Folks;

One of the biggest issues on eBay these days are Shipping and Handling Charges.

Buyers are sick and tired, not to mention just plain disgusted, by outrageous fees charged by some sellers.

Some sellers are trying to circumvent eBay selling fees [which can be considerable on thin margins] by overcharging on S&H, and others charge hidden fees that are not obvious until one has purchased the item; or, some do not specify the shipping charge at all in order to show up in search results as the lowest price. These kind of practices are being addressed by eBay, and they are trying to eliminate and punish these practices, and weed out the sellers who do so.

One of my pet peeves are those who charge Priority Mail rates and then mail by First Class Mail in order to make a bigger markup, and to appear to be charging less, and gain better visibility in search results. Meanwhile, those sellers who are trying to furnish fast and safe service suffer.

This is not fair. 

Most sellers have to protect themselves by purchasing insurance and using a carrier that can furnish package tracking, in order to be able to prove delivery to Pay Pal and stay out of trouble. Here are the new rates the U.S.P.S. charges since the latest of a string of price increases.

 As of today, July 3, 2008;

Priority Mail [minimum]                     $4.80

Flat Rate Box [small FRB-1]             $9.80

Large Flat Rate Box                         $12.95

Delivery Confirmation                        $0.65

Insurance      {starting price}              $1.65

Therefore an honest seller that is charging from $7.10 to $12.10 and is sending you a small item by insured Priority Mail with Delivery Confirmation is NOT ripping you off, is he?

In addition to the charges above, be advised that the Post Office does not just charge for weight anymore, they also figure in the size in cubic feet of the package as well. This little zinger costs plenty. Those of you who do not ship packages very often will feel a biting pain in your pocketbook the next time you do so.

Now, let us figure the cost to wrap a fragile item so that it will not arrive broken if a Postal employee "goes postal" and decides to use your package as a soccer ball.

Bubble wrap is made out of OIL, i.e. petroleum hydrocarbons, as are many other shipping materials. It can cost as much as 20 cents or more for a 12 inch by 12 inch piece.  Say you have to use 3 of them, that is 60 cents right off the bat. Now add in some shipping peanuts, say 10 cents worth. Now add in good strapping tape at $3.00 per roll. Here at our store, we also use paper bags, rubber bands, labels, wrapping paper, and so forth. Go to the nearest chain store and buy some of each, you will be suprised how quickly that adds up. The more trouble it takes to package carefully the more it costs. Say you average spending a dollar total on materials, some of the time it will be much more.

Now, even if you only pay minimum wage, labor costs are high, and minimum wage is a joke with gasoline at $4.00 per gallon. Just try to hire someone at that wage. I read that the national average is over $10.00 per hour. If you pay your people a living wage, in order to keep good reliable people, it can cost much more. Say it takes only one dollar of labor to wrap the package and take it to the Post Office, and assume that you only burn 50 cents worth of gasoline to do so. Let us say you are using a small Flat Rate Box.

Now your cost so far is $9.80+$1.00+$0.65+$1.65+$1.50 = $14.60 for insured priority mail with delivery confirmation.

The other day, I bought a printer cartridge that was smaller than a regular size light bulb from one of the largest office supply stores on line. They charged me $9.95 for plain jane ground shipping, and they have economies of scale not available to those of us who are not multi-million dollar corporations.

Real world figures do not lie, and math is the only absolute truth in the universe.

Back in the 1980s I read that compared to 1967, the dollar was only worth 7 cents. This is why the U.S. government has been trying to get the public to accept a dollar coin ever since they came out with the Susan B. Anthony dollar. It is literally not worth the paper it is printed on. Why do they still make pennies? So that they can collect taxes. That is all they are good for now.

The definition of fair is one that will take the general public a little while to adjust to. Walk a mile in the other fellow's shoes.

Read each item description carefully, pay attention to the method of delivery, and beware of those who do not furnish details on their charges. If someone is charging more than you are willing to pay, vote with your feet.  

I also want to take this opportunity to thank all of you who have purchased from our eBay store in the past, and for the wonderful feedback you have left us. I also want to thank the vast majority of folks on eBay for the polite and kind patience that they have practiced while we were new. While we are no longer new, we are still trying to figure out how to do this right, and appreciate your help and communications.