are selling or risk confusion and problems.

So the buyer has no culpability here ? When one purchases something shouldn't they have some idea of what the costs are ?

 

[wem1472]

Just finished buying an auction from E-Bay for 3 cards as I was the only bidder the auction finished at .99 cents. Now I live in Canada and have bought numerous items from people in the US and all over the world. I was expecting to pay in the $3-$5 range for shipping. Boy was I surprised when the seller sent me a charge of $11.35 for shipping and the 3 regular cards are coming from a seller in Michigan. The shipping was not stated in the auction listing, but I took a chance and thought what the hell it is .99 cents opening bid.
So I contacted the seller informing him that there is no way that I am willing to pay $11.35 for shipping, and hope that we can work this out. So far he has not responded back but was curious as to what the other members here would think if they were charged this fee?
Jim.

Item link?