eBay

julycoaron · ‎02-23-2018

A buyer won 108 of my auctions last weekend. He is unhappy that the shipping discount is not as big as he expcted and is refusing to pay for any of the auctions. I will be opening unpaid disputes this weekend so I can get my fnal value fees back. Is there a way to open the disputes in bulk, or do I have to do this 108 times?

partial*eclipse · ‎02-23-2018

Are you sure you can't negotiate a shipping cost that he'd find acceptable?

julycoaron · ‎02-23-2018

I have tried. His proposal would have me losing money on the deal.

chrysylys · ‎02-23-2018

They're trading cards sold for less than a buck each as far as I can tell. All 108 of them could go in a small packages and be shipped for $5 or $10 at most.

Forget keeping up with the Joneses. Be the Finklegrubers!
OK kids, time to get the Dodge loaded up again. I hear 'Poppy's By the Tree' calling. This trip might be a long one too.

partial*eclipse · ‎02-23-2018

Looks to me like the OP has a lot of her profit hidden in the handling cost.

chrysylys · ‎02-23-2018

Small, flat, lightweight items sold at 20 to 50 cents with $3.80 shipping says you're trying to make money on shipping. Those could go in an envelope with a stamp or two.

Forget keeping up with the Joneses. Be the Finklegrubers!
OK kids, time to get the Dodge loaded up again. I hear 'Poppy's By the Tree' calling. This trip might be a long one too.

toohottofish · ‎02-23-2018

The average weight of a baseball card is 2 grams (yes I actually just went and weighed several) so with that said 108 cards =216 grams=7.6 oz. you could mail the entire lot for less tan $5.

julycoaron · ‎02-23-2018

To chrysylys -

I am NOT trying to make money on shipping. Quite the contrary.

I ship my cards in bubble envelopes and packed in new plastic cases (which the buyer can reuse). Then, in order to be financially protected (and to comply with eBay's preferences), I send the package via first class USPS with tracking. My costs for a basic auction:

$2.66 for postage (if the package is 4 oz. or less) - USPS increased their rates last month

$.40 for the case

$.12 for the envelope

$.42 for the PayPal fees (2.9% + $.30)

$.40 for the eBay fees (10%)

----------

Total: $4.00

If the item sells for $.20 + $3.80 shipping & handling, I make no profit.

I do not factor in my time, my paper and ink for shipping labels and packing slips, my trips to the local post office.

July

julycoaron · ‎02-23-2018

donnsmit -

Most of the auctions were for multiple LOTS of baseball cards, including one lot of 64 cards. The buyer won more than 800 cards in all. Some are standard size; some were over-sized.

In addition, the same buyer won several books and record albums.

I calculated the combined shipping carefully, so as not to make a profit on shipping.

But the buyer wasn't satisfied.

Can anyone answer my original question?

July

luckythewinner · ‎02-23-2018

@chrysylyswrote:
They're trading cards sold for less than a buck each as far as I can tell. All 108 of them could go in a small packages and be shipped for $5 or $10 at most.

This is a great example why being able to do something does not necessarily mean is it is wise to do something.

When a seller's shipping cost does not accurate reflect the actual shipping cost, buyers feel like they are being taken advantage of.

If I bought 500 trading cards for 10 cents each, I would expect to pay $50 plus a shipping cost that roughly reflected the actual cost of shipping 500 trading cards. I would not expect to pay $500 in shipping just because the seller had arbitrarily decided to hide $1 per card of his profit in the shipping and handling cost.Because If I had known the real cost of the cards was $1.10 each and not 10 cents each, I never would have bought them in the first place.

Is that my fault for not inquiring beforehand? Sure, you could argue that.

But since there are no consequences for buyers on eBay, you could also argue that is also the seller's fault for not taking prudent steps to avoid misleading buyers and putting himself in this position int he first place.

the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth · ‎02-23-2018

You know all he has to do is pay for a couple of your auctions with exhorbitant shipping and he can neg you regardless of you filing NPBs for the other items?