The first thing you need to do is to determine if what you paid for shipping actually jives with what it cost to ship your order. Some sellers don't make this easy by making use of what is called "stealth" shipping. You can see this for yourself at endicia.com where on their homepage they state under the box heading: Shipping "Protect Profits With Stealth Postage." The translation of this is: "Rip off your customers on shipping without them even knowing about it." With this trick, the actual amount of what it cost for the seller to ship your order is not shown on the carton shipping label. But you can still figure out if you've been ripped off and by how much. I have set up this page to help you to do just that. When you buy from me, the amount it cost me to ship your order is clearly shown on the shipping carton so there will never be any doubt.

The easiest way to determine the shipping cost would be to take your package that your order has arrived in unopened and completely intact as you just received it back to the shipped who delivered it. Ask them what it would cost for you to ship the package to the sellers address from your address. Even if it is a drop ship carton shipped by a third party and not the actual seller you bought it from, the shipping cost you were charged should still be the same, or awfully darn close. An honest seller would only charge you what the drop shipper charged him for shipping.

This can be pretty inconvenient to take the unopened carton back to the shipper plus most likely you were more concerned with tearing into the package and getting out the goodies you just received. It's only human nature. But you can still figure up what the shipping cost should have been by yourself. Put everything back in the box including all the packing materials, packaging, and manuals and such and then weigh the package. You can use a bathroom scales and just round up a pound to give the benefit of the doubt to the seller. If you have a postal scale or some other more accurate scales for determining the actual weight of the package, that would be even better still. If using your bathroom scales, weigh yourself holding the package and add 1 pound. Then weigh yourself not holding the package and subtract 1 pound. The adding and subtracting the 1 pound each takes care of any fractions of a pound that a bathroom scale will not show. Now the difference between these two weights will be the weight of the carton. It's more accurate to figure the carton weight this way since weighing just the package by itself on a bathroom scales isn't very accurate because they aren't that good for figuring smaller weights. Remember: You want to be as exact as possible when determining the weight of the package.

Next, you want to go to the shippers website. Most shippers have on their website where you can determine shipping costs for yourself. Simply put in the information that it asks for (your zipcode, the zipcode it was shipped from, the weight of the package, and sometimes the size of the carton (length, height, depth, and sometimes girth). Sometimes this will already be shown on the shipping label and you can use them. If not, you can measure the carton dimensions with a ruler or a measuring tape. You always want to round up to the next inch. For example: If the box is 9-1/4 inches wide, then you would put in 10. Then click "continue" or "next" and keep putting in any more information that it asks for. If you paid for insurance or overnight shipping, be sure to select those options as well to determine your true shipping cost. The online website shipping calculators are almost always 100% accurate too. This is the shipping company's business and its' their bread and butter, so they have to be as accurate as possible because if they aren't and you get a sticker shock when you actually go to ship it, you probablay won't use their service again. To put it another way, in the 10 some years I have been shipping with the post office, their shipping calculator has never been wrong--ever!

The zipcode of where the package was shipped from should be on the shipping label in the return address. You'd want to use that. If by chance it isn't, you can determine the zipcode by putting in the city and state by CLICKING HERE

If you would like to know what it would have cost for me to ship your order to you, then you can use my zipcode of 44624.

Ok, so you determined that you have been overcharged on shipping. In my opinion as a seller, if you were intentionally charged more than $2.00 more for shipping than for what it actually cost to ship your order, then you've been screwed! You can buy a large 16 inch square shipping carton for about $2.00. If you are a volume seller, you buy shipping cartons in bulk to get the cheapest per carton price. A low volume seller may buy their cartons from the post office or a business supply store such as Staples where it may actually cost more than $2.00 per box. As a seller, my "handling charges" and other business expenses are figured into the price of the products that I sell. I don't charge for it in the shipping. Some sellers complain that the handling charge they charge is to cover supplies and expenses. Honestly, boxes, packaging, and labels do not really cost that much. For me, the cartons don't cost anything as they are supplied for FREE by the post office when using Priority Mail, Priority Mail International, or Priority Flat Rate Mail. That is one of the reasons why Priority Mail is my main choice for shipping. Printer paper for labels and toner are less than 5 cents per shipped carton--in other words nothing! So if a shipper claims otherwise, either they are running an inefficient operation or they are just giving you a load of bull to justify in their own mind that it's ok to rip off their customers under the guise of "handling charges."

Also, you need to be aware that many shippers who print their labels online or as a Powerseller may get a reduced rate that is lower than what the shipping calculator on the shippers website may show. It's generally only a dollar or two, but it is something for you to keep in mind.

To avoid being gouged on shipping, simply do not buy from sellers who do not charge actual combined shipping costs. You can determine this somewhat by viewing their detailed feedback under the title "Shipping and Handling Charges." Even this isn't the most accurate since most times customers who've been screwed on shipping don't leave feedback. So the detailed feedback rating isn't really a truly accurate representation. If it's down in the 4.6 or below, then there is a problem with that seller continuously overcharging on shipping. In my case, I do charge actual shipping and can't seem to get any higher than 4.8. Two tenths of a percent may not seem like that much, but it actually is. Any seller whose rating drops to 4.4 or less can't list any items on eBay for sale for 30 days.

If the seller sent you a combined invoice, then they actually figured up what the shipping will be for your order so it's on them. Don't believe any story that eBay or checkout messed up. If by the slight chance it was a eBay checkout error, the seller would have no problem with refunding your overpayment. An error like that can happen, but not all the time on a continuos basis. Contact the seller and tell them that you determined what you paid for shipping and what it actually cost to ship your order do not match and request that they make it right. If they will not refund your shipping overcharge from the invoice they sent you, it's on the seller and you should leave the appropriate feedback for the items you bought from them. Be honest and true with your feedback too. Be aware that sellers cannot leave retaliatory feedback if you leave a negative or less than positive words for them. So be honest. As long as you are true, accurate, and don't use profane language, the seller or eBay can't do anything to you or your account. Now, if you didn't wait for a combined invoice from the seller and paid anyways, then it's your fault if you were overcharged. A seller can't be held responsible for figuring actual shipping charges if you didn't wait for a combined invoice first.

When leaving feedback, be sure to fill out detailed seller feedback. You must leave at least a one or more star. Leave the level that you feel that is appropriate. You could even put in the feedback message the amount the seller charged you for shipping and what it actually cost for shipping. If you were over charged $50.00 on shipping, put that in their feedback and be sure to leave a low detailed seller rating for "Shipping and Handling Charges." If you don't leave anything by leaving it blank it will not count as anything and will not affect the seller in any way. If you leave a low score (one or two stars), that will be averaged into the total score and will eventually make a difference. If you feel they deserve a negative, then leave it. Neutrals don't really count for anything. That is the only way that sellers who rip off their customers on shipping are going to be made to stop. EBay is not going to stop it. It's not really in their interest to. But they have put in place the new changes to feedback to empower customers to speak their mind without worrying about the seller leaving a negative in return. The only way it will stop is if you the customer says "ENOUGH!" You the customer can put an end to seller shipping ripoffs--you really can. The clearest way to send this message is to not buy from those sellers. But if you must, then leave the appropriate feedback.

If a seller uses multiple eBay stores under different eBay ID's, they can really rip you off on shipping and handling charges multiple times and you wouldn't even know it. One seller in particular has at least 5 stores that I am aware of all selling the same X10 products. He uses different shipping and handling charges and different prices to give the illusion that they are all different stores competing with each other. If you buy several different items from several of his stores, you will be charged a seperate shipping and handling cost for each order from each of his stores. So the total amount you are screwed on shipping could be incredible--and you wouldn't even know about it! The stores I am referring to are all from a seller in Texas. His store names are The-Home-Automation-Store, X10-Express, X10-WAREHOUSE, x10-home-automation-shipped-free, and X10-Automation. They are all one in the same. You can verify this by viewing the source code of the items descriptions, pictures, Flash Player inserts, links, etc. and in the items description where it states his seller location and sales tax. You can also verify some of his stores are the same seller by looking at his past and present eBay user ID's.

Since his standard business model is to overcharge on shipping, if you bought from more than one of his stores, you would most likely be gouged on shipping two or more times and you wouldn't even know it. Now you do!

If you knowingly buy from sellers who use questionable selling tactics like this, you really have no one to blame but yourself since you now have the facts.