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How many of us have been looking through the listings and spotted a fabulous, genuine ANTIQUE item that is made of SOLID SILVER, or SOLID BRONZE, going for the mere pittance of around $4.00? How many of us have jumped in and bid, hoping to capture that awesome prize? I know I have!
And how many of us have ended up in a last minute bidding war with another eager buyer hoping to snare that same prize? I certainly have! And I won! WOW!
And then the invoice arrived via e-mail, and I nearly swallowed my tongue! I had won this stunning genuine Chinese antique silver statue for just a little under $10.00...PLUS roughly $230 shipping and handling!
GULP!
I instantly e-mailed eBay, asking how on earth they could let sellers gouge on SH like that. I got the simple reply "eBay does not have any control over what sellers put in their item descriptions, and so on...caveat emptor." Well, after getting dunned by the seller to pay up or get a neg feedback, I did the smartest thing I could think up. I sent the seller the $8.00 and told him to keep the item. The seller threatened me with negative feedback for not sending the extra $230 so that they could send me the item. Makes you wonder how many others end up doing exactly the same thing to avoid paying through the nose for excessive, extortive S&H fees. We all know that it doesn't cost $230 bucks to ship a two-pound package from China to the USA. It costs roughly $16.00. So this dude was still making excellent profit on that cheap item!
Of course, once eBay caught onto the
fact that these sellers were selling some fairly expensive, nicer items
at dirt cheap starting prices, and were actually making hundreds of
bucks on each sale that eBay was not getting their fair share of in
eBay final value fees, eBay started to add a feedback line at the
bottom of every auction that says "report this item". If
a buyer sees that the seller is asking for a huge (or unreasonably
high) SH amount on a low-priced item, just to circumvent paying eBay
it's fair fees on the final value price, buyers are encouraged to
report the item as an eBay listing violation.
This "ancient Chinese antique" horse is on sale on eBay for only $.99! But watch out for that $148 SH pricetag!
This item is currently on eBay-Advertised as Tibet Silver Statue. Beginning price: $.99. SH $68.00
(Note: This "statue" is about 6 inches long.)
So next time you think you are getting a really great deal, (and maybe you are) think about the concept of being short-changed when a clerk gives you back money at the department store, and pockets that extra fiver. If eBay goes down because of sellers who cheat, a whole passel of Power Sellers are going down with them. And an even larger number of small sellers like you and me, who rely on eBay to make a few extra bucks on our unwanted extras and junk.
Another great bargain from a Chinese seller...ONLY $.99! Again, sticker shock ! SH is $159!
And this cute little set of "bronze" figures is currently selling for anywhere between $.99 and $10.00...with SH ranging from $75.00 to a bit over $160.00! And to explain this atrocious SH charge, the seller sometimes goes on to state,
"Dear friend, this is a reasonable shipping price in
China! because we choose of the express delivery company is Chinese, it
is fast with safe! Its price is reasonable in China!"
This price is no more "reasonable" in China than it is in any other country.
So go ahead and report the dudes who sell an item for a couple of bucks, then charge you an arm and a leg to ship your stuff. It might discourage more from doing the same, if they see the eBay Community Watch is keeping an eye out for them.
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