Because I’m a seller, I keep that point of view with me when I’m a buyer.
When I buy on eBay…
- You pretty much have to be Satan himself to get anything less than 5 DSR feedback stars from me
- I always email the seller if there is an issue before I leave feedback
- If my payment will be less than 24 hours after sale for some reason, I give the seller a heads up (though I usually pay within an hour of auction end)
- I rarely return anything or ask for a refund, even if the item isn’t really what they said it was
In short, I’m a model buyer… with one notable exception.
WOE to anyone who overcharges me on shipping. I am not above putting your packed item on my postal scale and checking the actual postage rates against what I paid. I’m not some buyer who has no clue what it costs to ship something… I KNOW when you’re overcharging me. If the amount you charged me is $2 or more over the actual shipping… we will be having words. The only exception is if the item required some kind of unusual packing. Then I’ll cut you the slack that the extra cost was packaging costs.
What about you? How have your eBay buying habits changed since you started selling on eBay?
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Postage is clearly stated on the listing. One should not ding a seller because you think you were overcharged. There is more to shipping than packing peanuts. For instance UPS charges a $10 a week fee for Smart Pickup. That cost has to be offset. If a seller sells 100 items a week then its all good. If they sold 1 or 2 items that week then its a different story. Also if the seller charges a flat fee for shipping, the shipping cost to a nearby customer in a neighboring state will be much less than the cost to ship it cross country. The money made/saved from nearby sales are often used to offset the potential shortage from those far-off orders. I do not feel it is proper to start a fuss over shipping costs. If anything you should ask a seller BEFORE placing your order about about postage charges. If you do not like the answer move on and find another seller.
I really don’t agree with this at all and I am a seller. But I’ll let everyone else chime in first and save my comments for later.
I agree with you as well. If the charges are clearly shown and the buyer doesn’t like it…they should move on and buy from someone else.
You would think they would be a model buyer, as they should know how things go and not be lost, asking the seller questions about the condition of an item after the sale is already over and then possibly wanting to cancel the sale, how to pay, etc. If they’re not such a good seller, maybe not so much of a good buyer. Anyone with 20 or more transactions on eBay should be a good buyer, unless they are scammers.
Anyway, as far as saving/buying and eBay in general goes:
If you send the seller a question about an item, find another of their listings, and send the question from that item page, rather than from the one that you actually want. This will add a little bit of work for the seller, if they want to add the question/answer to the item description page that you are actually interested in.
If you see an item that you want listed in auction format, send the seller a message asking if they will accept $x to end the auction early and sell the item to you. May be telling them that they would not have to wait as long to get their money (they would probably know that, but it still might help). If that does not work, use a sniping service such as Bidball.com to bid for you. It’ll bid in the last few seconds, helping you to save money and avoid shill bidding.
Use a site like Ebuyersedge.com to set up saved searches. You’d get an e-mail whenever a match is listed. Especially good for “Buy It Now”s priced right.
If the item that you are looking for is difficult to spell, try a misspelling search site like Typojoe.com to hopefully find some deals with items that have main keywords misspelled in the title. Other interested buyers might never see them. Then, if the item is listed an auction format, after a few days of no bids (hopefully anyway) send the seller and offer to end the auction early and sell the item to you. They may worry that no one is interested, and take whatever they can get.
You would think they would be a model buyer, as they should know how things go and not be lost, asking the seller questions about the condition of an item after the sale is already over and then possibly wanting to cancel the sale, how to pay, etc. If they’re not such a good seller, maybe not so much of a good buyer. Anyone with 20 or more transactions on eBay should be a good buyer, unless they are scammers.
Anyway, as far as saving/buying and eBay in general goes:
If you send the seller a question about an item, find another of their listings, and send the question from that item page, rather than from the one that you actually want. This will add a little bit of work for the seller, if they want to add the question/answer to the item description page that you are actually interested in.
If you see an item that you want listed in auction format, send the seller a message asking if they will accept $x to end the auction early and sell the item to you. May be telling them that they would not have to wait as long to get their money (they would probably know that, but it still might help). If that does not work, use a sniping service such as Bidball.com to bid for you. It’ll bid in the last few seconds, helping you to save money and avoid shill bidding.
Use a site like Ebuyersedge.com to set up saved searches. You’d get an e-mail whenever a match is listed. Especially good for “Buy It Now”s priced right.
If the item that you are looking for is difficult to spell, try a misspelling search site like Typojoe.com to hopefully find some deals with items that have main keywords misspelled in the title. Other interested buyers might never see them. Then, if the item is listed an auction format, after a few days of no bids (hopefully anyway) send the seller and offer to end the auction early and sell the item to you. They may worry that no one is interested, and take whatever they can get.
I also rarely leave feedback lower than a 5. As for shipping, I am of the opinion that I make that decision when I decide to purchase the item. I know how much the shipping will be, and it would not be right to complain about the shipping price after the fact.
The price of an item is what it costs to get it from the seller into my hands. If the price of the item is higher than I think it is worth the seller does not have a sale to me.
@not amused – standard business practice is to factor overhead into price, not shipping and handling charges. If that makes your product pricing uncompetitive you have three choices, change your product line, lower your profit margin or let it sit on the shelf incurring more overhead in hopes that a dumb bunny will hop by and buy it.
If you price S&H deceptively, i.e. much higher than the weight/cost justifies in the eyes of an educated buyer then you deserve your dings. Buyers see it as a ripoff and they are the ones doing the dinging. A lot of them are educated, its not 1999 any more.
Profit is won or lost in the act of purchasing.
I just wanted to add:
The shipping costs are NOT always listed. Let me give you two examples that I encounter constantly:
-Seller only lists overnight shipping in the listing for a book. I ask, Would he/she mind letting me pay for Media Mail instead if I buy it since I’m not in any rush? Sure, no problem!, seller promises. I buy it… and then I’m mysteriously given a price for Media Mail with no basis in reality (like I was charged the rate for a 10 pound book for a 14 ounce package). I’m not going to get a strike on my account for backing out of the sale, but you better believe I’m going to email the seller to express my displeasure.
-I bid on several auctions from the same seller because his listings promise that I’ll get a discount when I buy multiple listings from him and save money. I win these seven items and get my combined shipping invoice… and the rate he gives me is massive sticker shock.
In both of those type cases, you really have no way of knowing the cost ahead of time.