Variation of shipping ebay prices for records.

[larryh]

I have another beef with ebay.. I sell a number of things now and then on ebay and attempt to follow the rules. Every time I sell records it says $4.00 is the maximum price and any attempt to change the price is met with a red note saying it over the allowed price. Yet now they are going to demand that all shipments are the responsibility of the seller till they reach the buyer. I ask them if they were going to change that $4.00 price to reflect the added cost of insurance and packing. No answer so far.

However, I see lots of really big time sellers who constantly quote 13.99 and now even 15.99 for shipping and then insurance is extra. I have reported some of these violations, and yet they only remain. So I am wondering why? Worse yet on the screen that gives the set price, the choice to add insurance and handling is excluded so you can't add more to it! Now obviously there are some who have figured out how to get around it. I did purchase something I was interested in last night from the seller with the $13.99 shipping but it says it can be changed to Media at your risk. So I ask for that. But when the shipping comes in as more than the record it gives me pause to wonder how much extra this person is making off every sale?

[gramophoneshane]

I think it comes down to this Larry-
If you're making lots of money for ebay, then they'll let you get away with more.
They dont like to question or upset their "cash cows"
Seller who only make $50 a month, or even a week, for ebay are small fry in a multi-billion dollar business, so it's play by our rules or dont play at all, because you wont be missed.
And I also think that some of the "bigger league" sellers see just how much money they are making for ebay, so they feel they're entitled to a little compensation, and they hit the buyer with high postage to compensate.

I recently bought (again) from a seller who has ripped me off for postage in the past. Even though he claims to combine shipping, until this most recent purchase he never has. I've let it slid in the past because I've only bought 2 or 3 items at a time, and didn't feel so bad about giving him an extra $6 or so $$$ because I've been quite happy with the items themselves.
This time however, I bought 3 (empty) needle tins, 4 or 5 (empty) paper needle packets, and half a dozen 6" kiddy discs.
When the invoice arrived, he wanted $37 for postage! I then decided I'd had enough & contacted him about combining the postage, saying I've had portable machines sent to me for a lot less.
His reply was that the "actual" postage cost is $13.50, but he is also charging $6 handling fees.
I can't say I'm over happy about the handling fees, but I'll wear it at about 50 cents per item..
The other $17 is still better in my pocket instead of his.
It's really put me off buying multiple items that I can live without in the future, so I'll only be bidding on his MUST HAVE tins & records from now on.

[3victrolas]

Every time I sell records it says $4.00 is the maximum price and any attempt to change the price is met with a red note saying it over the allowed price. Yet now they are going to demand that all shipments are the responsibility of the seller till they reach the buyer.

I guess you are aware that it's the same with books. Ebay says the maximum shipping price is $4.00 for those too. Last week I sold a number of books. To get around that $4 maximum, I packed & weighed each box & entered that data in the shipping calculator when I listed. I picked media mail for each auction, & not one would ship for less than $6.00 because of the weight. BTW, most were around $8.00. I know that Ebay is currently at war with their sellers, but I never charge for shipping materials & never pad the cost with handling fees. I had a few question the shipping cost, but I added my zip code & the weight of the box in the auction listing & let the potential buyer do the math. That silenced the critics.

I didn't know that Ebay was already disallowing charging for insurance. I thought that was going to take place next year. Do you know that in some categories, Ebay/Paypal has begun holding the sellers money for ~30 days to make sure there are no complaints from the buyer? I have a small collection of antique china head dolls, & on the Ebay forum some of the sellers have been complaining about that new policy.

[Discman]

Larry,
I may be wrong, but I think if you list your records under another category such as "collectables" the $4 max does not apply.
Dave

[larryh]

Dave and all,

You may be correct on that, it seems that listing as a book or record trips the removal of the insurance fee ability. So if listed under another category it may well be how its being done.
I had requested the media shipping the seller mentions as an option if he is released of any responsibility for the package arriving. Even so he send yet another invoice at the higher cost instead so I again requested the media price. If that doesn't work I will be contacting ebay farther on this. Yes he is a large seller and I can only guess how much he is gaining though this scam.. Let alone on the higher opening price he gets for all records.. Of course that is my fault for bidding on them I knew that. He has a tone to his site that leaves one a bit leery of his attitude somehow.

[brianu]

Dave and all,

You may be correct on that, it seems that listing as a book or record trips the removal of the insurance fee ability. So if listed under another category it may well be how its being done.
I had requested the media shipping the seller mentions as an option if he is released of any responsibility for the package arriving. Even so he send yet another invoice at the higher cost instead so I again requested the media price. If that doesn't work I will be contacting ebay farther on this. Yes he is a large seller and I can only guess how much he is gaining though this scam.. Let alone on the higher opening price he gets for all records.. Of course that is my fault for bidding on them I knew that. He has a tone to his site that leaves one a bit leery of his attitude somehow.

are you sure you're not reading too much into this? in its efforts to make the site more "user-friendly," ebay seems to have added a lot of extra options, services and automatic features (such as the invoices sent at the end of the auction) that in actuality have for most people - myself included - only complicated the process... I wouldn't really consider it some sort of conspiracy or nefarious strategy to give buyers or sellers more or less advantage and fleece them for still more cash.

so far as the caps on charges for postage, I have never heard of such a thing, nor have I encountered it - and I've bought and sold phonographs and parts, as well as records and many many books. all of these charges naturally will vary, as you could buy say the same book from five different people - and just as the cost of the book might vary, so too might the cost of shipping. I've also encountered very few sellers who provide exact shipping charges down to the penny, and why should they? not everyone has the equipment to calculate postage at home, such as weighing, measuring and printing out the stamps. packaging, if you don't have a lot of extra or recycled material for it, costs money and takes time, and so do trips to the usps, federal express or whereever.

[EdisonSquirrel]

I look closely at shipping costs and related information (e.g., media mail v. first class, etc.) before bidding and I don't hesitate to contact the seller if I have questions. While differences in shipping costs are to be expected, there are some sellers who charge high or excessive amounts to ship a record. One seller is presently asking $7.77 Media Mail for one record--that is high. I occasionally see records with shipping costs between $8 and $18 dollars--that is excessive.



Rocky

[brianu]

I look closely at shipping costs and related information (e.g., media mail v. first class, etc.) before bidding and I don't hesitate to contact the seller if I have questions. While differences in shipping costs are to be expected, there are some sellers who charge high or excessive amounts to ship a record. One seller is presently asking $7.77 Media Mail for one record--that is high. I occasionally see records with shipping costs between $8 and $18 dollars--that is excessive.



Rocky

right. but the thing is, who cares? I mean, it's annoying, but it's a cost of buying. and if you're dealing with someone who's charging too much for postage for something that you can get elsewhere, then don't deal with them and get it elsewhere. you know? I just never really got people's gripes with this sort of thing.

[larryh]

In reality, Ebay has a stated and supposedly strict policy to limit the cost of shipping a book or a record to a set fee of no more than 4.00. They started that to prevent what is going on now in some cases with wildly varying prices for shipping. As Sean I think mentioned, if you list under "Records or Music" it will only allow you to enter 4.00 as a shipping cost. That does not happen on other screens and people have most likely figured out how to circumvent it.
As far as if it matters or not, I guess it depends on if you value your money or just have lots to spare. If one seller can send it media for 2.65 which I often find a package to cost, then I rather resent a seller asking 15.99 for the same type of shipping and Ebay should monitor those types of excess fees. I still don't understand why they have one policy and then seemingly ignore it in another instance.
It wasn't ebay I felt was doing something nefarious, it was perhaps the seller who's tone is definitely opposed to having you select media, but then why not when he is changing four times more for priority. I am on my third day now and still no invoice showing the media shipping. Yes he may have overlooked it. I will know soon.

[EdisonSquirrel]

Who cares? A lot of people care; that's why they walk away. On occasion I will see a record that is not easy to find and will walk away from it due to the high shipping cost. Of course it's often a matter of principle more than cost. While I might bid $15 for a record with $3 postage, for a total of $18, I would most likely not bid on the same record at $6 with $12 postage, even though the total is the same in both cases.

A seller has the right to cover his shipping charges, but should not be relying on shipping charges to make money.

Rocky