Item that looks low cost on ebay...isn't!

[Nemrod]

ebay is what you make of it. It is pretty easy if you read the adds and the feed back and all that and ask a few questions to ferret out the scams. I have bought and sold stuff on ebay with no problems. Often the stuff is being sold by people who know absolutely nothing about it. I bought a mint, hardly used regulator of a type that I had been looking for off of ebay for under 30 dollars complete with a nice set of guages. The shipping was another 8 I think. She had picked it up at a garage sale for a couple of dollars!!!!
In addition to shipping cost, I often spend considerable time wrapping and packaging an item I sell. I never ask for any money for my time but some people include that in their shipping costs.
I have only been scammed once and it was only for 20 dollars or such. Darn thing, I think some buyers are idiots. I see items that go for more on ebay than they sell for in a store!!!!!!!!!!!! What gives with that?
Ebay scale---
Mint--well used
Perfect--nearly worn out
Beautiful---ugly as sin
serviceable--they will charge you money to scrap it
almost new--almost worn out

LOL---if you know what you want and know something about what your buying then you should be able to do just fine on ebay, most people really are honest, it is just the few rascals that ruin it for everyone. Almost all of the people I have dealt with on ebay have been very good to outstanding.
N

 

[pipedope]

Shipping fins is not cheap.
They are large and shaped oddly requiring a large box.
They are also rather heavy so the actual shipping charge is not low.

If you have to get anything out of the time spent packing then the S&H will seem very high.

You want an eye opener?
Go to the web site for WallMart and check out what it cost to ship a TV to your door.

Lots of scams on eBay but lots of good people also.

 

[mempilot]

I got scammed by a company selling wireless routers. I didn't read the fine print at the bottom of the misleading ad close enough. It said that the unit was in new condition, not this is a new unit. When it arrived, the tamper seal was broken and the unit wouldn't power up. I filed a complaint with eBay. They said read the ad. I filed a charge back with PayPal. They credited my account and I shipped the unit back to the seller. No problems. Took about 1 week to resolve. PayPal has changed a lot since the class action lawsuit. I was one of the plaintiffs. They ended up paying me a wopping $27.00 in retribution for being a customer during the time prior to the lawsuit. Funny how lawsuits change business practices.

 

[Wristshot]

Caveat Emptor in it's most complete form.

Great deals can be found on eBay, but you do need to be careful. I have seen things sell for prices higher than in stores, and I have bought things for dirt cheap prices. I saw a pair of skis that was bid up higher than the "Buy it Now" price on the same page. Go figure.

Do your homework, read everything and be careful.


Wristshot

 

[flyinghuntster]

WOW, What a responce! Yeah, I sell things from time to time on Ebay and I am aware of the trickery out there and didn't think about switching the cost of the item to keep the Ebay charges down! Clever.....But isn't that part of why Ebay is raising their fees? Aside from just needing more revenue.
the Internet and Ebay has opened the world and made it smaller!!!

 

[*Floater*]

I've had this experience.

I bought a pair of booties for $5 on ebay, but the shipping was listed as $11.xx for UPS Ground and $13.xx for USPS. I knew the guy was cheating on the shipping, but I figured it was still a decent deal. Anyway, I won the item for the minimum $5 bid and got the package a few days later. It was shipped by USPS instead of UPS as I had specified, and the shipping cost on the box was listed as $7.30.

So the guy ripped $4 off me, but you just have to factor that type of thing in when you order from ebay.

On thing that sort of irked me though was that the boots he sent me were all dirty and full of dried up mud. What kind of a person doesn't even bother to wash the damn booties before throwing them in the box?

-floater

 

[SouthernGypsy]

What's actually going on is that they are trying to avoid paying the eBays "Final Value" fees, eBay charges part of the sellers auction fees baised upon the final selling price of the item, but since they don't count the S&H the seller can get away with only paying a cent or two final value fee after the auction is over instead of several dollars. It's in direct violation of eBay rules and policies and they can be kicked from eBay for doing it if someone turns them in.

I saw a BCD the other day, NEW from a MAJOR dive shop in Florida who list allot of stuff on eBay that was only .99 but had a 239.95 S&H.

Some newer people like the place with the fins (I saw the same ones and they're still listing them one set after another) do it continually until someone turns them in, what's even sadder to me was the major outlet in Flordida who only does it "once in awhile" as a trick to get peoples attention and still avoid the fees in the hopes that if someone turns them in that they can say, well it was only 1 out listing on occasion, it was just an accident.

I was fliping through E-Bay this morning and was shocked when I saw, at first glance a pair of fins with a buy it now price of $0.99. I had to take a closer look and possibly pick up a pair for the kids to use while we are on vacation.
With a closer look at the post the SHIPPNIG costs are OUT of this world!!!! $29.99 to ship a pair of FINS???? What are they doing delivering the items in a limo? I would expect something like this from a personal E-Bayer, and I DON'T do business with

 

[SouthernGypsy]

You know what I've always wanted to do with one of those very high dollar items such as that .99 but it now on a BCD the other day with the 239.95 shipping was to use the buy it now, send them the .99 cents via PayPal, click the "no shipping address needed" check box on paypal, and then in the message to recipiant box on paypal write them "I've paid for this and will come by in a couple of days to pick it up in person".

The large dive shop that had that BCD listed HAS a store front and did NOT specifically say in their auction that you could not pick it up in person so.....

My only problem is whenever I see one like that I am always way too far away to actually go by and pick it up in person but I think with a place like the dive shop in Florida that has a store front (and in some of their other auctions actually say your welcome to pick it up in person if you live close by) they'd have a heck-of-a time telling you no.

If they did you could just say, hum, well, I know that it doesn't cost 239.95 to ship a BCD via UPS 2nd day as advertized so if you have a problem with me picking it up in person then I wouldn't be left with any other conclusion than that you were trying to violate eBay rules and as a good, honest eBayer, I'd be compelled to turn you in to eBay... of course if I can pick it up in person or you can prove that it cost that much to send it via that method, or charge me what the actual cost is if you can't then I guess I couldn't come to such a conclusion and wouldn't have to turn you in... Your choice but I need an answer, I think eBay says we should turn people in quickly if we notice a discrepancy and I'd hate to wait longer than their policy allows.

 

[BlueDolphin]

Floater...

I always charge whatever the Ebay shipping calculator shows. However.... I actually do not pay a dime for shipping, on almost all of my items. You have it a bit wrong. There is nothing wrong with this. For instance..... if UPS owes me a credit, your item may show shipping charges as $0 as well. This is really none of your business. NOTHING ships for free, and even though I do not have to pay for the shipping on many of my items (my suppliers pay the shipping), I DO CHARGE for shipping. I built that into my business plan.

Another thing to note, is that just because my supplier may have agreed to ship items for free for me, does not mean that I do not actually pay for this. In otherwords, I negotiate prices for my items with my suppliers, and in those negotiations there may be free shipping. However I may pay a bit more for the items than if I did not take the free shipping as part of my negotiations. Therefore I do pay a price for the shipping although your box may say $0 shipping costs. Once again, I even have cases where your box will show a shipping charge, but I paid nothing to ship your item, and also there are many times I will have a box ship showing $0 because the shipper owed me credit.