It is not my intention to offend anyone with what follows. I am simply offering my personal opinion. As I
buyer (with more than a thousand
ebay purchases over the past decade or so) when I see a s/h charge of $2 on items that sell for as little as a dollar, and knowing what first class mail costs (or even allowing for another $0.21 for non machinable), I presume that the seller is trying to make a "little profit" in the s/h charge. I put "little profit" in quotation marks for two reasons. Even assuming that the seller is trying to recover a bit for the time spent in preparing the mailing, it cannot be a lot (hence "little") and covering the cost of one's time is not really "profit." But the latter is something like a "wage" and some buyers don't really like the notion of paying for that in the s/h charge.
I'm one of them. If you are selling on
ebay to cover the cost of your time, it ought to be factored into your selling price, not your s/h cost. When I check out at WalMart, and the clerk puts the products in a bag, I'd balk at a separate charge for that. That service is just a part of the cost of doing business. And even if only part time, if you are selling stamps or covers on
ebay, I really think you should expect to cover the cost of the time you spend doing that in the selling price, not the shipping charge.
Now I imagine that from a seller's perspective, many may think of the selling price as the price for the item per se. But the OP asked for buyer perspectives, and that's what I'm presenting. But as a buyer, when I try to analogize buying on
ebay to other common retail purchases, I do not find many business trying to cover labor costs through a "handling charge." And the selling price of retail items always hopes to cover more than just the cost of the item itself. I'm never under the illusion that the selling price is simply the "cost of goods." It covers the cost of goods plus other costs of doing business, including the business owner's time.
So I look askance at a stamp or a cover being sold with a $2 (or more) "shipping cost." All the time I see the same, or similar items, being sold by one dealer at (say), $1.99 starting bid plus $1 shipping, and another for $0.99 starting bid and $2.00 shipping. From a buyer's perspective, these are not the same! One looks like it is offering a reasonable "shipping cost," and the other looks like a "loss leader" that seeks to make up the "loss" in the "shipping cost." If I have have a choice, I'm going to chose the former every time.
But then that is a buyer's perspective, for what it is worth.
Then as to the question about a flat mailer and tracking, as a buyer I think for the typical item in the $1-$20 range, it is a waste of money. Maybe even a waste at $40. Yes, for big ticket items, tracking, and even more importantly, insurance, is something I'll willingly pay for. But these are reasonably predictable prices and the cost of such, even when factored into the "shipping and handling" charge, should be explained to the buyer up front so that they know what they are paying for, and what they are getting.
I have a few "favorite" buyers that I will buy from who charge $2-$3 bucks shipping on items costing just $10 or less because they have made the decision to chase the "top seller" rating and that adds substantially to their cost of doing business. They are good about combining shipments, and I know they are just trying to cover their costs. I blame
ebay, not them. I buy from them because they have inventory at prices I don't often find elsewhere. But I still think it is a waste of my money to have to pay for this.
Basil
Posted 11/03/2014 08:22 am
