Monday, August 9, 2010

Inflated Shipping Charges

I was cruising around eBay, just looking for a good deal.  I was really hoping to find the shirts I saw at Universal last week.  They were the cutest shirts, but I would have paid almost $100 for t-shirts that I wasn't sure my kids would even wear!  Of course, this is eBay, I found them!  Most were still a little high priced, then I saw one for .99!  Awesome, if I buy one for .99, I can spend a little more on the others.  So, I clicked into the auction to see what the catch was, after all, this was almost too good to be true!  The shipping was $16.95.  Really?  Are they sending it Express Mail?  Nope, it was First Class Mail.  Obviously, I won't be buying from that seller!
A couple years ago eBay sent out a big announcement that they would no longer allow obnoxious shipping charges.  This is pretty obnoxious to me!!  I admit, I sometimes add and extra .25 or .50 to my shipping to cover additional fees or maybe a box I will need to ship the item, but a t-shirt?  I know that I can send a t-shirt to Canada for $3 or $4.
I know many sellers inflate the shipping charges so they won't have to pay as much in eBay fees.  Really, the fess aren't that much if you consider the alternative.  Having a store takes a lot of overhead, a simple garage sale takes a lot of work and if you advertise for it, it will cost you! 
Just be sure to check the shipping charges before getting too excited about a great deal!!!!

No comments:

Post a Comment