Excessive Shipping & Handling
eBay encourages sellers to clearly describe the item and terms of shipping and delivery in their listings to avoid possible confusion.
A shipping and handling fee can cover the seller's reasonable costs for mailing, packaging and handling the item. However, shipping and handling fees may not be listed as a percentage of the final sale price.
When a bid is placed, the bidder is entering into an agreement with the seller to purchase the item, which most often means incurring reasonable shipping charges that may also include handling fees.
In the case of disagreements between buyers and sellers regarding shipping charges, eBay encourages the parties to try to work the matter out.
Violations of this policy may result in a range of actions, including:
Listing cancellation
Limits on account privileges
Account suspension
Some Examples
Listing a DVD with a shipping and handling charge of $25 for standard shipping is considered excessive shipping and handling.
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Forum rules
This is for posting links to off site deals that you are not personally selling,but wanting to pass along good deals
This is for posting links to off site deals that you are not personally selling,but wanting to pass along good deals
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Lew
- 5 valves
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- Location: Annville, PA
Just so you are aware, it is against eBay policy to use shipping charges to account for the price of an item. Here is the policy from their site:
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Uncle Buck
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Pick it up
I assuming that if I'm the winning bidder, I can show up at your house to pick the horn up to avoid the shipping charges.
If someone wanted to do that, I'd rather be in their position (legally) than in yours, trying to explain why the buyer is still liable for the shipping.
If someone wanted to do that, I'd rather be in their position (legally) than in yours, trying to explain why the buyer is still liable for the shipping.
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Tom
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I personally don't find the shipping charges that outrageous...
He has to find a carton big enough, pack it well, drop it off at a depot or arrange to have it picked up, and pay for shipping and insurance.
In addition, chances are the carton will be too big for UPS, FedEx, etc., and will have to go by motor freight line which gets into much more $$$$.
He has to find a carton big enough, pack it well, drop it off at a depot or arrange to have it picked up, and pay for shipping and insurance.
In addition, chances are the carton will be too big for UPS, FedEx, etc., and will have to go by motor freight line which gets into much more $$$$.
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Lew
- 5 valves
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I shipped a very large Martin tuba to France in 2 boxes and it cost less than $500. Domestic truck freight for a King sousaphone I purchased was about $100. Do you still think that this is a reasonable shipping charge?Tom wrote:I personally don't find the shipping charges that outrageous...
He has to find a carton big enough, pack it well, drop it off at a depot or arrange to have it picked up, and pay for shipping and insurance.
In addition, chances are the carton will be too big for UPS, FedEx, etc., and will have to go by motor freight line which gets into much more $$$$.
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Lew
- 5 valves
- Posts: 1669
- Joined: Fri Mar 19, 2004 4:57 pm
- Location: Annville, PA
I understand, eBay fees can be high, I was just warning you that eBay does monitor this stuff and will end auctions due to this. They don't seem to be consistent in their enforcement, but I think that they do probably have a threshold that sets off alarms for them. They make their money through fees and will do whatever they can to prevent you from avoiding them. I know that you were using the shipping charge as the equivalent of a "reserve" price, and that it was a reasonable price for this horn. I know from experience though that they keep an eye on this kind of thing.chris combest wrote:I wasnt trying to screw anyone out of their money.
I was trying to avoid some high fees, I have seen people use the practice in the past, and I didnt realize it was a violation. Apparently I was wrong...My bad. Cut me some slack.
The item has since been removed by Ebay.
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Uncle Buck
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FYI
Just FYI, I was one confirmation click away from bidding on the horn. When I see horns with no reserve, I often put a low-ball bid in early, just in case.
I know it's a good tuba, and worth what you're asking. It's out of my price range right now, but I thought it couldn't hurt to put in a "just-in-case" bid. With bids like that, where I assume I won't win but it would be great if I did, I just don't always put in the "due diligence" I do on more realistic bids.
I didn't check the shipping cost before I tried to bid, because I knew that even with a grossly inflated shipping cost (even several hundred above actual cost), if I got it for my bid I still would have been getting a great deal.
I realize I shouldn't have bid without reading everything, but again, I assumed that my bid was low enough that I would be safe even if the shipping were unreasonable.
The final confirmation page listed the shipping amount, so I stopped just before the bid was final.
I wasn't going to write this, because I know I came close to a stupid mistake. I just wanted to make the point that while ebay users need to understand that shipping costs are often inflated, an example this extreme could have really caused an awkward situation.
I know it's a good tuba, and worth what you're asking. It's out of my price range right now, but I thought it couldn't hurt to put in a "just-in-case" bid. With bids like that, where I assume I won't win but it would be great if I did, I just don't always put in the "due diligence" I do on more realistic bids.
I didn't check the shipping cost before I tried to bid, because I knew that even with a grossly inflated shipping cost (even several hundred above actual cost), if I got it for my bid I still would have been getting a great deal.
I realize I shouldn't have bid without reading everything, but again, I assumed that my bid was low enough that I would be safe even if the shipping were unreasonable.
The final confirmation page listed the shipping amount, so I stopped just before the bid was final.
I wasn't going to write this, because I know I came close to a stupid mistake. I just wanted to make the point that while ebay users need to understand that shipping costs are often inflated, an example this extreme could have really caused an awkward situation.