Hi Dave,
I have noticed the same thing. And it makes no sense to me, either. Maybe at a large mail order house it evens out over time, but that means some are overpaying & some are underpaying. All I can say is that I only charge for actual shipping-not packing, etc. If the seller overpays for shipping because I overestimated it, I refund the difference (well, if it's more than $1).
However, I also require insurance, unless it really is silly to get it (i.e. a $5 item, etc). It's not that expensive & I just don't want to get into it with the buyer, should something happen in transit. I put that in my auction listing. If they really don't want it, I make them send me an email stating they don't want it & I'm not responsible for the loss, should it occur. As a buyer, I also request insurance from most sellers, whenever appropriate.
I just think charging for handling, packing, etc is a way to rip off the customer. Unless it really is packed professionally. Or I have to buy some unique supplies to protect the item. Then I would send the buyer the receipt for the packing charge, as proof of cost.
Perhaps, I'm in the minority. I just don't think it's right to rip people on S & H.
Mary Kaminski Philly, PA
I have noticed an odd trend and was wondering if others had similar observations: Some ebay sellers charge not by what the actual weight of the item is, but rather what the price of the item is. And I am not talking about shipping insurance charges either.
I am not sure this makes much sense to me as a buyer or a seller. I have
always learned that you set an item's value into the price of the item itself rather than try and jack up the price of the shipping. Maybe they teach something different these days, but I am not sure this trend is particular to folks just out of high school either.
Then again, maybe I am just behind the times. Does anybody on this list
endorse this method as a standard way of operating? I know that folks
like BC and
Matteo don't, so I assume they went to the same school as myself. Any
other
thoughts?
cheers-
Dave Anderson
Cut Bank MT