"Outrageous shipping"

[pvcliff]

Yesterday I relisted a ceramic heart box that had timed out without selling for a dollar or two less. I've had it listed at least a year. So today comes the note that a potential buyer has received an email that the price has dropped, "item is beautiful" but my shipping is "outrageous" and she's never paid that much for similar ceramic items even bought as far away as the UK. I composed a response (not sent yet) telling her item weighs two pounds, sturdy box for highly breakable item weighs one  pound, hence my 3-4 pound weight estimate and that PM is both weight and distance based and if I mailed it to myself it only costs a fairly reasonable $8.50 so she must be on the opposite coast from Los Angeles. 

Her feedback left for others  indicates no problems, but I'm dithering about whether the word "outrageous" rather than something like "more than I would have expected" is a red flag.  This is an $8 item, so even within my own neighborhood shipping doubles the price. I find myself torn between blocking her for her choice of words and/or waiting until after Valnetine's Day and just wrapping the darn thing up and putting it in my charity box hoping that it will make it to their pricing people intact.

[bubbleman2010]

Thaats a lot of bubblewrap at 6 cents a foot...

[toybrats]

Well, first the postal rates will go up on the Jan 21. I would tell the person to look at the www.usps.com website. Give her your zipcode and tell her to look it up. If you add a handling charge, tell her the fee. Explain to her that the pigs at Ebay steal 10% of the shipping fee from sellers. Finally, tell her that you will relist this item after the price increase so that you do NOT lose any money on the shipping.... Explain to her that fees are based on distance too and not just weight . Box dimensions also count. I have discovered that once you explain this, customers understand and very often they will buy the item. Anyway, remember to adjust all of your items to reflect the new price increase. If you use calculated shipping, you might just want to adjust your handling fee if you do have one.

If she continues to annoy you, definitely block her.

[partial*eclipse]

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@pvcliff wrote:

The price I see has never changed from $8.50, so I am confused.  I have now reinput 12x12x12, are you still seeing $20, or did $43 come back??

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It's still $20.05.

The dimensional weight for Priority Mail only applies to packages that are (1) over 1 cubic foot and (2) giong to Zones 5 - 9.  So you would never see it for your own ZIP Code.  There should be no surprise that you see $8.50 regardless of the changes in package dimensions.

[penguins_dont_fly]

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@pvcliff wrote:

The price I see has never changed from $8.50, so I am confused.  I have now reinput 12x12x12, are you still seeing $20, or did $43 come back??

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Cliff ...

When looking at your own listing, you see shipping to your own zip.

If you go into the shipping and payments tab, you can change the zip (and even the country) to check pricing to other locations.

You are in San Pedro (907xx)

I am zone 8 from you in Pensacola, FL (325xx)

If you enter 32501 on your listing, you will see the charge to ship to me.

[fern*wood]

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@pvcliff wrote:

The price I see has never changed from $8.50, so I am confused.  I have now reinput 12x12x12, are you still seeing $20, or did $43 come back??

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One of your dimensions earlier must have been over 12".  The cost is still $20. to me now and before it was 40ish.  The dimensional issue does not affect the cost to your own Zip.  It kicks in on zones further away.

I once had an email like yours and when I looked, I had entered something crazy for dimensions.  They bought from me after I fixed it.

[partial*eclipse]

@toybrats

Have you read the thread at all? This is an active listing, and the problem related to package dimensions has been resolved. 

Sellers who use calculated shipping don't need to take any action when USPS raises their rates; the shipping calculator automatically switches to the new rates on the date of the change. 

[lookng2015]

Too bad the stupid heart box itself isn't taller then you could turn the lid upside down for shipping.

[lookng2015]

Yeah, a boardie alerted me to the fact I'd fat fingered 7x7x6 to 167x6x6 once = )

[penguins_dont_fly]

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@lookng2015 wrote:
Yeah, a boardie alerted me to the fact I'd fat fingered Suzy to 167x6x6 once = )

First  LOL... that's a looooooooooong box 🙂

Second LOL  ... Autocorrect changed 7x7x6 to "Suzy" when I hit the quote button (huh?) ...  I left it. It's "interesting" that way 🙂

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[lookng2015]

= X

[pvcliff]

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@fern*wood wrote:

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@pvcliff wrote:

The price I see has never changed from $8.50, so I am confused.  I have now reinput 12x12x12, are you still seeing $20, or did $43 come back??

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One of your dimensions earlier must have been over 12".  The cost is still $20. to me now and before it was 40ish.  The dimensional issue does not affect the cost to your own Zip.  It kicks in on zones further away.

I once had an email like yours and when I looked, I had entered something crazy for dimensions.  They bought from me after I fixed it.

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Yes, I had 14" as one of dimensions.  Interesting excercise today. My two Vernonware pitchers are 11.5" tall and definitely need larger boxes.  Time to try to sell those locally.

[d-k_treasures]

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@penguins_dont_fly wrote:

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@lookng2015 wrote:
Yeah, a boardie alerted me to the fact I'd fat fingered Suzy to 167x6x6 once = )

First  LOL... that's a looooooooooong box 🙂

Second LOL  ... Autocorrect changed 7x7x6 to "Suzy" when I hit the quote button (huh?) ...  I left it. It's "interesting" that way 🙂

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Maybe it thought you typed 37x27x36?

[lookng2015]

I do know when I looked at it the shipping WAS "outrageous" lol

[fern*wood]

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@pvcliff wrote:

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@fern*wood wrote:

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@pvcliff wrote:

The price I see has never changed from $8.50, so I am confused.  I have now reinput 12x12x12, are you still seeing $20, or did $43 come back??

---

One of your dimensions earlier must have been over 12".  The cost is still $20. to me now and before it was 40ish.  The dimensional issue does not affect the cost to your own Zip.  It kicks in on zones further away.

I once had an email like yours and when I looked, I had entered something crazy for dimensions.  They bought from me after I fixed it.

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Yes, I had 14" as one of dimensions.  Interesting excercise today. My two Vernonware pitchers are 11.5" tall and definitely need larger boxes.  Time to try to sell those locally.

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Depending on the girth of your pitcher, you might still get the box under the limit.  When I can't get by with a smaller box, I just enter what it is, and assume it will probably sell to a nearby zone due to the cost.   

[missjen831]

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@lookng2015 wrote:
I do know when I looked at it the shipping WAS "outrageous" lol

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I do agree but I would still block the buyer myself. On one hand the buyer did OP a favor but a buyer who complains before the purchase is likely to complain after.