Customer Complaints About Shipping Cost Increases

[blankenburghaus2008]

Are you other sellers getting complaints from customers (or potential customers) about the shipping cost increases?  I've received several emails from potential buyers who are irrate because of the shipping cost.  I sell china and collectibles.  I removed FedEx from all of my listings because of the mess that's created--double increase in cost--and give buyers options of Parcel Select, Priority, or first-class, if applicable.  I don't charge anything other than exact shipping, which I state in my listings.  I can't believe people think I have control over the increase in shipping costs!

[gatechick15]

I've had a couple people complain. I also only charge exact shipping. I always explain to people that  USPS will charge you more or less depending on the distance you live from me. The further you are the more USPS charges. I have also reminded them that USPS has raised it rate,s yet again, and I commiserate with them that it stinks that they are charging so much just to ship an item. I have had a few people buy anyway, but most who complain do not usually buy.  I don't want them to anyway, to be honest. Early complainers usually result in problem buyers.

I do not get why people complain anyway. You can see the cost of shipping. If you do not like it move on!! There are always other sellers out there if you are so unhappy with paying shipping.

[lightlily_arts]

I've had customers message me about the shipping charge.  I respond by telling them what the current charges would be to their zip code with the various carriers and I also explain the zone issue.  As I'm on the West Coast buyers from the East Coast will have the highest charge.  Giving them the exact numbers is usually helpful because they don't realize what it costs us to ship.  I also mention the percentages that sellers are charged by both eBay and Paypal for the shipping expense.

[lightlily_arts]

I don't get why people complain either. It would only take them a few minutes to look up what it would cost to ship an item.  If you know the weight of an item it would be really easy to check what the potential charge cost could be with all the carriers.  But gee it must be to much work for some people..  Sometimes I wondered if there was a way that eBay could hide the shipping charge on all items being sold on their site.  Meaning that only the total final price (item price+shipping based on their zip code ) would be shown to the buyer.  If the sellers offered multiple shipping methods  i.e. economy vs expedited that final cost would be shown.  That might eliminate people asking for free shipping or a lower shipping charge since the exact shipping portion isn't being seen. I realize there a down side to everything but typically most buyers purchase based on total price anyway.

[tenbiksewingembroideryitems]

AGREE , AGREE, AGREE!!

I sell very large heavy items that need a lot of packing material.  It takes me about 1 or so hours to pack it so it does not get damaged.

 Packing material has a cost too AND they forget about how much insurance costs when the item is $2000!!

I have a form letter I use to explain this, and I tell them MOVE ON also, if they don't like the charges.

When I buy someting the cost to me.... is the cost of the item AND the shipping cost. That is how I compare when I buy.  They just don't get it.

[lightlily_arts]

I pay for insurance on my items depending on what they are, and based on the total final price.  I ship many small packages under $10 so those I don't insure.  I do insure everything that is fragile because of the handling abuse they have to get through by the carriers.  As a small seller I tend to insure anything over $25 because I can't afford to eat the cost should they get lost or damaged.  I add a small fee to my shipping charge to cover fees taken by eBay and Paypal so that I'm not out of pocket on the actual shipping charges.  I use all new shipping materials to mail my packages i.e. boxes,  padded shipping bags, two types of bubble wraps for fragile items, foam peanuts,  shipping stickers, and adhesive shipping labels so I feel justified by adding the handling fee.  I drive across town to take 95% of my packages to the shipping carrier offices which means I am driving on nearly a daily basis.  Sometimes I get lucky and able to hand the small parcels to my postman.  But I only hand him small parcels that have relatively low value.  Anything fragile or expensive I drive to drop them off. 

I do not accept any Best Offers where people ask for reduced or free shipping.  Especially since the price of my items is already close to rockbottom and my shipping charge is only pennies from being exact.  I don't have much wiggle room except on a few of my higher priced items.  I also decline any offer that is more than 20%.  Yes, I do have my auto declines set for best offers,  but some people go around it by sending me a message to make their lowball offer.  I seldom just decline and instead send them a counter offer with what I am willing to accept.  So if I don't hear from them again it's no loss to me other a few seconds of my time.  I get a few that attempt a debate and I tell them politely that my item is more than competitively priced, and as an individual private seller can't afford to sell any lower as I am already not making a profit.   Some people think because you have a store that you are a big seller and don't realize that I only have a basic store to save on listing fees.  Individuals only get 50 free listings a month and because I was averaging over  250 it made sense to get a basic store subscription. 

I still think that we would all fare better if the buyers only saw the total price and it would make our searches by price easier too.   There has been some kind of  eBay glitch where these promoted listings show up with free shipping, but when I click on the listing there is in fact a shipping charge.  For example, I saw a cookie jar that was $19.99,  but the sellers shipping charge was $99.   This ad was on another listing I was looking at. 

The listings that I really hate are the ones by international sellers that have some lowball item in variable multi-item listing.   They use some worthless low priced item to set the price point that so their listing gets a boost in searches where as the real item is actually much higher priced.  If I'm looking for a particular makeup brush set by price I have to weed through so much garbage to find the actual set and real price. 

[humminbird-heaven]

I don't get complaints hardly ever within the US...I just get dinged on my S&H in my stars...Now, international customers complain sometimes when inquiring about shipping, but I use ebays Global Shipping service, so I have no control over those costs...I also ship most small things under 16oz USPS first class...anything over a pound and up to about 10 pounds, depending on size goes priority mail or in a box inside a priority flat rate bubble mailer...I have figured out the exact size boxes I can put inside them to save money on the smaller 1-2 pound items....as for insurance....NEVER do I pay or offer it, unless it is an item say over 3 or 4 hundred dollars or more...Have you ever tried collecting a claim??...good luck with that...not worth the time or trouble...also, usps gives up to  $100 insurance on priority packages anyway...insurance is as good as the paper its wrote on...lol...worthless...think of all the $$$ spent on insurance on packages...total that up...its easier to eat a item, or the cost as compared to insuring every item...just my 2 cents

[lightlily_arts]

I haven't had to file very many damaged or lost item claims in the past 18 years, but I've never had a problem getting them to pay either.  Admittedly, my buyers were cooperative in providing me with pictures of the damaged items with the shipping boxes and materials I used.   However,  I insure the majority of my items through eBay's Shipsaver, which is a third party insurance carrier for all of my non-USPS Priority Mail items.  I insure because I sell fragile collectibles most of which are well over one pound.   It has been a blessing because they cover your shipping expenses as well.  Shipsaver only charges you $0.79 per $100 of the  item value.  I think that's very cheap for peace of mind, and I also found that most damage claims go away when I tell my buyer that their item is insured.   I only send them the insurance confirmation email if they contact me about a claim.  I've only had a few claims with USPS but I didn't have a problem getting a refund from them either.

For the buyers that didn't want to send me pictures of the damage I tell them they have to return the item for a refund. So it does not surprise me when that type of claim fades away.  I just had two of them in December;  one claimed my item arrived broken, and the other claimed it wasn't as described because they was a gouge or chip on top.  The one who claimed it was broken never sent me a picture, but I never heard from her again either.  The other sent me several messages stating that the condition wasn't as described, and stated that he was dissappointed by my lack of response which could affect the feedback comment he would be leaving me.  In each message his description of the so-called defects kept escalating. My response to each message was the same; return it for refund.   I also sent him the same response to his direct email since he was claiming that he hadn't heard from me.  By the third message I pulled his contact information from eBay and called him.  I documented all my efforts to contact him through eBay's messaging system.  I told him to open a claim so he could get a return shipping label, and upon receipt I would refund him.   I think he thought that if he threatened my feedback that I would offer some sort of compensation.  But we both know that the messages I sent through eBay did on fact document my efforts to reach him and resolve his issue. To date I haven't heard from him since I called him at home.  He is now well past the date for any refund through eBay.  

My point is that I only spent 79 cents or less to insure those packages.  Both of those packages were fragile collectibles, and quite possibly could have been damaged.  If either of those claims had proceeded I wouldn't have lost anything because Shipsaver covers my shipping expenses too.   For me it is worth taking the time to write a few messages and get a few pictures to prevent a financial loss.  Insurance is actually only for the seller's protection as the buyers are covered by eBay's Money Back Guarantee.  I have my preferences set up with Shipsaver to only file a claim with them.  I don't want to bother with Fedex or USPS if I can avoid it.  There are some items that Shipsaver won't cover so if I sold that type of item I would have to use the carriers insurance.

Since I tend to ship most items at the economy rate I don't have too many complaints about my shipping charges.  They are always a few, but since I know my shipping charges are generally lower than most sellers these with free shipping on buyers would be complaining no matter what my charge was because they are just cheap.  It cost me money to ship and that's something I don't give away.

I had a buyer a couple of years ago who wanted me to ship a deluxe guitar bag for free.  I told him no, and then he countered with a comment that he could get a guitar bag at my price with free shipping on Amazon.  I checked and found he could get a guitar bag at my price with free shipping on Amazon,  but it wasn't the same model just some cheapie basic version.  I  wrote him back and told him that he should buy the bag on Amazon since that was all he was willing to pay.  But I thanked him and then changed my listing to free shipping by jacking my total  price up with the shipping included.  And it was no surprise when I sold it a few weeks later.  I  think that some buyers were bypassing my listing because my low price made them think I was selling the cheaper bag.

[sam9876]

"I haven't had to file very many damaged or lost item claims in the past 18 years"

It sounds like you are wasting a lot of money on insurance.

[lightlily_arts]

Actually I'm not losing money for insurance.  I'm not buying insurance for everything I sell as there isn't any point for some cheap item.  I sold 65 jars of face cream recently and I didn't insure any of those. But I do pay for insurance on breakables and expensive items. I evaluate before I list whether the item merits being insured.  Since I sell a lot of collectibles those get insured because the risk of breakage is high despite how careful I am packing.  But as I said what's 79 cents for peace of mind when the cost of insurance is already built into my pricing structure. 

As an example of my price structure.  I want to get  at least $100 for my item after all expenses.  Add 13% plus 30 cents for eBay and Paypal fees.  Add another $1-5 for shipping materials.  Add cost of insurance.  So that $100 item became $119 because I'm shipping in a box.  But people will want to make an offer and get a discount.  So I price it at $149.99.  I know the bargain hunters will make an offer, and I will accept a 20% discount, which will get me my $100 after all expenses.  If I get more great. No way I'm shipping this item without insurance. 

Strangely enough buyers ask me if I ship with insurance, and some even ask me to insure theirs.  I think that people believe that carriers are more careful with insured packages because of the possibility of claims being filed. I know that the guys handling packages don't care whether it's fragile or insured.  My postman regularly delivers broken items to me all the time.  You can hear the broken ceramic pieces rattling around in the box.  They have even delivered broken ink cartridges that they repackaged in a plastic baggie because the ink leaked through the original package.