Ebay ... Things that make you go Hmmm ...


Horn Hooked on Tyco

Horn Hooked on Tyco

New Member
There are many things that bug me about eBay ... but like the things that bug me about Walmart and Amazon ... sometimes it's my resource of last resort. It's the postings of items that are Or Best Offer. I've run into this so many times. You have a seller that has a Buy It price (not Bid) and has indicated Or Best Offer on something you really want and isn't available anywhere else. Say it's $100. Even in their description the seller puts in bold MAKE ME YOUR BEST OFFER. And usually these are where Buyer pays shipping regardless. So you submit a respectable offer for $85 based on what people paid for the same item/condition in the past. Offer expires. So you submit a new offer of $90. Offer expires again. You try one more time just to see what happens, $95. Offer expires. You end up paying the $100 + shipping. If a seller isn't going to do OBO ... why even offer or state that in the first place. Just set a Buy It price and be done with it. I encountered this on an HO Lionel Circus Car in Box (not $100 LOL) with a good shell that needed couplers and a brake wheel. The description was full of Give Me Your Best Offer, No Good Offer Refused, We Love Offers, etc etc text. After submitting a $4 and $2 under the asking price offer ... all expired ... I submitted an OBO for the asking price + 1 cent and amazingly (insert sarcasm here) ... THAT expired. LOL I ended up buying another one through regular bidding that didn't need repair ... this world nowadays is confusing to me. LOL
 
I completely disregard the "offer" part. I missed out on better deals while playing the offer game. If it's something that I have the budget for but lost out on bids, then I buy it now. But I've also bid and won on items that were less money than buy it now.
 
Horn Hooked on Tyco said:
There are many things that bug me about eBay ... but like the things that bug me about Walmart and Amazon ... sometimes it's my resource of last resort. It's the postings of items that are Or Best Offer. I've run into this so many times. You have a seller that has a Buy It price (not Bid) and has indicated Or Best Offer on something you really want and isn't available anywhere else. Say it's $100. Even in their description the seller puts in bold MAKE ME YOUR BEST OFFER. And usually these are where Buyer pays shipping regardless. So you submit a respectable offer for $85 based on what people paid for the same item/condition in the past. Offer expires. So you submit a new offer of $90. Offer expires again. You try one more time just to see what happens, $95. Offer expires. You end up paying the $100 + shipping. If a seller isn't going to do OBO ... why even offer or state that in the first place. Just set a Buy It price and be done with it. I encountered this on an HO Lionel Circus Car in Box (not $100 LOL) with a good shell that needed couplers and a brake wheel. The description was full of Give Me Your Best Offer, No Good Offer Refused, We Love Offers, etc etc text. After submitting a $4 and $2 under the asking price offer ... all expired ... I submitted an OBO for the asking price + 1 cent and amazingly (insert sarcasm here) ... THAT expired. LOL I ended up buying another one through regular bidding that didn't need repair or... this world nowadays is confusing to me. LOL
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Thing is, anyone can sell on these auction sites, doesn't mean they know what their doing tho'.
Had one trying to sell a SD40, reasonable price, problem I had was that I wanted a SD40, not a E7/8, which is what was being sold.
 
D&J RailRoad said:
When folks are selling the estate of their late uncle, they usually have no idea what most of the stuff really is.
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I have a list already made out on my computer, and there is a copy in every storage box that has Loco's/Rolling stock in it, what it is,(SD40-2 HO scale, DC/DCC, decoder type, Loco address etc) as well as when it was bought, and the price paid.
Done that for nearly everything Freight wagons, coaches, except the buildings and track.
 
Horn Hooked on Tyco said:
Buyer pays shipping regardless.
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That is my major beef with the e-bay boys...shipping charges.
Having no local hobby shop, the internet for train stuff is my friend. So over time, one can get a pretty good feel for what it costs for shipping.
I recently inquired about the shipping charge on a box of ten flex track pieces that was priced at $82 & change. The shipping note said $87 & some change.
Here is my question:
Is that correct, $87 and some change for shipping one box of ten flex track pieces?
Thanks for your time, Jerry​



Their reply:
As checked, the price listed for this item is US $82.29.

We recently implemented a new shipping program to more accurately reflect shipping rates based on dimensional weight. Dimensional weights are used by carriers to assign a weight that takes into consideration the volume of the packaging along with the actual weight thus capturing the real cost of shipment for an item. The dimensional weights are not affected by the weight of the package itself, but by the volume of the packaging required for shipment. We make the utmost effort to ensure customer's items are packaged to prevent damage during shipment, and this may, in some cases, add additional dimensional weight. As we work through this process to fine-tune the cost of shipping, some of the items' shipping rates may appear excessively high.

Unfortunately, we are unable to change the shipping rates before an order is placed. If you feel that the cost is too high, please send us an email after your order ships. We will review the actual shipping rates, and process any necessary adjustments for shipping. Also, we do build in some costs to cover our packaging and internal handling. If you need further assistance, please let us know.

I would throw a WTF in here but I'll drop it to a OMG!
Then I received this message:

{I am guessing you plan to have this ship outside US since you are seeing that amount of shipping.

We participate in eBay's Global Shipping Program and it's the only way we ship outside US. When viewing our auctions and fixed price items from outside the USA, you will see a note that eBay's Global Shipping Program will be used.

During Checkout, eBay will calculate all the shipping charges, duties, and other fees for you. Here is a link with more information on eBay's Global Shipping Program:}

My reply,
​
​
Well, actually, no, shipping to Oregon. All I see is $87.+ for shipping, that is why I contacted you in the first place.
So, how much for the box of track & how much to ship it to 97603?​


They said,
The cost of the track would be $79.73 and I have attached a screenshot of what eBay estimates the shipping would be.
1651231223278.png


The prices are coming down! This is Shinohara track I'm dealing with here. Now I would expect to pay upwards of $10.00 a piece for the track & something around the $15.00, maybe $20.00 for shipping. That's $120.00 total, there is other track out there, which is what I did, picked up some peco track.
So my question is, don't the shipping outfits weigh the item, and using the zip codes, from & to destination, determine the charges?
Seems like e-bay just lets sellers charge what ever they want. I guess hoping somebody out there will pay it, no questions asked.
 
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When I was selling stuff I always put in 'Actual shipping' and that was what eBay calc'd. Only got screwed once AND it was my fault as I put in the incorrect weight. Still shipped even though I lost money on the item.
What really gets me is some eBayr's set a price on some items that is reasonable, then set shipping to some ridiculous amount. Have seen them sold so somebody either had to have it, or more money than gray matter. I just skip those by now.
 
Not just ebay on shipping. I use Shopgoodwill for some of my purchases and find that including shipping I am looking at prices 4X what I can get them for at flea markets and train shows. Blue box kits in the $30 range after shipping. I think I paid $5-6 for many of the kits I bought at the last train show. In some instances after shipping I can get find building kits new bought and shipped cheaper. Shipping prices seem higher coming east than going west.
 
Just looked on Ebay for a intermountain NP 3 Bay hopper, £16.80, the postage however is £58.55, mmmmmm think I'll pass, thank you.
 
The global shipping program is poison.
An item shipped from two hours away in North Dakota has to pass thru Chicago on its way to the hub in Kentucky so that it can pass thru Denver to get back to North Dakota to get up to Manitoba.
Yes I tracked it, so much for going green.
 
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