Misleading price, Summary omits shipping!

[gurucatdave]

Why does eBay permit sales of items where shipping fees far exceed the advertised (Buy Now) price of the item?  Nothing in this world costs more to ship than the item being shipped!

Sellers are clearly playing on the omission of shipping cost from the summary to get their items placed at the top of lists, then the buyers get ripped with 4x the advertised purchase price or more.  Total cost of purchase  should be clearly stated on the top level, not buried under yet another series of tabs, etc, in yet another rearranged UI.  Clearly a shady practice by sellers, and bad faith on the part of eBay!

[sea*dreams]

1. Please don't use the R-word unless you are referring to SA, which you are not

2. The items in your personal possession, your furniture, your decorative pieces, your appliances, etc.  Were they priced by WEIGHT?  Did your  $50 blender weigh the same as your $50 cast iron skillet?  Should they cost the same to ship because their price was the same?  Of course not.

Price and shipping cost are not related.

[farmalljr]

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@gurucatdave wrote:

Now we have the supposed wisdom of  hair bands driving this discussion?  Afraid you don't know who you're talking to...

Most have missed the point - total price shouldn't be buried under any number of tabs or special sorts - it should be top-level regardless.  It's the same logic applied by law to used car sales - for the exact same reason...and no, in my current experience, it isn't "right under" anything...

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Shipping price is NEVER buried. It's directly under the price of the item for anyone to see. Your assertion it's somehow hidden either shows you are flat out lying and being a drama queen OR you don't know what you are doing and are not reading listings at all. Shipping price or the "FREE" shipping is displayed out front for EVERYONE to see.

The ONLY time it is not is in a local pick up only or freight sale. A seller can't charge you shipping unless it's stated upfront before the sale. Seller's can't bill you AFTER a purchase for shipping. 

If you are upset because some sellers are extremely overpriced on shipping, do like other normal people do. Just pass by the listing and ignore it. 

[itsjustasprain]

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@farmalljr wrote:
Shipping price is NEVER buried. It's directly under the price of the item for anyone to see. Your assertion it's somehow hidden either shows you are flat out lying and being a drama queen OR you don't know what you are doing and are not reading listings at all. 

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I vote for Drama Queen. In Mobile mode I am currently looking at a listing priced at $3.25 + $5.00 Shipping (gasp!) and the Shipping is directly stated right after the price on the same line. 

In Desktop view it can be a little more spread out because there is more room on the screen to work with but it is still shown on the same screen. No mystery at all about what my Shipping cost would be if I bought the item.

[toomuchstuffagain35]

I just had a message about an item that's on sale.

"20% off but the shipping is still $6? I'm not down for that".

Well sorry but the sale is on the ITEM price, until usps gives me a 20% discount on the shipping.

[gurlcat]

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@gurucatdave wrote:

 It's way down in the listing and even then in a barely discernable shade lighter than the background - nearly invisible. 

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Obviously nobody here believes you, so why not share a screenshot to prove everybody wrong?  Easy!  

[netbestdeals]

Actually, many things in this world cost more to ship then the item being shipped. 

I'm trying to understand why you are unable to see the shipping costs. When searching from a browser or the an Android app the shipping cost appears on the search results page. When an item is clicked, the shipping cost is displayed with no need to navigate anywhere. Whatever device you are using, make sure you have everything updated.  I suggest you clear the cache and scan for malware as well. 

Sellers are not clearly playing on omission of shipping cost from the summery for any reason as the display of that information is not under their control. As for having items appear higher on the search results, there are many factors that come in to play and hiding the shipping cost would do little or nothing even if it could be done. 

Clearly not a shady practice by sellers. Literally not an option that any seller, shady or not is able to do. Item cost and shipping cost are displayed near each other so nobody is getting rapped. If one item has a shipping cost you feel is too high, keep scrolling. 

I would guess you are dealing with a technical issue rather than a bunch of malicious sellers trying to deceive you. 

[gurucatdave]

P.S.

Just used eBays own shipping calculator.  Nothing over ~$35 coast to coast for the item in question until you get to overnight. The seller is clearly pocketing over $60 hidden under a bogus shipping charge.  eBay isn't watching...'cause it still gets a cut...  Shame on eBay!

[gurucatdave]

That's already been sent to eBay.  Thank God you guys aren't the judges here!

[gurucatdave]

The seller in question, already reported to eBay, claimed they used eBays calculator.  I just did that myself and the shipping cost was ~ 1/3 that posted.  The guy is a scammer pocketing over $60 hidden under the shipping fee.  Some might call that a marketing ploy.  I call it deceitful practice...

[soh.maryl]

1. I assume you've never sold and shipped a vintage Singer sewing machine. I have.  Item price $35, shipping $37.55.

2. You have used the word "raped" inappropriately, very much so.  

[powell-memorabilia]

Although I don’t agree that shipping and handling charges are hard to see, there is a bad-actor reason that some sellers use inflated S&H costs.  Sellers that expect returns jack up the price of shipping so that they can scare misinformed buyers into worrying that they will be on the hook for those original shipping charges, even for INAD’s.

[laststopgeneralstore]

Let's say that $25 item is car, you still think it should ship for no less than $100? Item price & shipping are two entirely separate and different things.

[fern*wood]

You've basically changed your complaint from the original post.  Not liking the postage amount is a different thing than it being hidden or not added to the price.   If you don't agree with the postage amount, just don't purchase the item.  

[goodbrakes]

Obviously you have no idea how shipping costs work. Many time items cost more to ship than the cost of the item. We have had items sent Internationaly when the item was less than $10 and they needed ASAP and paid over $50 to get it. If you think it is a scam don't buy the item it is your option.

[soh.maryl]

The actual price of anything is shown before you commit to buy.  Not sure why you think it would be otherwise.