Absurd ebay shipping cost

mietha

mietha

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Okay, so I just bought 12 dvds from a seller on ebay with pretty good feedback whose auctions claimed they "combined shipping". Yeah, they combined them, all right, taking a whole whopping ~30% off the total. He is seriously trying to charge $25 for shipping 12 dvds. Is there any kind of common sense clause here? Unless he's over-nighting them, this is obscene. Priority would cost between 10-15, depending on whether he used their box or not. Am I just fucked here, or is there any form of recourse? I looked over the ebay faq, and there really isn't anything, that I could find, at least.
 
I don't really think there's anything you can do here as far as reporting the seller or anything. If a seller doesn't explain their combined shipping rates on the listing then you really should email them first and ask what the rates are. Obviously you can leave a negative explaining the outrageous shipping charges, but first I would suggest emailing the guy and explaining the situation (...in a friendly manner, don't start with "WTF? I'm gonna give you a negative if you don't fix this".
 
Unfortunately if there is not a stated shipping cost and he just says there will be a discount and not give a number, there isn't much you can do about this. Normally I just ask them how much the combined shipping cost would be ahead of time before I throw down a bid. And it's not about common sense, it's about making money. I'm sure he knows how much he wanted to give off ahead of time and didn't mention the exact discount on purpose either.

You really have no form of recourse in situations like these since they really don't even have to offer you a combined shipping discount to begin with, and if you wanted to know the exact discount, you should have gotten the number ahead of time.

They are still in the business of making money, so I think you will just have to bite the bullet on this one.

You should just be more careful next time.
 
Yup, your screwed. You agreed to pay the shipping costs when you won multiple auctions, he doesn't have to combine any of them and reduce the cost at all but he stated he would and took off 30%. Yes it's more than shipping is going to cost but that's how the cookie crumbles.
 
I had someone say "Yes, we will combine shipping" then did just that, combined the cost of shipping on both items but offer no discount. :lol:
Don't forget about the 5 star ratings when you leave feedback. There's an option for "Shipping and handling charges", be sure to rate them what you feel they deserve.
 
[quote name='mguiddy']I had someone say "Yes, we will combine shipping" then did just that, combined the cost of shipping on both items but offer no discount. :lol:
Don't forget about the 5 star ratings when you leave feedback. There's an option for "Shipping and handling charges", be sure to rate them what you feel they deserve.[/QUOTE]

That's so true too, lol. They "combine" them all into one package for your convenience :D
 
Yeah there are shady people selling DVDs/games. There are a lot of wholesale dealers (one in TX, one in MN) that refuse to use anything but UPS, then charge absurd prices ($11 to ship 2 Wii remotes or 1 Xbox controller to OH, when they don't even weigh over 1 lb).

Then there are the people who sell games and charge $7 for Priority Mail. Heck, I love how games can have a cost of $1 to $5 per game to ship. I charge $2.50 because 99% of the games I sell weigh 6 oz or less.

It's all good though. When I leave feedback, every time a seller has a ridiculous shipping fee, they lose more & more stars.
 
[quote name='rp71284']Yeah there are shady people selling DVDs/games. There are a lot of wholesale dealers (one in TX, one in MN) that refuse to use anything but UPS, then charge absurd prices ($11 to ship 2 Wii remotes or 1 Xbox controller to OH, when they don't even weigh over 1 lb).

Then there are the people who sell games and charge $7 for Priority Mail. Heck, I love how games can have a cost of $1 to $5 per game to ship. I charge $2.50 because 99% of the games I sell weigh 6 oz or less.

It's all good though. When I leave feedback, every time a seller has a ridiculous shipping fee, they lose more & more stars.[/QUOTE]

Well those aren't too bad, but the worst are the ones that mark "Standard Shipping Service" and then they end up sending it Media Mail and then they refuse to combine shipping because they say they would be losing money even though Media Mail is dirt cheap.
 
[quote name='Squarehard']Well those aren't too bad, but the worst are the ones that mark "Standard Shipping Service" and then they end up sending it Media Mail and then they refuse to combine shipping because they say they would be losing money even though Media Mail is dirt cheap.[/QUOTE]

I wonder if you could report them to the postmaster for shipping a non-Media Mail item with Media Mail, since it clearly says you're not supposed to ship DVD/games that way.
 
[quote name='rp71284']I wonder if you could report them to the postmaster for shipping a non-Media Mail item with Media Mail, since it clearly says you're not supposed to ship DVD/games that way.[/QUOTE]

Video Games and DVD's are classified as "Media Mail".
 
Video Games never qualified as Media Mail.

People just used Media Mail to ship Video Games before because it was not actually stated in text anywhere it is restricted.

However as of not too recently, they have changed it to reflect that Video Games are indeed excluded.

Here's some reading for ya directly from USPS.com


Media Mail
Media Mail is not sealed against postal inspection. Regardless of physical closure, the mailing of articles at Media Mail prices constitutes consent by the mailer to postal inspection.

Media mail is used for certain types of books, films, manuscripts, printed music, printed test materials, sound recordings, play scripts, printed educational charts, loose-leaf pages and their binders consisting of medical information, video recordings, educational reference charts, and computer-readable media. Video games, whether on CD-ROM, diskettes, or similar software, or playable systems including computers, do not meet the standards for Media Mail. Storage devices such as "portable hard drives", "thumb drives", "flash drives", "jump-drives", and "USB drives" for use with computers are not eligible for Media Mail prices. For specific eligibility please see DMM 173.3.

The maximum size of an item in combined length plus girth (distance around the thickest part) is 108 inches.
Mark each package "Media Mail" in the postage area.
Click to expand...
 
[quote name='Squarehard']Video Games never qualified as Media Mail.

People just used Media Mail to ship Video Games before because it was not actually stated in text anywhere it is restricted.

However as of not too recently, they have changed it to reflect that Video Games are indeed excluded.

Here's some reading for ya directly from USPS.com[/QUOTE]

Where did you pull that from? From USPS.com, I got this:

Media Mail® service is a cost efficient way to mail books, sound recordings, recorded video tapes, printed music, and recorded computer-readable media (such as CDs, DVDs, and diskettes). Media Mail can not contain advertising except for incidental announcements of books. The maximum weight for Media Mail is 70 lbs.
 
I found the link, but this makes no sense... CD's & DVD's can be classified as media mail, but not Video Games? Sounds like a way for the Post Office to cash in. No wonder they are losing so much business.
 
[quote name='sdragon']Where did you pull that from? From USPS.com, I got this:

Media Mail® service is a cost efficient way to mail books, sound recordings, recorded video tapes, printed music, and recorded computer-readable media (such as CDs, DVDs, and diskettes). Media Mail can not contain advertising except for incidental announcements of books. The maximum weight for Media Mail is 70 lbs.[/QUOTE]

USPS is a tricky devil and sly dog.

If you go to calculate the cost of the package, you actually have to click under restrictions for media mail, and it gives you the full details there.

It's pretty stupid how they don't openly have that policy shown in detail in the front page description, and only gives it a small shorter version that doesn't include video games, but that is also the original description that did not exclude video games, so maybe they were just too damn lazy to add it in, but video games actually were excluded as media mail even before it was finally put into text as not accepted. Just now that people can't claim it doesn't say that anywhere.

Bastards. I used to ship media mail all the time too :*(
 
Thing is, unless you are going to a counter or have your mail go through a very picky checker, nobody ever says a word. Heck, I get games all the time shipped Media Mail. It always pisses me off because First Class is 1) faster and 2) maybe a few cents more expensive.

Back to the OP, there really isn't anything you can do, except one thing, but it's really shady. If any of the 12 auctions you won states a different policy for combining mail, you can not pay all of the auctions, get the strikes, then call eBay and hope to get a friendly CS. There was once a game that I bought that the auction stated $2.25 for shipping, but the person tried saying a 5 oz game would actually cost $5.25 First Class. I didn't pay, got the strike, then called eBay to get the strike removed.

Oh, and when you leave feedback, make sure you don't leave positive feedback with 1 star DSR ratings. I did that to a person who did the same thing your seller did, and got a 7 day ban from eBay for "purposely trying to cause harm to a seller's reputation", which is kinda true. He deserved it. :D
 
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