ebay changes & boycott Feb 18-25

[tonyc1]

Hi Kate,

What is sniping? Bidding at the last minute? I just can't see how that is cheating. That is like casinos considering card counting cheating. If God gives you the brains or drive to do something legal, why not? I think the eBay format where the auction is open for 5 or more days causes the sniping. In a real auction, decisions are made and it is all over in a minute at most. In an eBay auction, it is also over in about a minute too, the last minute of a seven day auction. The fact that all the action takes place in the last minute makes it like a real auction, that is how a real auction works. Now if you don't want to play in the auction format, there are the eBay stores or any of a multitude of other Internet and non-Internet channels to move the goods. eBay puts a lot of eyes on the merchandise which makes it a sandbox a lot of folks want to play in; it's eBay's sandbox and we all should play by their rules. There are a lot of things Baaaad about eBay, but playing by the rules ain't one of them.

There are however a lot of folks that really cheat the eBay system, and eBay itself does a terrible job of policing them, probably because eBay is not the one being cheated or hurt.

Art

I totally agree with you, Art.

[tonyc1]

I too figure the top price I want to pay and let it go from there if someone wants to pay more in the last minute than so be it. And I want everyone to get the money they have coming to them for the shipping and handling. But with that said a person would have to drive pretty far and use a dang nice box to justify a $5-$10 handling fee. I guess I figure that when I sell something to somebody getting it in a box and taking it to wherever to be shipped is in the price I sell it for. So then all I need to do is charge actual shipping. Just my .02cents worth.

Mike

And I totally agree with you as well as Art.

[Studio-N]

I have just dropped my eBay store mostly because the increase in the Final valuation fee to 12%.

I will probably still sale an occasional auction but not very often. I still find it a decent place to

find old items for various of my hobbies so I will still buy there. peace.

Edited February 8, 2008 by Studio-N

[unicornwoman]

I too figure the top price I want to pay and let it go from there if someone wants to pay more in the last minute than so be it. And I want everyone to get the money they have coming to them for the shipping and handling. But with that said a person would have to drive pretty far and use a dang nice box to justify a $5-$10 handling fee. I guess I figure that when I sell something to somebody getting it in a box and taking it to wherever to be shipped is in the price I sell it for. So then all I need to do is charge actual shipping. Just my .02cents worth.

Mike

I calculate shipping costs separately as I feel adding it in to each and every item means that the customer that buys multiple items from you is paying more than they should.

As for costs, I crunched the numbers on this on another forum back in April 2006. I'm feeling lazy so will just use those numbers again.. Note that gas and postage has gone up since then. As gas has gone up, all new shipping supplies have also gone up.

It takes me about 30-60 mintues to pack an order. I prefer to ship at the PO as it is more secure. That takes 15 minutes to get there, mail, and get back. That is assuming I have the package ready to drop in the slot. If I have to stand at the counter for extra services, it takes longer.

A normal business would have to pay an employee minimum wage for this task. It is unfair to think that because I'm a sole-proprietor that I should work for free. So, let's assume $6/hour as "wages" for my time. (That's about minimum wage, isn't it?)

That gives us costs of:

Minimum time 45-60 minutes: $4.50-$6.00

Trip to Post Office at 2006 IRS deduction rate of 48.5 cents-- 6 miles=$2.91

Right there, the cost is $7.41 - 8.91 per order WITHOUT SHIPPING SUPPLIES or POSTAGE.

I currently charge $7.50. You can see that doesn't cover 2006 prices, much less today's. When I set it, I took into account what "real" companies that don't require a minimum order charge for shipping as I don't require a minimum order. I set the price on low side of that. As it doesn't cover my time, gas/wear on the car, on my postage many days, I don't feel it is excessive at all.

Edited February 8, 2008 by unicornwoman

[gunfighter48]

I charge $12.00 Shipping & Handling on all my belt and holster shipments. But all my stuff goes Priority Mail, $8.95 anywhere in the 48 states, the rest goes towards labor. I know I'm not covering the labor involved but that's the way it is.

John

[CitizenKate]

Absolutely you should get compensated for everything you do to deliver that product. But I think most businesses allow for that in the pricing of the merchandise and take it out of the gross margin, rather than charging it directly to customers as shipping fees.

Kate

[Timbo]

So if you went to TLF to make a purchase and got to the register to cash out and they told you that you had to pay for the employees time to stock the merchandise, help you with your buying decision, ring you up and then bag your merchandise on top of the price of merchandise itself........what would you do??? Oh and the plastic bag and receipt cost you another dollar, cause they aren't free either. What would anybody do?????

You know good and well what you would do and that is tell them to keep there stuff and walk out and never come back.

It is called the price of being in business and the merchant pays for it. You make it back by selling merchandise. It's built in to the cost, you don't charge extra for it.

Why is doing business online different????

When I buy on ebay or an ebay store and the merchant wants 9.00 for shipping me a pack of sewing needles.........guess what?? I don't buy them.

When I see an auction and the item is buy it now for 15.00 and shipping is 25.00........guess what?? I don't buy it.

If you can't make your money for the selling price of the item, why is it okay to make it up with shipping and "handling"??? It's not.

I realize a lot of legitimate store front businesses will charge a handling fee for mail order and they always have. But usually it was a pretty nominal fee. Nowadays it seems like everyones time is valuable and they want paid for everything they do for you to complete the transaction. Well folks, you ain't gonna make it from me..........cause that is the price of being in business. This attitude is very prevalent on ebay and I don't condone or support it in any fashion.

If you can't sell on ebay and charge straight "cost of shipping only" fees, then get off ebay and pay for a website and sell your goods as an online retailer.

As for the time and gas it takes to box an item and drive it to the post office.........this is just another part of the cost of being in business. You don't charge for it.

I'm not trying to anger anyone.........I've just worked retail my whole life.

Tim

Edited February 9, 2008 by Timbo

[bcurrier]

I think handling charges are pretty much BS, especially if the vendor is in the mail order business primarily. Shipping varies considerably by carrier and delivery options, so really has to be charged separately, unless there ARE no options offered.

Bill

[wolvenstien]

Timbo, I cant argue with you about this because I do agree with the inflated Shipping and the "hidden" fees.... But... When I buy anything, in a retail store, at the flea market, or on eBay, I add together the price of the item (or the price I am willing to pay) and the taxes.... or shipping.... to the total so i know how much i am about to pay.... If I am looking at an item on ebay and the BIN is $20, and the shipping is $50... thats a total of $70..... am I willing to pay $70 for the item? How much is it new and local? is this total a good deal? Then I make my decision from there.... Same thing when I go to TLF I go look at an item, look the item up in the price guide, and see it is $10... I know the tax here is 9.25% so I automatically add 10% to it for a total of $11.00... do I want to pay this much for the item?

Electric sniping is wrong.... but I cant say it is "CHEATING".... if I get sniped at the last second as I have.... and I was actually willing to pay more for the item than what I did bid... then it is my fault for loosing the bid... I should have bid my very vighest willing bid and then if I were to get sniped the sniper would be a not to mention a

But then again....

Now those that use a third party electronic means of sniping to me are cheating. Just like the guys on the baseball teams who have been using steroids and winning games... the roids help.... no ifs ands or buts about it.... and using an electron means of last second bidding (sniping) gives you an unfair advantage over everyone else..... it's cheating....

just my 2 cents....

[unicornwoman]

Hmm. The responses I'm getting to this sounds like no one understands my business.

One of my main products is kangaroo-lace-by-the-yard to model horse hobbyists, who might only need 1 yard of single width/color. Now there are a lot of hobbyists that would like me to sell it for the price plus 42 cents (note: not 42 cents plus the cost of an envelope).

Let's do the #'s.

1 yard of 1/8 is $1.45 per yard.

The cost of labor and gas are $7.41 (using the low end of 2006 prices)

By your idea, that would mean that I would be charging $8.46/yard. Then, I get to charge actual shipping costs on top of that. Boy, then on the 2nd yard I get to charge the same and the 3rd. WOW! The money is just rolling in!

Now, before you think I'm just joking, there IS a fellow hobbyist that charges much in the way you suggest. She charges $2.99/yd plus $2.00 shipping. She claims to charge exact shipping for larger orders, but doesn't quote what that is.

Say a person wants to purchase 5 yards. Who's the better deal?

Me

5 * $1.45= $7.25

Shipping & Handling: $7.50

Total: $14.75

Her

5*2.99 = $14.95

shipping (unknown, so will use the $2.00)

Total: $16.95

I repeat, I'm not ripping off anyone but myself with my shipping fee of $7.50.

Now, I will grant that my shipping fee favors the larger buyer, but that IS what I want. It isn't worth my time and effort to ship out 1 yard at a time.