$5 is not that big of a deal. You were not overcharged if that was the deal. I don't think eBay will think $5 is excessive. Plus, now that they charge fvf on the shipping cost, I doubt they will be inclined to make a seller refund it...they only cared bc of the fee avoidance!

Originally Posted by Melissa Ann

$5 is not that big of a deal. You were not overcharged if that was the deal. I don't think eBay will think $5 is excessive. Plus, now that they charge fvf on the shipping cost, I doubt they will be inclined to make a seller refund it...they only cared bc of the fee avoidance!

I don't know what the FVF is. Can you help me out ? Thx !

the fees ebay charges on the sale price (final value fee). It used to be charged only on the auction price, so people were charging high shipping to make up a little more$ without paying the fee on it. It was called fee avoidance and ebay would monitor it closely. But now they charge based on the final price plus shipping, which is total BS! So it impossible to avoid auction fees by charging high shipping. (The theory was if an item had high shipping, the auction price would end lower. Thus the sellers fees were lower with high shipping and lower final value price.)

Doesn't hurt to ask the seller to refund the extra. If she doesn't you can leave a lower shipping stars score...

You could mention the high fees to the seller but really you agreed to the price.

I'm glad to see other tpf members agreeing w/me. I was a bit uneasy about going against what all other posters said before me, but I had to pipe up. If I was the seller in this situation, I'd be rather miffed the buyer's coming back to inquire about a shipping refund when I already told her pre-win that the shipping amount was firm. I think the seller has every right to refuse a shipping refund based on past communication w/the buyer.

Now, would it be nice if she did? Sure. However, she is certainly not obligated to do so.

Originally Posted by Melissa Ann

Doesn't hurt to ask the seller to refund the extra. If she doesn't you can leave a lower shipping stars score...

IMO, that wouldn't be fair at all.

IF the seller posted their shipping fee in the auction listing and the auction listing was for a single t-shirt, then it was obvious the fee was on the high side.

Don't bid then, or negotiate a lower fee before bidding.

Buyer in this case should chalk up the excess fee to her mistake in not settling this before bidding ended.

I was actually curious about all this. I ordered an item from the States to Canada, and international shipping was stated as $15, if I recall correctly. When it arrived, I saw the postage was around $6. Are there other charges a seller incurs when shipping internationally? It was sent first class. Is there a difference between first class and priority? (I know that's a horrible question, but I've never sold anything..) To be honest, I never considered contacting the seller. I really don't care. The item is so perfect and I got it for such an amazing price. I'm too happy to care. My assumption is that a seller gives a flat international rate, and if it's cheaper for them, so be it. I'm sure she took quite a loss on the actual item anyway! Thoughts?

Originally Posted by Micole

I was actually curious about all this. I ordered an item from the States to Canada, and international shipping was stated as $15, if I recall correctly. When it arrived, I saw the postage was around $6. Are there other charges a seller incurs when shipping internationally? It was sent first class. Is there a difference between first class and priority? (I know that's a horrible question, but I've never sold anything..) To be honest, I never considered contacting the seller. I really don't care. The item is so perfect and I got it for such an amazing price. I'm too happy to care. My assumption is that a seller gives a flat international rate, and if it's cheaper for them, so be it. I'm sure she took quite a loss on the actual item anyway! Thoughts?

First class international shipping does involve more "handling" for the seller.

1. Labels can't be printed online, thus seller must take time, gas and labor to travel to the post office, wait in line and pay for shipping in person. Not everyone lives around the corner from a post office so it can conceivably take a bit of travel time and gas to make that trip. (And at $4/gallon, that's not small potatoes.)
2. Free shipping packaging from the post office isn't available for first class international shipping, So seller must buy shipping boxes, bubble mailers, etc. to ship.

Therefore, a bit more of a handling charge added on to the shipping cost isn't unreasonable.

I actually disagree with people who are saying it's fair since the price was listed. If you pay that much for shipping, you may realize that it's overcharged, but at the same time, you would assume that means it would be packaged better... that the price included some care in the packaging.

So you would expect to receive maybe a padded envelope or one that was made of tyvek and perhaps some other protection like tissue paper or such. You would not expect to pay that much extra AND only receive a tshirt stuffed into a plain manila envelope. That's where the dishonesty comes in.

So yes, 7.50$ is overcharge and the buyer knows the price when she sees it, but that doesn't mean she knows it's going to packaged in such a terrible and irresponsible way. Therein lies the problem.

Originally Posted by BeenBurned

First class international shipping does involve more "handling" for the seller. 1. Labels can't be printed online, thus seller must take time, gas and labor to travel to the post office, wait in line and pay for shipping in person. Not everyone lives around the corner from a post office so it can conceivably take a bit of travel time and gas to make that trip. (And at $4/gallon, that's not small potatoes.) 2. Free shipping packaging from the post office isn't available for first class international shipping, So seller must buy shipping boxes, bubble mailers, etc. to ship. Therefore, a bit more of a handling charge added on to the shipping cost isn't unreasonable.

Thank you for such a thorough reply! I really appreciate it, as I was so curious as to how the whole thing works. I deemed the shipping cost more than fair when I bid. I kind of considered it an all-encompassing flat rate for shipping, time, and labor!

Originally Posted by thepoppet

I actually disagree with people who are saying it's fair since the price was listed. If you pay that much for shipping, you may realize that it's overcharged, but at the same time, you would assume that means it would be packaged better... that the price included some care in the packaging. So you would expect to receive maybe a padded envelope or one that was made of tyvek and perhaps some other protection like tissue paper or such. You would not expect to pay that much extra AND only receive a tshirt stuffed into a plain manila envelope. That's where the dishonesty comes in. So yes, 7.50$ is overcharge and the buyer knows the price when she sees it, but that doesn't mean she knows it's going to packaged in such a terrible and irresponsible way. Therein lies the problem.

Just for the record, $7.50 was the total price the OP paid. The overcharge was $5, which perhaps is a bit on the excessive side but not totally unreasonable.

Originally Posted by Micole

Thank you for such a thorough reply! I really appreciate it, as I was so curious as to how the whole thing works. I deemed the shipping cost more than fair when I bid. I kind of considered it an all-encompassing flat rate for shipping, time, and labor!

You're welcome.

Originally Posted by thepoppet

I actually disagree with people who are saying it's fair since the price was listed. If you pay that much for shipping, you may realize that it's overcharged, but at the same time, you would assume that means it would be packaged better... that the price included some care in the packaging. So you would expect to receive maybe a padded envelope or one that was made of tyvek and perhaps some other protection like tissue paper or such. You would not expect to pay that much extra AND only receive a tshirt stuffed into a plain manila envelope. That's where the dishonesty comes in. So yes, 7.50$ is overcharge and the buyer knows the price when she sees it, but that doesn't mean she knows it's going to packaged in such a terrible and irresponsible way. Therein lies the problem.

Boy, if there is one word that leads to more woe on Ebay that would be it.
I have paid top dollar for item and shipping only to have it show up in barely there packaging. I have had free shipping that was wrapped so well that i was astonished.

I agree with the posters above. For excessive overcharging for shipping, you'd expect top notch packaging & handling. A shirt in a manilla envelope does NOT sound like something that would justify a $5 extra overcharge.

I don't sell on eBay, but I do sell online from time to time, and when I do, I do usually overcharge for shipping because Canada Post is ridiculously expensive. However, I always refund the difference once I send the package off if it didn't cost as much as I estimated.

I agree that now one learns not to assume. But until then, many people think the best of their sellers and think that the extra cost would cover nicer packaging materials.

I'm sure anyone here would be upset if they ordered a handbag that came packed like that. How is a tshirt different? Price wise, yes. But it's still not ok to ship something like a clothing item in that kind of terrible packaging, especially when the buyer paid for at least a padded envelope. That packaging could have easily ripped and the transit would have ruined the item. Not cool.

Therefore, the shipping stars should be dinged. Who sends a clothing item like that???

^Well, it was just a t shirt, so that's not a bad way to pack...

honestly, the $5 wouldn't bother me...people bid based on the total cost. if you are paying less for shipping, the item would likely sell for more is my theory...