Suthrnjewl
Posted February 02, 2006 05:40 AM
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Alright...I'm finally going to throw my two cents in.
Very eloquently said...and an Excellent post.
I appreciate your research and suggestions.
Just for the record I do include these cost's although I apply them to the starting cost of the item and avoid the use of the term Shipping Fee. I pay eBay there fair share. I expect a shipping fee from the eBay seller who is having the items he's selling drop shipped from another state or country. Example... I bought a Hard Drive for a lap top on eBay. The seller is here in the states the part I ordered was shipped from China. I feel the fee is for the time it took him to place the order on my behalf with his supplier, a connection I would not otherwise have access to.
My beef is with the sellers who start the item at a penny and sock it to the customer somewhere else... shipping & handling fee's. They don't have to pay the higher listing fee, and they take all the attention with there low price. They are ripping off eBay and they are creating an untrustworthy market place reputation for eBay. When I talk to new eBay users the first words out of their mouths are always... and I repeat always " by the time I paid the shipping and handling I could have gotten it cheaper at the store "
I would like to see buyers get honest postage fee's with NO padding of the cost's. Then the customer can look at the total cost of the item and decide if it's a good enough deal for them to want to bid. Instead they take a look at a cheap auction then see the outrageous fee's and 1/2 off them walk away from eBay completely.
Sellers should protect the eBay market place. We get the advantage of excellent advertising which we could not afford in private business. We need to protect our reputations and our customers. This is our store and no one will want to come in and shop if they think there getting ripped off by sneaky postage & handling scams. Professional sellers need to ban together and make this an honest market place. It's in our own best interests.