how much is too much?

[PrincessA2J]

saw a book I want on ebay, good price for the book $1.49,
but they want $5. to ship it!!!!

am I just being picky or is that too much for one book?

how much would U pay?
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Princess A2J

**~~**Honor the past, love the present,
create the future**~~**

[TammyR]

To send 1 paperback book by media mail is $1.50.

There's no way I would pay $5.00 for shipping.

[Katharina]

Depends on how badly I want the book.
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[Nora]

I would only pay that much if I absolutely could not the get the book any other way. The book price itself is pretty good. Is it hardback or paperback?

[Danielle]

[Guest]

I refuse to pay that !
I just can't let someone 'rob' me like that..I guess it's the principle of the thing

[pinkbonanza]

I always figured that the '$5 shipping' was a way for the seller to cheat you, by offering a lower initial price. Who really falls for that anyway? I mean, the second thing I look at in a book on eBay is the shipping price.

How new is the book? Have you looked at other sites (amazon) to see what they are charging? For a used book, $6.49 sounds kind of expensive.

[TAFKA]

I agree that $5 would be too high for one book? Is it a paperback? But keep in mind that shipping often includes more than the actual postage.

Let's say that shipping a paperback is roughly $1.50 (sometimes I've shipped for $1.29). After that starting point, I have the cost of my shipping envelope, $0.50-$1.00. Then I have to take into account my listing and selling fee that ebay charges for each item. One paperback may add another $0.50 or so (maybe less), depending on final bid amount. And being a free-market capitalist, those costs are often being passed to the buyer (you), by the seller (me).

I don't run a bookstore, I only sell an occasional book here and there. A bookstore may be better able to absorb some of the shipping and handling fees, and offer a lower rate.

So, to answer your question, I have charged anywhere from $2.50-$3.50 shipping and handling on a paperback, and have paid that much myself if I win a low bid. As a buyer, I always figure the shipping costs into the price of my item. And if it's a used paperback, that's not hard-to-find, $6.50 would be too high, IMO.
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[TammyR]

My daughter recently purchased 7 movies on DVD. She got a really awesome price for the movies. 5 were at $1.25, the other 2 were $2.00.

Guess how much they hit her with for postage? $55.00 I have no idea how they got that price.

When you combine an order they are supposed to give you a break on the shipping. All the movies were packed in one box and the postage said $7.58.

The total should have been $17.83. Instead it was $65.25.

She was cheated out of $47 and change.

I told her that she could have bought the movies brand new and probably would have gotten them cheaper. I told her to report it to ebay and paypal.

That's just not right!

[GlencoraPalliser]

I agree that $5 is too much, but I also agree with TAFKA that something a little over "normal" USPS standard price is fair, because one does need to calculat cost of envelopes/boxes/tape, and the Ebay seller fees charge to list and a % of the winning bid (I think)--I've only sold a few things--but especially if the book is cheap, they won't make any money on it. Also, if this (ebay) is something they do on the side, they probably cannot absorb the extra costs (selling fees, shipping materials costs) as easily as big company or people that make their living on Ebay/amazon, etc. But $5 does seem high,unless it's priority or something.
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[GlencoraPalliser]

[Mary D]

After much sleuthing (including the use of fetchbooks info/index. where the wanted book is sorted by price/S&H) I have come to the conclusion that the best ways to stretch your anemic book budget are:

(1) borrow the book from library or inter/library
(2) use paperbackswap.com
(3) go to ebay and buy books by lot. For instance, books by Barbara Metzger....they will show 1 to 20 per bid and quote S&H.. even if you have read one or two, this is your best buy
(4) sometimes buying the book new is cheaper
(5) try buying directly from the publisher for cheap S&H and discounts. Go to google and input "romance publishers".

I usually find half.com a good place to find hard to find titles at the best price.

[Sharon M]

I have had positive buying experiences with ebay, for the most part. But I agree that some dealers are silly with their shipping charges. You know, the bid is $2.00, and then they want $10.00 for shipping. I kind of agree with Tafka's post about the smaller sellers, but even so, if they buy their shipping supplies in bulk, shipping shouldn't be that much. I just avoid bidding if the shipping seems too high.

[Jeanne]

Amazon charges 3.49 per book for shipping for used books. Even if you buy the books from the same dealer, it's still 3.49 per book. But when you can buy the book for a penny, paying a total of $3.50 is still pretty good, expecially when it's an older edition and you can't find it in the new or used bookstores. I don't know how much the dealer gets and how much of that Amazon gets but if I really want the book I don't mind paying the 3.49 for the shipping. I think that's also what Barnes and Noble charges.

I have never bought anything on ebay, but I have browsed it several times and it looks like a lot of the times, the seller is making money on the shipping and handling charges rather that the item they are selling. I know the postage charges are standard, but I guess there is no regulations on the handling charges.

I think it's what you are willing to pay for a book totally, including the price of the book and the shipping that is the deciding factor. I think this is reminder to all of us to always know ahead what the shipping charges are and figure that in the total cost of the book.

I used to buy a lot of stuff from ABC Distributing because they had such good prices on their merchandise, but several times I ended up paying more for an item because it was shipped separately and the shipping was a lot higher so nowI'm careful about what I buy from them. With them you don't even know what the shipping charges will be until you get the item and the bill. Another lesson learned.

Recently my sister wanted to get a gift certificate from a place in Atlanta and she lives about 90 miles away. She called them to see if they would mail it and they told her they would charge $7.00 to mail it. The thing would fit in a regular envelope and the postage would only be .39, so what was the $6.61 for? Anyway she told them to forget it.

I guess it's like everything else, there's always the greedy ones who make the whole system look bad.
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Jeanne

[Merry-with-a-y]

I have to go along with Tafka, pretty much, on the s/h. Remember, the s is for shipping, the h for handling...

I DO run a bookstore, and I charge a flat $3.50 s/h to send out a single book. When you figure that the postage is from $1.50 to $1.85, depending on weight, it seems a lot... However: add on to that -say- $1.75 average postage the cost of the mailing materials - $1.00 (and I have to pay taxes on those envelopes, too). That takes it up to $2.75. Then I have to drive three miles out of my way to the Post Office and stand in line and mail the darn package. With today's gas prices, I don't think that 75 cents is a heck of a lot to pay for my time and fuel costs. It's not like I'm hauling in a huge profit there. BTW, when the Post Office increased their charges recently, I didn't - so my margin shrank!

BUT I do think that some eBay shippers DO get away with murder. And the only thing I can think of to do is for the potential buyer to click on "send a message to the seller" and say, "I wanted to bid on this item, but your shipping charges are too high." Maybe if they got enough of those nudges, it would wake them up to the potential in lost sales.

And for the gal who got gypped on the s/h for those CD's, I would definitely complain EVERYwhere!
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[TammyR]

[Katie]

Hi! Another ebay seller here. I know when I was just a buyer I though shipping costs should be less. Now that I'm a seller and have lost money on auctions I have a different opinion.

Like others have said you have to figure in the packaging costs and everyone knows gas is not cheap right now. Driving to the post office can get expensive. Sellers also have listing fees, final value fees, and paypal fees that all cut into your profits. If an item doesn't sell I still owe the listing fee.

On average I charge about a $1 above actual shipping costs for packaging. I don't have the time or inclination to figure out the exact shipping cost on everything I sell. I have to make an educated guess sometimes on what shipping is going to be based on experience and what other sellers are charging. I don't want to cheat anyone, but at the same time I don't want to lose money either (which I did when I first started).

I'm not saying there are not sellers out there who are not ripping off people (trust me, as a buyer I've dealt with some of those), but a lot of us are just average people selling quality items at a really good deal.

Finally, while I feel sorry for anyone who gets cheated on shipping, as a buyer you are responsible for knowing the conditions of the auction before bidding on a item. I got burnt as a newbie and since then I have not bid on anything without knowing the shipping cost. If a seller isn't upfront with that information I figure there is a reason and if they won't answer an email they are probably somebody you don't want to be dealing with. Honest sellers will work with buyers and be upfront about what they are selling and exactly what the final price will be.

[TammyR]

[Mona]

I've bought and sold several items on eBay and I always watch the shipping charges. I won't bid if they seem excessive.

I just received a notice from eBay that they are cracking down on shipping charges. The notice said to use the calculator method to charge "actual" shipping charges then add handling fees as a separate item so the buyers know exactly what they're paying.

I bought an item last month from a seller and she charged $20 flat rate shipping. The item wasn't as described so I had to return it. (I also told her about the item...she said she was listing it for a friend and didn't know. I saw it relisted and she never changed the description or the photo.) It cost her $5 to ship it parcel post and me $5 to ship it back so she made $10. So if she relists the item and the same thing happens to someone else, she's making another $10. She could make a few bucks for doing nothing but shipping the same item back and forth.

I'm glad that person was reported for $55 shipping on DVDs! That's outrageous!

[TAFKA]

Reading TammyR's post of Saturday jogged my memory of an ebay incident I experienced that may be relevant.

I was looking to bid on a book, but the shipping charge was ridiculously high (maybe over $50.00 or more). I e-mailed the seller before bidding and expressed interest in her item, but questioned the exorbitant shipping fee (I asked in a diplomatic way ). Found out it was a complete mistake, the seller apologized and immediately adjusted her fee.

So, I would suggest questioning sellers on their fees, before bidding. If they truly mean to charge outrageous prices, I won't place a bid.

As always, Buyer Beware!
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