Okay, I am keenly aware that it's a seller's prerogative to determine how much they want to charge for shipping, that some do it knowing they are overcharging and will pocket the overage as profit, but it's not against Ebay rules to do this because the seller can claim any amount for materials, labor and transport of the package to the carrier, so basically it's totally the buyer's responsibility to decide whether or not the shipping cost is a deal breaker, before buying/bidding.
I get that. So, when I saw that a small lot of pre-owned costume jewelry I'd estimate to weigh no more than 7 or 8 ounces had a shipping charge of $11.75 for "Expedited" Priority, (not only would the low weight make it First Class eligible but her charge is even more than the cost of a Small Flat Rate box into which this lot would easily fit), well I decided to bid anyway because the starting bid was fairly low for the quality of items. My proxy bid was only a couple bucks more than the starting bid, because the quality was not so great that I'd be willing to pay much more, namely given the shipping cost.
Well, nobody bid against me so I won for $13.70 plus the $11.75 shipping, and paid in less than 30 seconds from hearing the notification. That was Thursday afternoon, and the seller didn't mark the package shipped until last night (Sunday) but since Ebay listings no longer show the seller's handling time, I don't know if she shipped as fast as she privately committed to Ebay or not. I do know it takes only a few minutes to chuck a ziplock of jewelry into a SFR box, lol, but whatever; this isn't a very exciting lot so I'm in no big hurry to receive it. However I DO like to know where my packages are and what day to watch for deliveries on my porch, so it did irk me a bit to see that the seller had only 'marked' the package sent, no tracking number. Incidentally, it did say it was shipped Priority, so I guess she had to choose that from a menu or it automatically stated it, given that's the tier she chose when she created the listing. So I shot her a quick message, just asking if I could have the tracking number. She didn't directly reply but I see now that she uploaded the tracking number to the Order Details.
And can you guess the problem I saw when I clicked the number? --Yup, she shipped First Class, paid around $4 maybe $5. And only time will tell whether she even packed wisely or if I'll receive a squishy envelope of crushed hardware and loose rhinestones. But I immediately thought, 'That's it, she's already getting at least a neutral for this.' But the thing is, she already has one neutral and one neg, out of 13 feedbacks. --Yes I did see those before I bid, but they are not shipping-related, nor of any concern regarding the lot I was bidding on.
So clearly this is a new seller who quite possibly is just struggling to understand shipping and ebay policy. Looking at her current listings, she has bigger lots with lower shipping (stated as 'Standard,' First Class, for $5.25), and lots even smaller than mine with the $11.75 charge. It's as if she used NO rhyme or reason when making the listings; the overpriced ones aren't even necessarily her 'older' listings, as if she since learned to stop doing that. And I suspect a couple of her lots will be over a pound and therefore not be eligible for the First Class price she put on them.
In other words, Girl is on a crash course with an abysmal feedback score soon to ensue if she doesn't get shipping sorted out, so I kind of feel like I should try to help. But given her lack of (personal) reply when I wrote to ask for the tracking number, I have a sense that she might not take constructive criticism well, especially because I would be asserting my own complaint (of paying about 3X actual shipping for my purchase), in addition to the problematic ones on her horizon. If I explain her problem too succinctly she could take it as curtness, if I explain it at length I might waste a bunch of time only to get no reply (or defensiveness despite my attempt at tenderness). And ha, in the other extreme I could wind up with a newbie who starts writing to me for advice and information on every conceivable facet of ebay selling.
So what would you do? And by the way, I wouldn't have written this big long thing only to get advice on this one seller; she's not the first I've encountered who was irksome in a way that could be just rookie mistakes, and she won't be the last. So really this is an open invitation to talk about dealing with this issue, in general. Personal stories totally welcome!
