Observations of Shipping Cost Complaints

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Posted By: DJ

I need two Sony Playstation controller's for a friend of mine. You can buy them in the store for like $20-30 each (depending if they shake when a football player pounds another football player to the ground in Madden) and the prices on eBay for a pair are rather reasonable with some starting prices begin at like $5 a piece. The problem is that to have two controllers sent, it will cost you in the eyes of some, like $15 to $20 shipping for something that can easily be shipped for $6-8.

A lot of people are in the "shipping" business, not the retail business as I have seen fine print ruin a lot of happy winning bidders when they can't combine two three-by-fives and they have to pay $10 shipping where the seller paid eighty-cents. I never make money on shipping on occasions where I have sold something and I have had people complain for a dollar (cardboard costs money, padded enveloped costs money) and I explain to them in simply math where the $5 charge makes sense and even if I didn't get through to them, sent them a buck.

I also see higher shipping costs because of the January post increase and people honestly want the eBay fees and Paypal fees passed on to the consumer. I have never been undercharged for anything but I have lost money on a few occasions (ever send books overseas? geez) and no one has ever asked to pay the difference and if they did, I would pass and think that this person was okay in my book for the offer.

DJ