Topic: WTF is going on with postal (shipping )prices in the USA these days

[neil young]

its really starting to piss me off.i win 4 carb boots on ebay used by the way for $10.00.i receive the invoice and it is for $49.00 ($39.00)to ship #$%*ing 4 pieces of rubber with metal bands.this is some kind of a joke i think.so i email the seller who tells me that to ship internationally is $39.00.then today i receive an email from a sohc member who i bought a tank from and its $60.00 to ship.WTF?internationally i live in Canada not #$%*ing Europe.last year i bought a seat and had it shipped for $18.00.so what has happened in less than a year to warrant this BS.anyway i cant see to many people from Canada or overseas buying things on ebay for to much longer.I'm done with it.ill search every scrapyard in and around my neck of the woods from now on when i need something.so is it the postal service deciding to screw  people because they see the potential with ebay or is it ebay telling people to up there shipping costs.the gentleman on this site seemed quite upset about the costs,a tank i can see being a little expensive to ship but not rubber and gear clamps.outrageous. @#$%*&%

[upperlake04]

Neil - are those shipping costs what the seller requires or the actual USPS mailing charges?   Some sellers  pad their shipping/handling charges to make up for occasional low selling prices.  Before bidding, always email the seller and get a quote for those charges to your postal code. Been there

[Sam Green Racing]

Neil, do as Dave says, check the postage cost with the seller before bidding.

If a seller quotes you a shipping price then it says different on the parcel, the seller will be pocketing the difference and wants his but kicking.

Sam.

[dustyc]

The Post Office probably looked at the profit margin shrinking with the cost of gas more than tripling in the last few years.

I think you can thank the oil companies.

I've shipped a couple packages to England recently and they were both $38. 

[Sam Green Racing]

I don't think normal prices are the issue here, they only go up when you mention Canada

Sam.

[neil young]

I don't think normal prices are the issue here, they only go up when you mention Canada

Sam.

[Raul CB750K1]

In a rough calculation, 80-90% of my more than 500 ebay purchases, I have ended up paying more for shipping than for the article itself. I have paid actual shipping charges -many times-, less than it -a few times by a seller mistake-, a little more to cover packing, gas to the PO -most of the times- and have been ripped off a few times, most of them with my knowledge because I have ended up knowing roughly how much would the shipping cost.


I always try to buy on the grounds that the article must be interesting to buy if, combined with the shipping charges, it is cheaper than ordering a new part and going downtown to pick it up -considering also the used-vs-new factor-.


As a seller, I understand that it pisses to sell something at less than 5 bucks, because then it is not even worth the effort to take the pics, write the description and pay the fees, so in those cases I always pay a minimum 5 bucks price to encourage sellers to continue selling instead of throwing the things away.

[mark]

$39 sounds a bit high. Your seller seems to be rather generous with his 'handling' charge. Thank paypal for a chunk of that as well - their requirement for 'package tracking' rules out the cheap option(first class). First class mail would be $10-12, flat rate priority box about $25 .
Personally, I would not bid without knowing what the shipping charge is.

oh well.

[neil young]

from now on if i need something (and i better need it very badly)i will ask the seller pre buy.i have not before because up until recently shipping was somewhat reasonable.but the last three items i have purchased have had really stupid amounts tacked on for shipping.give me a break.$39.00 to Toronto from two states south of the border.his reply was.quote...if you live outside the USA that is all that is available...unquote.I'm phoning around to various post offices in the states to check this crap out.the first person to shaft me responded with.you Canadians cry to much.

[mcpuffett]

My 2 cents  , i have sold quite a few parts to the USA & Canada & what i usually do is package everything up toddle off to the post office get a quote and then send the interested person the correct amount then everyones happy  , cheers mick.

[tbone]

Most times it's the sellers and not the shipper.
I had one ebay seller (using that term loosely)
tell me, "hey I got to get paid for packing it up
and driving to the post office you know"! 
Many ebay "sellers" are simply rude, ignorant,
lazy buttholes! 

[Helo229]

I can understand people padding their prices in the area of $5 to cover the packaging, drive to the post, and the antagonizing 20 minutes they stand in line while the geriatric (with proper apologies to any geriatrics who may happen to be reading this ) in front of you gabs, buys stands, writes addresses on 20 envelopes, and then mails them.

But all in all, eBay has become wayyy to commercialized anymore. It was great when people would just put up some stuff lying around their house/garage they didn't want anymore, but now you have all these jerkoffs who do NOTHING BUT sell on eBay. It makes me sick to drive down the road and pass signs for stores who do nothing put sell items on eBay for people, because you know those are the ones jacking all the prices up 20-50% just so they can pay rent on their buildings, when the whole process is redundantly simple and the average village idiot could put their own listing up in 10 minutes. ARGH..

And then, on top of that, you have these other companies out there who make/import the product, pay people to post the stuff for them from their homes, and then ship it from China/Taiwan direct to customer from warehouse who jack up their prices to pay for hidden international shipping and the extra middleman joe blow who sits around the house all day in their underware complaining about the declining economy while the rest of us are out working at real jobs!

Sorry, don't mean to rant, but I do alot of internet purchases myself and find myself getting just as frustrated as you with the whole process. Hopefully if I've done nothing else I've made a few of you chuckle.

[upperlake04]

...you Canadians cry to much...

       damn Canadians, no wonder nobody likes you guys 

[Raul CB750K1]

...you Canadians cry to much...

       damn Canadians, no wonder nobody likes you guys 

Everybody speaks the money language. Only once did a seller refuse to sell me. Even when they sell only in the US, if I win the item, and pay quickly nobody has ever complained. In many cases the sellers don't want to travel twice to the Post Office, so they charge a little more just not to fall short. What I do is ALWAYS write down how much I pay for shipping for every article, and when I get it, I crosscheck with the stamp. I normally accept 3-5 bucks as "fee", but if it is more than it, I contact the seller, explain the situation, and ask for a refund on the excess. 99% of them refunded me the excess; 1 % didn't, and even when I wanted to give negative feedback, I wouldn't get my money back and I would get a negative vote, so I just didn't vote at all. In my experience, if you want something, buy it and discuss the shipping price later. Everybody have access to usps.com, so you can always know how much shipping is. If the seller still wants to rip you off with postage, you can always tell him to put the article up his a$$ and exchange negative feedback BEFORE the money has left your pocket. The outcome is the same but you get the winning hand, not him. If you ask the shipping before bidding, you are giving a hint you are interested, so the seller can ask a friend to jack up the price, and he can always give you an inflated price, so by buying it you are accepting the ripoff.

[nickjtc]

What Raul says, ditto!!

[Gordon]

his reply was.quote...if you live outside the USA that is all that is available...unquote.I'm phoning around to various post offices in the states to check this crap out..

He's not saying that's the only rate available from the Post Office.  He's saying that's the only shipping charge that's available from HIM to send the item to Canada. 

"Shipping Charges" and "Postage" are two different things. 

[GroovieGhoulie]

even when I wanted to give negative feedback, I wouldn't get my money back and I would get a negative vote, so I just didn't vote at all.

I found a way around this.

You can leave feedback up to 90 days after an auction closes, even though it falls off your "My eBay" Tracker after 60 days.  After 90 days, the auction "expires" and no one can leave feedback for that transaction.  What I do is bookmark the link to the original auction, or write down the auction number.  Then I forecast out 90 days to the second that the auction closed.  Then I set a reminder on my Google Calendar to e-mail me on the last day.  Then I wait until it gets close, synchronize my watch to the ending time, enter the Negative Feedback, and in the last two or three seconds, I hit "Submit".

BOOM!  Left Negative Feedback and I am untouchable.  They CANNOT leave me feedback of any kind due to the auction "expiring". 

I only reserve this for transactions that have gone REALLY sour, but it IS a fool-proof technique.

[Uncle Ernie]

I've been selling stuff out of my garage lately (cursethedarkness).  eBay pulled an auction of mine for evading eBay costs and fees- namely, I told bidders I wouldn't accept Paypal unless they added 3% to the total.  eBay TOLD me to build my costs into the auction.  Well, the only way i can see to do that is pad the shipping.  So- after I weigh the total package, I try to figure what the item might go for and add in $3.00, maybe up to $5.00.  Plus, eBay's fees have gone up a lot, too. I'm waiting for an alternative to eBay to come along.

I always get POd when it's obvious a seller is making too much
on "postage"- so I won't bid on that item.  My wife is a junker. Her motto is, "If something is going too high, another will come along".  Just depends on how big of a hurry you're in (well- except for Faberge items).

[Helo229]

    For international shipping, the only way a tracking number can be had through USPS is through Express Mail and it is not cheap. Some sellers only ship international through Express mail because the tracking number proves that an item has been shipped. With the proof, this keeps them from getting a paypal charge back and and when it happens, the seller is out of the item and the $$ for the item. A tracking number keeps this from happening.
 DG

True, but if the buyer is that worried about getting burned for a chargeback, they can always go DHL, FedEx, UPS, etc, etc. What I don't like are the people who set up the auction using USPS Express rates and then DHL the thing at half the price.

[Raul CB750K1]

I have experienced more resilience lately when it comes to international shipping, because sellers feel uneasy once the box leave US borders. Nobody knows how the other country postal service works, and if they lose the box, the buyer would complain and cause a lot of trouble to the seller asking for either the article or the refund. I hate to pay Express mail so when sellers say that's the way to go, if they have good feedback -as I do- I tell them to go regular USPS and I will run the risk of it being lost, and would not complain if it does. Haven't had any issue yet.


Regarding the 90-day retaliatory feedback, in a couple of occasions I have felt like doing it, but normally after 30 days my rage is gone, and I don't feel like if those aresholes are worth my time, so I just let them go with the hope that global Karma will take care of them in the future.

[hahnda]

USPS did away with international surface shipping in April or May. Everything has to be shipped by air now. Flat rate boxes shipped internationally cost $37 I think and $23 to Canada.  20 pounds of stuff can be in those boxes, it just has to fit. I use that option when it works out to our advantage. I recently shipped 60 pounds to New Zealand and it was $300.

[upperlake04]

 

..and $23 to Canada.  20 pounds of stuff can be in those boxes..

  Thats OK.  Yesterday my son received a cowboy collar from Michigan that he won on eBay. It was sent USPS Airmail, in a box 14"x16"x 6" which weighed 1.3 lbs. and had a USPS postage stamp for $5.56.
  I was quoted $26.00 for shipping to send an ignition switch from Wisconsin to here in western Canada. I didn't bid. Nobody did

[neil young]

well i havnt payed for the boots yet.im thinking a neg feedback on ebay isnt going to make me lose any sleep. im the Anti-Brimmer:

[74cb750]

usually when someone from Canada wins something I have listed (I live in Vermont) I ask them to wait until I go to Canada to ship
BUT I found the Poste Canada to have some outrageous prices.

[neil young]

aw well i couldnt screw this guy over (bad karma)i dont know if he is ripping me off or not.i said f@#K it and paid :'(i probably could have bought a new set for that price.

[neil young]

i should have screwed him over.
i received the package today.wouldn't you know ...the price of shipping is written on the invoice.
$16.29          Grrrrrr:(

[Gordon]

Like I said, "shipping charges" and "postage" are two different things.

[mark]

Like I said, your seller seems to be rather generous with his 'handling' charge. $23 worth of generous. I can see charging a few bucks for the gas to get to the p.o., and maybe a couple more for fussing with customs forms, but gas and a steak dinner? Damn.

Suggested feedback: $10 item + $16 postage + $23 handling = WTF!!     It could be posted as a positive if you feel so inclined.


Better luck next time.

[malcolmgb]

this is the Ebay guide http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/listing-shipping.html it would be worth contacting them about this seller. I agree with madmark73 ideas of feedback adding your opinion of the item. In the UK the feedback system now adds a star system that includes shipping costs is it the same in US/Canada.