Belt Auction

Does anyone think that shipping on auction sites is getting ridiculously high?

I am getting sick of paying more in shipping than for the actual item. I was on Ebay the other day and everything was 9.99 to ship. Why on earth would I pay 9.99 to ship something that has a bidding price of 1.99?? I don't think its fair to make up for a low selling price by jacking up the "shipping & handling", do you?

Public Comments

1. I just sold a clock on ebay that is worth $1,000 and the cheapest shipping I could find to Switzerland was $120. Some people are crazy rip-offs but others aren't. I only charged her $117 and offered to pay the insurance on my own. Shipping definitely sucks but that is what you have to do when you shop online.
2. I used to think they did that, until I went to ship something myself... it is pretty expensive. So for this I blame the post office (although some sellers do put a "handling" fee which does jack up the price) and I heard they're raising the rates to ship too....=( but 9.99 for a 1.99 is ridiculous
3. When people bid on an item, they take into consideration the shipping, as part of the total price. The seller makes out if the buyer does not like the item, because the seller most of the time, does not refund shipping. I have saw some $20 items, with a buy it now, for .99 cents, and with a $25 dollar shipping charge, so if it is returned, the seller still has the price he wanted, and only refunds the .99 cents.
4. Sometimes this is called fee avoidance and is a big ebay no-no. Sellers pay fees on the sale price, not the total price which including shipping. That's why an item will be $2 with $10 shipping. I bought some fountain pens for $3 and paid $12 shipping. But, the pens were worth the total price. So when you see an item with very high shipping and a low weight that is what might be going on. Part of the problem is that it is a shipping and HANDLING fee and some sellers really give you a song and dance about the price of shipping materials and then send it in a beat up old box with recycled packing..But you are right in that shipping is getting high.
5. I have been selling on eBay for 10 years and usually specify a fixed shipping fee that will give me about $3 extra profit because that is about what it will cost me to drive to the post office and back.------ Shipping costs and based on 4 things (1) weight (2)dimensions (3)distance (4)insurance (if any) ------ what the item costs has absolutely nothing to do with the shipping fees. ------ The obviously high shipping fees you see are usually an attempt my the seller to keep the final price lower and therefore owe to eBay a smaller sales commission, while still keeping profits up.