Ebay Shipping Costs from Canadian Dealers with Canada

[altcar73]

Originally Posted by rhodesianmilitaria

Call me lucky but in 12 years of selling on ebay (US $44,279 in sales to date) I have had one item that I sent that I was told wasn't received and some of the countries I have sent to included the US, Canada, South Africa and Russia.


From one of my ebay listings. This is for any item that in an envelope is no higher than 5mm (Australia Post standard) ie, patches.
Postage for this item worldwide is AUD$2.80 except
Postage to Asia is AUD$1.95


Also from one of my ebay listings. This is once again for anything that is within the 5mm height.
Postage for this item within Australia is free.
I pay the .70c postage.

This is not a criticism of you Dave but this is the way I do it and I haven't had many problems. In fact a forum member received a patch from me just last week that cost him AUD$2.80 in postage. Actual postage was $2.75 and I take .05c for the cost of the envelope, letter etc.

Some of us don't take a profit on the postage. See the screenshot of where last week I refunded AUD$16.15 to a buyer who had overpaid the postage.
Attachment 131303

Better than this seller in England who charges GBP 18.60 (approx. AU $39.93) to send a beret to Australia or two cloth patches for GBP 14.50 (approx. AU $31.13) when last week I sent 9 metres of medal ribbon to the UK by airmail postage with tracking for AU$21.10 (GBP 9.75).

Rhodesia Special Forces Selous Scouts Beret with Metal Badge
Bosnian Volunteers and Bosnian Croats Cloth Patches

All valid and acceptable comments. I don't have a problem with anything you've said, it is, as you say, the way you do it. But, you take a risk and if the mail people loose a reasonably valuable item or your buyer is dishonest and tells you it has not arrived then you could be seriously out of pocket. Its your decision and you take the hit when it goes wrong. eBay will not support your methods and will take your cash and give it to the buyer to compensate him. As an aside, you are not alone in refunding overpaid postage, I do it, as I know other forum members do also.

Dave.

[Tanker Mike]

I recently bought some badges from a fellow in the UK, he stated that he did not know about the Global Shipping charge, and that ebay would not let him combine the shipping rates for the badges.

He cancelled the auction, then sent me a separate paypal invoice for the badges, I saved about $40.00 in shipping.

[GregN]

Well it's gratifying to see that I'm not the only one miffed at these charges. I'm of the thought that in my case, the issue is with the employee who doesn't know me and could care less about the buyer/seller relationship I've had with the dealer over the years. He's not paid to think any farther that processing the transaction and I doubt the dealer is even aware that I'm miffed.

I recently bought a book on eBay and was charged a reasonable sum which I accepted because the acquisition cost was so low (I was the only bidder and the starting bid was low). It was gratifying to see a almost automatic refund of 7.00 US to reflect the actual mailing cost not a fee invented by eBay. The seller obviously had much common sense and I'll make sure his feedback reflects this.

Greg

[Bill A]

Ebay shipping and dealer shipping are two completely different issues. Ebay is such a giant bureaucracy that it is almost impossible to get them to listen to complaints. On the other hand most dealers of militaria are small businesses or "hobby" businesses and need to be very aware of their clients. The collectors market is not that extensive in Canada and dealer reputation is important. Perhaps it should be passed on to the owner in some way. It is a bit annoying that some dealers add a percentage to their shipping costs.
A month or so ago I purchased a couple of inexpensive badges off ebay and the vendor ambushed me with shipping on each lot. They would not combine shipping. That is a greedy practice. The badges ended up being a reasonable price, but the practice was actually profit driven.

[Phil2M]

I recently had two orders, one in uk, one in australia. Both had two seperate lots that postage should have been combined for. The invoice showed reduced postage, however, clicking paypal link to pay and combined postage disappeared. Tried several times with no luck. In the end I paid the high postage to UK seller and he sent a cash refund. The Australian one, seemed to sort itself out after a message to ebay.

[zob]

While on the subject of postal pain, I bought a badge from Canada last year that cost me £63.00 with an added £24.00 postage OucccccCH! – There was no mention on their site prior to the auction that they would be openly seeking retribution for “The Plains of Abraham”. However, I bit my tongue and paid up straight away only to find that when the badge finally arrived that I’d also been hit by Customs and Royal Mail (handling charge) for a further £15.00 making my final outlay a grand total of £102.00. Needless, to say that whole experience left me feeling rather numb.

Zob.

[John L]

Originally Posted by RCN

I am in agreement with Bill. Postage costs are a problem for collectors & vendors in Canada - our postal rates seem to go up each year, usually early in the year or in the spring. Sending a cloth badge or cap ribbon via letter post is still an option(I have send both via letter post), but legally only paper can be sent via letter post.
Parcel post no longer exists, it is now X-Pedited Post, but at least X-Pedited Post is Tracked, which when sending to some countries is the only option will entertain. Signature is optional but of course with an additional charge.

I have found even to send a small package say to USA (in a jet pack) I am looking at a minimum of C$8 post, if to UK or Europe more like a minimum of C$15. I seldom send to AU or NZ but again the cost from Canada can be very high.

Now, I will tell you what really ticks me off is ebay's ABSOLUTELY ILLEGAL IMPORT charges!!!! I don't buy from any vendor that charges these illegal charges, only Canada Customs has the legal authority to levy Import charges & this is done when the item(s) arrive at Canadian Customs, & we get hit when we pick up the parcel at the postal outlet. & the other annoying non option is the ebay GLOBAL SHIPPING Program, another ebay rip off! I don't purchase from vendors that claim FREE SHIPPING then in next sentence say they participate in this ebay rip off - the post is way more in this 3rd party program, with of course ebay taking a big cut of the total cost! & of course when it arrives at my end I have no way of determining what the actual post cost was - ie: how much I have been overcharged!!!

If I don't like the quoted post charge I write the vendor & ask, depending upon his/her response depends upon if I will bid or not. Some don't even have the courtesy to respond!

& if I have offended anyone - I apologize in advance, but this post crap really ticks me off !!!!!!!!!!!!!

RCN Bryan

I am with Bryan, I won't buy from them either.

John

[slick_mick]

I once left a seller negative feedback after being ripped off by the Global Shipping Program.

Told him it was not an acceptable postage option. I hope he passed that feedback onto eBay.

Mick

[leigh kitchen]

Originally Posted by Phil2M

I recently had two orders, one in uk, one in australia. Both had two seperate lots that postage should have been combined for. The invoice showed reduced postage, however, clicking paypal link to pay and combined postage disappeared. Tried several times with no luck. In the end I paid the high postage to UK seller and he sent a cash refund. The Australian one, seemed to sort itself out after a message to ebay.

I've found that combined postage on ebay works on desk tops etc but not on phones, I get a message from eBay telling me that combined isn't possible.

[Bill A]

I was given the understanding that the GSP customs charges are collected by Pit-Bow under an arrangement with Can Customs. It is not illegal if they have contracted it. (Can Customs benefits significantly from such a deal, as they generate a revenue stream without having to commit any resources. It is collected by a third party, and on a lot of goods that Can Cust would never be able to post duties.) Please correct me if I have misunderstood this.

[muskey]

Originally Posted by GregN

Is it just me that getting tired of paying the gargantuan CDA Post fees in US dollars and the item in US dollars all while being taken advantage of by the dealer and CDA Post?

I know more than 1 dealer that has their prices in US dollars. And the part that bothers me as well is that they charge you the tax up top of it. Sometimes the taxes are not even mentioned in their ad either, you only find out when you get the invoice. I know of another dealer in New Brunswick, and every thing on his website is listed in US dollars. My thought is that if you are running a business here in Canada, and charging taxes, then your prices should be in Cdn dollars.

Now about the shipping costs on Ebay. I was looking at a cap badge, the other day starting bid $2.36 not bad, the shipping cost $32.73, and that is not through that global shipping program either. And when I looked at his other items, the shipping cost range from free shipping up to the $32.73, and everything in between. I sent him a message asking why the shipping is so high on this cap badge, but he hasn't replied yet.There is just no rhyme or reason, to the shipping costs on Ebay.
I think that is why I'm getting away from Ebay, and finding other sites to feed my addiction.
Len

[Bill A]

All the more reasons to support local/regional shows. There are advantages to ebay and other online selling, but supporting shows is a great way to collect, meet people with similar interests, and learn about the hobby.

[muskey]

Originally Posted by Bill A

All the more reasons to support local/regional shows. There are advantages to ebay and other online selling, but supporting shows is a great way to collect, meet people with similar interests, and learn about the hobby.

I agree with you Bill, I have been planning to get to the CSMMI show in Burlington, for awhile now, but something either all ways comes up that weekend or I just don't have the cash.

Len

[Young Law]

My most recent eBay pick up was a steal, in fact the shipping charges ($15 USD) cost more than the item due to eBay's automatic calculations. I will admit I was pleasantly surprised when the seller refunded me $9USD. At least there are still some sellers out there who are honest.

[RCN]

Originally Posted by zob

While on the subject of postal pain, I bought a badge from Canada last year that cost me £63.00 with an added £24.00 postage OucccccCH! – There was no mention on their site prior to the auction that they would be openly seeking retribution for “The Plains of Abraham”. However, I bit my tongue and paid up straight away only to find that when the badge finally arrived that I’d also been hit by Customs and Royal Mail (handling charge) for a further £15.00 making my final outlay a grand total of £102.00. Needless, to say that whole experience left me feeling rather numb.

Zob.

Agree Zob, that would really tick me off, but I think I would have cancelled the transaction with a post charge that excessive! That charge is just gouging & inviting negative feedback from a purchaser!

RCN Bryan