New Flea-bay Trend?

[Warren D]

I've been noticing lately that lots of sellers are lowering the buy it now price but their shipping "costs" are thru the roof.  Maybe it has something to do with the fees? Based on selling price, shipping charges exempt from fees?

[MeatMan]

I noticed that as well. I think its just bait & switch, but I'm a bit jaded as far as that site goes.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Yeah, there's some of that going on, but if you shop wisely there are still plenty of smoking hot deals.

There's lots of total ripoffs, too.

[Bucky]

I regularly take a beating on the shipping charges I charge. And eBay just hit me up for $50 worth of "fees". I do mostly auction type listings, so......I ain't gettin' rich over there! LoL I do know the post office is increasing their charges.

[Force]

I don't like the Global Shipping Program ebay uses, the shipping fees are horrendous sometimes and a lot more expensive than regular international shipping.
If I'm interested in a thing for lets say 5 Dollars the shipping with the Global Shipping Program can cost 50-55 Dollars so the total can be 60 Dollars for a 5 Dollar item...totally outrageous and not worth it.
And sometimes they charge 25-30 Dollars shipping for an item you can send in a letter for a few bucks...crazy.

Edited February 1, 2020 by Force

[Warren D]

8 hours ago, Bucky said:

I regularly take a beating on the shipping charges I charge. And eBay just hit me up for $50 worth of "fees". I do mostly auction type listings, so......I ain't gettin' rich over there! LoL I do know the post office is increasing their charges.

I know what shipping costs and I have no problem with paying fair shipping fees.  What I'm seeing is domestic shipping of $50-60 for a 1/25 scale truck kit.  This isn't overnight, either.  Seems to go along with item prices significantly lower than average for the item.

[Tom Geiger]

eBay has charged the same commission they charge for the item for the shipping charges. They have for years, it was in direct response to those trying to avoid paying fees by selling items for a penny with $20 shipping.

The eBay shipping calculator has issues.  It routinely errs on the high side.  Decent sellers will refund the difference.  eBay or Paypal has recently stopped refunding the commission part on refunds.  So if a seller refunds $10 shipping costs, he has still paid the commission on that amount.

The Universal Postal Union has raised international rates so US rates reflect that of the receiving country.  The US rates were a bargain for a long time.  They also have stated that anything containing "merchandise" be sent at parcel rates vs merely being put in an envelope. 

Overall, US postal rates have gone up dramatically  in the past 10 years or so.  Back when eBay started and USPS announced Priority Mail Rate, it was originally $2.99 or $3.99 for up to two pounds.  That made a lot of my eBay sales feasible.  Now postage is way too high to justify a lot of what I once sold.

It's also changed the cost of sending free parts to people from the boards.  I used to never think twice about sending out parts when it cost $1-3 to mail it.  With it costing $6-10  to send a part, I think twice and only send things to people I know! 

[delta99]

Yeah, it's the bait and switch, like meatman said. People hope someone will jump on the low price, not noticing the outrageous shipping cost. You have to look at the shipping cost and add it up. Sometimes it's cheaper to pay more for a kit with someone that has a reasonable shipping cost

[Tom Geiger]

51 minutes ago, delta99 said:

Yeah, it's the bait and switch, like meatman said. People hope someone will jump on the low price, not noticing the outrageous shipping cost. You have to look at the shipping cost and add it up. Sometimes it's cheaper to pay more for a kit with someone that has a reasonable shipping cost

If you pull up a list of the same product on eBay and do so in the order  of "lowest to highest", eBay adds in the shipping cost.  Pretty easy to see the total cost of acquisition.

[maltsr]

6 hours ago, Tom Geiger said:

The Universal Postal Union has raised international rates so US rates reflect that of the receiving country.

And yet shipping from Japan to here in New Zealand is far cheaper than from the US.  I have all but stopped buying kits from the US, preferring to buy from the Far East or Europe.

Edited February 2, 2020 by maltsr

[Fat Brian]

Part of it is the ebay shipping calculator. I sold the big Can Do/Will Do wrecker a while ago and the calculator put the shipping at over $50. Actual shipping was just over $20 and the buyer got a nice refund. 

[Mike999]

5 hours ago, Fat Brian said:

Part of it is the ebay shipping calculator.

Yeah, that thing is awful. When selling I always double-check it.  Like you said, it always goes for the highest shipping price and its calculations sometimes seem to come from outer space.

My biggest headache is still the buyers who win multiple items. My listings always say:  "Do NOT "Pay Now" if you win more than one auction. Wait for me to send you an invoice and I will combine shipping."  But some people still hit the "Pay Now" button and get charged shipping on each of their wins.  Then they message me and gripe about the high shipping cost.  Good grief, read the listing, buyers!

When that happens, I always refund the excess shipping. 

[359 Germany]

There are some jokers on E-bay that seem to make a business out of shipping charges...there is a US guy who has a decal sheet I was interested in, just decals! 12$ he wanted...and 46$ shipping to Germany! I asked his if he could not just mail the decals as a letter...he said "I don't do just letter shipping"...so I thought F...k O.f... ?

cheers

Uwe

[phoneguy]

11 hours ago, 359 Germany said:

There are some jokers on E-bay that seem to make a business out of shipping charges...there is a US guy who has a decal sheet I was interested in, just decals! 12$ he wanted...and 46$ shipping to Germany! I asked his if he could not just mail the decals as a letter...he said "I don't do just letter shipping"...so I thought F...k O.f... ?

cheers

Uwe

I ship all over the world and no where for that amount. I guess it's a good thing I'm not on ebay.

[Dave Van]

If you sell you know postal rates have gone through the roof!!!!

I sell a lot of decals. A 6 x 9 envelope cost $1 to send 5 years ago.....now $3+ to get the ebay required tracking. 

Kit shipping is even higher. I went from always having 30+ listings to ZERO...part due to postage....part due to the huge chunk ebay and paypal take. 

[vamach1]

18 minutes ago, Dave Van said:

If you sell you know postal rates have gone through the roof!!!!

I sell a lot of decals. A 6 x 9 envelope cost $1 to send 5 years ago.....now $3+ to get the ebay required tracking. 

Kit shipping is even higher. I went from always having 30+ listings to ZERO...part due to postage....part due to the huge chunk ebay and paypal take. 

Good thing we have some sensible people on the forum.  I have mailed decals to forum members (if I have an extra one) and I use a Forever stamp and regulr envelope.  It's nice to help someout out and maybe someone will return the favor.

[Bennyg]

On 2/1/2020 at 10:43 AM, Warren D said:

I've been noticing lately that lots of sellers are lowering the buy it now price but their shipping "costs" are thru the roof.  Maybe it has something to do with the fees? Based on selling price, shipping charges exempt from fees?

The shipping costs have definitely gone up. I’ve been selling things recently and sometimes the postage is more than the item.

Ben