Can YOU Prevent Being taken by Excessive Shipping?

by: cdsgamesnmore1

The simple answer is YES.  But the full answer is a little more complex.  Before you can understand how to avoid excessive shipping, you must first understand what it is and be able to recognize it. 

What is Shipping

Most buyers, especially new buyers, think that excessive shipping is any amount that is above the actual postage stated on the package.  This is a common misconception.  Shipping is the total cost associated with packing and delivery of the item to the buyer.  Simply analyzed, shipping is the cost of packing materials, labor and postage (carrier costs).  In addition, shipping also includes the cost of insurance or guarantee that ensures that your package is not lost or damaged during shipment.

There are also many costs related to shipping the many buyers (and sellers) do not consider.  These costs can include cost of  communication with buyer related to shipping and handling problems; costs associated with a packing and shipping room (electricity, depreciation, repairs, etc.); costs associated with maintaining the inventory after sale; automobile expenses for obtaining packaging supplies or going to the shipper; costs of obtaining postage (for those that use an online postal service, etc.).

All sellers have the costs listed above, to varying degrees.  The costs of shipping will depend greatly on the seller. Small sellers may not have a dedicated shipping area , but because they are low volume, their costs per package may be higher.  Large sellers may have employees that do their packaging, and thus have more shipping expenses.  However because of their volume, these costs are spread over a much larger number of packages.  Additionally, some "hobby" sellers may used a third-party packager and shipper, such as a UPS store, which is by far much more expensive than packing yourself.

Regardless of whether the seller has a small volume of business or a large volume of business, all of the expenses associated with delivery of the item to you are valid shipping expenses. And buyers will pay these expenses one way or the other.

When Does Shipping Become Excessive?

The simple answer to this is shipping is excessive if it is more than the buyer is willing to pay.  Again, a buyer must realize what shipping is and how sellers approach shipping to determine if it is excessive.

Sellers, will take different approaches to how they transfer these costs to the buyers.  Some sellers will charge postage only, relying on the sales price of the item to cover the other expenses, while others will try to account for every penny of their expenses in the S/H charge.  The vast majority of your legitimate sellers will at least try to recover the direct costs of shipping (postal costs, packaging costs, and packaging labor) in the S/H costs.  There are a couple of reasons for this:  First, by incorporating their shipping expenses into the shipping costs, sellers avoid eBay fees on those charges related to shipping.  Second, by keeping the shipping expenses separated, sellers are able to keep their starting bids lower, thus attracting bidders.  However, sellers must balance what they charge for shipping when compared to other sellers that offer similar items in order to avoid perceptions of excessive shipping.

Unfortunately, there are many sellers that have taken this concept to the extreme.  They incorporate not only the shipping expenses into their S/H charge, but also include the cost of the item, the costs of selling the item (ebay fees, etc), and their anticipated profits.  By doing this, they totally avoid ebay fees as well as attract buyers who may be unaware of the practice.  A buyer could pay a whole lot more for the $0.01 widget than they would have paid had they bid on the one with a $200 starting bid, because of the shipping charges.

WOW! So how do I know?

All information that you need to avoid excessive shipping charges are there for you to see before you place a bid.  Before bidding, you MUST:

1. Read the description and be sure that the item is exactly what you want and description is complete.
2. Check the shipping/handling charge to ensure it is included.  In addition, check the shipping method is speed of shipping is important to you.  If the shipping costs or method is not listed, contact the seller, or avoid the auction.  NEVER BID ON AN AUCTION UNLESS YOU KNOW THE SHIPPING COST.
3. Check out the seller.  If the seller charges excessive shipping, this should become apparent in his feedback.  With detailed Seller Ratings, you can determine if the seller's shipping charges are in line for the product being offered.  Don't expect a 5.0, because there are buyer who will downgrade a seller's rating if they charge any handling at all.   But you should expect something in the high 4's.   Any lower that 4.5 or so, then you can  expect the shipping to be higher than normal.  A seller's ME page can also give you some indication how the seller addresses shipping and handling.  Many sellers will use this to explain how they operate their auctions. BEFORE BIDDING, FEEL CONFIDENT WITH THE SELLER.
4. COMPARE:  Look at this auction compared to other auctions for the same type.  Look at both the starting/current bids as well as shipping charge.  Although the shipping charge may be somewhat higher, the total cost (bid plus shipping charge) should be inline with other auctions.  If the shipping charge is way above other auctions, then you might feel that the shipping charge is excessive.  IF YOU FEEL THE SHIPPING COSTS ARE EXCESSIVE, EITHER DO NOT BID, OR BID KNOWING THAT THE SHIPPING COSTS ARE HIGH.

Purchasing Multiple Auctions from the Same Seller

When purchasing multiple auctions from the same seller, there are specific issues that you must consider.

1. There is no requirement for sellers to reduce total shipping by combining auctions.  eBay will not consider shipping on multiple items excessive if the shipping on each individual auction is reasonable.
2. For sellers that do combine shipping and reduce total charges, there is no preset rule that sellers follow.  Some sellers discount a set amount from each additional auction, some sellers charge a set amount for each addition auction, some sellers calculate total weight and charge a set handling fee.  Even if an auction states that the buyer can save on shipping when purchasing mutliple items, a buyer must check with the seller to determine the amount of total shipping (or shipping reduction).
3. When multiple auctions are purchased from the same seller, the seller may not be able to combine shipping economically.  If you purchase several items shipping first class, the combined weight may exceed the 13 ounce limit for first class and seller would have to ship either by Parcel Post, Priority or Media.  The seller still may be able to save you on shipping, if you are willing to accept a lower grade of shipping.
4. A buyer should expect handling on mutliple items purchased to be higher that if the buyer would have purchased a single item.  Typically, a seller adds handling to cover handling-related charges.  When a buyer purchases mutliple items, a seller will typically include the per-item handling (or a portion of ) in the combined shipping charge, transferring to the buyer the savings in actual shipping. When the buyer receives the package, the amount of handling will appear high.

For combined auctions, a buyer should consider (a) was the shipping per item reasonable; and (b) did the seller provide me with a reasonable amount of savings by combining shipping.  If you can answer both of these "YES", then a buyer should not consider how much handling was charged on a combined purhase, nor should they feel gouged if they notice the handling is high.

 This is part of a Guide published by the person listed at the top of this article. I felt it was a valuable Guide and that my clients may find it useful, so I included it as one of my custom pages. I hope it was helpful.