My ebay issue!

[Ness2289]

WHY...someone please tell me.... do some of the sellers on ebay make priority shiping your only option when they plan on waiting an entire week to even ship the dad-blasted things!!!???? I might as well pay parcel post! When I pay priority, I'm paying to get my items more quickly. This just seems to be an ongoing problem for me. And these people that won't communicate with you when THEY messed up!!! I'm emailing very cordially trying to find a solution to the fact that YOU sent me the wrong size and you can't even keep me informed as to what you're going to do to rectify the problem!!!! I'm trying not to post negative feedback too quickly but I'm getting very frustrated!

I just needed to vent!!! Thanks to anyone who listened...

 

[jfulcer]

You should read the auction carefully and make certain you have read the terms for payment and shipping. We have been selling a lot on ebay lately and in most of our auctions I say that you must pay in 5 days, and I could take up to 5 days to ship. It's really up to the individual as to how quickly they do it. Of course, we always ship the next day but it's nice to know we have the choice if we can't get out for some reason.

And why priority mail? Because the USPS sends you free boxes/tape/labels/etc for priority mail. So it costs a little more to mail, but I don't have to find boxes. I feel that if someone really wants the item they will pay the extra 90 cents or so to ship priority.

Sorry to hear about your problems!

 

[poohandwendy]

Sorry to hear you are having problems, hopefully they can be recified quickly.

LOL, I have the opposite problem. I sold an item to a buyer who sent a postal money order to me via snail mail on the 15th, it arrived at my house on the 22nd and I mailed the package Priority mail the next day (23rd). I sent her the delivery confirmation # twice as she said she didnt receive the first email. No problem. Two days later, it is now the 25th and she opened a dispute against me because she hasn't received the item. I have kept constant communication with her for the entire time. I cannot send her item until I receive payment, bottom line.

She lives in Alaska and I am in Pennsylvania. Um yeah, sometimes it takes more time when you send your payment snail mail and you live on the other side of the earth.

(lol, sorry I had my own rant...)

But, to answer your question, I only offer Priority Mail (parcel post would take forever in many cases) or UPS ground unless someone asks for an expedited shipping quote and I always ship within 24 hours of receiving payment unless I receive the payment on a saturday.

 

[Beca]

Sometimes I have to wonder....I mean, I know a lot of people have health problems, but everytime I question a seller about how long it took to get something in the mail to me (like, I am waiting for an item now that I paypaled payment on 8/14...the seller hasn't mailed it yet), I get "I'm sorry. I was in the hospital all last week." I have to say...I really bought it the first few times I heard it. But now, I am beginning to wonder. I would feel really badly if these people actually were in the hospital....but, I am just not so sure anymore!!!

I also bought some wooden letters to hang on my dd's wall. They are handpainted (and very beautiful) to a customer's specs. I cannot complain about the artist's work. I just wish she had told me on her listing how long it would take to get them....three months!!! I never anticipated that.

Oh well....I guess that is just ebay...patience is a must!!!

 

[Chattyaholic]

I don't buy much on e-bay anymore, sellers seem to have gotten more picky about their payment. I can understand not wanting to accept a personal check, but when they won't even accept a money order and only want paypal payments, I won't bid. I won't bid if the shipping is too expensive either. And I e-mail them to let them know why I'm not bidding.

 

[Pin Wizard]

What's with the shipping costs any way? I just started using ebay within the past month. Some charge $2 or $2.50 shipping. The envelope arrives and they actually paid 53 cents for postage! Another sent it priority mail and charged $5...it was too late when I noticed THAT shipping charge. I wouldn't have bid on the item if I were paying attention to that. But that one showed up and $4.05 was paid for shipping. Grrrrrrrrrrr.

 

[3princesses4us]

Don't get me started on ebay sellers! Okay, I will.
Why is it that the seller now doesn't seem to leave positive feedback until after ME the buyer has left it. Correct me if I'm wrong but shouldn't I get the first positive review seeing as how I paid immediately? You know why they do this? So that just in case anything goes wrong and you are unhappy enough to leave them appropriate negative feedback, they'll leave you one too! This happened to me last week. She screwed up my daughter's birthday invitation (no time on it!) and refused to fix it so I left her negative feedback (which I almost never do) and what do you know? I got one too- for being "crazy"! That's fair...
And the shipping costs! Ridiculous.
Sorry OP about your problem. I get a lot of "I'm doing the best I can. I'm a stay-at-home mom (they're the worst and I am one) and am just doing this to support my family". Yeah, so am I!
Thanks for letting me vent. You should change this title to ebay venting 101.

 

[DVC-Don]

I've completely stopped buying & selling on eBay over many issues there.

 

[bicker]

I suspect that one reason so many sellers insist on priority shipping is that it provides them stronger proof of delivery, which reduces how often unscrupulous buyers report that they never received the shipped item.

eBay is a very adversarial environment for person-to-person sales, much more cut-throat IMHO than regular retailer to buyer sales. I avoid it as much as I can.

 

[eclectics]

A good ebay seller will have all his policies and shipping costs listed on the item page. If you disagree with any of them you have the option of not bidding. If a specific shipping time after payment is not listed, I think a week is not that unordinary. No one is "entitled" to recieve feedback first, second, or last. Feedback is voluntary. It is however, a good indicator of the service you are about to recieve. Anything less than 98% good should send up a warning. If you have any hesitation about using a particular seller, chances are your experience with them will probably be less than satisfactory. If you research the seller, ask questions before bidding, and know, and agree with, their policies beforehand, chances are your ebay experience will be a good one.

 

[lovmy2girls]

Ebay sellers also get FREE priority mail boxes from the USPS. That might have a little to do with the only priority mail option.

 

[cardaway]

I prefer to ship my items using priority mail for two reasons.

1. The boxes are free.

2. The delivery time is very short, even when going from the West Coast to the East Coast. I don't like to wait for two weeks for somebody to admit they got the package or not because they asked me to use something like media mail.

As it is, IMO people should be happy when people ship things using Priority Mail. Most people charge Priority Mail charges and send them the slow ways.

 

[PrincessKitty1]

Parcel Post is generally only pennies cheaper than Priority Mail and is considerably slower. Any savings for the seller is taken up by the cost of purchasing packing materials for items sent Parcel Post (Priority boxes are free). First class can be cheaper than Priority, but only if an item is under about 12 ounces.

To the person who complained about a seller charging $5.00 for shipping when the actual postage was $4.05--I don't think an extra 95 cents for handling is bad at all. Most mail-order companies build in a considerably higher handling charge.

Since I sell mostly books, I mail via Media Mail and generally charge a flat rate of $3.00. The actual postage might be $1.50-$2.50, but I pack very well and use padded envelopes, bubble wrap, etc. I think my handling fee is very reasonable.

There are some people who overcharge for shipping on Ebay and I always take this into consideration when I bid. However, I think many people don't understand how much postage/shipping really costs. I had somebody on Amazon insist that I should mail him his book via Priority Mail rather than Media Mail "because Priority Shipping would only be a dollar or two more and I'd be happy to pay the extra" (Amazon reimburses sellers a flat rate of 2.26 for postage).

I calculated Priority Postage to his zip code based on the packed weight of the book and it would have been $14.00!

 

[va32h]

What's with the shipping costs any way? I just started using ebay within the past month. Some charge $2 or $2.50 shipping. The envelope arrives and they actually paid 53 cents for postage! Another sent it priority mail and charged $5...it was too late when I noticed THAT shipping charge. I wouldn't have bid on the item if I were paying attention to that. But that one showed up and $4.05 was paid for shipping. Grrrrrrrrrrr.

This attitude from customers really frustrates me. The cost of shipping is not just the cost of postage. Shipping supplies (envelopes, tape, bubble wrap, the paper the label is printed on, the ink). My time in preparing the package for shipment.

If you order from disneyshopping.com do you pay exact postage only? Of course not. Order from Spiegel, Lillian Vernon, Birthday Express - order from any catalog or website and you pay a shipping cost that is not just exact postage. But apparently on ebay, a seller can't charge a lousy $2 handling fee without cheapskate buyers throwing a fit.

Do you seriously begrudge your seller 95 cents? Do you also realize that sellers have to pay ebay to list their item, and pay ebay a commission for every item that sells?

Ebay sellers are in business to make money - not give you their merchandise. I don't even sell on ebay anymore because I am tired of dealing with this nonsense. I opened my own website, where I charge a minimum of $5 to ship anything - and I have yet to get a single complaint about it.

 

[va32h]

Ebay sellers also get FREE priority mail boxes from the USPS. That might have a little to do with the only priority mail option.

Just FYI - anyone can get free priority or express boxes and envelopes from USPS, you just have to use Priority or Express mail when you ship the item.

I pay for all my postage online, have boxes and envelopes delivered to my house, print my own mailing labels, and have all my packages picked up at home. I haven't set foot in a post office in ages. None of these benefits are exclusive to business owners - ANYONE can get this service from USPS.

 

[bicker]

To the person who complained about a seller charging $5.00 for shipping when the actual postage was $4.05--I don't think an extra 95 cents for handling is bad at all. Most mail-order companies build in a considerably higher handling charge.

This might help explain the answer to a recent question posted by a member, as to why anyone would sell books at $0.01... they make their money on the handling charge.

This comment does point out one of the fundamental conflicts inherent in the eBay system: Buyers are expect to be treated like customers of a business (including timely and professional service), without incurring the higher prices of doing business with a business (the "I'll take this off your hands" perspective), while sellers are either individuals looking to make money without incurring the overhead of being a business (and without being held to the standards you'd expect from a business, such as timely and professional service), or are businesses owned by private individuals, looking to make money as a business (including handling charges to pay for the time and energy put into stocking and packaging and mailing) from this specific sales channel.

This attitude from customers really frustrates me. The cost of shipping is not just the cost of postage. Shipping supplies (envelopes, tape, bubble wrap, the paper the label is printed on, the ink). My time in preparing the package for shipment.

Precisely my point. And buyers would counter that they expected that on eBay they wouldn't be charged for all that overhead of running a business, that it would be just like a garage sale.

Ebay sellers are in business to make money - not give you their merchandise.

I do think a lot of the buyers who's messages I read online do not acknowledge or grant what you've said here. They're viewing eBay as the best of both worlds for them.

Different expectations.

 

[eclectics]

Precisely my point. And buyers would counter that they expected that on eBay they wouldn't be charged for all that overhead of running a business, that it would be just like a garage sale.

I do think a lot of the buyers who's messages I read online do not acknowledge or grant what you've said here. They're viewing eBay as the best of both worlds for them.

Different expectations.

I sell on ebay and also have an ebay store with a large inventory of "buy it now" priced items. I recived a request fron Europe regarding shipping cost for an item. I replied and the buyer promptly paid for the item. Here's the rub, they also added and paid for a different item and lumped it in with the same shipping charge. So now, I am expected to send both items while the buyer only paid shipping for one item. I find this presumtuous on the part of the buyer and a little disrespectful. I do believe a lot of people are under the impression that people who sell on ebay are not "real" merchants and they do expect to be treated differently then say, Amazon. I get this casual attitude all the time and it, while annoying, has become something I just put up with now. Part of the blame I put on Ebay itself, who touts their website as being a "fun" thing to do. I think they should put more emphasis on reminding bidders that Ebay sellers are running a business and expect to be treated seriously and have their rules obeyed. Okay, vent over!

 

[belle&beast]

I buy and sell on ebay and for the most part have had good experiences. I expect payment within 5 days and ship within 3 days of receiving payment. I have eliminated money ordres and only take paypal because many people sent money orders that were "lost in the mail" and one buyer even had 2 lost in the mail- wow! I only ship priority mail because of the free boxes and free delivery confirmation when the labels are printed at home. However, if someone asked me to ship another way, I would be glad to do it. I think most sellers want to make their buyers happy and most buyers are reasonable people, but one bad experience can really ruin it.

 

[bicker]

Part of the blame I put on Ebay itself, who touts their website as being a "fun" thing to do.

Hmmm... yes-and-no. I mean, yes, eBay does present its website as a "fun" thing to do, and definitely do project to buyers that they need not take buying through eBay as seriously as they do buying through other means. That directly fosters commerce on eBay: The less your customers worry about their purchasing the decisions, the more likely they'll make the purchase. However, I don't think that perspective is unique to eBay. I think all retailers try to do that as much as they can. The nature of eBay is, however, such that they're perhaps more effective in doing so.

I think they should put more emphasis on reminding bidders that Ebay sellers are running a business and expect to be treated seriously and have their rules obeyed.

However, that would really work directly against commerce on eBay. While you encounter hassels as a result of their strategy, you're still making money, and could perhaps make less money if they "chased away" some customers by reminding them that this is just another type of business they're interacting with.

 

[babiesX2]

Sometimes I have to wonder....I mean, I know a lot of people have health problems, but everytime I question a seller about how long it took to get something in the mail to me (like, I am waiting for an item now that I paypaled payment on 8/14...the seller hasn't mailed it yet), I get "I'm sorry. I was in the hospital all last week." I have to say...I really bought it the first few times I heard it. But now, I am beginning to wonder. I would feel really badly if these people actually were in the hospital....but, I am just not so sure anymore!!!

I had to laugh at this one! I thought I was the only seller who had a problem with my buyers being hospitalized suddenly when payment was due. The other one I hear alot is "My mom (or dad) died suddenly."

Edit: Ooops! I misread. Beca was having problems with sellers using that excuse. I was having a problem with buyers using that excuse.

One of our DD's was hospitalized suddenly last month. I had an auction end, and I emailed the buyer to say briefly our DD was critically ill and one of us would be making a trip home in a few days once she was doing better. (I thought I was being polite and providing good customer service.) The buyer got angry and wanted a refund. Dh and I refunded the Paypal payment. The buyer realized DD really was in the hospital, said she felt bad and wanted to pay again and get the item. We said no because at that point we were done with eBay.