shipping to someone who is only a city away??

mindy621_xoxo

mindy621_xoxo

O.G.
Feb 2, 2009
1,291
72
#1
I just sold one of my textbooks on ebay. When I went to calculate shipping (Knowing that the $10.00 limit from ebay is not enough to send a text book all the way across the country... I made this mistake last year! haha) I noticed that the buyer of my book lives in Scottsdale! (And I am in Fountain Hills)

How much should I charge for shipping?? should I just leave it at the $10? Would that be enough? It is a pretty heavy, hard covered psychology book, if that helps any!


Oh, and Scottsdale is only a 15 minute drive from my city.
 
Last edited:
#2
Perhaps you could contact the buyer and ask if they want to pick it up locally? I'm not sure if that would void any seller protection... but another advantage is that the buyer can inspect the book, etc.

I think it is highly unlikely that someone would give you problems over a textbook, but you never some people are just shady.

Perhaps you could call PayPal and ask them if there was anyway to come up with a contract that would be sufficient proof of delivery?

If you feel safer shipping it, you could always see if the post office will calculate the shipping amount for your first before you actually send it out. My post office is usually nice about it as long as there's not a crazy line, haha.
 
#3
well see that's another option! I wasn't sure if shipping it was necessary, since it's so close... but then again, how else could I do it?? haha I guess this makes for a quiiiccckkk transaction! No waiting for days for it to get to the person!
 
#4
she bought it without knowing how much shipping would cost??

I would just see if she wanted to come pick it up. 15 min is like nothing.
 
#6
mindy621_xoxo said:
well see that's another option! I wasn't sure if shipping it was necessary, since it's so close... but then again, how else could I do it?? haha I guess this makes for a quiiiccckkk transaction! No waiting for days for it to get to the person!
Click to expand...

If I'm not mistaken, eBay gives you the option to allow "local pickup" as a shipping method. It's weird that the buyer would purchase your item without knowing the shipping price first, haha. Either way, I have won auctions that were only 20 minutes away and my seller's haven't had any issues with me picking them up.

BUT, since it seems as though "local pickup" was not an original option, it's probably a good idea to see what kind of protection you have if you and the buyer mutually decide that you would prefer to do it this way.

Like I said, I doubt that someone who is buying a text book is really going to try and scam you. I would draw up some sort of contract that outlines the details of the auction, and also stating that the buyer has visually inspected the item and has accepted the item on Date, at Time... etc. Also have someone there to witness the pickup.

That's how I've done it in the past, but since I'm not a scammer, the seller never actually needed the contract for any sort of recourse. The only issue I see is if the buyer somehow tried to claim that they never received the item.

If the seller has not paid for the item yet, make sure they still pay via PayPal, and I would also contact PP for further advice. If for some reason they are opposed to having you do local pickup, then I'd go ahead and ship it... as silly as it may be.
 
#7
Yea if you meet up you can also cancel your listing as if the buyer does not want to pay for the item or no longer wants it and you can get some credit back from the listing as well as save money from the paypal transaction and everyone wins!
 
#8
applepielicious said:
Media Mail is very affordable and textbooks are eligible for Media Mail. Plus it's not all that slow. Parcel Post IS SLOW and expensive! If you guys want to meet up, only take cash.
Click to expand...

I think if the OP is going to ship it that this would be a good option. However, I don't believe that it is a good idea for them to pay in cash... it's safer to do it with PayPal in case if ...for some odd reason... the transaction goes sour.

But chloe4282 makes a good point... you can always just treat it as a face to face transaction and eliminate PP and eBay all together. haha.
 
#9
hmm. yes, local pickup is a good option. then nobody pays for shipping???

well, the shipping said 9.95, but i had the option to use "calculated cost" and I can use that when I send out the invoice.

shipping does seem kinda silly, but then again, that's how a relative would mail a birthday present to someone in a different city?
 
#12
I've sold things to people in my city, and only once did I let someone pick it up from me. I don't know, I guess it's just as much a pain in the butt to get in your car and drive 15 minutes and meet someone who may or may not show up, and risk them making up some reason not to want your item anymore, etc. I'd rather just mail it:smile: Then you have tracking to prove it got there.
 
#13
I won something from a town about 30 minutes from me. Since my job has me away from home and out driving and talking to people all day long, the very last thing I wanted to do was drive somewhere on my weekend and talk to someone. I was very happy to pay for the shipping and have it come to me in the mail.
Some of us are just like that, you know?;)
 
#14
hmmm, i sold to buyer from next cities all the time LOL but only once required local pick up because she wants it fast (can't wait even one day) LOL
sometimes seller refused to do local pick up or meet up due to their inconvenient schedule, or seller protection issues.
i would just mail it if the buyer didn't request local pick up;)
 
#15
You didn't have a shipping amount listed in your auction? Maybe I'm misunderstanding? Anyway, I always ship books by Media Mail cause it's a LOT cheaper!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top
Back