So, I don't think that these shipping charges are excessive (although I am glad
that they are capped at $10) but,
Can someone explain to me how a sliding scale for shipping is significantly
different than explicitly forbidden "percentage of the final sale price"?
Evan.
-------------- Original message ----------------------
From: Bruce Hershenson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> JR
>
> A small correction to what you wrote. I DO charge actual shipping
> (plus $2 for packaging materials) some weeks (like this current
> week), but I only do so when the items vary in size, weight and/or
> value quite a bit, and there is no good way to charge a flat rate.
>
> Other weeks (when I sell mostly items of the same size), I charge a
> variable shipping charge, based on the total DOLLARS spent, and
> irregardless of the total number of items. The costs are these:
> If your order total is less than $20, U.S. shipping is $5.50
> If your order total is $20 to $49.99, U.S. shipping is $7.00
> If your order total is $50 to $399.99, U.S. shipping is $8.50
> If your order total is $400 or over, U.S. shipping is $10.00
>
> For those who live outside the U.S. I still charge actual shipping
> (plus $2 for packaging materials), because rates vary so much from
> country to country.
>
> The benefit of the above sliding scale is that those who just get a
> single cheap item "get a break", and that is important as those
> people are the ones most likely to get upset over what they perceive
> as "excessive shipping".
>
> Do I sometimes lose money? Sure. I almost never make even a penny.
> But it is worth it to have a standardized rate that all but the
> wackiest of collectors can live with.
>
> As to the packaging materials, I always use brand-new custom-made
> heavy duty boxes, tubes, and backing boards, and I spend the $2 I
> charge on 99% of the orders I send. I never get complaints about that
> $2 charge, once they see my packages and tubes!
>
> I wish all sellers would adopt these same standards, but I am not
> holding my breath waiting. For too many sellers (and major auction
> houses) shipping and "handling" charges are a major "profit center".
> My least favorite sellers are those that charge a full "per item"
> charge for every item you get, and only combine the shipping if you
> complain (and say it was an error), thus pocketing a LOT of extra
> money from those who DON'T complain.
>
> Incidentally JR, I suggest you re-consider regularly mentioning me in
> a positive light. You might find that the Hershenson haters out there
> start attacking you, maybe even calling you a "joke", and I wouldn't
> want that to happen, as I have a lot of respect for you and what you
> have accomplished.
>
> Bruce
>
> JR wrote:
>
> I agree with what Craig and others have been saying about pumped-up
> "shipping and handling" charges that some sellers implement. But I'd
> like to point out a couple of things:
>
> 1) This is a common practice for non-eBay mail-order companies and
> has been for decades. How many times have you seen the TV ad where
> they're going to send you a "$75 dollar value for ONLY $9.95" and you
> look at the screen and it says "$9.95 plus shipping & handling" and
> when you place the order you discover that shipping and handing is
> $19.95 or more? Using the shipping and handling charge as a way to
> offer absurdly low retail prices and still end up getting paid closer
> to a genuine retail price is a common practice,even with the big
> brand-name catalogs -- let's not pretend it's just an eBay issue.
> It's just that more and more of those sellers who have been doing
> regular mail-order and charging excessive shipping charges have now
> moved to doing business on eBay and have brought their decades-old
> techniques with them.
>
> 2) In a way, eBay encourages this kind of thing by prohibiting
> sellers from charging users who pay with PayPal or Credit Cards a
> processing fee. The seller is charged the processing fee -- it is a
> cost of doing business -- but they are not allowed to pass it on to
> the customers, at least not up front and honestly. They can't add it
> to the starting bid, because on all this low-cost stuff that makes
> their starting bids non-competitive with the 99-cent starting bids of
> their rivals on eBay. So, the only place left for them to recoup
> genuine cost-of-business expenses is by pumping up the "shipping and
> handling" charge. Note the "handling" term attached to "shipping and
> handling" -- that very clearly means they are not claiming that all
> of the charge will be spent on the actual shipping cost, but some of
> it is also for covering "handling" -- a code word for "our cost of
> doing business and making the profit we feel we need to make to stay
> in business."
>
> So, pumped-up shipping and handling charges are nothing new and
> there's really nothing that eBay is going to be able to do about it,
> despite their public posturing. The only thing a buyer can do is be a
> smart shopper and check out various sellers and compare what their
> "shipping and handling" charges are -- then do business with the ones
> who seems to be the most reasonable in this area. I remember several
> years ago when Bruce was publicly criticized because he was charging
> a flat $8.00 shipping and handling fee on all of his eBay sales --
> regardless of how many posters you won, he would combine them into
> one package and charge you a flat $8 bucks. At the time some people
> thought that was kinda high... particularly if you only won a single
> poster for $9.95 (in those days many poster sellers were only
> charging $3.00 to $5.00 to ship). Now almost everyone charges $8
> bucks or more and Bruce has now gone to actual-cost shipping plus a
> flat $2.00 for packaging materials (which makes the most sense, but
> is a hassle for his staff and the exact amount the shipping will be
> is something the bidder can't know until he's actually won and gets
> the invoice -- but it's the only fair way to do it. Those who still
> charge a flat fee must either make it high enough to guarantee that
> they won't lose money on the packaging and shipping or else take a
> chance that they will. Given the low prices so many eBay items go
> for, most are not willing to take even a small loss on shipping and
> handling and I don't blame them).
>
> It's true many more sellers abuse the process... that some insist on
> insurance and then don't buy it... or charge you Priority Mail rates
> and then ship "Media Mail" or simple First Class in crummy packaging.
> Those people you learn to avoid buying from -- and when one of them
> screws you like this take a stand and leave negative feedback and
> explain what they did, so that others are warned (or maybe the seller
> is forced to change his ways). But don't expect any third party like
> eBay to be able to reign in these abuses, because they are
> well-established business-as-usual practices. The best you can do is
> comparison shop and leave that all-important negative feedback when
> you do get burned.
>
> -- JR
>
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