1972coronet Posted July 17, 2017 Share Posted July 17, 2017 As I've been perusing eBay , I've perchanced to notice that quite a few sellers are charging shipping charges that are 90% plus of the actual product's price ! For example ( hypothetical , of course ) "1978 Monaco Police Car by MPC . $20.00 Buy It Now . $17.00 Shipping .WHAT ?????Someone please explain this to me . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CometMan Posted July 17, 2017 Share Posted July 17, 2017 Most kit I get from actual hobby stores are shipped for $8-$9. Some sellers (not only on eBay) want to charge for everything. Including their time and gas to go to the post office,etc., and call it a "handling" charge. (similar to the "processing fee" they charge for those things that are advertised on TV) Also, I don't believe that eBay or PayPal can take a cut of the shipping charge, so if the seller low-balls the price of the item, but inflates the shipping and handling, they make out better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toner283 Posted July 17, 2017 Share Posted July 17, 2017 Most kit I get from actual hobby stores are shipped for $8-$9. Some sellers (not only on eBay) want to charge for everything. Including their time and gas to go to the post office,etc., and call it a "handling" charge. (similar to the "processing fee" they charge for those things that are advertised on TV) Also, I don't believe that eBay or PayPal can take a cut of the shipping charge, so if the seller low-balls the price of the item, but inflates the shipping and handling, they make out better.And if they have it openly and clearly posted that shipping for an item is XX dollars, and you bid on the item or click buy it now, you are on the hook for the shipping amount shown in the auction.Friend of mine learned that the hard way. He was excited to buy one of those mini pocket motorcycles when he won an auction for something like $5.75 until he got the invoice with $600.00 in shipping tacked on. He filed a dispute and was basically told by ebay too bad, you should have read the whole listing. The shipping price was clearly listed and you are responsible for paying it. Expensive lesson. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roncla Posted July 17, 2017 Share Posted July 17, 2017 Living down here at the ends of the earth some of the Ebay shipping charges can be out of all proportion to reality. I've always wondered how some of these listings arrive at their charge.I'm wondering if they are using some kind of automatic calculator that just spits out a random number and thats what they use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eastown Posted July 17, 2017 Share Posted July 17, 2017 Simple greed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike999 Posted July 17, 2017 Share Posted July 17, 2017 ...Also, I don't believe that eBay or PayPal can take a cut of the shipping charge, so if the seller low-balls the price of the item, but inflates the shipping and handling, they make out better.Sure they do. Just do a search on "ebay final value fee on shipping." The link below is to a recent article about it. eBay and Etsy both take a cut of any shipping used at their own sites. Which is sort of fair, I guess, since they buy shipping at discounted rates, then take a cut when you use that service. But AFAIK, eBay takes a Final Value Fee cut on EVERY shipping transaction, whether you use their shipping or not. One reason for that was to stop inflated "shipping and handling" charges. But eBay's official reason was to encourage sellers to offer free shipping. http://www.ecommercebytes.com/C/blog/blog.pl?/comments/2017/2/1487475008.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobraman Posted July 17, 2017 Share Posted July 17, 2017 Shipping charges are without a doubt the biggest reason I may pass on buying something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gtx6970 Posted July 17, 2017 Share Posted July 17, 2017 Ive priced several kits postage costs using the USPS online website.Postage is getting crazy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikemodeler Posted July 17, 2017 Share Posted July 17, 2017 I have yet to buy on eBay and one of the reasons is the shipping charges. Why can Tower Hobbies or Modelroundup ship to me several kits for around $10 and someone I don't know on eBay justify $15 or more for one kit? Tower Hobbies and Modelroundup have a lot more overhead than someone selling out of their basement on eBay but yet they are more reasonable. Yes, there could be some economic advantages of buying shipping materials in bulk but then you have the labor cost and carrying cost versus someone going to the post office and using one of their boxes.I recently sold off nearly 70 model kits to one person. At face value, I got a decent price for my kits but after boxing them up and taking them to the UPS store to ship, it cost me $2 per kit to ship them. I am not complaining, but I can understand how it adds up when shipping is involved and yes, I had an interested party locally that wanted to buy the kits and save me shipping. I also had someone offer to buy the kits and if I had shipped them, would have spent more in shipping than what I would have received for the kits themselves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyjim Posted July 17, 2017 Share Posted July 17, 2017 It's pretty simple to message the seller and request realistic shipping. If they don't comply, I don't buy. There's nobody out there forcing anyone to buy a particular item. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Haigwood Posted July 17, 2017 Share Posted July 17, 2017 One of the reasons I use the "price+shipping lowest first" search feature.High shipping just insures the seller they will get what the want no matter how low the winning bid is.Buyer Beware Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iBorg Posted July 17, 2017 Share Posted July 17, 2017 Ebay has combined shipping charges with the final value for several years. Ebay also forces sellers (strongly encourage) to use either free shipping or a fixed shipping charge. Depending on where you're located this is practical. For example if you're in the middle of the country, this works. If you're on the coast, the post adds distance to weight. The end result I can ship three states away for one fee but killed shipping to the other coast. Large shippers get discounts based upon volume. I bet Tower ships more in a day than I will in two lifetimes. Therefore, they get a lot better price.I agree shipping charges are a factor......I've passed on a lot of five or ten dollar items due to $20 shipping. I understand why the shipping is so high, I just chose not to pay it. Very few things in hobbies do I NEED, just want. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace-Garageguy Posted July 17, 2017 Share Posted July 17, 2017 (edited) Since I usually only buy stuff off of Ebay that's unobtainable anywhere else, I just figure the shipping cost as part of what I HAVE to pay to get what I want.Like the man said, nobody is forcing anybody to buy anything, and with careful shopping for the best total price on non-one-of-a-kind items, you can usually do pretty well pricewise.And I really don't mind somebody making a few extra bucks for packing something carefully. It's a PITA to do it right, and I don't expect anything for nothing (which is why my Photobucket images still work, for the time being anyway). Edited July 17, 2017 by Ace-Garageguy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brett Barrow Posted July 17, 2017 Share Posted July 17, 2017 (edited) If if were $30 with $7 shipping, would it make a difference? Subconsciously it does. People don't factor in shipping when shopping online for some reason. I see it everyday at work. Or he could be using a shipping calculator and that just what it costs. FedEx or UPS a good distance across the country $17 wouldn't be out of the question. Edited July 17, 2017 by Brett Barrow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martinfan5 Posted July 17, 2017 Share Posted July 17, 2017 I have yet to buy on eBay and one of the reasons is the shipping charges. Why can Tower Hobbies or Modelroundup ship to me several kits for around $10 and someone I don't know on eBay justify $15 or more for one kit? Tower Hobbies and Modelroundup have a lot more overhead than someone selling out of their basement on eBay but yet they are more reasonable. Yes, there could be some economic advantages of buying shipping materials in bulk but then you have the labor cost and carrying cost versus someone going to the post office and using one of their boxes. Tower can offer the shipping prices they do because they have an agreement with UPS, something that not every Ebay seller can do, so there is a reason why Tower or ModelRound up can ship you several kits for $10 but a seller on Ebay cant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1972coronet Posted July 18, 2017 Author Share Posted July 18, 2017 Thanks , one and all , for your replies . I realise that packaging and shipping (in the physical sense) can be a PITA ; what I don't get is ridiculous shipping for a normal package (e.g. , a typical box for a 1/25 scale kit whose value isn't excessive due to its rarity / desirability ) . I also have no problem with someone wanting / needing to profit from their end of the deal ... gouging , however , is another deal all-together .I always weigh (no pun intended) shipping & handling cost(s) into my decision to purchase ( or to simply pass item "x" over ) . It certainly is a psychological "issue" ; I'd rather pay a little more for said item than pay outrageous shipping & handling costs on an equal-but-less-expensive kit ( or what-ever ) .Now , if I'm buying a kit that's rare and / or expensive , I want to be as certain as I can that it will be packaged like it's got a Rembrandt inside ! Thanks again , guys , for your thoughts and opinions . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikemodeler Posted July 18, 2017 Share Posted July 18, 2017 Tower can offer the shipping prices they do because they have an agreement with UPS, something that not every Ebay seller can do, so there is a reason why Tower or ModelRound up can ship you several kits for $10 but a seller on Ebay cant. Yes, that is true, but they have higher costs associated with purchasing shipping supplies and carrying the cost vs. the guy who uses a Priority box from the USPS and maybe $1.00 of tape.Bottom line is that some eBay sellers use shipping as a means to generate more revenue as their eBay fees have risen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martinfan5 Posted July 18, 2017 Share Posted July 18, 2017 (edited) Yes, that is true, but they have higher costs associated with purchasing shipping supplies and carrying the cost vs. the guy who uses a Priority box from the USPS and maybe $1.00 of tape.Bottom line is that some eBay sellers use shipping as a means to generate more revenue as their eBay fees have risen.Oh sure they do, and you know what, just avoid those sellers, its really easy to do, and since you are probably not after a one of a kind item, you are probably going to have a few different sellers offering the item you want( I understand for rare items in the hobby not always).Really, its already been suggested, but the best thing to do is price+shipping the lowest, I do it every time. Edited July 18, 2017 by martinfan5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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