Anyone Ever Offer to Pay Shipping For An Ebay Local Pickup Item

[uromac]

Hi!

Here's the story: - I'm in NJ and saw 2 chairs (design is discontinued and I need 2 chairs to complete dining room set - they are showing them in living room) I would like to purchase on Ebay but they are in MN for local pickup- I would like to offer a fair $ amount for shipping. Trying to make it easy for the seller before I make an offer. Other glitch in this - part of a furniture lot of with much bigger items in it that I do not want, but think I can make an offer to make breaking it up worth it and fair to all. Any ideas - I thought of calling the UPS store near me to get a quote first as there is a UPS store in this town in MN - anyone ever do this - or is this a really crazy idea? Wish Ebay had local recommended furniture shippers! Any thoughts from Ebayers out there or ideas?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Lewisc]

Yes, it's a crazy idea. OK not crazy, but not realistic.

You want the seller to break up a lot. Only reasonable if the other items in the lot aren't part of the same dining room set. The seller has a reason to group the matching table, buffet piece china cabinet etc. A fair price, from the viewpoint of the seller, would be whatever the seller though he could sell the entire set for.

UPS has a maximum size limit. Good shot the chairs exceed that. Good shot the seller doesn't have a box big enough. It's possible the chairs were originally delivered with the legs unattached. Depending on how old the chair is, and how it was assembled, the only option might be shipping them attached.

You really want those chairs. Call a local mover. Get a price for them to come to your house, pack the chairs and ship them. Is that a number you can live with. Assume the cost to reverse the process will be the same or a little less. First contact the seller. If the seller is agreeable contact moving companies.

edited to add:

Who is the seller? Is the seller a company which handles E-Bay sales, a broker.....A "professional" seller might be able to easily handle shipping. Even then I doubt you'll be happy with the cost or terms.

 

[plummer925]

If I were the seller I would NOT break up an auction nor would I ship something I said local pick up only.

 

[WeLuvTink!]

;All you can do is ask. But if I were the seller I'd say "no way". It could be really hard for the seller to find boxes big enough for the chairs, then he has to borrow a truck to get them to the UPS store, lug these heavy boxes inside, etc. Uh, no thanks. That's probably why he said Local Pickup!

Just my 2 cents.

 

[rainspine]

Yes, it's a crazy idea. OK not crazy, but not realistic.

You want the seller to break up a lot. Only reasonable if the other items in the lot aren't part of the same dining room set. The seller has a reason to group the matching table, buffet piece china cabinet etc. A fair price, from the viewpoint of the seller, would be whatever the seller though he could sell the entire set for.

UPS has a maximum size limit. Good shot the chairs exceed that. Good shot the seller doesn't have a box big enough. It's possible the chairs were originally delivered with the legs unattached. Depending on how old the chair is, and how it was assembled, the only option might be shipping them attached.

You really want those chairs. Call a local mover. Get a price for them to come to your house, pack the chairs and ship them. Is that a number you can live with. Assume the cost to reverse the process will be the same or a little less. First contact the seller. If the seller is agreeable contact moving companies.

edited to add:

Who is the seller? Is the seller a company which handles E-Bay sales, a broker.....A "professional" seller might be able to easily handle shipping. Even then I doubt you'll be happy with the cost or terms.

Can I ask... what ended up happening here? Did the seller agree to breaking up the bunch of chairs for you to get what you wanted?

I know this was last month, but I had to respond due to the fact that:

a) I saw this original post about a month ago, and some weeks later I ended up joining the forum; and now that I'm a member... I want to know what happened.

b) if anyone else has a similar question/issue/concern, I'd like share what I'd do: which would be to find a list of movers in the area, and contact them to find what it would cost to have them deliver an item of this size wherever I live. For example, the OP wanted the chairs from MN to NJ... so I'd literally go down a list of movers in Minnesota and call everyone; like this list: http://www.movingguru.com/movers-minnesota.(another idea might be to contact movers in your area, and finding out how much they'd charge to go pick up the item you want and bring in back.

The reason I'm suggesting something like that is because, as already mentioned, I can't see UPS delivering 2 chairs because they're probably too big. Anyway, that's just my $0.02 and I still want to know what happened in your case. Look forward to your reply.

 

[rainspine]

Hi!

Here's the story: - I'm in NJ and saw 2 chairs (design is discontinued and I need 2 chairs to complete dining room set - they are showing them in living room) I would like to purchase on Ebay but they are in MN for local pickup- I would like to offer a fair $ amount for shipping. Trying to make it easy for the seller before I make an offer. Other glitch in this - part of a furniture lot of with much bigger items in it that I do not want, but think I can make an offer to make breaking it up worth it and fair to all. Any ideas - I thought of calling the UPS store near me to get a quote first as there is a UPS store in this town in MN - anyone ever do this - or is this a really crazy idea? Wish Ebay had local recommended furniture shippers! Any thoughts from Ebayers out there or ideas?

Thanks in advance!

I agree that it is best to consider moving companies to transfer the furniture. Size is not an issue with a mover unlike with UPS or other cargo companies. You can also instruct them on how you want the chairs assembled. You may want to check this site as they have good connections with different moving companies. You can choose or they can suggest the best mover that will suit your preference and requirements. And the best part is, you will be worry free because they will help you execute the transfer.

 

[uromac]

! Thanks for the link!