Ebay

In any event, this is a slight sidetrack, being that your examples were coins and records. I was originally talking about stamps, something that weighs little, the shipping cost of which should be something around the same as letter rate, and more of course, if there are albums or stockbooks involved. However, in regard to the latter, I have noted a lot of dealers that will willingly empty the stockbook out to keep costs down.

A good stock book can cost anywhere from 12-15 bucks, heck If it costs an additional 3 bucks to mail, you are getting a bargain

For the most part I have found the shipping rate to be quite adequate. I really don't mind paying $5 or $6 shipping for 1000 plus stamps because most of the sellers take great care in the packaging to protect them even if I only payed $3 for the stamps. I have been very fortunate to have delt with excellent sellers. Most of the time,when I have been dissapointed it's mostly because I didn't pay close enough attention to the description therefor I consider it my fault. I just don't bid on Items that I feel have inflated shipping costs.

Dianne

bobgggg, you're right, but in a lot of cases, the stock book in question is so worn out it's not worthwhile, but if it was, say, a new Lighthouse model, well, yeah, I would probably want it then.

And Dianne, I agree -- and I tend to stay away from inflated shipping costs also.

The cost of shipping and handling shouldn't be a problem for those of us paying attention. If it's too much, I either don't bid on the item or I bid on multiple items to lower the per lot cost.

I've found in the last six months or so that I'd rather buy from the stores outright - that way I can control exactly what I'm doing.

That said, I'm still ticked off at eBay and will use other sites unless I just can't find the material anywhere else.

You know, it's not a matter of paying attention. It's a matter of being told that S&H will be something like $4 or $5, and the thing arrives in an envelope showing it cost only $1 to mail it.

This is exactly what I was talking about earlier. If you agreed to it, and the seller gets it to you safely I don't understand why you would be upset.

The seller told you it was $4 shipping, you agreed, he gets it to you fine. What's the problem? Now if he promised Priority mail and it comes first class, that's a different story altogether.

It's called shipping and handling for a reason. You see what the shipping cost is but you have no idea what the handling cost is. You don't know if they pay someone to do it, or if they have to drive to the Post Office every day and burn gas. You may not know that it's insured. Materials and time are not free. $4-$5 dollars can be reasonable to ship anything.

Yes, and the reason is, Ebay does not charge a fee, to the seller, on the S & H

So what's Columbia Houses excuse for charging $6.95 shipping and handling on a CD?

Susan spends about 4 hours every Friday packing things up, plus a half hour for me to do the postage. At $15 hour that's $67.50. Divided by 40 packages that's $1.68 a package. We only charge $2 to ship a coin. That leaves 32¢ per package to buy postage, materials, gas and anything else involved in shipping and handling.

But when I raise my shipping price to $2.50 so I lose less money than now, every body screams, my DSRs go down and I have to pay eBay more money. So we continue to lose money to keep the buyers that don't understand business happy.

It would take about $4 to break even.

$15 an hour? You need to get some cheaper help there. Typically, this kind of work can be done by someone making minimum wage.

No I don't. It's MY business, which is NONE of the buyers business and even at minimum wage, I'm still losing money.

The #1 rule in operating your own business is....

Pay yourself first!

Only then will you truly know if your business is doing well.

So, then, you're saying that if I sold on ebay, I should figure out my costs for my time based on my typical hourly rate? Wow. I doubt I could get a customer to agree to that, as justified as it would seem to be. Hmmmm..."Shipping and handling for this item is $22."...no, I doubt that would fly.

I also doubt that Revenue Canada could be convinced to see it that way too.

Do me a favor. Stop deliberately trying to be difficult and go back and read my posts. Your totally missing my point.

No, your point is that it's okay to enrich yourself unjustifiably at the customer's expense by overcharging on the shipping and handling, as long as the customer agrees to it.

You figure in an inflated cost for your time (despite the fact that it's something within the normal course of business -- and if it is a business, you're buying your stock at a low price and charging a higher price for it which is fair and comes within the guidelines of a normal profit margin, and in which labour costs should be figured).

Now, you state that you charge $2 and it's hardly enough. In your case, I would agree. I would also agree with you if you did raise your rate to $2.50 or even $3 -- that is a fair charge, based on your situation, and not an amount that I would complain about -- although, to make it worth my while, I would likely make sure to buy more than one item from you, as long as you are willing to consolidate lots in the same package without any extra charge, which is also fair to the buyer.

My complaint is with those who are clearly inflating their costs to the $4 and $5 range and won't consolidate. I do not even bother with those people, because it's clear that they are gouging on basic postage and packing. Unfortunately, it seems that there are more and more lots I won't bother with because of this.

Don't get me wrong -- it's not a matter of making a deal that is bad for me and complaining about it later, because if I don't like the shipping charges, I don't bother ordering. I don't need to have something so bad that I'll pay anything to get it. If that $2 coin is actually going to cost me $5, it's not a great deal, and I won't bid. However, if that $2 coin is part of a group of coins that are $33 to get ($30 for coins and $3 for shipping), then it's a much better deal, and I'll likely go for it.

There are people that refuse to consolidate, though, and they won't get my business.