[championp]

I agree with philba: send a message with your dollars.

[CNCRob]

I agree, just last night I bought an item off ebay for around $5 and had to pay $10 for shipping. 99 percent of the time though I avoid auctions where they are trying to make most of the money off of the shipping and not off of the item price. Maybe the seller is just tring to avoid the ebay fees but as a buyer it kind of makes me feel like they are tring to sell me the item hoping I will not see the shipping charges. So I usually pass it up. Even if the shipping and item price total what all the others are selling the same item for. I usually buy from the sellers that make their money off of the item price and not the shipping.

I guess I jumped to conclusions on that item I mentioned on my last post. I didn't think it would cost over $4 or $5 to ship. I just received it today and it cost $9.72 for them to ship. I can understand paying $10 to ship on a $5 item if it actually cost about that much to ship it.

[philba]

Yeah, it's sometimes suprising how much something weighs. But there are clearly cases where shipping costs are much lower than their charges. For example, I some times buy integrated circuits on ebay. They weight, typically, a couple of ounces. UPSP first class wont be more than a buck or 2 yet a some of those guys charge $5 - non-starter.

Some of the sellers will only ship UPS or FedEx. USMail is actually cheaper for < 16 oz...

[ImanCarrot]

< E- Bay Power Seller too (100% +ve feedback).

It is definately a way of getting round the commission. When you sell something it works out about 2.5% Commission and 2.5% Paypal Costs to Get the money. These arre just rough obviously, but that's the figures I use to estimate.

The incentive for Sellers to lose the 2.5% on Commision is definately there, especialy if the item is pricey- E-Bay does not get Commision on Postage Costs.

Personaly I don't do it (hike postage and lower price) because I think they are aware of it and will do something about it at some point- I wouldn't like to get hit for a massive "Owed Commision" bill next year!. You would be legaly liable... and they have your Bank/ Credit Card Details *Hitchcock noises* eeeek eeek eeek

[Bloy2004]

A while ago I bought a heavy 2KVA toroid transformer. $9.99 BIN. The shipping was $25.00. (I should have bought several!) Still, the value was great. If the shipping isn't listed, just email the seller to find the total costs for shipping BEFORE you buy. Some will deal with you on shipping costs, while either Bidding or BIN.

I think it's just a matter of being somewhat Savvy when buying.

....like at the grocery store....you check the fruits and pick the desired ones that are fresh or just generally better than the surrounding ones.

[sdantonio]

I'm almost scared now to admit that I've done the same thing when selling on ebay. but the logic goes something like this.

Lets say I'm selling am item on ebay, real value $99, real shipping cost $1.00. So I'm looking to make $100 on the whole thing (minimum).

If I start the auction off at $99 + $1.00 shipping, I may get no bidders.

But if I start the auction off at $51, + $50 shipping I will attract many bidders because the price is so low. The first bid (which may be the only bid) still meets my need to make $100.

It's the same marketing ploy that is used by many late night male enhancement drugs. Try it now and well give you a 30 day supply for free, you only pay shipping (and if you read the fine print fast enough you find shipping is $50 or something like that).

Another example would be my day job. I work in QC for a scientific instrumentation company. For some select clients we used to (probably still will) give them the instrument for free if they sign a contract saying they will use only our chemicals for a period of 3-5 years or so. That's because we know where our markup really is.

It's all a marketing gimick. Read the auction carefilly. This just explains it. Does it make it right...Nope. Does it make it nice... Nope. Does it get it sold... Yup.

Steven

[wisp]

It all has to do with avoiding eBay's fees, pure and simple.

There are also MANY sellers on eBay who do nothing more than sell Harbor Freight items, but charge $15-$30 shipping. If you buy from them, the item will ship directly from HF to you. HF charges $4 to $7 to ship the item, so they make all there money by playing middleman.

[murphy625]

My partner and I have been purchasing stuff on ebay for 4 years. In that time, we have about 450+ purchases and have spent about $40,000 between us to aquire about 1.5 million worth of good/excellent and most times brand new equipment from people who sometimes have no idea what they are even selling.
Building our company this way has taken us on road trips accross the country to pick up some crazy things.

When we first started out back in 2001, ebay was not just a bargin, it was almost considered theft!!!!! There were items we bought for $50 that cost $1800 new... I even bought a 1600 gallon 316 stainless steel vertical tank for $400.. Its value to have one built would be around $25,000.. And that's just one example.

Today, ebay is almost useless to find really good deals.. Most popular items go for 70% of the cost of new and on some auctions, you can actually get the items cheaper new.. (Just check out prices on Sch80 PVC pipe supplies).. There are people listing 2 inch elbows for $4.00 each when I can go down to the local industrial pipe supply place and buy them for $2.96 each.. Then on top of that, the stupid seller wants a $3 packing fee + UPS charges.. Back in 2002, I bought a load of PVC for $100.... I got four 55 gallon drums filled with fittings for that $100.. Brand new those fittings would have gone for probably close to $5000.

Ebay is no longer the deal of the century as it once was. I used to keep quiet about Ebay because it was my purchasing secret.. Not any more.. Nothing to keep secret about because the advantage is now gone..

Just my 2 cents. (Rant over with)
Murphy

[championp]

I disagree murphy, I still get good deals all the time on my tooling. I think the thing to remember is not to "have" to aquire this item right now. Nine times out of ten there is another of the same product listed the next day. Just bid low and if you don't get it, you will in a day or so...

[ImanCarrot]

I also think it's no loger the bargain it used to be- I used to buy broken digital cameras for like under 5 quid fix them then resell them (saying they had been repaired) with a 28 day guarantee. Now broken digital cameras are going for like 20- 100 quid. And they're BROKEN lol.

[F1nalcut]

I use Ebay for buying and selling.

I also own a siggnificant amount of stock in the company. The stock performance has been amazing !
Little overhead. Make money from both Ebay and Paypal. Gotta love it.

Deals are always plenty on ebay. You need to work a little harder at finding them these days than you did back a few years. Remember that you are competing against more computer users these days.

I also use biding programs. I got tired of loosing bids to others, so I went "robo-biding". It works great, and I do not have spend any time on my computer waitting !

Ebay is considered the best model of an open free market. Required studying infact in all top bussiness schools. Its free trade at its finest. Some people don't like that.

I don't like the fact that some people on this forum, spend itme making CNC conversions, after asking for FREE information from all the other members, and then when they finally get their machine converted they start selling "plans" like it was their idea. (BTW, you copyrights on those plans are wothless in court FYI, but thats another story).

That is just not right. But, what can one do ? Its a free trade.

My 10 cents

[Bloy2004]

Here was a "buy" just a day ago that only three bidders were active in. The huge toroid went for $26 and shipped for $28. Still a good buy for that size tranny! 2400VA rating
Ebay number 7563984500

The nice thing about big toroids is you can easily rewrap them to get your desired voltages without too much worry about amps and heating.

[sdantonio]

Hi Final Cut,

What programs do you use for robo-bidding?

Steven

[ViperTX]

Well ebay is an auction....people are allowed to be stupid with their "buyer frenzy"...Good move Paul....if it's too hot in the kitchen don't go there...

[unterhaus]

I've noticed that the people who jack up their prices to save on fees don't do very well. Buyers just don't like it. At least this isn't a whine about being outbid at the last minute. I've found that's the only way to combat weak-minded individuals that don't bid unless somebody else bid. And other weak-minded individuals that don't bid their max and hate to lose.

[Bloy2004]

I've also noticed that those sellers that watch the market closely are doing well.
Several months ago some ballscrews with bearing blocks that I got for $30 "buy now" are now being sold for $80 plus because the demand is up. They are listed often now much higher at "buy now".
Same with those "rotary tables" that were originally used to turn dish antenna. They consistantly go for over $40 but used to go for $16(when I got one).


The point is, you play the game and takes your chances.


Just recently I got a gearhead motor for the $9.99 startup (I was the sole bidder). There was no shipping charges listed so I sent for the costs. They said around $20.
I was pleased to find out the actual was $15 to ship, but I would have kept my max bid lower if others were bidding because of the projected shipping costs.

For that tranny above I showed a picture of, I was one of the bidders but I maxed at $25 because I just couldn't divert my monies to it even though I still think it was worth much more despite the shipping costs.

[trubleshtr]

There's a sucker born every minute...I personally like the "mystery items" on ebay that sell for 100's of dollars and people don't even know what they are getting!!!!! TOO FUNNY....
do a search on mystery and see what come up, one guy is selling a bag of cash

[CNCRob]

Im pretty pissed at Ebay right now. Last Saturday I purchased some ink off of a seller on ebay. It stated in the auction twice that there is free shipping to the USA. I used Buy it Now to make the purchase and then went to pay with PayPal. It said there would be $5.00 for shipping. Thinking it was some kind of mistake I used the request a invoice feature on ebay to ask for an updated invoice. I put a friendly message in it telling the seller that the auction said the shipping would be free and then when I went to pay it had $5.00 for shipping. He proptly sent me a invoice but he still put $5.00 for shipping. I sent him another friendly email asking what was going on and he never replied. Then yesturday he sent me another invoice. Again with the $5.00 for shipping. My wife and I used one of the conflict links on Ebay to tell them what was going on and ask if they could help. Here is part of the reply we just received:

"Dear Janelle,

Thank you for writing eBay in regard to your transaction with the
seller
socia11.

I understand that you haven't reached an agreement with the seller to
complete this transaction due to the shipping issue, and I apologize
for
the inconvenience this situation has caused you. After I reviewed the
auction, the seller listed the shipping amount %5.00 USD, and there is
no where in the auction that the shipping listed as free."

Notice they said "and there is
no where in the auction that the shipping listed as free"

Below are some actual screen shots of the actual auction page. I replied back to Ebay and sent them the same screen shots, but I don't think it will do any good. I think they seen it on the page to start with. It's not the money, after all it's only $5.00. Its just the fact that they let stuff like this happen.

[Switcher]

Im pretty pissed at Ebay right now. Last Saturday I purchased some ink off of a seller on ebay. It stated in the auction twice that there is free shipping to the USA. I used Buy it Now to make the purchase and then went to pay with PayPal. It said there would be $5.00 for shipping. Thinking it was some kind of mistake I used the request a invoice feature on ebay to ask for an updated invoice. I put a friendly message in it telling the seller that the auction said the shipping would be free and then when I went to pay it had $5.00 for shipping. He proptly sent me a invoice but he still put $5.00 for shipping. I sent him another friendly email asking what was going on and he never replied. Then yesturday he sent me another invoice. Again with the $5.00 for shipping. My wife and I used one of the conflict links on Ebay to tell them what was going on and ask if they could help. Here is part of the reply we just received:

"Dear Janelle,

Thank you for writing eBay in regard to your transaction with the
seller
socia11.

I understand that you haven't reached an agreement with the seller to
complete this transaction due to the shipping issue, and I apologize
for
the inconvenience this situation has caused you. After I reviewed the
auction, the seller listed the shipping amount %5.00 USD, and there is
no where in the auction that the shipping listed as free."

Notice they said "and there is
no where in the auction that the shipping listed as free"

Below are some actual screen shots of the actual auction page. I replied back to Ebay and sent them the same screen shots, but I don't think it will do any good. I think they seen it on the page to start with. It's not the money, after all it's only $5.00. Its just the fact that they let stuff like this happen.

Remember, pay for what you intended on buying, If the seller or ebay can't help, forget them!

I would never pay a scammer!

Do you really care about a rating system (ebay)?



.

[Kipper]

Is it me or is Ebay getting ridiculous? I've been seeing a tread were people auction of a item or has a buy it now and the shipping is more than what the item is worth! You can by a item for 150.00 than they want 35.00 + for shipping at the price more than likely the item can be bought new. Ebay really needs to put a cap on this crap.

People pay what they think is reasonable for whatever they want/think they want...I've bought brake/clutch units at less than 1/100th their retail price (value is another thing) I used to guess the price of postage and let me tell you in the UK it's pure extortion!! I no longer guess! I put a value on my time for packing and anyone who has ever queried it (nobody thus far) would be asked what they make an hour and then it becomes negotiable until then they have no say lol I call it "fleabay" anyhow I'm atm watching a £340 Keyboard and I may buy it for £30 all in so in essence it is indeed a "buyers market" although the shipping is half the total :shrug: However I don't mind paying less than 10% retail for an item I actually "want"