Model Railroading > Crazy shipping costs

Was out on that auction site and noticed that 1 seller had a decoder for sale at 9.00 something but wanted 12.95 to ship it. Do these people think that is is okay to charge more than the product is worth. Just my thought.While I am at it. I wish people would be more specific about the locations, where pictures or areas they are talking about, are.The area should include the state. Enough for today. Will also post on the Western Railroads page.

Not defending the seller, because some are rediculous.  But E-bay is responsible for this type of thing, since they take a portion of the shipping amount seelers over charge
for shipping so they can cover the actual cost of shipping.

I think Ebay did this to fight sellers who were overcharging for shipping to try and make back the fees Ebay charged to sell items.  Why they didn't just ask buyers to turn in
sellers that did this and then punish them instead of everyone else is beyond me.  Well not really I've have to assume the 5-10% Ebay takes from shipping props up the profit
margin for them quite a bit.

Kris

Some of the shipping charges are crazy.  I was selling quite a bit of stuff, and doing it online I ended up with some really high prices.

Ended up just doing postal service "It Fits, It Ships" boxes, as most would fit in that, and a flat fee.  But a decoder N/HO should fit in a small $5.95 box without a problem, even with bubble wrap, etc.  Plus, if you print your own postage you can get it down around $5.25

M
 

A normal decoder will fit in a small bubblewrap mailer with a cardboard insert to prevent bending. Fifty cents for the mailer and a dollar for the FC postage.
First Class packages now include a tracking number and get there as fast as priority mail.
 

KATO wants a fortune for shipping from their parts site, which is why I recently decided not to buy a car...
USPS has those great 5 buck boxes which are a bargain...

Bill Deaver
Tehachapi, CA



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/25/15 22:08 by MojaveBill.

Some people, especially the Online Stores that sell on that auction site feel like Shipping and Handling (time spent packing and material) have to be figured in the cost. They may actually be paying someone to do the packing.  If you are doing it as an individual with time to spare you can eat the time costs. The best punishment is not to buy the item or grit and pay it. If it looks like you are being over charged..buy elsewhere.
Roger Beckett

Recent case of an Athearn boxcar - $10.25 winning bid and shipping USPS to UK $47.00 then figure in customs charges and VAT which is charged on the postage too - if you wonder why UK buyers are buying less - that is it!  Yes, Postal charges have gone up but not to that extent

Just a guess, but $12.95 sounds like a medium flat rate box. 

Many people overpack. Because if your decoder gets damaged, who is on the hook with ebay? The seller. 

It seems that the bottom line is here, if the shipping, or the item is priced too high instead of getting all wound up about that fact pass on the item. There are more to select from no diffrent than going shopping in a store, dont like the price go where you do. I buy off of ebay qute often and have good luck doing it the way I discribed. Seems this is a common thread in buying on line have seen it here before nothing new.

shortliner Wrote:
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> Recent case of an Athearn boxcar - $10.25 winning
> bid and shipping USPS to UK $47.00 then figure
> in customs charges and VAT which is charged on
> the postage too - if you wonder why UK buyers are
> buying less - that is it!  Yes, Postal charges
> have gone up but not to that extent

Actually, according to the USPS website, thats about right. 

Ebay is so slanted towards the "buyer" that the seller has to protect themselves by overpacking (read larger box), tracking, and reasonable shipping transit times. 

Best advice was, Dont buy, The low price , High Shipping has been used to hook people who dont read the auction then complain. You did the right thing, Read and decide.
BUT EBAY taking a fee on shipping and everything is causing sellers to recover the fee.  IMHO  anything that I can sellthat would be  less than $5 cant be listed due to fees and shipping costs. As pointed out when shipping cost exceed the item value by a X number people dont buy.   I agree that ebay is all BUYER, the seller has no rights.  I had to stop refunds on books and DVD's as I had people wanting to return the item,, After they read it or watched it,.. Really I expect that in baseball cards but railroader buyers used to be the most honest. but times have changed. Even had a engine come back, I spent weeks trying to prove to ebay that eng #4 was sent and he returned eng #5... photos and all yet ebay granted the return and guess what The engine did not work. So now no returns on engines all are checked before leaving. as a follow  up had a friend I met at a steam chase and he went to they guys house and got me a refund... dont know how he did it but I am sure it was a great story. Guy must have thought being 500 miles away made it ok to rip me off.  and later he dropped out of ebay. ..
and FEEDBACK??  well you cant leave negitive for guys like that or the book returners, or the guys who take 2 weeks to pay... But Buyers can give you low marks without any evidence.
rather sell on TO. better buyers.
all done.
back to 765 chasing

When you win the item or items at auction end or with the buy it now option, don't pay right away. The initial shipping is calculated by ebay, ask the seller for an invoice. Sellers will combine shipping for multible items.

The freight charge for the original poster does seem high for a decoder.

Most sellers on ebay want to try to at least reach the Power Seller level as this gives sellers discounts on the ebay commissions. In order for a seller to acheive the Power Seller level certain thresholds must be met. One is that items sold must be shipped within one business day of payment. In order to prove this has been met, the item must ship in a trackable method. For items that sell at a low cost the shipping can exceed the selling price in order for the seller to jump thru this hoop of the Power Seller level.

99% of the buyers that I have dealt with have been honest. The 1% that are dishonest do cause issues for the rest. Most of the model railroad items fit in the USPS Priority Boxes given freely by the Post Office. I only have to purchase the packing peanuts and tape which are realitvely low, so I add an additional $1 per package over the actual freight cost as a form of insurance on each package to cover the dishonest buyers.

The earlier poster stating that ebay is all about the buyer is correct. I ship international and have had only 1 case where I was burned. It was an Atlas locomotive to Mexico. Buyer stated he never received loco. I had documentation tracking the package to the first Mexican post office, however no further tracking was available as Mexico is one of the countries that is not trackable after it leaves the USPS service. For my lisitngs, Mexico is now one of the countries I do not allow bids from(other countries are the ones that do not have tracking after it leave USPS).

The Mexican(as well as a few other countries) nontrackable issue sets up a perfect situation for buyers from that country to never have to pay for their ebay purchased items. Receive the item, file a none received claim and nothing is ever done from the ebay end except force sellers to give the buyer the locomotive and his money back too. In my small effort to fight this, I filed a complaint with ebay against the buyer which forced ebay to at least see if this buyer had tried the none receipt claim before, however because of privacy issues ebay would not provide info to me about the investigation.

There must be a large number of modelers of the US prototypes in Australia and New Zealand as these countries represent a large portion of my international sells. I have never had an issue with any shipments to these countries.

Jay

BTW, I have often wondered what the loss rate is for the sellers of slides on ebay. Most ship via regular 1st class postage with no tracking. I have purchased over a thousand slides on ebay over the years. I have only had one envelope arrive with damage and no slide inslide. Their percentage of loss may be a true percentage of loss for ebay sellers from shipment issues and dishonest buyers.

Lets see, as a potential seller, my time has value, fuel to and from the PO and other stores to get supplies, insurance, if I don't drop off at PO waiting on them to pick it up that is a delay when I might be doing something else.    Maybe you want it UPS instead of PO?  This all takes time and resources?  maybe the PO hours are not covienent with my work schedule or it is too far away?  These all factor into what the shipping cost is.  Price packing supplies sometime as a small shipper.  Gas at say $2.50 a gal,  Distance to PO is 10 mile car gets 20 MPG, that is $2.50 for your item if it is the only one, for the rational seller that has to factor into the equation somewhere.  EBay and Paypal fees etc.

GLC Wrote:
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> Lets see, as a potential seller, my time has
> value, fuel to and from the PO and other stores to
> get supplies, insurance, if I don't drop off at PO
> waiting on them to pick it up that is a delay when
> I might be doing something else.    Maybe you
> want it UPS instead of PO?  This all takes time
> and resources?  maybe the PO hours are not
> covienent with my work schedule or it is too far
> away?  These all factor into what the shipping
> cost is.  Price packing supplies sometime as a
> small shipper.  Gas at say $2.50 a gal, 
> Distance to PO is 10 mile car gets 20 MPG, that is
> $2.50 for your item if it is the only one, for the
> rational seller that has to factor into the
> equation somewhere.  EBay and Paypal fees etc.

In all fairness, that "overhead" should be factored in when you sell the item. 

Also, USPS will pick up the packages, and let you print postage at home. 

 

To give a fair and accurate shipping cost  for items that will not fit in a flat rate box, I take the photos, then I properly pack, measure, and weigh it and pick an LA zip code (I'm in upstate NY) to get a price. I then list that as the shipping cost.  Surprising how accurate this is.  If the buyer lives much closer and the price difference is greater than a buck, I issue a refund.  As a frequent buyer I appreciate honesty in charges for shipping.

Peter