On Thu, 13 Feb 2003, Frank Arnold wrote:
cctech-request(a)classiccmp.org schrieb am 12.02.2003:
I purchased
mine for the starting bid of $10, but they then charged me $10
more for shipping (actual shipping was $4.30), making for an expensive key.
Thats a general problem on Ebay, seller tend to cover their listing-costs into
the "shipping" or "handling" fees they charge. Your only chance to
make this
clear is a mail to the seller on this before you bid. Make clear that you will
only bid if the seller follows the rates of e.g. USPS or some other
shippingcompany. Then you have the choice to take or to leave it.
Not to smack anybody personally, but I see this objection a lot, and
it is sort of irritating.
I don't sell much on ebay, but I do trade and sell a lot of parts.
If I'm a low-volume shipper, and I'm selling something *for a profit*,
$10 S&H is about what it would cost to mail a key. Even if I'm making a
trip to the post office anyway, and using free USPS boxes, the time
spent packaging the item, making labels, and getting to the counter to
pay postage takes a considerable amount of time. My time, especially
during business hours, is expensive. I charge for it. That's the
"handling" part....
I simply factor in the listed S&H as part of the eBay price. If it's
too high, I don't bid. If it's not specified, I don't bid till I've
asked the seller. It's not rocket science. It's also really
presumptuous for me to decide what constitutes reasonable compensation
for someone else's time and trouble.
Doc