I know quite a few of you buy & sell stuff on eBay, so I thought this might be a good place to ask.

For my example, I'll use a playstation 1 game that costs about $6 to ship.

Now let's say I see one listed there, but the seller advertises his shipping rate as $40 (a blatantly huge amount)

Would it be considered poor form, or poor EBay etiquette to send the guy a question and say "Hey, I'm thinking about buying your item using the "buy it now" but would you be willing to charge a more reasonable shipping fee?"

I've had this situation come up in the past, but never wrote the guy, I figure he has his price set for a reason, and basically it's a "take it or leave it" proposition.
My buddy however said he always asks the guy if he would lower shipping.

What do you guys think?

I almost bid on Season's 1-4 of the series "Las Vegas" on DVD. I was planning on buying it as a Christmas present for a friend, but the seller had his shipping charges set at $80.
This is when I thought about asking him if he could offer a more reasonable shipping charge, but I decided against it.

What do you guys think? Would you guys as sellers be offended if someone asked for a better shipping rate, or would you oblige depending on your mood?

I'm not opposed to paying a shipping and handling fee. I understand the person must drive to the post office, package it, send it off, that all takes money and time beyond just the actual shipping charge, but I think some guys really try to gouge people as well.

Ebay has been a fun and pleasant experience so far.
I've sold my boat, RV on there and maybe bought 5 or 6 small items, and the people I've dealt with have all been excellent, but I don't really know all the ins and outs yet.

I have been thinking about sellling my record collection (individually) on there, but I think you need to have a lot of feedback before people will buy from you, so I'm waiting.
I think I only have 8 right now with 100% positive, but hardly enough to be a seller.

Regards
H

 

There's never a problem with asking a question. I've done the same many times. Sometimes the seller doesn't even know they have shipping charges listed that high and they quote me a proper price.
Some sellers on the other hand are simply gouging on shipping. In those circumstances I usually give them a little piece of my mind and wish them luck in ever selling their item to a Canuck, if they come back to me with a ridiculous price.
Nowadays, when I see a shipping price that's way outta whack, I simply move on to another seller although I realize that's easier said than done when you want a certain item. Patience is a virtue when it comes to eBay. I've gotten some pretty damn good deals though, and a lot of them have been very recent purchases.

 

I believe people do that because Ebay charges are based on sale price..... a high shipping charge puts more $$ in the seller's pocket - you need to look at the total price and decide whether the item is worth it to you or not.....

 

Ebay just gets it through Paypal anyway. It's a double bang since eBay owns Paypal. You're correct though. Sell an item for .99 and charge 10 bux for shipping. If it's a small ticket item you have to figure out if it's worth it.

 

that's the way we do our auctions most of the time. if you own an ebay store you'll understand. now, you can also, at the bottom of the auction, there's a link that says report to ebay. you can report the item for having outlandish shipping charges.

btw, total % of ebay fee's + paypal fee's usually add's up to about 10% of the buy it now price, so keep that in mind. and you're right, ebay doesn't charge for shipping.

 

I've always wondered why some things sell for 0.99 and ship for 9.99 and all they use is an envelope and stamp. Thanks crash_lucky.
I always just look at the total cost and then decide if it's worth it to me. If not I just keep looking or wait.

 

i'm actually working on an e-book about ebay right now. don't JUST look at pricing... look at sellers feedback. and don't just go by %, actually READ the feedback.

Also, if there is a number on there to contact the seller, call them. see if they can do over the phone transactions using paypal for a discount (gets them away from paying 6% ebay fees)

another thing, read the business policies and make SURE you read the ad COMPLETELY.

 

Crash,

Suppose I buy items from you a couple of times on ebay.
The next time I decide to buy from you (once we build up a rapport and trust) must we still use ebay to facilitate the transactions, or can I buy directly from you.
Meaning.... you send me a note and say "hey, I just picked up these new items, but I havnt listed them, are you interested in them before I list them on ebay?"

That way you can cut me a better deal since there's no insertion fees, seller fees, or paypal fees (If I just sned you the money direct)

Does that go against any rules or is this acceptable?

Thanks
H

 

That's one thing I always do. It's suprising what some buyers will moan about and give a negative feedback for. I was looking at something yesterday and checked the sellers feedback because he had some negatives. The first few were because shipping took too long on items that were purchased two days before Christmas and arrived New Years Eve. geez, ya think?

I went ahead and made my purchase anyways despite the warnings from said buyers.

 

[QUOTE=Larry227][QUOTE=crash_lucky13]i'm actually working on an e-book about ebay right now. don't JUST look at pricing... look at sellers feedback. and don't just go by %, actually READ the feedback. I bought some stuff also 2 days before Christmas and still havnt received it, but I'm giving til 3rd week in Jan before I make inquiries.
Customs holds things back for a few extra days, as well as like you said, you still have the remaining christmas rush of mail to deal with.

 

This is the reason why sellers do that. That's what you call someone being so tight they squeak.

 

we actually prefer NOT to use ebay if possible. shoot, over the phone sales (people just calling in and ordering stuff and we dropship it to them) normally amounts to at least $8k a day.
and yes, normally we give what's called an over the phone discount. we try to make it as secure as possible. we even do paypal over the phone (all you have to do is give us your paypal email address and we'll send a request for the money)

if you worried about your item, contact the seller. he DOES have YOUR money. paypal really though is the only way to go if you are buying off ebay. 90% of the time, paypal sides with the buyer (EXCEPT if there is a tracking number showing the item was delivered)

 

one other thing thats a LITTLE off subject, if you are going to sell on ebay, make sure you are VERY accurate and informative. here's a good example (and yes it is mine and no i am NOT trying to sell this on here)

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=260202054240