What is with ebay?

[jimnohio]

Right. And that's why sellers like you, who have a "business" doing this will offer a separate shipping, and sellers like me who might sell 3-5 things a month, will do it the way I described.

I actually have sold very few model kits on ebay, but I have sold $1000's worth of 1/18 diecast (years back). I usually offered one price shipping back in 01-02. We sold diecast at $8.00 shipping UPS, all added items shipped free. The difference was those items sold for $50-$100, not $10-$20 like kits do.

We have a one price shipping from our model kit site...$6.00! Its all these issues we are discussing that made me believe the best way for our on line store to handle shipping was to go with one price for all. (Foreign orders are another story, obviously.)

When I do go on ebay for buying, I always check the "free shipping" items first. I like that method best of all as a buyer, so your items (wheelman) would be my first view. :-)

Edited October 11, 2010 by jimnohio

[AzTom]

For one kit, in the right size box...we can ship to anywhere USA for max of $5.44 actual cost USPS Priority (not UPS). For 2 or more it varies greatly. For us, this is our way of offering a discount for mulitple purchases. Obvioulsy, when someone orders 4 kits in AZ it costs us more than $6.00 to ship.

UPS is the best rate when the package gets large or over 5 lbs.

I'm not agreeing that it's right to over charge for shipping, but saying you can ship a kit anywhere US for $5.44 is very misleading. You can only do that on a kit 1 lb or less with NO insurance, with insurance it's $7.19. There are very few kits that will ship for 1 lb or less, most kits weigh between 9 to 15 oz without the shipping box. This is based on a calibrated shipping scale, maybe I need to use the bathroom scale

Having a daily pick-up account with UPS, I can usually ship UPS cheaper the Priority Mail on anything over 1 lb.

I'm just saying,

Tom

[jimnohio]

I'm not agreeing that it's right to over charge for shipping, but saying you can ship a kit anywhere US for $5.44 is very misleading. You can only do that on a kit 1 lb or less with NO insurance, with insurance it's $7.19. There are very few kits that will ship for 1 lb or less, most kits weigh between 9 to 15 oz without the shipping box. This is based on a calibrated shipping scale, maybe I need to use the bathroom scale

Having a daily pick-up account with UPS, I can usually ship UPS cheaper the Priority Mail on anything over 1 lb.

I'm just saying,

Tom

I didn't mean to imply that you were overcharging. I have also used UPS in the past, and actually very much like their service. I have never really had a problem with them. I just found that USPS is much cheaper for 1-2 kits in most cases.

USPS priority offers "confirmation" for free. Its not tracking, but it does serve the purpose we need. $50 insurance is included I beleive, regardless...I choose to self insure on most kits. Only the "normal" kits will ship for 1 lb., if you use a box made for them. Our boxes were made just for this purpose, so they are just big enough. Now at 1 lb. the highest rate for us is $5.44 (with our discount). We also have boxes sized for 2 kits, and can ship 2 kits for 2 or 3 lb. rate (depending the kits). One kit is right at 1 lb. in a box, and yes maybe sometimes slightly over (cause I do use a bath scale...J/K). 2 kits require a bigger box (obviously) and will many times go over 2 lbs.

Of the 2000+ kits we sold....ZERO have been lost (UPS or USPS). Not one lost kit...even shipping 100's overseas.

By the way...we use Indicia shipping, they allow 1st Class International shipping, they have a nice shipping log, and the labels will print on our thermal printer. They do not offer UPS from their site though (curiously?). I have been a UPS shipper for 12 years, but no longer have daily pickup as we ship about 6-1 USPS. If you were to ask me, I have no preference.

If all things were equal: USPS travels on the weekend, so I like them for Friday/Saturday shipping. UPS will get to the next state overnight in many cases...so I like them during the week.

Edited to add: You are in AZ, which I bet has very few cities "nearby", where as I am in Cleveland and most of the midwest cities are 1, 2, or 3 zones away. I'd bet its makes a huge difference. LOL...I know its expensive to ship to your state from here! :-)

Edited October 11, 2010 by jimnohio

[jbwelda]

well here is a (common) ebay story from my side:

picked up the revell 32 ford highboy (someone here once called it something like "the best kit ever made"):

for 10$ plus 6$ shipping.

what was the list on this kit? 25$? plus tax if bought in a bricks and mortar place?

there are plenty of great deals on ebay every day, you just have to look for them. and the more people leave over perceived wrongs, the better for the rest of us.

[jimnohio]

well here is a (common) ebay story from my side:

picked up the revell 32 ford highboy (someone here once called it something like "the best kit ever made"):

for 10$ plus 6$ shipping.

what was the list on this kit? 25$? plus tax if bought in a bricks and mortar place?

there are plenty of great deals on ebay every day, you just have to look for them. and the more people leave over perceived wrongs, the better for the rest of us.

That's the right way to list and buy on ebay! $6.00-$8.00 is the right price for shipping! Nice job. There are plenty of sellers who offer items in this manner.

[Greg Cullinan]

I had an odd experience yesterday,I received an email with a paypal request for $5 with a note that read "handling charges not included in final sale".

I initially suspected scam,but curiosity got the bst of me so I replied "vague message what is it in reference to" which in turn netted me a message with a reference to "papal" which I assume was a spelling error,but the message read " I hope I didn't ruin the surprise but Kristy (wife) recently bought a kit"

My name is on the email,paypal,ebay but shipping name is my wires. I'm still thinking scam and I replied"no problem and no surprises just still unsure of transaction,please provide transaction information" . I did not receive a reply so I did a search on my paypal history which I located the transaction on ebay. I bought these two Amt customizing kits for $115 plus $11 shipping.

Now they were advertised as "new and never opened" which thy are open but on sprues and new. And the seller is new. So I don't have a problem with the not as advertised part since it was close and I assume an honest mistake. I just am uncomfortable with asking for money after deal is done .

I've bought from Jim,scaledreams,modelexpress and have been refunded money due to cheaper shipping,also same on ebay a few times.

I don't want to be a jerk or cheap,and feel for the new seller but not sure if I am responsible.

[impcon]

I had an odd experience yesterday,I received an email with a paypal request for $5 with a note that read "handling charges not included in final sale".

I initially suspected scam,but curiosity got the bst of me so I replied "vague message what is it in reference to" which in turn netted me a message with a reference to "papal" which I assume was a spelling error,but the message read " I hope I didn't ruin the surprise but Kristy (wife) recently bought a kit"

My name is on the email,paypal,ebay but shipping name is my wires. I'm still thinking scam and I replied"no problem and no surprises just still unsure of transaction,please provide transaction information" . I did not receive a reply so I did a search on my paypal history which I located the transaction on ebay. I bought these two Amt customizing kits for $115 plus $11 shipping.

Now they were advertised as "new and never opened" which thy are open but on sprues and new. And the seller is new. So I don't have a problem with the not as advertised part since it was close and I assume an honest mistake. I just am uncomfortable with asking for money after deal is done .

I've bought from Jim,scaledreams,modelexpress and have been refunded money due to cheaper shipping,also same on ebay a few times.

I don't want to be a jerk or cheap,and feel for the new seller but not sure if I am responsible.

I don't think thatyou are obligated to pay that and I would be a bit upset if what has happened to you happened to me. I would think that the seller quoted shipping charges in the item description and it is his/her responsibility to see to it that they cover their bases as far as costs go. If you look at the postage charges on the box and then check the amount that the seller charged you, you may find the $5.00 difference. But if the seller is just strying to suck a few extra dollars out of you, then I'd be hesitant to pay that. If I quoted a shipping cost as a seller and found upon shipping that I had somehow made an error and I was out on it, I sure would not hold the buyer responsible or ask him for more money. There were times as a seller when we had to dig into our own pockets and pay extra for shipping - but that is just a part of doing business. It was my mistake - not the buyers. Check the seller's feedback and see if he has done this before. Used to be, you could contact other buyers who had bought from the same seller but like so many other aspects of the site, Ebay screwed that up too. Sometimes in a deal gone sideways, it helped to be able to communicate with other people who had bought from the same person.