Topic: eBay Frustrations

[SigEpRider]

Fellow soch4 enthusiasts,

Please allow me the opportunity to vent (ignore if you will)

Today I tried to purchase a set of gauges for my 1978 CB750F from a store on eBay at a best offer price.  The gauges weren't in immaculate shape and really overpriced, but I took a chance and submitted an offer.  I also inquired why he was charging $18.00 in shipping cost for a USPS flat rate box that only costs $10.95 to ship anywhere in the continental U.S.

Here is the response I got:
"If you pay Ebay fees ( 9.00 ) and paypal fee ( 2.25 ) and you box and label the gauges to be shipped then I would gladly lower the shipping to 10.95 . Or you can purchase the gauges for 109 and I will lower shipping to 10.95"

My frustration lies in the fact that stores on eBay are trying to make money from shipping charges to cover the cost of eBay and PayPal fees.  Granted, I'm no expert in business and I have yet to finish my MBA, but I think that the fees should be considered a cost of doing business and not passed to the customer.  You don't eat at a restaurant, pay with a card and then allow them to charge you extra for credit card fees, etc.

Such business activities should be seen as malicious and unethical in practice.  Do people selling on eBay really think that we are so naive as to pay their fees for them?

Needless to say, I declined the counteroffer

[Really?]

That's normal in just about everything.  You just do not see it and they generally are not going to tell you either.

When you to a restaurant you pay for the cooks to cook your food, the waitstaff to serve you and all that other stuff in the cost of the meal.  Do you think they eat the cost of the staff, the facilities in which you ate in and on and on.....

D00d, really?  MBA?  If you can't see that, pick something else like butterfly watching!

Edit:  After reading that, I am surprised you got this thread started in the right forum!

[SigEpRider]

Believe me, I understand that nothing is for free.  Everything is put into the cost of what you purchase.  Good business are able to account for all cost and put them into their price to cover cost plus mark up.  That is not something that I have missed in my MBA program.

What made me so upset was the flat out admission that I was going to be charge more for shipping to cover the fees of eBay and PayPal.  Fees I believe should be a part of doing business and put into your pricing - not shipping.

i

[myhondas]

What you fail to understand is that ebay charges the final price fee on the sale price, not on the shipping costs. So by adding the fee to the sale price, it would increase the final price fee and you start a vicious circle. For a while, people were charging very little for the item and huge shipping fees. feebay figured that out fairly quick and put a stop to it. Just an example....I sold a phone on ebay. I want to see $200 for it to break even....so I listed it with a reserve price of $210 so as to cover the cost of the final sale price and had a $7 shipping fee. It sold for $217 and after they took the $4.75 listing fee, the $19.00 final sale fee, pay pal took another $7.00, I ended up with $185 in my pocket. there is a reason they call it "FEE bay"  I don't know what school you are getting or got your mba from, but I would demand my tuition back, cause they sure didn't explain the real world to you. In my business, I charge an extra 3% if you use a credit card or paypal to cover the cost. If you pay in cash, I don't add that extra fee like a lot of business do....they charge everyone as if they did. It's kind of like the 2% discount if you pay your open account balance in 10 days, rather than waiting the full 30 to pay.

[Gordon]

You don't eat at a restaurant, pay with a card and then allow them to charge you extra for credit card fees, etc.

Yes, you do.  They just don't itemize for you exactly why they charge what they charge for every item you purchased.  Every cent they pay to be able to serve you and sell you your meal is figured into the cost of what they charge you for it.

The only thing this ebay seller is doing that is wrong is not playing by ebay's rules and putting some of his cost into the shipping charge so that he doesn't have to pay some of the final value fee to them.  If he didn't do that he wouldn't sell the item for the same price plus a smaller shipping charge, he'd just sell the item for more to make up for the smaller shipping charge.  You pay the same either way.  

The mistake you're making is one many people make when purchasing items online.  You're not looking at the total cost for the item (item price + shipping charge).  If the total cost for the item you want is more than you're willing to pay, then move on and find it somewhere else rather than worrying about specific aspects of the total cost.  

[Gordon]

What made me so upset was the flat out admission that I was going to be charge more for shipping to cover the fees of eBay and PayPal.  Fees I believe should be a part of doing business and put into your pricing - not shipping.

Sorry, I missed that part before typing my last post.

I agree that seller costs should be put into the price of the item and not in the shipping charge.  But that's life.  It's a tactic that seller's use to make their items appear cheaper than the competition, and the reason it's so common is that it works.  People see the price of the item and don't bother to add the shipping charge to that and think they got a great deal.  

There are an infinite number of other ways that marketing techniques get us to do things that we shouldn't do, and most of them are so good and have been in use for so long that we don't even notice them anymore.  It's always a "buyer beware" world out there.

[FunJimmy]

Cost of doing business? You don’t think that the cost of doing business will eventually be passed on the consumer and you’re getting an MBA? Of course the costs are passed on the consumer whether that cost is the service charge from VISA or a Paypal charge.

You gonna pay Dude.

[SigEpRider]

Nevermind all.

Went for a ride and gonna eat diner with friends now. Good weather, good food, good friends. I'm over it now.

Point of clarification:
My beef was the addition of fees to the shipping price when listing it as a flat rate package. I don't agree with the practice and like stated, I moved on. Bought another gauge cluster way cheaper and with accurate shipping.

if the MBA isn't good for costing (which I do understand) at least it's good for knowing where to post.

Keep the rubber side down

[Gordon]

Nevermind all.

Went for a ride and gonna eat diner with friends now. Good weather, good food, good friends. I'm over it now.

Awesome...

That's all that really matters!

[SigEpRider]

Gordon

Thanks for understaning and listening to my complaining. 

[Gordon]

Gordon

Thanks for understaning and listening to my complaining. 

You're welcome, but don't single me out.  Everybody else listened and understands, too.  It's just that we're all fix-it type guys.  You come here with a problem or even just a gripe, and we're gonna tell you why you have that problem and how to fix it.  That's just our nature, and our charm.

[Retro Rocket]

The shipping fee thing is very common, i buy guitars from Japan and depending who i buy off the shipping can vary as much as $40 USD. I usually pay $100 USD but have paid as high as $140....Depends on how much you really want the item, i'm used to it now, not that it makes it right though.....

Mick

[weekend_junkie]

Nevermind all.

Went for a ride and gonna eat diner with friends now. Good weather, good food, good friends. I'm over it now.

Point of clarification:
My beef was the addition of fees to the shipping price when listing it as a flat rate package. I don't agree with the practice and like stated, I moved on. Bought another gauge cluster way cheaper and with accurate shipping.

if the MBA isn't good for costing (which I do understand) at least it's good for knowing where to post.

Keep the rubber side down

Glad to hear it worked.

HFF

[SigEpRider]

Thanks brother,

Purple and red til dead.

HFF

P.S. Did you remember to celebrate Dr. Suess's birthday this week. We always tried to have a party on his birthday.

[Damfino]

HFF = Herbalife Family Foundation??   

[Duke McDukiedook]

The shipping fee thing is very common, i buy guitars from Japan and depending who i buy off the shipping can vary as much as $40 USD. I usually pay $100 USD but have paid as high as $140....Depends on how much you really want the item, i'm used to it now, not that it makes it right though.....

Mick

If the "seller" charges you extra fees for shipping on top of the flat rate shipping fee on the back end leave the "seller" a bad feedback rating and don't ever buy from him again- easy parcheesi.

Lesson learned and filed away to the memory hole, eh?

[weekend_junkie]

I missed the Suess bday, but I got some Wendy's instead.  Worked for me.

HFF = Herbalife Family Foundation??   

Haha!


...no

[Retro Rocket]

The shipping fee thing is very common, i buy guitars from Japan and depending who i buy off the shipping can vary as much as $40 USD. I usually pay $100 USD but have paid as high as $140....Depends on how much you really want the item, i'm used to it now, not that it makes it right though.....

Mick

If the "seller" charges you extra fees for shipping on top of the flat rate shipping fee on the back end leave the "seller" a bad feedback rating and don't ever buy from him again- easy parcheesi.

Lesson learned and filed away to the memory hole, eh?

Nah, the guitars are $100's of dollars cheaper than anywhere else so i just buy them, still works out cheaper and i still make a profit at my end. Not just ebay mate, Yahoo Japan as well....