Shipping Debacle

Anyone else had problems with eBay listing the wrong prices for shipping services? I don't sell a lot on eBay, so when I saw that they would automatically calculate the shipping cost based on other's shipping costs for the same item, I thought they knew what they were doing. Not the case. Prices were wrong, item weights and dimensions were wrong, total nightmare. On one item, eBay charged the buyer $5 for shipping. Cost me $30. On another, buyer was charged $25 for shipping. Cost me $42. Do I have any recourse? Should I even bother calling eBay to complain?

You can try but I don't think eBay will do anything for you. When you use calculated shipping you are supposed to put in the package size and weight and what shipping methods you want to use. They then calculate based on shipping distance. It has never burned me, in fact with the shipping discounts I get they usually are charging the buyer 20-30% more for shipping then I usually pay. Sorry to hear you are having issues. 

Classic newbie mistake. You live and you learn. I've sold about 15 items on eBay and about 15,000 items on Craigslist. The other thing I learned about eBay this week is ALWAYS set a reserve, not matter how confident you are that the item will sell for top dollar. Almost had to sell a 500 scale for 99 cents. Luckily, the buyer was understanding.

I don't use reserves, I just start the auction off at the price I want.

I sell a ton of stuff (ok maybe not a ton but a lot) and often sell with shipping calculated by EBAY based on dimensions, weight and the buyers zip code. The only times I've been bitten has been my own fault, like wrong weight or didn't put in dimensions and the item is oversized. Or I did put everything in correctly but the last item I listed was free shipping and I forgot to uncheck the free shipping box so the new item gets listed as free shipping. Hate when I do that! Anyway, as long as you put in correct information you should be fine. I also put in a handling fee to help cover my materials costs. Not a huge amount, usually $2-$3 unless it's a big item or an item that will require a lot of packaging materials or a special box and then I might add $10+

The other thing I learned about eBay this week is ALWAYS set a reserve, not matter how confident you are that the item will sell for top dollar. Almost had to sell a 500 scale for 99 cents. Luckily, the buyer was understanding.

I don't use reserves either, you pay for it whether your item sells or not, plus reserves scare off bidders. If it is an expensive item that isn't hugely popular(I look at all previous recent sells), I'll have a buy it now price higher than what I want and allow offers. If it appears to be very popular(lots of bids). I will do an auction and start out a little lower than I want and hope for the best.

I don't use reserves either,

So you would put up a $10,000 car for auction without a reserve and let it go for a $100 bid?

So you would put up a $10,000 car for auction without a reserve and let it go for a $100 bid?

There is a difference between a starting bid and a reserve, I personally wouldn't sell a car on eBay, but if I did I would put the starting bid at the lowest I would take for it or do a Buy-it-Now or best offer.

You can start an auction for free at any price you want. Ebay allows you to put a reserve for a fee, so you would pay for a reserve of $100 on an item and start the bid at $.99. The theory is the low opening bid attracts more people, but then the "reserve not met" statement usually scares people from bidding. I think of my opening bid as a free reserve. Just set the opening bid to your reserve price. Someone will buy it if it is not to high.

StorageAuctionFinds: Congrats on your 100th post. I just wanted to say thank you for contributing to the forum.

StorageAuctionFinds: Congrats on your 100th post. I just wanted to say thank you for contributing to the forum.

THANKS!!