Whenever I am buying things online, I will look at the shipping fee and then see if I think the total price is still worth it for the product that I am purchasing. Usually, when I'm buying things from a normal store, things will be fine. However, I have noticed a new "trend" on eBay where it seems as if people are listing their products lower, but then bumping it up with the postage charges. For example, I recently saw a box set of books on sale for £10 for the set, and then another £10 for the postage. I bought it, because I couldn't find it anywhere else - but I had to return it as it was damaged. When I returned it, I found that it actually cost just £4 to send it, so I had been well and truly ripped off! What do you think about the postage charges? Should they be better regulated for online buying and selling?
Usually the shipping price is displayed on the package. If not you should be able to calculate based on postcode, weight, and shipping method. I have sold some items on ebay that I charge extra for special packaging requirements, but I think this is reasonable as I only recover the cost and not overcharge. There probably isn't much you can do if you discover you are overcharged postage except to contact the seller and enquire about a refund on the overcharge. You could also record negative feedback and rating about the overcharge.
The fact of the matter is that shipping items is pretty expensive for everyone involved, including the shipper, the business, and the consumer. Some companies will rip you off on shipping charges without hesitation, though. I'd say the only true fair price on shipping is the actual value for shipping said item through a given delivery service. Few companies offer a value when it comes to shipping because free or low-cost shipping often takes forever to arrive. Amazon has things right with its Prime shipping, but the company loses tons of money on that program.
I am not sure what fees are fair , or what fees would be fair. But I do know what fees are unfair or unreasonable when I see them. One time I ventured to purchase an angel jigsaw for my mother, for Christmas, and the jigsaw wasn't all that much as far as the cost. But the actual shipping fee cost more than the actual product, which I just found to be completely ridiculous. I promptly exited the page.
I agree that sometimes shipping can be ridiculous. When the shipping ends up costing more than the item itself, I'm probably not going to buy it (or at least not from that seller.. I'll shop around). One thing we should all keep in mind though is that sellers may lose money if they charge the exact same rate as the shipping company would. They have to tack on their added expenses, such as packing filler, boxes, tape, labels, pick up from or travel to the shipping company, etc. Packing things and getting them to the shipper isn't free and most people can't afford to eat the extra cost.
I have often turned down offers due to ridiculously high shipping costs. Once I tried to order a particular book from amazon that would have cost me $25 but the handling and shipping costs were a staggering $75! It was clearly a rip-off, as a week later I happened to find another seller who didn't just sell the book new and for a cheaper price, but also his shipping costs were dramatically lower and consisted of only $12. How does that compare?
The whole thing with the shipping costing more than an item has only ever happened to me once. Maybe that is because I don't buy that much stuff online, although I have bought a few items in my time. Still, I thought that it was absolutely disgusting that I was being asked to pay more for shipping than the actual item. I couldn't exit the page quickly enough, and I was not happy about having been forced to sign up to the site previously and wasting my time.
It probably depends on the goods being shipped. For customized goods and office products, my aunt told me that her company had to pay about $200 for the shipping of customized pens from Japan to Australia. It's outrageous I think to be paying so much just for the shipping, when the cost of the pen is not more than $35 each.
This is something that annoys me too. Show me the price, the shipping, the dang total, so I know if I want it or not. Don't try to hide it or make me sign up. I'm not going to spend more than I have budgeted anyway, so don't annoy me and lose me as a potential customer with all this garbage. Just let me see the total without jumping through all the hoops. And, by all means, stop with the "sign up" thing that pops on every single page. If I wanted to sign up, I would have the first time. When they do it on every page, I just leave the site for good.
Well, it would be a good idea to have the shipping charges regulated, but since it's not likely to happen in the near future, then we can just simply not buy the item if we find it too expensive. So far the highest amount that I'm willing to pay for shipping would be $12. I wonder why the shipping of items from US to abroad is very expensive, when UK's Royal Mail doesn't charge as much.
Yes, it does seem very calculated how they make you sign up and verify your account through your email. I also hate those websites that tell you that shipping is completely free, and then you add all of your items to the virtual basket/cart, and sign up with the website, and then when you read the 'fine print,' you learn that shipping is ONLY free is you spend over a certain amount. This happens so often that I have come to just expect that free shipping only means free shipping if you spend over a certain amount. it is usually $50.
I will usually look for stores that have free shipping. That is usually a dealbreaker for me when it comes to online shopping. I hate to pay for shipping, when most stores nowadays will give you free shipping over a certain amount of money spent. I did, however spent 8 bucks on shipping for a toy for my cousin which I was a little upset about. However I had a $20 coupon for the store and so I ended up having a good discount anyway. That was the only reason why I bought it. But I usually get discouraged when buying online if shipping is expensive.
I only buy when there is free shipping or if the item I am buying is heavily discounted it makes it worth it. I don't mind fixed rate shipping for books when they are cheaper than anywhere else. Many companies like LLBean and Best Buy offer free shipping regardless of the amount so it encourages me to look there for convenience. Companies know shipping can make or break a sale so there is always a discount code to be found somewhere as an incentive.
Now that I list on ebay I try to split the cost of shipping an item with the buyer so that neither one of us feels like we have been taken advantage of. Shipping and cost of materials to pack the item is does cost money and can make the profit margins very small.
shipping can be a make it or break it deal for me. I understand the weight of the item is part of it, the other is the method it is shipped. Not everything has to be priority mail, regular business is often fine. It is very true packaging and in some cases insurance makes a difference. I try to wait till I can have enough of an order for free shipping, if that fails I just try to make a decision if the cost with all included is cheaper then going to buy it outright. Sometimes if it is a hard to find product you just need to do it.
I would say maybe 2 dollars. I always try to find a place that has free shipping so that I don't have to worry about it. Sometimes I find something that I really like and then the shipping is about an extra $10 dollars, that's definitely a deal breaker. It sucks even more if I was pretty set on buying the item.
I've seen this tactic used as well and at first I even thought the seller just made an error but upon closer inspection I realized that he or she was making up for the price using the shipping costs. I don't mind that people do this but I don't really know what the advantage of doing this is since eventually people would just figure it out and see that the price would pretty much be equal to everyone else who has a higher price listing but lower shipping cost.
Since I live in the United States, I pay for everything in USD. I almost never like to pay more than $8 for shipping, especially if I'm only buying a few things. If I am buying more then 5 or so products (as in clothing or light things), I will definitely consider paying more if that's my only option, but if I'm just purchasing something like a pair of shoes for $20, I am not trying to spend another $20 just for shipping. This problem often arises when I'm buying from websites based in Asia. Does the shipping cost your ok with spending change depending on the location you're receiving the package from?
It wouldn't be easy to ascertain what would be a fair shipping fee for any items, There are many variations in charges when you purchase online. In some instances, there is free shipping and in other instances you may get the free shipping over a certain amount and this seems to transpire through a collaboration between the merchant and the shipping company. It would be prudent to shop around to see where you could get the best rates to suit your shopping activity.
Eight dollars over here is like five great british pounds, which isn't too bad at all. But it would make me umm and ahh about whether or not I was still going to purchase whatever it was that I was thinking about purchasing. I actually don't really like to pay for shipping at all. But if I have to it should be as small a fee as possible. Eight Great British Pounds and over and I will look for the item elsewhere.
