Okay, here we go . . . .
First off Eddy if you paid for insurance and they didn't insure it I'd sound off. That is just wrong.
I just finished up a whole butt-load of auctions. How many of you actually have sold anything on eBay? Believe me, between getting half decent pics, getting them on your comp, sizing them, putting together an auction that doesn't look like it was built by some 2nd grader, checking your email every five minutes so some hoser doesn't drop you a neg because you "never answering emails," (One member I know of got a neg because he didn't answer email over Memorial Day weekend,) and all the running around printing labels, shipping stuff off as soon as possible, investing in correct packaging and packing material (not to mention finding the appropriate materials without getting ripped off,) it is a LOT OF WORK.
Because I did a large chunk of auctions of various items, ranging from RC stuff to CD's, I was able to gauge how much time was actually being put into this stuff. To put together a decent auction, answer stupid questions, get it packaged up and sent off, I spend an average of 1.5 hours per item and $2 for materials. This is an AVERAGE. With a little shipping and handling charge - on the average $3.00, on larger items as much as $5.00 - I worked for right around $2 per hour. And still people whined about shipping.
I'm sure that most people don't see anyone else's time as valuable. You go to work, you expect to get an hourly wage. But no, someone auctioning poop off on ebay shouldn't get just compensation for their time, they should just give it to you for free, right?
I do agree this is often taken too far. $35 shipping on an item under 6 ounces is just plain stupid. $7.99 on a $2.99 item? Not so stupid. If you ship ONLY UPS, the smallest item you can sent is $7.50.
All of this is irrelevant if the shipping prices and policies are clearly posted in the auction. It is YOUR choice to bid on that in full awareness of the shipping charges.
On all of my auctions - I stated clearly that I wil not be held responsible if you don't take up the optional insurance. And you know what? NO ONE DID. Not a single one. Nearly all of them went for the cheapest shipping too - and would likely be the first to drop a neg, "slow shipping."
Not to mention that many of you forget it costs money to post the auction, when it closes eBay takes a chunk, then payPal takes a chunk.
That all being said, when I actually get to the post office, most of these auctions I shipped priority mail, even though not one of them paid for it. On the big-dollar items, I shook my head and spring for insurance anyway, cheap b*****s, a lousy three bucks would insure your $200 at the mercy of the USPS gorillas. How can someone lay down $200 and not want to insure the shipment?
Nine times out of ten, I am lucky to break even on shipping alone, profit hell - eBay is a running loss most of the time.
Am I REALLY getting overcharged? Simple. Go to USPS.com, click Calculate postage, enter your zip and the zip of the seller, or for argument's sake, the farthest zip code from you, and an honest guess at the weight of the item. Don't cheat because you're feeling cheap. Subtract the difference from the eBay shipping, there's your "inflated charge." I don't have a single problem paying between $2-$7 handling, depending on the item, because I know what goes into getting this stuff up for auction.
So now you know the other side of the story. Again, many of these hosers take this to extreme, but most don't. If someone's making $4 or $5 off you on shipping, it's not a rip off - it's the cost of doing business, and you can be pretty sure that most of the time they are not profiting from it.
