A rip off

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=5934646261&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT

I realize that we tend to post too many things that go on over at that auction site. This however is not to call your attention to a deal but to point out one of my favorite rants about the place.
The item went for $41.00 now look at the shipping. It's $17.00. I berated a person that I like for charging me $7.00 shipping when the item cost less then $2.00 to send. This is a gouge by any name. The individual who bought it has a negative on him with only 37 purchases. I wonder if he looked at the shipping charge and if he will get his 2nd when he realizes that he's been had.
Sorry for the post to complain but probably I'm not alone in my feeling that some people have a hidden profit margin built into their shipping cost

I will never ship anything again without sending it priority mail. If you print the mailing lable off the USPS web sight you get free delivery conformation. That is required if you have a claim that something was not delivered, you have proof that it was.

Pay Pal requires it as well as E Bay.

All that delivery confirmation tells the sender is that the item was left and at what time it was left at the address to which it was shipped. It could have been left on an open porch or a stoop if the addressee wasn't home to receive it. It doesn't mean that the package was actually received by the purchaser.

I had this happen to me just last week with a nice OS Max FP .40 that I got for a steal at eBay. The package was too big for my mail box. This package was not even left on the porch. It was left balanced on the open flap of the mail box. Fortunately, the fellow with the mail box next to mine saw it and picked it up for me because of the fact that we were having a fairly heavy, wet snow fall at the time. Unfortunately, he did not know me or have a phone number for me. Luckily, the seller emailed me after he had received the confirmation to ask me what I thought of the engine. I ascertained what had happened and after two days finally connected with the fellow who had picked up the package. All ended well, but it might not have. If I hadn't been able to find him, or if he had been a dishonest type, I would have lost my investment.

Your right Tom, but you would be suprised how many people do not check shipping costs when they buy an item. Additionally most stores that I deal with ship for actual shipping costs or I avoid them.
I won a motor for a really low price and the seller was in Philadelphia about 95 miles away. He is a new seller on the bay and the shipping was not posted. I bid and got a shipping cost of $8.00. I emailed and told him the actual shipping cost and he agreed and informed me that since he was new to the game he went by EBAYS suggested shipping rates. Point that I'm making is that I usually contact a seller and see if that shipping price is set in stone, if it is I move on

That has always been my policy--charging actual shipping costs. And I am not talking e-bay, but just general business. There are two flaws to this, however. When you do a lot of little things, shipping may be 60 cents. The customer gets a bargain. You spend for a padded envelope and put in your time to do the small order. Not cost efficient. Some businesses charge a flat fee or $7 or $8 regardless of how much you buy. It discourages the little orders, and you get a bargain if you order a lot. For the business, they are willing to pay the extra if you order that much. (They usually make an exception for heavy items, however.)

The second flaw I rand into was when I shipped a batch of ARFs by Fed-Ex ground. The rate was good, and I could get estimates ahead of time, but it took about a week and a half to get the actual charges from Fed-Ex so that I could bill the people who bought the ARFs. Most businesses want the cash up front, so they bill a "standard" rate that will cover everybody. They will make money on short runs and have to cover a bit of extra on the long runs.

But with e-bay, I agree, I think the shipping rates ought to be actual or "reasonable" for the item at hand. I, too, have looked at shipping rates and passed on a few items figuring the total was going to get too high. I am looking at memory for the computer right now. It is interesting how some people want to charge 8 ro 10 dollars (and occasionally more) to ship two sticks of memory.

I sold some ST G21/46s to Greg and the actual shiping cost from St.Louis to California was $12.00 US MAIL INSURED. So I dont think 5.00 for the guys time is out of line.

Edit: the guys in my town wounder who he is? Does he have more?

(My thought on a rip off is Tower charging $69 for the CL version of the same engine. Does a venturi with a spray bar really cost $12 more than a carb? Not when you look at what they charge for parts. Remember, the needle is on the back plate.)

Your prompts are: "One", "One" and "United States".

http://postcalc.usps.gov/

The biggest problem is always weight. One ounce (padded envelope) 49 cents. Two ounces 60 cents. Three ounces 83 cents and so forth. Needle valves, venturis, etc. don't weigh much. Engines in a shipping box climb over a pound, although it is possible to take the engine box itself and wrap it in paper and maybe squeak under.

One or two plans can get in under a pound with the shipping box. More goes into the two pound category. These go priority because they provide the box. (You can pay a couple of dollars for the mailing tube and ship it cheaper, but it costs more in the end.)

I usually trust people. I get the stuff ready to ship, weigh it, and then send it out with an invoice. Some people forget to pay, but it isn't too many.

I've thought about that, but if you look carefully, I think they actually include one of those expensive OS plugs in the CL version. None of their RC versions have a plug.

Now, is the plug worth that much? I don't think so, but it's probably enough to justify things from being in a "rip-off" category.

The seller only got $41 for his NIB LA. $5 to $10 less than you would expect.

However, the weight for one LA .40, double boxed, should not exceed two pounds. The postal rate for Priority Mail would be $5.75 to any point in the USA, and if the box purchase cost is $3.00 (Conservative!), the total of $8.75 would indicate that that $17.00 for shipping would be excessive.

I, too, believe that this is a way for sellers to pad their return for items. Additionally, those postage charges aren't subject to the eBay commission, so they are pure profit.

<snip>

>However, the weight for one LA .40, double boxed, should not
>exceed two pounds. The postal rate for Priority Mail would
>be $5.75 to any point in the USA,

$5.75 postage

>and if the box purchase cost is $3.00 (Conservative!),

The USPS supplies free boxes and mailing tubes for Priorty or Express Mail. I guess not too many people are aware of this. All supplies: tape, labels, tubes or several size boxes are free for the asking. There is even a flat rate Priority tyvex mailing envelope which doesn't go by weight. Just whether or not you can fit the item in the envelope with out modifying it.
These items are available through the USPS web site, and will be shipped straight to your door. Or you can visit the PO.

>the total of $8.75 would indicate that that $17.00 for shipping >
>would be excessive.

With free supplies it is even more absurd! $5.75 + 0 = $5.75

I charge a flat fee of $6 to make it even on most items.
If it is a small item, sometimes less than a dollar. Big items, I charge actual shipping.
Bill <><

Robert:
The seller is compensated for "his time" by selling an object he wants to dispose of-my opinion of course.
I will not bid on an item including "handling"charges.

I have recently been wheeling and dealing on vehicles on the bay. Lots of real deals here and serious money can be made. The real rip offs on vehicles are "document fees" "internet fees" "title fees" etc. which can be up to $300. Naturally, I avoid these auctions.

Sorry, but I would not agree that the buyer should compensate the seller for his time. Or for that matter for his time making photos, cleaning up the item for sale if needed, or his e bay or Paypal fees. That would be expected to be part of his profit/satisfaction from disposing of his unwanted item IMO.

Postal insurance is very expensive! $1.10 or so per $50. As I calculate it, there is a much less than 1 chance in 45 that the item will be lost or damaged beyoned repair so I only include it if the buyer insists.

I don't like those inflated postage charges either. I always look at postage before I bid. If I don't agree with postage I don't bid. The nice thing about ebay is there will alway be another auction by a different seller with a lower postage charge. Ebay has made an attempt to stop postage gouging. There are now several options for the seller to pick and if you try to put too much postage on the auction ebay won't let you do it. Another thing ebay has changed is those 1 cent auctions with $15.00 postage can no longer be relisted after the auction ends. Businesses that pay employees to package orders have to charge higher postage rates wages some are reasonable and some are not. Small business usually charge actual postage and do not take into consideration the actural time involved in mailing packages.

I have that figured out already. The average wait in line is 3 minutes per person except during the holiday season which is sometimes 15 minutes per person. If there are 15 people in line with 3 postal workers working the counter it will probably be a 15 minute wait. For some reason Monday is the worse day of the week to stand in line, the lines are very long usually never less than 30 people and it stay that way all day. Friday and Saturday are a tie as to which is worse both run second place behind Monday. 2 pm is the best time to mail a package the wait is usually about 5 minutes. The post office on the other side of town is totally different so I assume a post office in a different town would have its own differences too.

I recently sold an engine on eBay, went to England. I had used calculated option as to shipping charges, listing parcel as 1 - 2 pounds. I mean, how much can a packaged 60 which comes in at 20 ounces weigh?

About 3 pounds, 7 ounces. When the aluminum pipe is included, a larger box because there wasn't enough crush zone in smaller/lighter box, I slipped in some 8-pound 1/4" x 4" balsa as a stiffener to further preclude damage to the pipe.

Buyer musta been smarter than me, as he offered, and indeed paid, US$20.00 for USPS Global Priority shipping when the calculator said it could be done for $15.00.

Knowing in advance he had forwarded an extra $5.00 I tossed in a hex key* produced by same company as made the engine, some extra aluminum shims for both head button, front and rear plates.

And then paid *$29.00* to follow though on what I had promised. My mistake, after all...

As for padding shipping costs, I not only don't do it, if I can be acussed of doing so it appears to be in reverse, the so-called extra profit coming directly out of my pocket.

Incidentally, both a side-exhaust variant and RC Pattern-specific 60s went to England--they're loving current exchange rate--although I didn't screw myself on the former. Shipped on a Friday, both guys had their engines by the next Tuesday, a mere 4 - 5 days in transit.

by any act, error, or omission, I have, intentionally or
unintentionally, displayed any breedist, disciplinist, sexist, racist,
culturalist, nationalist, regionalist, localist, ageist, lookist, ableist,
sizeist, speciesist, intellectualist, socioeconomicist, ethnocentrist,
phallocentrist, heteropatriarchalist, or other violation of the rules of
political correctness, known or unknown, I am not sorry and I encourage you
to get over it.

Dan shipping to England and Russian motors nad the problem of getting them are a little too far off topic. Granted you got stuck on overseas costs,however the P.O hasn't got the new rates in yet so I'm still sticking to my allegation that the shipping price on that item was a'rip off'
Dennis

$17.00 is a WHOLE lot to ship an engine, anywhere, at any "rate".

But, it is clearly stated in the "Shipping Costs" area at the top of the auction. The winner would have a hard time claiming he was taken with it so clearly posted.

I have no connection with the auction, I just know the old "buyer beware" clause that goes with ebay.

Bill <><

A mature person profits from criticism. __Vincent Lombardi