No, you should assume they will provide the service they’ve advertised.
If you charge multiple shipping fees, and then ship a single box, you’re not providing the service you’ve advertised. And in that case, you are violating Ebay’s excessive shipping policy, as well as opening yourself up to a Paypal claim and a litany of negative feedbacks.
Good luck with that.
The bottom line is that even ebayers on the Dope can’t agree on what is right and what is wrong. As I said, I have no problem sending the items out individually, like that is going to help the bidder.
So, answer me this- Why does ebay encourage you to offer combined shipping, if it is presumed that everyone does it? Factual answer please!
I am not arguing any case. I am soliciting advice. I have already stated that I am willing to meet the guy halfway, and if he doesn’t like it, he can take it or leave it. In light of that, if he accepts my offer, I see no scenario where he has a legit complaint.
In fact, since he is a winning bidder, I am obligated to ebay for not just listing fees, but their commission on the sale, which I am, at this point, willing to eat. More and more, I just want to tell the dude to f-off.
As a means to drive more sales, thus increasing their commissions.
So, if it is assumed, how does it drive more sales? Why just not make it a rule and save everyone the trouble?
It’s not always assumed. Many sellers have learned that is more effective for them to state their combined shipping policy in their auctions, so as to avoid being in uncomfortable situations such as the one you found yourself in.
(Selling on Ebay is very much a learn-by-experience thing, as you’re also finding out)
Some sellers will not or can not combine shipping. Generally, I’ve found that those who refuse to combine shipping are using shipping/handling as a means of lining their pocket.
As for why Ebay doesn’t make it an across-the-board rule, I can’t speculate. I will note that not long ago, Ebay implemented “maximum shipping” rules for a number of categories.
I object to the phrase “lining their pocket”. It is a tired old phrase, usually used by leftist types. How about, “charging enough to make it worth the while”. After all, the shipping costs are spelled out in advance, and a few bucks for dealing with all the trouble isn’t exactly usery. The bidder can see the shipping/handling costs before making a bid. If they consider that unfair, that is their problem. Perhaps ebay should break down the charges. Make shipping equal to the actual cost, and handling a seperate charge. Tell me, did you vote for Obama?
:dubious: Ooooookaaaaay…
You know, I was with you at the beginning of this thread. Now you’re just being a dick. It’s obvious what you wanted to do in the first place, charge the separate shipping charges, so just do it. Why did you even bother starting this thread?
Yes, when I already stated that I would meet them halfway and more. You have not achieved the state of Kolinahr. Your answer lies elsewhere. Live long and prosper…
And to make a finer point of it, we are talking ten or twenty bucks, more or less, which I could care. It is the principle.
Beyond that, the items totaled about $15, with the shipping being $35 more. Almost $50 for some supermarket checkout books seems like a ripoff, even to me. If someone bought a “Wining at Bingo” book for .99 plus $3.00 s+h, I would ship it right out. This person bought a bunch of these for whatever reason. I guess I can forget about linking this thread to the person in an email, but by God, this person is a moron. They are spending good money for crap supermarket books. One or two? Fun. Buying out my inventory? Gives me a bad feeling. I am not out to take advantage of anyone.
But they made a bid, with terms clearly explained.
I guess you can sell any damn thing on ebay. Barnum was right.
So if I was to throw around accusations of standing on shaky moral ground, it wouldn’t be against the guy who, as far as I can tell, asked (not demanded) if you would combine shipping, as so many sellers do as a matter of course and as is entirely reasonable when it will cost you far less to send 10 items to 1 address than 10 items to 10 addresses.
And I think if you posted him a link to this thread, you would be handing him evidence that you are attempting to circumnavigate eBay’s rules and he could conceivably use it against you.
And some of the books have merit. The stuff that was prepared by the “Bottom Line Secrets” people has a lot of good advice. But “Winning at Bingo”?!?
Anyway, my next offerings will be more upscale. I have a lot of stuff to sell, and I was using these trivial items to get the hang of it. Thanks for all the replies.
There is no “principle” the buyer asked if you would combine shipping. You can answer yes or no. He did not make it a condition of the sale. Like others have said, if you want to ship them individually go ahead.But make sure they are packaged and sent individually, otherwise it seems as if you are scamming the buyer with shipping and handling costs.
You can save money at the post office by shipping through media mail. My advice would be to offer to combine the shipment and only charge half the original shipping fee. This will probably save you time and money and probably get you good feedback.
Didn’t the OP envision to give a link to this thread to the buyer?
No duh, I do it myself.
Sellers are free to list their items at any price. You are free to sell things at a loss, and given the nature of an auction, this may occur. Sellers are allowed to charge fees for shipping as well as reasonable handling charges, and I would challenge you to provide a cite that they are not. As far as cheating ebay out of commissions, the fact is that I have no idea what the final bid on an item will be. That is up to the bidder.
At this point, I am concluding that a lot of ebayers are a bunch of beanie baby trading weeners with no life, and maybe I should be slanging my stuff on Craig’s List, or down by the docks.
Nope. Just asking what I should do. Futile effort, it seems.
People will often “buy out your inventory” with the expectation that they can combine shipping. 1 book @ 99c each + $3.00 shipping = $3.99/book vs. 5 books @ 99c each + $6.00 shipping = $2.19/book and therefore better value. I’ve done it myself when I’ve seen a book that I want but can’t justify the price when shipping is taken into account so I’ve checked to see if the seller has any others that I want to bring the average price per item down.
And you may mock him now, but you’ll be laughing on the other side of your face when your buyer takes his bingo winnings and uses it to set himself up as Cat Adviser To The Stars.