Opinion on a feedback to leave

[npa589]

I never leave negative feedback, and have only once done so on eBay. That was in a case where i was charged 6.50$ for shipping and the T206 was shipped in a white envelope with a normal stamp, wrapped in paper (the invoice). No toploader, no sleeve. I believe it was a Mordecai Brown portrait, but can't remember for sure.

I contacted the seller, and his response was "Well, you got the card didn't you."

There have been other cases where negative feedback may have been warranted, but if I was refunded promptly upon returning an item, I didn't care.

Something perturbs me though when a seller does the following:

First off, he doesn't accept PayPal, but that's a choice. It bothered me, but it's his prerogative.

I purchased 18 PSA graded pre-war cards from this seller (1500$). I was originally charged 90$ for shipping (5$ per card) in an invoice that was sent from the seller a day after. The listing clearly stated "We do combine shipping charges for multiple item purchases". I contacted him saying it was rather high, and he claimed an employee sent the wrong invoice. I suppose that could be true, but I'm inherently a cynic. The invoice was changed to reflect $20 for shipping. I was okay with it, assuming they would be sent insured, or in a medium flat rate box.

I got them today and the 18 PSA graded pre-war cards were packed into 1 Small flat rate box. If you sell, you know that this is impossible if you want the box to be contained. The box was busting at the seams and barely held together by tape. There was no bubble wrap since it couldn't have fit, and I could see the bottom left or right corners of 4 of the PSA holders.

It required no signature, nor was it insured via the USPS. So, it cost him $5.15 to ship.

I contacted him cordially and his response was essentially "Glad you got them safe!...Signed "President of" blah blah blah.

My second message was this:

The packaging was one issue, but the main one was having to pay 20$ for shipping when it in fact cost 5.15$. I also had to contact you to have it changed from 90$ shipping. If I had bought one card, my shipping would have been five dollars. I assume it would have been shipped the same way in a Priority Mail Small Flat Rate Box. I purchased 18, and they were still packed into a small flat rate box , yet I paid $20. There was no signature confirmation, and it wasn't insured.

He said this:

Well let's see,
eBay fees plus your credit card fee = $170+ dollars it cost me to sell you these cards.
Now my private insurance company ship and insure charges $1.00 per hundred of coverage up to $2,000 then discounts start to kick in. So looks like I got $20.15 in delivering you package.
No charge for my employee's time on my clock, gas going to the PO, packing tape. Etc.

Tell me who got the better end of this deal?


There were rather blatant holes in what he said that I won't waste your time with. Many of you will probably see what I'm talking about. His response also reveals what his motive for the shipping costs was.


Anyways, I'd love to get the opinion of some fellow board members.

I know what I want to do, but I usually wait a few days before making any type of emotional decision.

[Seattle799]

The point of shipping is to cover what it costs to SHIP the item. When you sell an item for X dollars, that X includes the expenses of selling an item, labor to pack it, driving to the post office, etc.

He charged $20 for shipping that cost at most $7 when you include the cost of the box and packing materials.

I would send one more message giving him the opportunity to refund $10 or so (give him one last chance to make it right).

Then, negative feedback for sure.

I think people are WAY to generous on feedback. I recently had three items where I paid for them and never received them. I filed a claim with ebay and got a refund, then left negative feedback. I looked at the sellers profile, and he had done the same for the past 10-15 sales, yet several people left neutral feedback. You paid for an item, didn't receive it, and left NEUTRAL feedback?!?!?! (end rant)

[thecatspajamas]

I think you did the right thing by contacting the guy about the issue first, and then went above and beyond what most buyers would have done by sending a second thoughtful message. The "cost" to ship, and where that is accounted for in the selling price, is a debatable issue, but cramming $1500 of any product into a box such that portions of the contents are visible upon arrival without opening the box is inexcusable.

If it were me, I wouldn't have even brought up the cost of the shipping once it was reduced to $20. Whether you believe him or not, he does have a point about the insurance cost. The real issue to my mind is his packing, and it doesn't sound like he made any apologies for that.

It looks to me like you have 18 opportunities to explain to all of his buyers exactly what kind of care they can expect him to take in packing their purchases. That's one of the up sides of being abused on multiple purchases: you have more available characters to tell the whole story. I would never condone slamming a seller with multiple negatives without contacting them first, but if the guy's an unrepentent douche bag, he's got it coming. Just be honest and straightforward in your feedback comments and don't use abusive language, lest he should make a case to eBay for having your feedback removed.

[npa589]

Thanks for the opinions you guys. I think I may be lenient with regard to feedback, especially considering my only neutral/negative feedback were 2 Neutral feedback left by the same buyer. I sent 2 T206s to Canada in a padded envelope, with 2 thick cardboard pieces to hold the cards, and the toploader was taped just in case. I charged 3.30$ shipping, and it cost me 5$. That wasn't the issue though. The issue was that each card did not have it's own toploader. I put them each in their own sleeve, and then placed both in one toploader. I wasn't contacted beforehand about this crazy preference, nor after he received them.


Lance: I do understand about the insurance cost (when actually obtaining a policy), but my response to him regarding that was he was implying that this was a per item cost. If he has chosen an insurance policy that charges him those rates for each individual item , well, that might not be very smart, and it's about the worst insurance policy I've ever heard of.

To make sure I wasn't wrong on this, I just checked and subsequently discovered it was a blatant lie.

https://www.shipandinsure.com/rates_calculator.aspx

[glchen]

I would neg the seller and ding all DSRs.

[sbfinley]

I'm assuming that these were BIN's. If that was the case he should have factored his labor and private insurance into the cost of his merchandise and reflect that is his price, not his shipping. I would neutral feedback and ding every one of his stars while making a clear point in the text about his horrible packing.

[npa589]

If they were BINs, I definitely would agree with your point. They were all auctions, which provides even more incentive for him to realize he should adjust the shipping to accommodate the possible increase in $ I gave him by winning the auctions he listed.

[D. Bergin]

There are lots of shipping Insurance options out there now that don't reflect on the label that can factor into the shipping cost. It can cost $15+ bucks to Insure $1500. ShipInsure through Stamps.com or Ebay can sometimes cost more then the Post Office rate.

Sounds like he did a crappy job packing the box up though, and there's really no excuse for that. He should have paid the few extra bucks it might have cost to pack the cards more securely. If he was worried about the cost he could have sent you an invoice for $25 bucks to cover the extra cost, instead 20 bucks.

I have no idea how he could fit 18 graded cards into a small flat rate box. That's crazy. You're not supposed to break the seams on flat rate boxes and envelopes without getting bumped up to straight package Priority rates.

I'm also surprised he didn't use Signature Confirmation. That's asking for trouble with Paypal on a transaction of that amount, unless his private insurance doesn't require it for some reason.