O/T: local pick-up ≠ free shipping

Discussions on Talking Machines & Accessories
Post Reply
phonophan79
Victor IV
Posts: 1002
Joined: Thu Jan 08, 2009 7:22 am

O/T: local pick-up ≠ free shipping

Post by phonophan79 »

Sorry for the off topic rant, but i'm so sick of surfing e-bay and seeing an item in the results page come up as "Free Shipping" only to find it's a huge cabinet phonograph that is really "local pick-up only".

I mean, aren't items that are marked as "Free Shipping" supposed to get perks such as better search results and what not... why is eBay allowing this?

By no means is it "free" to pick something up myself.

JohnM
Victor V
Posts: 2986
Joined: Fri Jan 09, 2009 2:47 am
Location: Jerome, Arizona
Contact:

Re: O/T: local pick-up ≠ free shipping

Post by JohnM »

I've quit using eBay altogether. I've heard it said that when one says, "It's not the money, it's the principle", that it's actually about the money . . . well, in my case it is both. That is why I'm selling my Class M cabinet through a 'private' auction that I'm conducting myself. More to the topic of your complaint, has anyone tried http://www.uship.com? It operates like a Dutch auction where you post what you have that needs to be shipped and to and from where, and shippers bid to send your item, but the price goes down as the auction nears closing. I haven't tried it myself, but I'm sure I will next time I need to send something somewhere!

John M
"All of us have a place in history. Mine is clouds." Richard Brautigan

brianu
Victor V
Posts: 2165
Joined: Wed Jan 07, 2009 3:35 pm
Personal Text: on instagram as "oncedeadsound"
Location: just outside Philadelphia, PA

Re: O/T: local pick-up ≠ free shipping

Post by brianu »

I've actually used uship.com a few times now for larger items and been extremely happy with the results... there's no charge to post there, and you can pretty easily and quickly locate a more or less reliable and affordable trucker/shipper.

as for the "free shipping" on ebay... although deception and/or misrepresentation is pretty rampant on that site, as we all know, I don't believe that in most cases the "free shipping" indication at the top of an auction page is necessarily a part of that. ebay's on-line forms and its whole process for creating auctions has become increasingly complicated as the site tries not to make things simpler and more transparent (although they market the changes that way), but to gain further control over the transactions that are occurring. the free shipping becomes an issue because ebay automatically adds that in the listing if, when you're creating a listing, you don't fill out the section of the form for shipping options/charges in a very specific way. in short, it's easy to say ebay sucks... I mean, ebay is a great place to find all sorts of unusual things (not just phonographs), but so far as the additional services it provides (hosting auctions, facilitating transactions), or claims to provide (such as providing better security for both buyers and sellers), its performance is pretty abysmal and has only gotten worse and more costly over the past few years.

estott
Victor Monarch
Posts: 4172
Joined: Wed Jan 07, 2009 4:23 pm
Personal Text: I have good days...this might not be one of them
Location: Albany NY

Re: O/T: local pick-up ≠ free shipping

Post by estott »

It's true- Ebay auction forms can get damm complicated when shipping calculation is concerned. There is no "Pick up" option specified in the choices & Ebay hates if you leave a blank.

Post Reply