Ebay has gone to far

Discussion in 'The Lounge' started by foogoo, Nov 23, 2011.

  1. foogoo

    foogoo Major "foogoo" Geek

    I use Ebay on occasion to buy stuff, most recently a power supply for a laptop. I also sell items there. I've tried Craigslist but poeple are unreliable there.

    Ok, so I don't always read my emails, this is what I learned today. Ebay is charging a fee on the price you quote for shipping. So I guessed $12.00, which actually cose me $15 PLUS 1.08 to Ebay on top of the $2.43 they took for the sale of the item. Then I'll have to pay Ebay/Paypal more money when I get the sellers payment.

    So listing 4 items with reserve pricing costs me (so far, one person has not paid) $17.26.
    Take the item that sold for $39.00 - 15 shipping - 10.15 (current fees on Ebay - not countingPaypal) I have $13.85 in profit.. hows that work I paid 19.99+tax for the item, that I sold for 27.00.. shouldn't I be like +7.00 in profit??

    By the end of these sales I'll be lucky if I don't OWE somebody.

    Anyone use Amazon????
    Bring back the MG sale section.
     
    foogoo, Nov 23, 2011
    #1
  2. LauraR

    LauraR MajorGeeks Super-Duper Administrator Staff Member

    From what I saw when I stopped buying or selling on ebay years ago (I actually gave my account with the excellent ratings to my Dad), is that people were putting ridiculous low prices for the actual item as a minimum bid, but then tagging on an exorbitant 'shipping and handling' charge... at least for the items I dealt with.

    While I believe it started so that people would bid on the items and the people would still make some money, I think it probably evolved into people circumventing paying ebay as much since they weren't taking a percent of the shipping.

    So on the surface, it sounds pretty bad, but I can see why ebay is doing it. It's unfortunate for people like you who are estimating what you actually think it'll cost you to ship it.

    As a sidenote...do you actually have to put a shipping estimate in now? I remember you could put in 'pays actual shipping' or something like that so that it was calculated after the auction.

    I've used Amazon to sell books. It's a good system, as long as you are willing to wait to sell something since it's not an auction system. There've been a couple of times I actually forgot I had something listed since it was up for a while and I got an email...was sort of an 'oh yeah'. LOL You might want to try it on a couple of things and see how it works for you.
     
    LauraR, Nov 23, 2011
    #2
  3. foogoo

    foogoo Major "foogoo" Geek

    messed up the math.

    Yes, I remember that 'loophole' where people could charge $40.00 shipping ona .99 item to 'protect' their profit, but Ebay should of been able to catch those people and not tax everyone for a few bad apples, but hold on they collect the tax, so they profit anyhow. Not to mention the PayPal "double dip".

    I'm done, I'll just toss my old stuff in the trash than hassle with packing, shipping and making ebay rich.
     
    foogoo, Nov 23, 2011
    #3
  4. LauraR

    LauraR MajorGeeks Super-Duper Administrator Staff Member

    I'd agree... except from what I saw, a lot of people were making a lot of money off of the 'shipping' they were charging. It used to piss me off. It's part of the reason I stopped doing any buying or selling on there. From what I can see, legit retailers do the same thing...charging shipping according to how much something costs rather than weight. I'm sure they are making a ton. That's why I use Amazon and other places that don't charge shipping.

    Do you still have the option to just put Actual shipping in there? I didn't put a shipping charge in a lot of times. I just calculated after the auction was over and I found out their location since it would change depending on where they lived.
     
    LauraR, Nov 23, 2011
    #4
  5. Rikky

    Rikky Wile E. Coyote - One of a kind

    I tried to sell my GTX480 recently on EBAY,after what seemed like hours going through pages and pages of options setting everything up I went to start the auction and realized they will going to pre bill me for putting a reserve and a couple of other 'essentials' so I gave up.

    Went to loot.com spend 10 mins writing out an ad then placed it for FREE,next day it was sold!

    Well no it wasn't actually:-D I still have it so if anyone wants a cheap GTX480 let me know.
     
    Rikky, Nov 23, 2011
    #5
  6. augiedoggie

    augiedoggie The Canadian Loon - LocoAugie (R.I.P. 2012)

    Donate your stuff instead of throwing it out if you have a facility nearby, why fill up the landfill with good working parts.
     
    augiedoggie, Nov 23, 2011
    #6
  7. BoredOutOfMyMind

    BoredOutOfMyMind Picabo, ICU

    This is the result of the $25 shipping for 99 cent purchase.
     
    BoredOutOfMyMind, Nov 23, 2011
    #7
  8. mjnc

    mjnc MajorGeek

    There may be some local "shopper" publications where, AFAIK, you can List for free and then Pay a set percentage
    of the selling price.

    In my city, there is a Goodwill computer store that accepts donations.
    Proceeds from sales benefits Goodwill.
     
    mjnc, Nov 24, 2011
    #8

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