Why does shipping cost so much on EBay?

getblown

Registered User
Holy crap, some of the things i have bid on are rediculous.

Gears $40.00 price, shipping $25.00, actual price on package $16.94
CD ---$2.50 price, shipping $8.40, actual price on package $3.45

Now, im looking for underbody lighting kits and i see kits for $10 and kits for 100$. The kits for $10 are $40 shipping, the kits for $100 are $20 shipping.

How do people get away with things like this on such a renowned (sp) site?

jOe
 
yeah thats what they do to make up for lost revenue for selling the item so cheap.... look at those ricer wings u can find them for a dollar but shipping will run you around 60 - 70 bucks.... i am truely starting to hate ebay now.... nothing but losers making a quick buck on cheap merchandise.... and its stupid how they try to sell foreign land.... to american citizens.... dumb ur paying for nothing if u buy land from ebay....
 
I try to buy from sellers that have the shipping calculator on their auctions, or if it's someone from here that is reputable. You are taking a chance with over paying for the item, the shipping or both on ebay I think.
 
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Sell a bunch of stuff on ebay and you will know why it cost more than actuall shipping charges. Boxes, packing materials, tape, and stuff like that usually arent free. In fact if you have to buy boxes they can be kind of expensive. See how much it cost to buy enough foam to fill up a 1 square foot box.Also, you have to figure in the persons time for boxing the stuff up, and taking it to the shipping company. Some people do try to make up for low prices by jacking up shipping rates, but you also have to understand that not everyone does that, and indeed there is more overhead in what it cost to ship something than just the actuall shipping charges.

take this one for example

CD ---$2.50 price, shipping $8.40, actual price on package $3.45

3.45 actuall shipping
padded envelopes usually cost $2 to $3
taking the padded envelope to shipping office (figure only 1 gallon of gas)
$2.80

that adds up to $8.25, even if the envelope only cost $2
 
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joker12552 said:
Sell a bunch of stuff on ebay and you will know why it cost more than actuall shipping charges. Boxes, packing materials, tape, and stuff like that usually arent free. In fact if you have to buy boxes they can be kind of expensive. See how much it cost to buy enough foam to fill up a 1 square foot box.Also, you have to figure in the persons time for boxing the stuff up, and taking it to the shipping company. Some people do try to make up for low prices by jacking up shipping rates, but you also have to understand that not everyone does that, and indeed there is more overhead in what it cost to ship something than just the actuall shipping charges.

take this one for example



3.45 actuall shipping
padded envelopes usually cost $2 to $3
taking the padded envelope to shipping office (figure only 1 gallon of gas)
$2.80

that adds up to $8.25, even if the envelope only cost $2

Trust me, i know. I shipped some GTP wheels from here in Allentown, Pa to Somewhere in Wisconson and trust me i was only paid $200 for the wheels
shipping included and it was damn near $75 bucks for shipping. It just seems to be the trend lately to jack up your shipping costs to make up for a lame buyers market at the moment.

jOe
 
getblown said:
Trust me, i know. I shipped some GTP wheels from here in Allentown, Pa to Somewhere in Wisconson and trust me i was only paid $200 for the wheels
shipping included and it was damn near $75 bucks for shipping. It just seems to be the trend lately to jack up your shipping costs to make up for a lame buyers market at the moment.

jOe
Got ya beat there, I shipped a set of mustang seats to california, ended up making about $15 after paying shipping cost.
 
E-bay shipping

You pay E-bay a percentage of the selling price.

You DON'T pay E-bay a percentage of the shipping. So any shipping over the actual costs, goes straight into the sellers pocket.

68COUGAR
 
As long as it's not skyhigh then I don't see a problem. You have to pay Ebay a fee for posting the add for options like buy it now, then if you use paypal as a convenience for the buyer then you have to pay a fee for that as well.

As of yet I haven't sold anything on Ebay, but if I do It might be like a part time job, and if so I ain't going to do it if it's not worth my time, would you? When I have sold things on here I have only charged actual shipping charges. I ship from my work but if I sold things all the time then I would feel that I would be taking advantage of my work, so I would have to take everything to a UPS store. As you know gas ain't free. I also know that boxes aren't free and neither are packing peanuts, tape and time. So I wouldn't have a problem adding some of my overhead to the customer, otherwise it doesn't make it worth it.

Jeff
 
Paying for packaging and material is one thing, but paying someones car payment is another. there are too many people who charge excessive shipping prices. As far as I'm concerned, the sellers time and material is paid for with the acution. The majority of people charing outrageous prices are those trying to make a business out of it. If someone chooses to use it as a business front, then they should find the means to cover the overhead other than charging the buyers. I don't think that's what Ebay was origanally intended for.

Also, It's the sellers choice if they want to use 'buy it now', and the other fancy features. Why should the buyer eat that cost? The whole point of those options is to generate a higher selling price, which in turn pays for itself...not paid for by the buyer.

I'm also tired of the auctions that start $5 below the reserve price or those that you can't even bid on. If I want to pay a fixed price I will buy it from the store not an "Auction".

I don't use Ebay much any more because I find it harder and harder to find a good deal because of the overpriced shipping and those people who charge extra to cover their "time and overhead".
 
You know why they do it? Because there's always some moron out there that will pay for it. Especially if it's something they know is rare. It's all about making a buck. It's the same reason that people will buy oakley sunglasses that are made for about 9 cents a pair. :)
 
Bidding is all subjective to begin with, so as long as your total cost for whatever you got is OK, then you should be pleased. Sellers need a bit of room for their time in packing and hauling things up to UPS. Or put another way, if I'm a seller, I'm sure not going to lose $ on shipping if I didn't make anything on the item.

Think about it, if you sold something for $1 is that really worth 2 hours of your time to pack and haul to the shipper? You do that more than twice where you lose $ and you'll quickly change and find yourself quoting a flat rate.
 
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