I really don’t appreciate companies that try to add to their profits by charging inflated shipping costs. Went to order some spare locking pins and spout gaskets for my Wavian fuel cans from Lexington container company the other day. Merchandise totaled about $16 or $17, probably weighed around a pound and could easily have fit in the smallest USPS flat rate priority box or padded envelope. Then I saw they wanted $18 to ship those parts, and that was for regular ground shipping. No thanks; logged off their website and searched elsewhere.

Got an email from them a day later asking me to complete my order and offering a 5% discount if I did. Doubt anyone will ever read it, but I did reply that charging more than double what was necessary for shipping was a nonstarter for me. If you want to increase your prices or charge a packing fee as a line item, that’s fine since I can see and understand those. But it just irritates me when companies show inflated shipping fees since those are easily checked. Not sure why that bothers me since the total costs might be all the same in the end, but it does.

Ebay is famous for that. A while back I was looking to replace an old video game and this one seller had a great price on the game, like ten bucks but then I saw the shipping was $17. Seventeen bucks to mail a video game!! Most other sellers were around five bucks for shipping but had the game priced higher.

I pretty much move past those with crazy shipping prices.

quote:

Originally posted by Bassamatic:
Ebay is famous for that. A while back I was looking to replace an old video game and this one seller had a great price on the game, like ten bucks but then I saw the shipping was $17. Seventeen bucks to mail a video game!! Most other sellers were around five bucks for shipping but had the game priced higher.

I pretty much move past those with crazy shipping prices.

I believe that's a scam to get past the rules. Ebay gets a percentage of the purchase price, but not the shipping as I understand it.

quote:

Originally posted by PHPaul:
I believe that's a scam to get past the rules. Ebay gets a percentage of the purchase price, but not the shipping as I understand it.

It's also an Attention Getter tactic, gets people to open up their auction since the price of the item appears lower than everyone else. Takes advantage of peoples natural inclination to go for low price.

I hate this as well. Went to order a PMR mag off of gunbroker. 26.99 for mag, 35 for shipping. Didn’t buy it that’s for sure.

Can we lump overcharging and improper shipping methods together?

I payed BCM somewhere around $6-7 for a set of AR gas rings that could be sent in an envelope with a single stamp.

Bad juju on both of the last two.

Even handguns going out USPS Priority are typically less than $15, I don't have a beef with an vendor making his coin, but charging $50 to ship a pistol that they won't insure (unless buyer knows to request for extra $$) seems like overcharging to pad the sale.

Ultimately it is the total delivered price that matters.
It is why a lot of prices include shipping because it makes us feel better and feel like we achieved a deal.

Companies, or individuals, that overcharge for shipping simply don't get my business.

People respond to pricing programs differently,

It really doesn't matter to me, it's the total price I"m paying, if the product is $10 plus $15 shipping or $25 shipped whats the difference...

I sell a bit on ebay, and get notes from folks often complaining about what Ebay charges for shipping,

I remind them that I simply input the options (first class, priority etc) and weight,

and I will often double check the weight to make sure ,


I have no idea what shows on the buyers end,


I have also noticed that ebay will automatically populate the "Fast N Free" option when I list something,
yet they do not credit me any shipping,

so I have to be diligent on looking over the options when I post stuff,

had a few items I actually lost money on due to that,


edited to add,

I have also had folks question shipping on items that have insisted I should be able to ship an items (including firearms I sell on GB) much cheaper,

I remind them I am a small dealer, w/o a corporate acount at UPS or FedEx (I mostly ship USPS anyway)

and I also let them know I will be happy to send them box dimensions and weight , and they can email me a label to apply to the package, if they find it cheaper ,

I charge actual, (cost of service, insurance and you sign for it if it is costly or a firearm,,, , round the change up to the next dollar, )

quote:

Originally posted by PHPaul:

quote:

Originally posted by Bassamatic:
Ebay is famous for that. A while back I was looking to replace an old video game and this one seller had a great price on the game, like ten bucks but then I saw the shipping was $17. Seventeen bucks to mail a video game!! Most other sellers were around five bucks for shipping but had the game priced higher.

I pretty much move past those with crazy shipping prices.

I believe that's a scam to get past the rules. Ebay gets a percentage of the purchase price, but not the shipping as I understand it.

That hasn't been the policy on eBay for about 10 years. They now charge a Final Value Fee for the selling price PLUS shipping, to get around the exact thing being discussed here, which was sellers trying to pad profit through higher shipping cost. You can still manually set the shipping cost, but it will incur a final value fee.

quote:

Originally posted by Bassamatic:
Ebay is famous for that. A while back I was looking to replace an old video game and this one seller had a great price on the game, like ten bucks but then I saw the shipping was $17. Seventeen bucks to mail a video game!! Most other sellers were around five bucks for shipping but had the game priced higher.

I pretty much move past those with crazy shipping prices.

EBAY doesn't do the charging. It's the seller who charges the shipping fee. Matter of fact, if you buy your postage thru ebay, Ebay gives the seller a discount off the USPS.

I was going to order several stainless steel serving spoons and ladles from an online restaurant supply until I got to the shipping charge. Over $20 to ship $11.00 worth of utensils.