# Standard EBAY rant #2 (lame)

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/standard-ebay-rant-2-lame/268780>\
**Category:** The BBQ Pit\
**Created:** [October 12, 2004, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/standard-ebay-rant-2-lame/268780 "2004-10-12T05:04:20Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\
**Post date:** [October 12, 2004, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/standard-ebay-rant-2-lame/268780/21 "2004-10-12T22:27:46Z")

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ACCCCKk!!! None of my quotes appeared in that!!!

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**Author:** ![yosemite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/3ab097/32.png) [@yosemite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yosemite)\
**Post date:** [October 12, 2004, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/standard-ebay-rant-2-lame/268780/22 "2004-10-12T23:17:33Z")

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I do something similar to what **NoClueBoy** does.

I don’t want to take a loss on shipping and handling, but I don’t necessarily want to make a killing either. What I have been doing lately is weight the package (usually it’s books) and estimate the how much it would cost to ship it to the farthest distance in the USA. Then I add on about 50 cents for the packaging (if I’m using a nice box that I bought for shipping). I also tack on a little bit for whatever money is taken out from PayPal (since most of my buyers pay through PayPal).

Usually it doesn’t come out to more than a dollar or two more than the actual shipping cost. I _try_ to keep the shipping cost as low as possible, because people don’t want to pay too much just to have a few paperback books shipped to them. So anything over, say, $3.50 (unless I am selling a lot of books) is too high. (I usually send things through media mail or first class.)

I don’t buy a $10.00 shipping fee and handling on a DVD, for instance. That’s bullshit. I know how much shipping costs, and I personally add on a little extra as a cushion so I don’t take a loss on shipping costs, so I’m not against the practice. But $10 for something that costs maybe $2-3 to mail? Come on.

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**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\
**Post date:** [October 12, 2004, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/standard-ebay-rant-2-lame/268780/23 "2004-10-12T23:28:32Z")

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I generally quote flat rates on all my shipping costs. Sometimes I come out ahead, sometimes I don’t, esp for west coast buyers (I’m in MD), but I generally even out. I have relatively few people argue shipping with me if I’m listing a flat rate, and I don’t have weigh and measure the damn box for every transaction.

If you don’t like my policy, don’t bid.

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