Ebay 'Shipping Details' Question, pls.

[Dennis D]

I've seen a listing for an item priced well, but w/ a prohibitive charge for shipping. Then in the listing, under ' shipping details', are shown two or three other shipping methods, one for almost half the cost of the original shipping cost shown.
Then I got an offer reducing the cost of the item, but still showing those high-buck shipping charges.

So my question is if I accept this reduced price offer, am I forced to accept these high shipping fees, or can I change the shipping method somehow at checkout ? A Google search has shown some vague replies.. And I have e/m'ed the seller w/ no reply......

Thx

[sgosnell]

It's all part of the negotiation. You need to talk to the seller and see what they are willing to agree to. Some listings have different shipping methods available, some don't. There is no standard, as far as I can tell, and I buy a lot of stuff there.

[Mick-7]

I've seen a listing for an item priced well, but w/ a prohibitive charge for shipping. Then in the listing, under ' shipping details', are shown two or three other shipping methods, one for almost half the cost of the original shipping cost shown.

Beware of sellers who charge an exorbitant shipping fee that they will make a profit on and thereby cancel out their eBay sales fees.

If you know the approximate weight and dimensions of an item, you can look up the shipping cost on shippers websites and get a good idea what a fair shipping fee would be.

[wintermoon]

Ebay makes $ from shipping costs as well.
The more you charge for shipping the bigger chunk they take from your bottom line.

[wintermoon]

No idea where you got that idea, eBay's sales fee is based on the sales price of the item, shipping is separate from that. They do sell their own label/tracking service, but it's optional.

I got it from selling on ebay for the last 25+ yrs, I guess you're not a seller, though back in the day it was separate. Then one day ebay found a way to make even more $ by taking a percentage of shipping costs.
Isn't that interesting?

[Mick-7]

I got it from selling on ebay for the last 25+ yrs, I guess you're not a seller, though back in the day it was separate. Then one day ebay found a way to make even more $ by taking a percentage of shipping costs.
Isn't that interesting?

I was a VIP seller on eBay, but that was a few years ago. But if one does not use eBay's shipping services, how can they charge you for the shipping fees? Shipping is a cost, not a profit center, for honest sellers.

[wintermoon]

I was a VIP seller on eBay, but that was a few years ago. But if one does not use eBay's shipping services, how can they charge you for the shipping fees? Shipping is a cost, not a profit center, for honest sellers.

They simply take a percentage of everything, the selling price and shipping combined, they're not separate anymore. This isn't up for debate, it's fact.

[Dennis D]

Thanks to all. FYI before I ' accepted ' the reduced price offer, I went to 'checkout' and saw the prompt which allowed me to select an optional shipping method which was almost 50% less than the original shipping fee shown in the listing.
And I never got a reply from the seller.

But from the differing responses provided here as well as the results from a Google search on this topic, I'm glad I can keep this Eb shipping simple at least so far. Right off the bat it makes me wonder whether Eb sellers are rebated some amount, however small, of shipping fees they collect.

Thx

[sgosnell]

I wouldn't think they get any rebate on shipping fees. Lots of items have free shipping, and if there was a rebate, it wouldn't make sense to offer free shipping. A seller can offer free shipping, and have the price cover the cost of shipping, offer an item for a very low price to attract buyers but charge a very large shipping fee, or something in between. The shipping fee is up to the seller, and may be negotiable, but not always. Shipping from China is usually very cheap, because the Chinese government seems to subsidize shipping costs for exporters. The exact same item is sometimes available with free shipping from China, with a long delivery time, or fast shipping from the US, with a higher price, which probably reflects the cost of warehousing the item in the US and shipping it at US rates. TANSTAAFL. US sellers have to make up the shipping costs by whatever means they can, and that may be by hiking the selling price or by charging the shipping costs separately. I commonly see it done both ways. I just consider the total cost without relying on just the selling price.

[benhatchins]

I heard some ebay policies are changed now. It is weird with the tax part somehow. I finished filing with TurboTax turbotax.pissedconsumer.com/customer-service.html again this tax season, and it was as painless as possible. The process is super guided, and it remembered my information from last year which sped things up. It even caught a deduction I had missed — definitely worth using if you’re not into hiring someone or doing the math by hand.