Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Why show a potential buyer have to ask if there are hidden charges?
Just today I asked one person listing in auctions "Do you charge anything extra than the postage if using Paypal?". I receive this answer "If only a small purchase I ask for a small-$.30 charge to help with Paypal fees.It is not mandatory".
Now I have to ask what is a small purchase.
Why are sellers not revealing the cost?
Doug
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If sellers tack on postage and fees not disclosed in their terms and conditions you do not have to pay those tacked-on amounts.
Selling Rules:
D. Shipping Terms:
D1. Sellers must create their payment and shipping terms. Unless listed as optional, the terms must include, at a minimum, the following information:
Payment methods accepted or excluded
Shipping methods (optional)
Shipping costs, including any ancillary shipping services offered
Countries/areas excluded from sales (optional)
Refund policy (optional)
Any terms and conditions of sale that are different from those in the rules and procedures
D2. If a lot description does not include shipping terms, the seller must abide by the default terms stated below:
Postage charged to the buyer must be the exact cost of shipping the purchase from the seller to the buyer
No other fees may be charged to the buyer
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I agree it is a bother. Do you have a solution in mind?
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This is an interesting topic and one I should steer clear of but.... The solution (which creates a problem) is to up the postage costs and give a discount for using a check. Plain and simple. The problem comes into play when you have uninvoiced items and you change your terms. When you try to created an invoice, it does not give you every lot, at least that was my experience when I first joined and created a paypal account specific to this site. When I changed the address in my terms I ran into problems. The other problem is that I surely do not want to increase the postage on everyone, just those that elect to use PAYPAL when the paypal option does NOT appear on their invoice - for good reason. The only solution is to create all outstanding invoices, read the emails asking to combine the items, and then dealing with it, along with subtracting from the postage costs when the buyer has spent a certain amount. I believe I will clear up all my outstanding invoices before doing my afternoon auctions
Yes I know those who reside outside the US have no choice but to use PAYPAL
Greg
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PayPal policy states: "4.6 No Surcharges. You agree that you will not impose a surcharge or any other fee for accepting PayPal as a payment method. You may charge a handling fee in connection with the sale of goods or services, as long as the handling fee does not operate as a surcharge and is not higher than the handling fee you charge for non-PayPal transactions". n.b., ... not higher than the handling fee you charge for non-PayPal.
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a reminder from one of the guys who wrote the auction rules
if it's not stated in your terms, you can't charge it. if nothing is stated in your terms, you may charge exact postage and no more.
don't know how to be any clearer
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I don't think any sellers I have dealt with on SOR do this,but you find a lot of sellers especially on eBay and some other auction sites add extra charges if more than one item is purchased.
I try and avoid these sellers ,I don't mind paying extra if I go over weight as that is a genuine cost ,but charging more for buying more than one item is a ripoff.
If I want to purchase more than one item and I can't see any reference to combined postage I will email the seller and ask.
Brian
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Interesting that sellers charge per item shipping wise on ebay as ebay for a number of years has taken part of the shipping costs and assumed it to be profit. It isn't if you are charging real shipping costs, but there were a lot of people back in the day selling items for a dollar and charging $100 shipping. You can charge a handling fee which I do for overseas orders that are books, Lp's etc mainly to discourage their purchase.
I do charge a per item amount on Hipstamp auctions as like here, many sell for only a penny and thats fine. Hip though charges 3 cents to list an auction item, so a penny sale is a 2 cent loss. I rarely charge for the extra oz here unless it is overseas, and I also don't charge extra when I mail a large order with tracking. I figure if you are going to spend at least $50 with me, I can eat the postage costs. I charge less for postage here than on any other site.
Greg
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One of the problems for sellers here is that you do not know what a buyer is going to buy. Is it:-
1 stamp,
10 stamps,
100 stamps,
1 stamp and one minisheet (what size is the minisheet? bigger minisheet means larger packaging therefore extra weight therefore extra cost)
10 stamps and 10 minisheets,
1 stamp and 2 First Day covers(what size/weight are the Covers)
This all determines what size, weight, or type of packaging is used by the seller and thus determines the packaging costs (small envelope or bubble lined envelope etc) postage costs, the amount paypal takes, and in my case what paypal charges for the conversion of dollars to pounds.
Life would be simple if Royal Mail had one price for shipping but the cornucopia of rules about size, weight etc make it near impossible to give prices that would satisfy ALL sellers and buyers.
As a seller the only clear and precise postage cost is up to 20 grammes is $2.63, after that it all depends on size weight etc etc etc.
One other problem sellers have in determining shipping costs is that a buyer may buy some items, the seller sends the invoice stating the shipping costs, the buyer then buys another item say a minisheet, the seller sends the invoice with increased shipping cost as the minisheet requires larger envelope therefore heavier. Buyer not happy because the shipping has increased.
Now I hope you are crying into your handkerchief because us poor sellers have just a hard a time of it as buyers do!!!....
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I can understand why some sellers on ebay charge extra for additional items.
Lets take an example:-
I sell an item for £1.00 and charge £1.00 for Shipping, Total Cost to buyer = £2.00
Total cost to seller is:-
Listing Fee.......£0.35
Final Value Fee...£0.20
Paypal Fee........£0.25 (Why Because they charge a Minimum)
Postage...........£0.67 (UK First Class Post)
Packing Materials.£0.07
TOTAL COST TO SELLER ........£1.54 Profit?....£0.46
HOLD ON What about the cost of the item? EXACTLY!!!!
NOW What happens if I sell more items to the same buyer at the same time?
2 items at £ 1.00 plus £1.00 Shipping..........Buyer Pays ....£3.00
Seller Costs are:-
Listing Fees.........£0.70
Final Value Fees.....£0.30
Paypal Fees..........£0.15
Postage..............£1.01 (The second item was a Cover)
Packing Materials....£0.35 (Bubble envelope required)
Total Cost To Seller.......£2.50............Profit.....£0.50
HOLD ON What about the cost of the items? EXACTLY!!!!
Would you begrudge the seller an extra 20-25 cents for each additional item??
If you do then they didn't need Bill Murray to play Scrooge.....................
It Should have been......YOU!!!!!!!!!
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It is entirely reasonable to quote a basic first class rate for a normal envelope with 50-100 stamps, and that state that if a purchases involve a heavier weight or a larger envelope, then they would be charged the actual cost of postage.
In fact, one seller (me) has exactly that:
"$1.00 First Class Postage in the USA for a 1-oz letter.
$2.00 First Class Postage to Canada, Australia, Europe, British Commonwealth for a one-ounce letter.
Actual cost postage to anywhere else.
Actual cost postage for larger/heavier shipments. "
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When I started this I was only talking about SOR. Ebay I do not buy from anymore, because the rip off the seller which is passed on to the buyer. So forget about ebay in this discussion.
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Unfortunately ebay does have a bearing on this discussion as it appears that some of the misdeeds that have happened to individuals on ebay in the past have affected their perceptions and they think that all sellers are out to rip off buyers.
Yes you may come across the odd rip off merchant but that is the way of the internet because it involves the full range of humanity, from good to bad.
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At least here the bad get weeded out.
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AH! But do they?
Do the ones with "hidden" charges get reported to the Auctioneer?
or Is it just left to the "market".
All hail to the market!!
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"Do the ones with "hidden" charges get reported to the Auctioneer?"
I am not the auctioneer, so I don't know, but I would encourage anyone to do so.
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Auctions
I have gotten to the point that I am really reluctant to buy from auctions. I have started asking if there are any extra charges not showing in the listing.
Why show a potential buyer have to ask if there are hidden charges?
Just today I asked one person listing in auctions "Do you charge anything extra than the postage if using Paypal?". I receive this answer "If only a small purchase I ask for a small-$.30 charge to help with Paypal fees.It is not mandatory".
Now I have to ask what is a small purchase.
Why are sellers not revealing the cost?
Doug
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this post
re: Auctions listed not showing all the cost to the buyer
If sellers tack on postage and fees not disclosed in their terms and conditions you do not have to pay those tacked-on amounts.
Selling Rules:
D. Shipping Terms:
D1. Sellers must create their payment and shipping terms. Unless listed as optional, the terms must include, at a minimum, the following information:
Payment methods accepted or excluded
Shipping methods (optional)
Shipping costs, including any ancillary shipping services offered
Countries/areas excluded from sales (optional)
Refund policy (optional)
Any terms and conditions of sale that are different from those in the rules and procedures
D2. If a lot description does not include shipping terms, the seller must abide by the default terms stated below:
Postage charged to the buyer must be the exact cost of shipping the purchase from the seller to the buyer
No other fees may be charged to the buyer
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re: Auctions listed not showing all the cost to the buyer
I agree it is a bother. Do you have a solution in mind?
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Auctions - Approvals
re: Auctions listed not showing all the cost to the buyer
This is an interesting topic and one I should steer clear of but.... The solution (which creates a problem) is to up the postage costs and give a discount for using a check. Plain and simple. The problem comes into play when you have uninvoiced items and you change your terms. When you try to created an invoice, it does not give you every lot, at least that was my experience when I first joined and created a paypal account specific to this site. When I changed the address in my terms I ran into problems. The other problem is that I surely do not want to increase the postage on everyone, just those that elect to use PAYPAL when the paypal option does NOT appear on their invoice - for good reason. The only solution is to create all outstanding invoices, read the emails asking to combine the items, and then dealing with it, along with subtracting from the postage costs when the buyer has spent a certain amount. I believe I will clear up all my outstanding invoices before doing my afternoon auctions
Yes I know those who reside outside the US have no choice but to use PAYPAL
Greg
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this post
re: Auctions listed not showing all the cost to the buyer
PayPal policy states: "4.6 No Surcharges. You agree that you will not impose a surcharge or any other fee for accepting PayPal as a payment method. You may charge a handling fee in connection with the sale of goods or services, as long as the handling fee does not operate as a surcharge and is not higher than the handling fee you charge for non-PayPal transactions". n.b., ... not higher than the handling fee you charge for non-PayPal.
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Auctions
re: Auctions listed not showing all the cost to the buyer
a reminder from one of the guys who wrote the auction rules
if it's not stated in your terms, you can't charge it. if nothing is stated in your terms, you may charge exact postage and no more.
don't know how to be any clearer
2 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.
Auctions - Approvals
re: Auctions listed not showing all the cost to the buyer
I don't think any sellers I have dealt with on SOR do this,but you find a lot of sellers especially on eBay and some other auction sites add extra charges if more than one item is purchased.
I try and avoid these sellers ,I don't mind paying extra if I go over weight as that is a genuine cost ,but charging more for buying more than one item is a ripoff.
If I want to purchase more than one item and I can't see any reference to combined postage I will email the seller and ask.
Brian
1 Member
likes this post.
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Auctions - Approvals
re: Auctions listed not showing all the cost to the buyer
Interesting that sellers charge per item shipping wise on ebay as ebay for a number of years has taken part of the shipping costs and assumed it to be profit. It isn't if you are charging real shipping costs, but there were a lot of people back in the day selling items for a dollar and charging $100 shipping. You can charge a handling fee which I do for overseas orders that are books, Lp's etc mainly to discourage their purchase.
I do charge a per item amount on Hipstamp auctions as like here, many sell for only a penny and thats fine. Hip though charges 3 cents to list an auction item, so a penny sale is a 2 cent loss. I rarely charge for the extra oz here unless it is overseas, and I also don't charge extra when I mail a large order with tracking. I figure if you are going to spend at least $50 with me, I can eat the postage costs. I charge less for postage here than on any other site.
Greg
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this post
11:16:48am
Auctions
re: Auctions listed not showing all the cost to the buyer
One of the problems for sellers here is that you do not know what a buyer is going to buy. Is it:-
1 stamp,
10 stamps,
100 stamps,
1 stamp and one minisheet (what size is the minisheet? bigger minisheet means larger packaging therefore extra weight therefore extra cost)
10 stamps and 10 minisheets,
1 stamp and 2 First Day covers(what size/weight are the Covers)
This all determines what size, weight, or type of packaging is used by the seller and thus determines the packaging costs (small envelope or bubble lined envelope etc) postage costs, the amount paypal takes, and in my case what paypal charges for the conversion of dollars to pounds.
Life would be simple if Royal Mail had one price for shipping but the cornucopia of rules about size, weight etc make it near impossible to give prices that would satisfy ALL sellers and buyers.
As a seller the only clear and precise postage cost is up to 20 grammes is $2.63, after that it all depends on size weight etc etc etc.
One other problem sellers have in determining shipping costs is that a buyer may buy some items, the seller sends the invoice stating the shipping costs, the buyer then buys another item say a minisheet, the seller sends the invoice with increased shipping cost as the minisheet requires larger envelope therefore heavier. Buyer not happy because the shipping has increased.
Now I hope you are crying into your handkerchief because us poor sellers have just a hard a time of it as buyers do!!!....
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02:16:25pm
Auctions
re: Auctions listed not showing all the cost to the buyer
I can understand why some sellers on ebay charge extra for additional items.
Lets take an example:-
I sell an item for £1.00 and charge £1.00 for Shipping, Total Cost to buyer = £2.00
Total cost to seller is:-
Listing Fee.......£0.35
Final Value Fee...£0.20
Paypal Fee........£0.25 (Why Because they charge a Minimum)
Postage...........£0.67 (UK First Class Post)
Packing Materials.£0.07
TOTAL COST TO SELLER ........£1.54 Profit?....£0.46
HOLD ON What about the cost of the item? EXACTLY!!!!
NOW What happens if I sell more items to the same buyer at the same time?
2 items at £ 1.00 plus £1.00 Shipping..........Buyer Pays ....£3.00
Seller Costs are:-
Listing Fees.........£0.70
Final Value Fees.....£0.30
Paypal Fees..........£0.15
Postage..............£1.01 (The second item was a Cover)
Packing Materials....£0.35 (Bubble envelope required)
Total Cost To Seller.......£2.50............Profit.....£0.50
HOLD ON What about the cost of the items? EXACTLY!!!!
Would you begrudge the seller an extra 20-25 cents for each additional item??
If you do then they didn't need Bill Murray to play Scrooge.....................
It Should have been......YOU!!!!!!!!!
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
re: Auctions listed not showing all the cost to the buyer
It is entirely reasonable to quote a basic first class rate for a normal envelope with 50-100 stamps, and that state that if a purchases involve a heavier weight or a larger envelope, then they would be charged the actual cost of postage.
In fact, one seller (me) has exactly that:
"$1.00 First Class Postage in the USA for a 1-oz letter.
$2.00 First Class Postage to Canada, Australia, Europe, British Commonwealth for a one-ounce letter.
Actual cost postage to anywhere else.
Actual cost postage for larger/heavier shipments. "
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
Auctions
re: Auctions listed not showing all the cost to the buyer
When I started this I was only talking about SOR. Ebay I do not buy from anymore, because the rip off the seller which is passed on to the buyer. So forget about ebay in this discussion.
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07:17:52pm
Auctions
re: Auctions listed not showing all the cost to the buyer
Unfortunately ebay does have a bearing on this discussion as it appears that some of the misdeeds that have happened to individuals on ebay in the past have affected their perceptions and they think that all sellers are out to rip off buyers.
Yes you may come across the odd rip off merchant but that is the way of the internet because it involves the full range of humanity, from good to bad.
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re: Auctions listed not showing all the cost to the buyer
At least here the bad get weeded out.
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04:56:46am
Auctions
re: Auctions listed not showing all the cost to the buyer
AH! But do they?
Do the ones with "hidden" charges get reported to the Auctioneer?
or Is it just left to the "market".
All hail to the market!!
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re: Auctions listed not showing all the cost to the buyer
"Do the ones with "hidden" charges get reported to the Auctioneer?"
I am not the auctioneer, so I don't know, but I would encourage anyone to do so.
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