What is this new shipping scam?

[uns_ist_in_alten_maeren]

Hi all. I have lately been encountering some sellers that have shipping costs of about $75. For $10 items. I am talking mostly small to medium books. Other sellers from similar areas are shipping similar books for only a few bucks. When questioned. these sellers get very offended. One seller put me on a buy/bid block. First time that has happened to me in the 20 years or so on here. Sellers will flat out tell me that $75 is the cheapest available. Which is impossible.  And then say that I am a scammer and criminal. And since I usually get cheaper shipping, they are calling the police to have me arrested. Arrested for cheaper mail? 

What is going on here? Thanks.

[hurryagain]

Probably hoping for an inattentive buyer who doesn't look at the shipping costs and is impulsive.  It's kind of dumb though, I would think most people would just avoid them altogether.  Do they have any "sold" items with those crazy shipping rates?   Probably not.  Doesn't matter.  They won't get a sale using a $75 shipping rate to ship a $5 book.

I personally wouldn't get worked up over it, I would simply move onto another seller...there are many who will be more than happy to sell you the same book and ship it to you for way less. 

[uns_ist_in_alten_maeren]

Ha. Just a straight up scam then? I did see one account, I looked up, and they had thousands of sales. I was surprised. I did see a book once being sold for $5, with 1 million shipping! lol 

The problem is, these are not expensive books, but they are old. 50-150 years old. For my personal collection. Sometimes they are hard to find. But like I said, despite being rare, they are unknown and not valuable. 

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@hurryagain wrote:

Probably hoping for an inattentive buyer who doesn't look at the shipping costs and is impulsive.  It's kind of dumb though, I would think most people would just avoid them altogether.  Do they have any "sold" items with those crazy shipping rates?   Probably not.  Doesn't matter.  They won't get a sale using a $75 shipping rate to ship a $5 book.

I personally wouldn't get worked up over it, I would simply move onto another seller...there are many who will be more than happy to sell you the same book and ship it to you for way less. 

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[a*river*runs*through*it]

They could be either newish sellers or just stupid sellers that don't realize they are charged a FVF on item and shipping.

[lja440]

Ultimately not worth your time worrying over it. Just back button them.

When I hit too many of these I just click the tab for Free Shipping on the advanced search. If I can't find it there then I weed out the rest one by one.

[fern*wood]

I sort lowest total cost---many times the free shipping ones aren't the best deals.  

[no_zero369]

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@uns_ist_in_alten_maeren wrote:

Hi all. I have lately been encountering some sellers that have shipping costs of about $75. For $10 items. I am talking mostly small to medium books. Other sellers from similar areas are shipping similar books for only a few bucks. When questioned. these sellers get very offended. One seller put me on a buy/bid block. First time that has happened to me in the 20 years or so on here. Sellers will flat out tell me that $75 is the cheapest available. Which is impossible.  And then say that I am a scammer and criminal. And since I usually get cheaper shipping, they are calling the police to have me arrested. Arrested for cheaper mail? 

What is going on here? Thanks.

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@uns_ist_in_alten_maeren 

While I agree with the others here, it is best to just walk away from sellers like this, it is unfortunate that there is anyone that egregious out there.  However, IF the part highlighted in  blue isn't an exaggeration and was done through eBay email, then I would report this buyer.  In fact, I might call CS and have them read the emails where they threatened you.  That kind of stuff not only violates the spirit of  "creating a positive buyer experience" it is against eBay policy.  Sellers like that need some "coaching" or need to sell elsewhere.

But hey, it is up to you how you wish to spend your time & energy.

Here is the policy on Member to Member contacts:

https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/member-behavior-policies/membertomember-contact-policy?id=4262&st...

We don't allow our members to:

• Threaten others, or use profanity or hate speech

What can I do about a member who's threatening me?

If you ever receive a threat, report it to us immediately.

We'll look into it and determine what action is needed, which could include suspending the member's account. You should also report threats to local law enforcement.

[martoutlet]

not a scam as you can see what the total will be,just a strategy.

higher bid amount,higher bid increment.

might get more interest.

on a $100 item,starting one dollar is increment of $0.25.

one hundred is $2.50.

[ed8108]

If $75 is that seller's price for shipping your order.

We have before us this seller's order handling charge + packing materials & the actual cost of shipping.

If the shipping charge is outrageous, run away from that listing, keep the money in your wallet, available for future use.

How badly do you want the item?

Make a purchase decision based on total price.

Item + shipping + sales tax

Good luck buying on ebay

[daddysmoney86]

If I'm correct in my hunch, ebay deducts their fees from the selling price, not the shipping fee. So, for example, $5 book+$75 shipping= at minimum $70 profit due to the fact that the book will ship at the cheapest rate they can get and then not offer a partial refund for the rest of the shipping. That is of course, if the partial refund isn't mandatory with shipping.

[pjcdn2005]

Your hunch is off as EBay charges the same fees on shipping as they do on the item.

[southern*sweet*tea]

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@daddysmoney86 wrote:
If I'm correct in my hunch, ebay deducts their fees from the selling price, not the shipping fee. So, for example, $5 book+$75 shipping= at minimum $70 profit due to the fact that the book will ship at the cheapest rate they can get and then not offer a partial refund for the rest of the shipping. That is of course, if the partial refund isn't mandatory with shipping.

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For the past decade of so, Ebay has charged final value fees on the ENTIRE price the buyer pays the seller, item plus shipping.  Either your seller is living in the past and is going to be shocked if someone actually buys one of those items, or they're trying to be sneaky and make their profit in shipping. Any buyer with half a brain will bypass those types of listings.