Shipping prices on eBay: Seller Friend, Buyer Foe
I haven’t posted for awhile so I though I would go ahead and write about a recent discovery. I’m sure most of you have bought an item on eBay or at least browsed the auctions. You might notice that many items on eBay are cheap, almost too cheap. Then you get to the checkout and realize that the price for shipping is outrageous! With eBay and PayPal taking more and more commission from each sale, sellers have found a loophole in the process to retain their profit margins. eBay and PayPal are not allowed to take a cut from the shipping costs of items, so the money is made from the shipping costs listen in the auctions . Although it’s against eBay’s policies, it continues to happen. I know it bothers many people, but it doesn’t bother me at all. I’ll tell you why…
Let’s say you’re looking for OEM brake pads on eBay. The listed price is $.99. “What a deal!” you exclaim. Then you realize that the shipping price is $50.00. “Fifty bucks for shipping is too much, they’re trying to rip me off!” says the customer. No purchase is made and you go to the dealer where you pay $75.00 for the pads and nothing for shipping since they’re in stock, but when you go back and look at the total cost from each source, the eBay seller is still cheaper!
When I see a high shipping price I add up the total cost and take a second to determine if I would be saving money. I encourage you to do the same while shopping on eBay. In the end it’s all money, product cost or shipping cost. Lose that big buyer ego and save yourself some money!
