The Official EBay Discussion Thread

[Beans]

3 hours ago, Mr mopar said:

Prices and shipping are going up and I can't play any more  how sad is that .

It's gotten so that shipping doubles the purchase price.  

[redscampi]

5 minutes ago, Beans said:

It's gotten so that shipping doubles the purchase price.  

Or more. I've bought several inexpensive kits in recent months to fill in my collection (which does not need filling). it seems like there's a conspiracy that requires any kit you buy, say you win an auction for $5, to have shipping rounded up so it'll be $30 minimum. Kit costs $10? Shipping nearly twenty. Kit costs $20? Shipping is magically twenty-five. Kit costs $300? They'll still gouge you for thirty bucks. 

[Ace-Garageguy]

I've cut WAY back on buying model cars on feePay, in large part due to exorbitant shipping. But if you shop carefully and don't get in a hurry, you can still usually find deals with reasonable shipping.

The actual cost of shipping via USPS has increased recently, but nowhere near what some folks are charging. And it's not always what the auction site estimates.

I've also encountered some sellers who have voluntarily refunded part of what they considered to be "too high" shipping costs, and it's nice to know there are still people who aren't out to gouge every last nickel.

 

[Beans]

I get the feeling those selling use shipping as the guaranteed sales price then use the bidding to pay the actual shipping and any over the top profit.  

[bbowser]

I think they use inflated shipping to advertise a lowball selling price, drawing more eyeballs.

[Ace-Garageguy]

24 minutes ago, bbowser said:

I think they use inflated shipping to advertise a lowball selling price, drawing more eyeballs.

Definitely some are doing that...and they catch a lot of folks not paying attention, too.

[mk11]

4 hours ago, Bainford said:

Shipping is the killer for me. Shipping to Canada from the US is minimum $30-40 for a kit.

Not always...

2 hours ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

... if you shop carefully and don't get in a hurry, you can still usually find deals with reasonable shipping.

The actual cost of shipping via USPS has increased recently, but nowhere near what some folks are charging. And it's not always what the auction site estimates.

I've also encountered some sellers who have voluntarily refunded part of what they considered to be "too high" shipping costs, and it's nice to know there are still people who aren't out to gouge every last nickel.

 

Key here is to ask... send the seller a note asking if they'll consider shipping regular basic mail. I'm guessing too many sellers are getting lazy, allowing the site to do their thinking for them and are just following prompts that benefit the site. I've seen listings recently that show shipping at basic rate to be about fifteen US.

[slusher]

inflated shipping make many find someone more reasonable, because there more people wanting to sell!

[bobss396]

I use only "buy it now". Those bidding days are over for me. I may buy an odd kit here and there, very few as of late with shipping costs of $10 and up. I buy other modeling items all the time, just about every seller combines on shipping so I load up my cart to spread shipping over a number of items.

Shipping is rarely over $6 on a small-ish package. 2 shops out by me, a 50 mile round trip. Which equates to 2 gallons of gas, which is $6+ my valuable <cough, cough> time.

[mk11]

On 11/19/2023 at 5:59 PM, Ace-Garageguy said:

Probably a good thing I have dangity near every model I could ever want, 'cause the more they tinker with feepay, the more I'm getting to hate it.

Don't think this will improve your outlook any... now I'm hearing that the purchase price is withheld by the site until they have proof of delivery. Wow.

Won't this warm the hearts of those that have had the splendid experience of tracking their items through six or seven states before they finally arrive 

[Straightliner59]

9 hours ago, mk11 said:

Don't think this will improve your outlook any... now I'm hearing that the purchase price is withheld by the site until they have proof of delivery. Wow.

Won't this warm the hearts of those that have had the splendid experience of tracking their items through six or seven states before they finally arrive 

I recently had a purchase from the west coast track from California, through Utah, into Denver--great, just as it should have! Then, it sat for two days, before, instead of being sent to my local PO, it went to Atlanta, where it shuttled back and forth between a couple of terminals, before FINALLY being returned to Denver, and on, to me. ? Wow, folks! That's efficient!

[Pierre Rivard]

I waited years before taking the plunge into EBay land. It's a learning experience but by being patient and careful there are good opportunities out there. One thing I have noticed is that shipping from EU to Canada is usually cheaper and faster than US to Canada. Doesn't make sense...

[niteowl7710]

On 3/18/2024 at 4:49 PM, mk11 said:

Not always...

Key here is to ask... send the seller a note asking if they'll consider shipping regular basic mail. I'm guessing too many sellers are getting lazy, allowing the site to do their thinking for them and are just following prompts that benefit the site. I've seen listings recently that show shipping at basic rate to be about fifteen US.

USPS Rates are based on the distance the item travels in addition to its dimensions and weight though.  Shipping a single kit in the Zones near me on the Eastern Seaboard will cost under $7 (using wholesale rates), but that same kit will cost nearly $12 to ship into the Rockies, and nearly $14 to go the whole way to the West Coast.  Using Ground might knock $2-3 off a full-on West Coast shipment, but that's still around $11.97 for one U.S. shoebox sized model kit.  Those are the wholesale discount rates, if you walked into your local Post Office and shipped it OTC (Over the Counter) you're going to pay an additional on top, so that West Coast box will cost $18.05!

[Len Woodruff]

I have good luck selling 2 kits together. Shipping on 2 kits is usually the same as shipping 1 kit.

[Ace-Garageguy]

I'm reasonably sure feePay requires a shipping method that includes a tracking number, as there's no shortage of scum-sucking bottom-feeders who will claim they never received their purchase, and put in for a refund otherwise.

The default USPS shipping method has been "2 Day Priority" for a long time, but "Ground Advantage" is considerably cheaper, doesn't usually take much longer (though it can be considerably longer) and comes with tracking as well. More and more sellers are using it now.

AND...as Len mentioned above, if you can arrange your purchases so that you get multiple items from the same seller, you save a worthwhile amount on shipping, usually.

Of course there ARE those sellers who won't combine shipping, and then everything arrives in the same box anyway, where the seller paid less than half of what he charged...and I'll never buy from them again, and I hope the negative feedback I leave for them will dissuade others.

 

 

Edited March 26, 2024 by Ace-Garageguy

[mk11]

A check on the US PS  site revealed that base shipping of a roughly one pound box from most of the US to points north is about twenty five bucks, so I guess the rates I witnessed are anomalies. But they're out there if you look hard enough...

I can still ship a kit south to anywhere on the continent above the rio grande for less than I can send one to the eastern half of this country for.

2 hours ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

I'm reasonably sure feePay requires a shipping method that includes a tracking number,

It sure as heck will make sense to have one going forward to prove delivery if that site is going ahead with that payout plan. Of course, we could just be imagining things: what could go wrong with committing yourself to the

Swiss watch efficiency of the ps?    

[Straightliner59]

16 hours ago, Pierre Rivard said:

I waited years before taking the plunge into EBay land. It's a learning experience but by being patient and careful there are good opportunities out there. One thing I have noticed is that shipping from EU to Canada is usually cheaper and faster than US to Canada. Doesn't make sense...

I agree, about some deals to be had. If you're looking for a particular kit, "save" the search, and check it frequently! A couple of years ago, I picked up a beautiful example of a Monogram California Street Vette for quite a bit less than their going rate, because somebody posted one in the middle of the night, with a great "Buy It Now" price. I jumped on it! I just got a clean rebuilder of the same kit, just the other day, for about $40, shipped, for the same reason. Any day, now, I should have a set of four (A, B, C and D) Starrett pin vises that I got for about $45, shipped. If you're diligent, patient, and realistic, you can get some very nice deals on Ebay!

[bobss396]

I haven't sold on eBay in a while.  I used to do almost all postal money orders or cash deals. People sent me a check now and then, lol. I would have to ask my son about the new ground rules, he sells a lot on eBay. 

I get about 95% of my model stuff on eBay. I have saved sellers that offer free shipping, something to look for. Combining shipping is great, if I need 1 of something, I will buy 2 or more to spread it out.

[Mr mopar]

I don't know if this has been said before but what makes me mad is when a sell say the kit is complete and I get it and it's not at sucks !

[redscampi]

21 minutes ago, Mr mopar said:

I don't know if this has been said before but what makes me mad is when a sell say the kit is complete and I get it and it's not at sucks !

I have found many sellers to waffle on descriptions:

"I don't know if it's complete", when the instructions are right there. Just pure laziness.

"You be the judge, look at pictures to be sure what you're getting.", then posting a couple of blurry pictures of all the sprues in a mixed up pile. More laziness.

And the recent useless AI description trend just makes me want to shop elsewhere. Even more laziness. 

[Mr mopar]

1 hour ago, redscampi said:

I have found many sellers to waffle on descriptions:

"I don't know if it's complete", when the instructions are right there. Just pure laziness.

"You be the judge, look at pictures to be sure what you're getting.", then posting a couple of blurry pictures of all the sprues in a mixed up pile. More laziness.

And the recent useless AI description trend just makes me want to shop elsewhere. Even more laziness. 

Yes I agree with you on the Laziness and It don't much to look at the instruction sheet ,if I would have know this on the E Bay kit i got I would have not bought it from them .

[slusher]

I won’t buy a kit with a sellers description they don’t know if it’s complete ..

[Danno]

Seller "doesn't know if it's complete" means it is not.

[Can-Con]

About 20 years ago I got a pretty good deal on a '79 Nova kit. This was long before it was reissued. 

The box was open and there was a pic of the contents. Description said it "looks complete"  , , and it did in the pic. body, check, glass check. the rest of the parts were in there. There was a glint of chrome beneath the black plastic parts ,,check.

When I got the kit everything was just as it looked in the pic.

Except that glint of chrome wasn't the chrome tree but a piece of chrome metal doodad thrown in the box.

One complete MPC '79 Nova kit, pristine unbuilt , no paint, missing the whole chrome tree.

Oh well. complaining not worth bothering with. 

[Ace-Garageguy]

Ebay's "algorithms" and automated systems are about as stupid as it gets now. NEVER IN MY LIFE HAVE I NOT PAID FOR SOMETHING, but due to a seller apparently having problems setting up the controls on his end, my account has been suspended for "failure to pay", even though I was in constant contact with the seller while I continued to bid on sellers OTHER ITEMS.

The seller was supposed to suspend sale cancellations until I HAD BID ON EVERYTHING OVER THE COURSE OF SEVERAL DAYS AND REQUESTED A COMBINED INVOICE.

BUT...the automated system CANCELED several sales early due to "failure to pay", and put strikes against me.

Interestingly, the SELLER GAVE ME THE CANCELED ITEMS FOR FREE AS AN APOLOGY FOR MY "INCONVENIENCE" (I've spent over a grand with the guy in the last couple months) but eBay still has me suspended.

Furthermore, I WAS NOT NOTIFIED OF THE SUSPENSION AS EBAY SAYS IS THEIR AUTOMATIC POLICY, and didn't know of the suspension until I was just refused to be allowed to bid because of the suspension.

On top of that, their chatbot is a repetitive idiot that can't understand plain English, and they make you jump through hoops to talk to a live operator.

I'm sick and tired of "expert systems" that are designed by morons and can't deal with real situations, and I'm sick of fixing problems I DIDN'T CAUSE and that aren't my responsibility, yet they severely hamper my ability to do MY work.

If things I  build worked as poorly and intermittently as a lot of internet dwerbology, I wouldn't be able to get a job sweeping floors.

I have no idea what it's going to take to get this resolved...

 

Edited July 1, 2024 by Ace-Garageguy
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