Ebay rant - YouLookFab Forum

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Ebay rant

nicoleb

(website)

Veteran

Sorry if this has already been discussed, but i am searching ebay today and it never ceases to irritate me when a seller lists an item super cheap but then has their shipping set ridiculously high for that item. Having an Etsy shop and from selling a little on ebay myself i know what shipping prices are like (as i assume most others do). If you don't want to get less than $20 for a necklace, then set that as your min. price, not .99 and then $19 for standard shipping. I refuse to bid on those kinds of sellers items on principle lol.

Shopping

16 replies

Latest reply was from nicoleb

Janet

(website)

Veteran

I've noticed that too!

OT, but my other big gripe with eBay these days is that in the last couple of months, I've had two winning bidders for items who never paid and never responded to any of my communications. I never had this problem before, and it's frustrating.

Heather

Veteran

*commiserating and fuming*

Nicole, I agree completely and nothing irritates me more than this practice on eBay.

I was interested in a skirt (that is STILL in the store), and it was listed at $0.99 and $89!!!! for shipping! What? Ridiculous.

PASS.

Ornella

(website)

Veteran

hbaber32, such case should be reported to ebay. Outrageous.

RoseandJoan

Veteran

Do you use the sort function? I usually sort by 'price + postage : lowest first'. It takes away the nasty surprises.

Lori

Veteran

I had the same experience with a pair of boots I totaly fell in love with that were price fairly, and then I took a second look at the shipping which was like $110. . .WTbleeeep. . .

nicoleb

(website)

Veteran

OMGosh lmao what are they shipping that skirt with? A complimentary box of rocks?!

I'm always half way tempted to message the seller to question their shipping price, but so far I have not. I'd probably just be ignored anyway.

Sorry to hear about your non-payers Janet. Did you report to EBay? Do they even do anything? They should at least refund your listing fees.

Sarah

(website)

Veteran

I refuse to purchase something with huge shipping costs. That's ridiculous and no thank you.
In fact, lately I'll only buy things with free shipping or $2 and under shipping, only because a lot of retailers offer it frequently. And we all know a pair of running shorts doesn't cost $20 to ship. Pff.

rae

(website)

Veteran

I agree that using the sort feature helps. I think sellers who post ridiculous shipping are stuck in the past, where the sort feature only offered a "Lowest price first" option -- they would put $1 as the price to be high on the results page, no matter what shipping was. Hopefully this will go away as more realize that they now sort "Price + shipping lowest first."

Janet, unfortunately Ebay and Paypal are heavily biased toward the buyers (even if this makes no sense, since we the sellers are THEIR customers, and the buyers OUR customers). If there is ever a dispute, they will always side with the buyers. You should get your fees back by submitting an unpaid item report, though.

Janet

(website)

Veteran

Yep, I opened a case in each time reporting the nonpayment. But here's the thing: when I do that, there is no option to leave negative feedback on the buyer! I've written eBay about that but don't expect anything will change.

Even the option to offer an item as a Second Chance sale to nonwinning bidders, is something of a disappointment. I've yet to have anyone accept a second chance offer. I guess it's either totally relist the items again, or try Craigslist, which has its own flaws.

chewyspaghetti

Veteran

I have been seeing that a lot, too. Are the sellers saving on ebay fees by listing the item price lower and making it up on the shipping? That's the only thign that I can figure.

Diana

Veteran

I agree, it's so annoying about the high shipping costs!

Chewy, you are absolutely right. Ebay charges sellers fees based on the final selling price of the item (based on the idea that the shipping does not contribute to your final profit), so some unscrupulous sellers add extra to the shipping so they don't have to pay fees. Unfortunately I don't think there's anything that can be done about it, other than boycotting sellers who do it.

Mo

(website)

Veteran

I have reported an astronomical shipping price to eBay. They sent me an email regarding it but I don't remember the final outcome. It was something like $39 for light sweater if I recall. I didn't even think about bidding on it.
As for the negative feedback, they took the seller's right to leave it away after a lot of retalitory feedback. A buyer would list somthing that didn't go right and the seller would shoot back how crummy the buyer was - like high school. I actually had that happen with a coat I bought that never arrived. The seller actually accused me of receiving the item and then lying about it. Like I would go through such a hassle . . . eBay isn't perfect, that's for sure.

catgirl

Veteran

I agree, and the other thing I've been hating about e-bay is all the knock-off repeat sellers that crop up - I'm not good enough at refining search terms to weed out, which is why I prefer etsy for anything vintage.

Queen Mum

Veteran

I'm suprised e-bay lets them get away with that. The only reason they do it is to save on paying the selling fee. I'd report them.

biscuitsmom

Veteran

Im so sorry to hear of all the ebay troubles....guess Ive just been lucky. I have over 80 transactions and only had problems with one, which ebay resolved....those shipping charges that were mentioned are freakin' ridiculous!

nicoleb

(website)

Veteran

wow i didn't even think about them doing it to save $ on their fees! You'd think in that case Ebay would make a way to crack down a lot more since that makes them "lose" money. Boo.

I wasn't too upset when they changed the feedback so that buyers couldn't be given a negative. Yeah it is a bummer with non paying buyers but i saw too much bullying from sellers going on and i think it made buyers hesitant to even leave feedback if they had a problem.