eBay shipping policy in regard to excessive, overpriced, or inflated shipping and handling charges

[comicdiablo]

I searched for an answer regarding this issue, and with rare exception, I came across numerous threads in which sellers do nothing but defend the right of sellers to charge whatever they want shipping and handling and place the blame on the buyer for simply not purchasing an item if they think the S&H cost is too high. However, the official eBay Shipping Policy states:

"Only include shipping charges that are actually incurred and are related to the cost of shipping and handling the items being delivered

• Actual cost paid to the shipping service
• Handling costs, including the cost of packaging materials and insurance
• The actual cost of delivery confirmation or extra services, such as certificate of mailing, certified mail, collect delivery, delivery confirmation, registered mail, restricted delivery, return receipt, signature confirmation, special handling, or similar services"
  
  https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/member-behavior-policies/shipping-policy?id=5035&st=12&pos=6&quer...
  
  As both a buyer and a seller on eBay, I believe it is the responsibility of the seller to charge a reasonable S&H cost (as I do with all of my listings), and I therefore believe it would be unfair to the buyer to charge an unreasonable S&H cost (even if the buyer could pass up purchasing an item, as supported by eBay's own Shipping Policy). Also, I just finished chatting with an eBay representative, and she confirmed that overcharging for S&H is not okay with eBay and that a case can be opened against a seller if the buyer believes the S&H charge to be unreasonable, which will be investigated by eBay, with the potential for a partial refund to the buyer.
  
  So while it is true that I wanted an item badly enough to pay an unreasonable S&H charge to obtain it since it was the only one I could find anywhere, I will be opening a case against the seller once I receive the item (as I was advised by the eBay representative to do) because it's not cool to be charged about 3 times as much it costs for the S&H for such an item, which I know from experience in both selling and buying items of the same kind, weight, and value.
  
  Hopefully this post will bring light to an issue that has been repeatedly clouded by certain sellers who have always made excuses for other sellers on the eBay Discussion boards over the years. And for sellers or other individuals of a similar mind, you can hate all you want, but I'm here to share truth, not be popular.

[buyselljack2016]

CSR was exercising the option to blow smoke up....................

They will investigate, and ..............................  do nothing.

[pjcdn2005]

I imagine that most sellers are aware of that rule but there is no way for ebay to enforce it . IF the seller used ebay shipping they would know the postage cost but they wouldn't  know what the seller's costs were for packaging. Which type of case did they tell you to open? The only options are item not received and a return case.  If you open the latter you would have to return the item to a refund unless the seller was willing to give you a partial refund.   

Although I agree that a seller shouldn't gouge buyers for shipping, the reality is that they could charge less for shipping and add the extra cost on to the item price. Either way the buyer would be paying the same price.  Plus, I think that many buyers have a totally unrealistic idea of what it costs to ship these days so in many cases the costs are similar to what they are being charged even though the buyer might not agree.

[digita_47]

1. You're not forced to buy something if you do not like the price or cost.

2. Neither you or eBay know what that seller actual shipping cost are: label + packing material + handling cost + time. They can be very different from yours. In the end its the sellers item and business.

3. I'm sure eBay will do nothing about it, buyers are already abusing/scamming sellers with the return program.

[mega-ma-roo]

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@comicdiablo wrote

So while it is true that I wanted an item badly enough to pay an unreasonable S&H charge to obtain it since it was the only one I could find anywhere, I will be opening a case against the seller once I receive the item

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AFAIK there are only two causes for opening a case, Item Not Received and Item Not As Described. I don't see either of those fitting here. Just what are you hoping to accomplish?

[little*blackdog]

Wow...

I'm shocked by the things you said and admit to. 

I don't know what you bought... but you agreed to the price including the shipping cost, and you should be ashamed of the rant you wrote!  Your shipping costs must be relatively the same on most all the comic books you sell... so I understand that you're wearing "shipping cost blinders",  and I'd like to take all that into consideration... but I also sense a mean streak in the retaliation you'd like to aim at the seller.

You're a long-time member and I'm sure you've seen and heard "everything" by now, including the nightmare scenarios most sellers have to endure to appease buyers these days... how unfairly sellers are being treated by lesser members than you who may not know what's right and wrong... but you should know the difference. 

So, even if your seller DID overcharge for shipping, you say the item is the ONLY one like it you could find.  (That's worth something!)  So you bought the item, paid the shipping as it was, and are still gripping... maybe looking for others to side with you?  I can't.  If you don't like the price, including shipping costs, don't buy.  It's that simple.  You are being unreasonably mean-spirited by planning to negatively affect this seller.   Even if you won't be able to, we've all seen inside you now, and no, you're not going to be popular!

Wow...

[myangelandmyprincess]

If you open a case your only choices being item not received which you lose if you receive the item or not as described with which you will be asked to return the item.  There is nothing that will get you a partial refund for shipping costs.  

I know you say you have shipped like items but I've had a buyer tell me that on a pair of jeans and insist that she ships them all day for under $5.  Being they were almost two pounds and wouldn't fit in a padded envelope I tried desperately...I couldn't ship them to her for less than $10.   So what is the weight size of the item. What kind of packing material does it require?  How far is it shipping?

[dirk12955]

My customers have no input into how much I charge for shipping.    It's none of their business whatsoever 

whether I turn a profit or take a loss on shipping.

If an item is purchased and the buyer realizes that the seller actually took a loss on the shipping is that buyer going 

to complain?     I don't see buyers lining up to hand over more money when a seller makes a mistake that's actually in the buyers favor.  

It's for the seller to decide whether his or her time is worth 40 cents an hour or $40.00 per hour.   Not the buyer.

The buyer decides,   Cost of item + shipping = a good deal,   Or a fair deal,  Or a bad deal.

[golfingaddict]

1.  ebay basically stopped caring about excessive shipping and handling when they began charging a FVF on the shipping charges.

2. You can  hit the buyer on their detailed seller ratings if you feel you have been overcharged.

3. You are charging $15 to ship two comics to my location.  What is to stop me from thinking that you are charging excessive shipping and handling?

 4.  You will be a much happier buyer and seller if you purchase an item that you like with shipping you agree with rather than try to "report" or "return" or file whatever case  you can drum up to take action against the seller.  And if you are buying items similar to what you sell, you are not making yourself look good by acting against the seller for perceived misdeeds.

[tracy_and_aja]

I agree with you.  But in this case it's like the pot calling the kettle black.  

[corvettestainless]

"Handling" costs, along with materials and insurance- per the 'policy' you stated, can still be anything a seller wants it to be.

Buyers see the cost to ship when they decide to purchase. If I decide I want $20 for that, that's what I want. I don't want to touch it, wrap it, pack it, print it for less- that's MY CHOICE!

You think we should have someone else at ebay decide how much I can charge??

And your opening a case? How ridiculous! the only case you can open is to 'return' it, so what's the point?

[comicdiablo]

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@golfingaddict wrote:

3. You are charging $15 to ship two comics to my location.  What is to stop me from thinking that you are charging excessive shipping and handling?

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Perhaps you only know about golfing and thus are unaware, but I sell and buy comic books. A graded comic book (assigned a certain condition by a grading company, like CGC) is encased in a thick plastic protective slab, and together with a second ungraded comic, weighs slightly less than 2 lbs. when carefully packaged with bubble wrap and packaging peanuts in a priority mail box. Priority mail can be more or less expensive depending on the distance of the recipient's location, and it does cost money to buy bubble wrap and packaging peanuts. So $15 to ship the two comics to which you are referring to your location was quite reasonable in price. I don't make profit off of shipping and handling costs, unlike some sellers on eBay.

[comicdiablo]

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@tracy_and_aja wrote:

I agree with you.  But in this case it's like the pot calling the kettle black.  

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No, it's not like the pot calling the kettle black. Your saying makes no sense in relation to the issue at hand.

[comicdiablo]

@pjcdn2005 wrote:

I imagine that most sellers are aware of that rule but there is no way for ebay to enforce it . IF the seller used ebay shipping they would know the postage cost but they wouldn't  know what the seller's costs were for packaging. Which type of case did they tell you to open? The only options are item not received and a return case.  If you open the latter you would have to return the item to a refund unless the seller was willing to give you a partial refund.   

Although I agree that a seller shouldn't gouge buyers for shipping, the reality is that they could charge less for shipping and add the extra cost on to the item price. Either way the buyer would be paying the same price.  Plus, I think that many buyers have a totally unrealistic idea of what it costs to ship these days so in many cases the costs are similar to what they are being charged even though the buyer might not agree.

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Thanks for acknowledging that it is an eBay rule, and that sellers should not gouge buyers on shipping and handling, though you believe there's no way to enforce it. You may be right. That's not what I was told, but when I open a case, nothing may come of it. Whatever happens, I will report it here. I agree that usually only two kinds of cases can be opened, but what you and others are not realizing is that there is a third option, to where the eBayer can directly contact eBay about a case that doesn't fit in one of the two usual categories.  And you are correct that a seller could just hike up the price of an item instead of charge an outrageous amount for S&H, but at least then it would be a more honest listing, not one that included an obviously excessive S&H charge. I'm not talking about some borderline case here; I'm talking about a person charging about 3 times the amount for S&H that it would cost me to ship the same item through a faster shipping service (priority instead of parcel post).

[comicdiablo]

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@digita_47 wrote:

1. You're not forced to buy something if you do not like the price or cost.

2. Neither you or eBay know what that seller actual shipping cost are: label + packing material + handling cost + time. They can be very different from yours. In the end its the sellers item and business.

3. I'm sure eBay will do nothing about it, buyers are already abusing/scamming sellers with the return program.

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1. I never said I was forced to buy anything, but I was forced to pay an excessive S&H charge if I wanted to buy the item.

2. While it is true that it cannot be known exactly how much it costs a seller, there is a point in which a S&H is utterly ridiculous. I buy and sell comics. I know about how much it costs to ship different kinds of comics (graded and ungraded) to different places. There is a standard that's been established across many sellers. When a seller is charging about 3 times as much as what is typical for S&H of a certain item, your "impossibility of exactness" argument regarding S&H does not stand nor apply.

3. Yes, I am aware of buyers scamming sellers with the return program and have had it happen to me. However, I can both know that is happening and know that some sellers are charging outrageous S&H costs at the same time, which goes against eBay's Shipping Policy. And I can try to do something about it. Perhaps nothing will come of it but wasting my time. I will see what happens.