Excessive shipping costs on eBay?

[Tyrrlin]

Windstone collector in remission. 😉

[Tyrrlin]

There are a few items on eBay by the same seller. A few seem to have reasonable (if a shade high) shipping costs:

Wizard – http://cgi.ebay.com/WINDSTONE-PENA-WIZARD-W-SMALL-DRAGON-FIGURINE-NR_W0QQitemZ220371464130QQihZ012QQcategoryZ29800QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Hatching Pea. Dragon – http://cgi.ebay.com/WINDSTONE-PENA-BABY-DRAGON-HATCHING-FROM-EGG-NR_W0QQitemZ220371469111QQihZ012QQcategoryZ35870QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Peacock Curlie/Coiled – http://cgi.ebay.com/WINDSTONE-PENA-SMALL-COILED-DRAGON-PEACOCK-CLR-NR_W0QQitemZ220371574558QQihZ012QQcategoryZ35870QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Young Pea. Dragon – http://cgi.ebay.com/WINDSTONE-PENA-YOUTH-DRAGON-PEACOCK-CLR-88-NR_W0QQitemZ220371599447QQihZ012QQcategoryZ35870QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

However, these next items seem to me to have rather overpriced shipping charges. Am I just being picky, or is the seller pulling a fast one here? I don’t remember paying anywhere near that much on shipping for any male griffin I’ve bought, and I have a fair number.

Black Pea. Male Griffin – http://cgi.ebay.com/WINDSTONE-PENA-LARGE-GRIFFIN-PEACOCK-CLR-89-NR_W0QQitemZ220371588294QQihZ012QQcategoryZ35870QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Male Pea. Dragon – http://cgi.ebay.com/WINDSTONE-PENA-LARGE-MALE-DRAGON-PEACOCK-CLR-NR_W0QQitemZ220371595664QQihZ012QQcategoryZ35870QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Black Pea. Flapcat – http://cgi.ebay.com/WINDSTONE-PENA-BLACK-CAT-W-DRAGON-WINGS-92-NR_W0QQitemZ220371582009QQihZ012QQcategoryZ35870QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I usually have to be careful to watch shipping charges with instruments, this is the first I’ve seen with Windstones.

Windstone collector in remission. 😉

[kitsunelady]

If he ships it Priority, I’d say that’s about right, if not generous. o.o A properly double-boxed Poad costs $17 to ship Priority within the continental US. *speaks from experience* And those little fatties are only 3 lbs~

[Kristen]

Seems about right for international priority. Maybe rounded up but not by too much. :shrug:

[Mmloda]

Yeah I agree..shipping did go up to in February I think, so it all just depends how the seller ships, I know I always ship with tracking and thats a bit extra than normal too.. 🙂

Marzena

[Tyrrlin]

Hmmm… didn’t see that. I never ship Priority because it’s so expensive. Wonder why there are no other options for shipping? And if that’s the rate for international shipping, what about those who are in the same country?

*ponders* I was thinking about rescuing that griffin, but I dunno.

Windstone collector in remission. 😉

[kitsunelady]

Mebbe b/c Priority is fast, reliable, relatively safe? I always prefer Priority when offered, even over UPS (they’re slow and abusive by comparison, if you ask me). o.o;

You could always ask that seller if they’d ship it some other way though. =D

[Lokie]

It’s averaging about $30 to ship to me (I’m in the US) those Windstones. If the seller double boxes, then it will probably go into dimensional weight, and that doesn’t seem all that outrageous to me. Shipping charges, even for UPS have gone up.

I’ve seen a lot of Ebay sellers under estimate shipping; probably why they don’t care about packing properly, they have to cut into profits just to send it in a shoe box, why would they want to get bubble wrap, large boxes, pay dimensional weight fees, ect…. (not saying that’s an excuse for bad packing, just trying to get into their minds!)

[Jennifer]

Tyrrlin wrote:

Hmmm… didn’t see that. I never ship Priority because it’s so expensive. Wonder why there are no other options for shipping? And if that’s the rate for international shipping, what about those who are in the same country?

*ponders* I was thinking about rescuing that griffin, but I dunno.

I ship frequently and Priority IS very expensive, but the packages are treated more kindly it seems. Perhaps because they are in the postal system for shorter durations.

Regardless, it wouldn’t hurt to contact the seller and ask if they offer different shipping methods. The worst they can say is “no”. Ebay’s auction listing system is… sometimes confusing and they may not have other methods listed but would offer them if you asked…

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[twindragonsmum]

Tyrrlin wrote:

*ponders* I was thinking about rescuing that griffin, but I dunno.

I was thinking the same thing. The shipping does seem a bit excessive to me also…

twindragonsmum 🙂

tdm

[Maria]

The griffin would cost $50 to ship to me, which seems right.

[Jodi]

It was only about $15 for me, but I’m close to his/her location. So it seems right.

Since the Post Office changed things last May, shipping internationally can only go Priority for items over 4 pounds and a certain size. Or they can go Express or faster. But there is no more Parcel Post International for larger items.

I find Priority to be better in the long run. Items get damaged less and get to their new homes faster, which is probably why they get damaged less. I won’t send Parcel Post unless someone really insists, and they takes responsibility (they don’t blame me) for any damage the item gets. However, knock on wood, I’ve yet to have a Windstone piece damaged that I’ve shipped. I hope I don’t jinx myself now.

[Rose]

The small ones seem too expensive to me but, the large ones are about right for where I am. It would be about that if not more. So, it’s not outrageous to me.

But, here in Canada for the small parcels we have air post which costs $13 (before the price hike in January…) So anything around $27 and up for something so small surprises me. The only problem with air post is there is no insurance. I’ve had people tell me that there’s insurance but, I’ve read the small print and it doesn’t sound like there actually is.

[49ER]

yes, it is getting to the point that these excessive shipping costs are becoming an issue as to whether I will buy or not. Most of the sellers are offered a 40% discount to use UPS but they don’t use it in their calculated shipping, which in a way, I don’t blame them, because my calculated shipping used to be too low for UPS before my discount kicked in, and I had too many problems with them anyway. But I don’t understand why the sellers always want to insist on sending USPS Priority Mail, unless it is a small item that fits in one of the free boxes the Post Office supplies for them. If they say Priority Mail, I always ask them to send it regular Parcel Post, (I don’t mind waiting a couple more days to save a few bucks), and most of the time, the seller has agreed to it. If you see something REALLY excessive pertaining to shipping costs, you should call Ebay and report it, they are trying to crack down on that. 🙄

[Jasmine]

Unfortunately, Canada Post’s insurance only covers loss, not damage. Found that out reading the very fine print on the CP website. I ship everything by Priority because it gives you a tracking number, it’s a little more expensive but I prefer to know where my package is.

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