Beware of Ebay sellers!

I mentioned in another post that I won a Pelican M7 Rechargable light on Ebay. I got it for $18. In my Grainger catalog it's nearly $60.

The guy wants $8 shipping and handling. I expressed concern about why so much. No answer.

I asked how it will be shipped. He answers UPS Ground. I'll send you a tracking number.

UPS GROUND for 8 bucks!!!

Is it just me or is that kinda steep? I believe I could send something USPS Priority for around half that!

Joe,
my experiences with UPS as of late has been they have gotten pretty expensive and a lot of people are adding packaging costs as well, so $8.00 for shipping and handling is probably not out of line. Your post title is sounded like you were ripped off which may be a bit strong.

I did some checking and my previous high for shipping was for a BIG old fishing reel.

Two 9 foot fishing rods (two piece) didn't even cost that much.

I almost will NOT use UPS for anything, although most of the parts my company gets are sent by them.

Some people add a few bucks to the S&H to help cover the ebay fee as well. (and not to mention, some people really make a profit out from the S&H /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif)

if he didn't list the S&H price in the auction then you should have asked before you bid. your fault, not the sellers. let the buyer beware.

I have to agree.
I always check shipping before bidding.
And what's with USPS being the most expensive?
I mean in actual shipping price....

$8 is probably what UPS charged. I ship packages with them all the time (several weekly) and I think the cheapest one ever was $7 something. That also includes the cost of packaging, time to package it up, gas to get to UPS, ect.

$8 sounds fairly reasonable. He could probably have shipped it via USPS Priority for about the same (I don't know how much the light & charger would weigh).

FedEx Ground is fairly reasonable compared to USPS, especially once you cross 5-6 pounds.

Sam

I have a different philosophy when buying on eBay. I always figure what the gross price (item & shipping) will cost regardless of what the seller charges. I've paid $10 shipping for a $10 item because the item was priced well.

If the shipping is not listed, you have to ask the seller what he/she is going to charge. If you don't like the answer, don't bid.

Marty

$8 is fairly reasonable, I use USPS Priority mail because they provide everything from the packages to the tape to seal it. I had a thread a few months back on how a ebay seller was charging $1 dollar for an item, then charging $25 dollar shipping! Now that is outragous, he saves a lot of money on ebay listing and final value fees by listing it at $1.

I haven't been screwed on ebay yet, and I've bought some heavy s**t from there. Best deal on shipping was probably $9 for a JVC RC-550 ghetto blaster that probably weighs as much as a man's bowling ball (16lbs, give or take). It was shipped Federal Express ground. And I got a couple of free pillows for the couch with the JVC - they were used in leiu of packing material in that box. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

I've made around 120 Ebay transactions, and all were good ones, including at least several flashlights. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I'd take to that Pelican M7 like flies to a pile of {vulgar term for feces} if I were you. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

$8.00 for UPS is about average.

--dan

UPS has a higher rate for delivery to Residential addresses to CYA incase they leave it with no sig and something happens to it. They have to eat it.

In bygone days it was not uncommon for unscrupulous camera stores to charge $20 or more for S&H. Then we started to complain. Now they charge $5 for shipping and $10-15 for packaging (seesh!). Note I said the unscrupulous ones.

Eight bucks does not seem all that high in respect. Find box, package, tape, take to UPS store, etc. That is about my upper limit for small items though.

Some Ebayer's charge actual shipping, some use an intermediate rate to cover the averages.

Besides UPS has to charge more to compensate for all the breakage they have to make good on.

I'm with MW, always check the shipping charges before you bid. You could end up with a fee like the one shown here a few months ago for garage door openers. Always figure the gross price.