How Sellers Commit Fraud on eBay/Paypal, so you can avoid it

[Talistran]

what a horrible and idiotic post

full of bad advice

An inappropriate response I think. Feel free to disagree about what is being posted (i.e. it is fraud), but no need to say it is an idiotic post.

[Audles]

Caveat emptor seems to apply for most things on eBay. But that's a hard lesson to learn. As a Seller, I often take a very simple approach: list everything as a static cost with "free shipping." As a Buyer, I do the math on what's cheapest and try to not get caught in the, "omg this is raaaaareeee" rush of a purchase.

[dice4hire]

I always feel ripped off by shipping charges, but I do not blame Ebay sellers or even DF (sell, sometimes I blame DF a bit) I do read Ebay auctions really carefully though.

[William]

If I ever get around to selling on eBay again, the conclusion I reach from this thread is: offer free shipping.

I am not a professional seller, and I don’t have time to keep up to date on ever-changing shipping rates, or exactly the combined size and weight of several different items will work out to.

As a frequent buyer, I simply read the shipping policy of each item/seller, and adjust my bid accordingly. As a result, I’ve never felt misled or ripped off on shipping by any seller ever.

I too have never felt ripped off on the shipping charges.

[Riley]

If I ever get around to selling on eBay again, the conclusion I reach from this thread is: offer free shipping.

I am not a professional seller, and I don’t have time to keep up to date on ever-changing shipping rates, or exactly the combined size and weight of several different items will work out to.

As a frequent buyer, I simply read the shipping policy of each item/seller, and adjust my bid accordingly. As a result, I’ve never felt misled or ripped off on shipping by any seller ever.

[biowizard]

Good responsible eBay sellers such as myself clearly state the conditions with which they will combine shipments. It is very often a GOOD idea to buy multiple items from the same sellers to get better overall pricing. It is the buyer's responsibility to make sure what the shipping policies are before bidding. As costs of shipments can vary a lot based on package dimension and weight, it is not that easy to accurately calculate what those costs will be. In my experience, about 50% of my clients bidding on many of my items at once just pay everything right away with automated eBay charges that includes multiple times the shipping cost of single items. I write very clearly though in my items' description that people should wait before payment and contact me for a combined (cheaper shipping) invoice, but a lot do not.

To everyone, please maintain the very high level of civility in this forum.

[kitenerd]

Yeah i don't think we need to be judgemental. Sounds like Seraphic had a pretty lousy experience and those can always leave you feeling icky. I have bought hundreds of things of of eBay and i have been scammed a few times. I have also been dissappointed at the lack of significant combined shipping discount, but it was not published and i assumed so that is bad on me.

It has been years since i sold, but i always did cost plus $1 for shipping and each additional item $1. Worked for me - it is all a game - sell for $5 with free shipping or $1.99 with $3 shipping. I would rather show the low number even though most smart customers will look at the total (eBay even sorts by total)

My problem with combined shipping is when each additional item is only 25cents (like minis) then i tend to buy way too much - this is a smart seller and a buyer with little self control

[AnimeSensei]

what a horrible and idiotic post

full of bad advice

As an ebay seller, I respectfully disagree that it's a bad post; I think it's full of good info for someone who hasn't had the experience yet of a bad seller, and how to avoid buying from someone who is only interested in the transactional sale instead of a relationship-based selling approach. I've had several repeat buyers, and that is on purpose. I'd rather lose a couple bucks with discounted shipping and sell again to a satisfied customer than have a death grip on those shipping dollars and have a hard time selling my products online down the road.

My dad always gave me the advice of "learn by others mistakes; you may not live long enough to make them all yourself."

Just because you have been burned before so you know what to look out for doesn't mean everyone else has. I don't think it's fraud for a seller to not combine shipping, but it's definitely not a good business practice. Teaching buyers to gravitate towards good sellers isn't ever a bad thing.

[Alarian]

So if they don't offer combined shipping can you request them to ship each item individually?

[JalanDa]

what a horrible and idiotic post

full of bad advice