FocusCanada Forums

ha.. I just bought 1 stick of RAM on eBay from a guy in Ontario.

He had $6.00US International Airmail showing in the auction's shipping info, and in the auction text said item would ship in an anti-static bag.

I'm not international and it certainly won't be going airmail (125km) so when I won the item, I sent a note saying, "can you please just throw it in a regular envelope between 2 pieces of stiff cardboard? Please confirm my total and I'll pay right away."

He wrote back and said, "if I use regular lettermail, I can deduct $2"

Yeah!! $4.00US to post via Canada Post lettermail.
NOT Parcel, or XpressPost ... but lettermail! $4.00US!!

I weighed a stick of RAM from my system, an envelope, a letter-sized piece of paper, an anti-static bag, and 2 pieces of stiff cardboard - and it came to 53grams.

Checked Canada Post's website -- an envelope under 100g (but over 50) .. cost: $1.00CDN

That's 475% of the actual cost!

Sure envelopes cost money, and there's PayPal fees and static bag fees (sarcasm) - but F-him and his extortion.

I told him if he tells me he'd be happy to pay 475% on an item he bought on eBay, I'll pay him right away..

I'm waiting for a reply..

you knew the price of shipping when you purchased the item .. not much you can do now

The shipping cost is where almost every seller makes there money. It's sad, but its true. The smallerghter items are harder to justify a high shipping rate .. but its things like this that you gotta sort out before the auction ends

^ No, I did not know the price for Canadian shipping. (yes, maybe I should have checked, but that's no excuse.. you don't state your domestic-shipping extortion rates up front, I'm not going to pay them after).

the guy is a real M-F'er ...
I just realized the guy is *really* ripping me. Check this out! :

I wrote the original post above after receiving the "Here's your invoice for your item" email from eBay, that included the following text"
Shipping and handling via Standard Int'l Flat Rate Shipping: US $6.00
Seller discounts (-) or charges (+): -US $2.00"

So that's where I got the $6.00 US from.

Now, checking back on the auction page - it originally said:
"US $5.00 Standard Flat Rate Shipping Service United States Only
US $6.00 Standard Int'l Flat Rate Shipping Worldwide"

So the bastard is charging me a $1.00US MORE BECAUSE it's a domestic mailing rather than international!!

That is just too funny!

Dude, you knew the cost before you bid.

This is why eBay sellers out there hate to deal with Canadians. They think we're a bunch of cheapskate whiners.

You read it.
You bid.
You won.
You entered a contract, and now you want to back out for a few bucks shipping?

Simple.
Jeez, just pay the man.

Next time email the seller BEFORE you place the bid. Emails are free. Some of these sellers are dropshippers, the RAM might actually be coming from the US, so it IS International shipping. Regardless, the onus is on you to ask all the questions before you bid.

Factor this stuff in befor you bid....at least you didn't get hit with duty...I don't mind shipping charges...I don't like getting owned by UPS :P

hardk0re,Nov 14 2005, 06:24 PM Wrote:I don't mind shipping charges...I don't like getting owned by UPS :P
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I hear ya....been there, done that. :angry:

Yeah dood...you shoulda read the s**t and asked question prior to winning the auction!

And man///just pay the $5.00 or whatever...its not like its $50.00...

some people are just bloody cheapskates!! sorry but damn... :lol:

Another thing not sure if it applies in this case, but I have had instances when I emailed to find out about local pick ups on items where the seller was located in ontario, only to find out the items ship out of the US not Canada.

Blackzx3,Nov 14 2005, 08:18 PM Wrote:Another thing not sure if it applies in this case, but I have had instances when I emailed to find out about local pick ups on items where the seller was located in ontario, only to find out the items ship out of the US not Canada.
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Yep, that's called "drop-shipping". It's actually a fairly common practice.

I bought an amp off a guy and he gave me a UPS quote of $30US, he then shipped it regular us postal service for $7. sonovabeiotch.

Ended up paying $60 total. Ok, I can deal with that, however the amp ended up not being what he described it as (300 PEAK instead of RMS). I filed a paypal action against him (took a month and a half) because he said he didn't have the money I sent him anymore. So paypal decided in my favor and tried to refund me the full amount, but there was only $30 in his paypal account.

I told him I wasn't going to ship the amp back to him unless he gave me a full refund. He keeps trying to get me to cancel the paypal action against him because its locked his account, but won't send me back my money.

I've received e-mail from him saying he's going to get a lawyer and sue me to get his $20 amp back.

So in the end I got my money I overspent in shipping back and kept the amp.

If you want to make a certain amount on what your selling, put in a damn reserve and don't burn people with unrealistic shipping costs.

$4 shipping really isnt *that* much, considering he'll have to take the time to package the item, label envelope, go to the post office and send it off. It's more than the material costs, but he could say that his time costs factor in to it. Regardless, the shipping info is in the auction description and you always have to email the seller before you bid. Never assume an ebay seller is going to charge you less just because it isnt going to cost them as much :P

It's not a matter of "being cheap" - it's a matter of not getting gouged!
Here we're talking 4 or 5 bucks, but that's like you going into a store advertising "everything for $1" only to get to the checkout to find that the item you picked up is actually $4, with the reason being "we have to cover costs somehow!". :(

The guy emailed me back with this:

Quote:I need to charge at least two dollar for post, my envelope cost 0.89 dollar, and stamp need at least 1 dolar.

Ok, he doesn't even speak English.. great.

Anyhow, I said fair enough, $2US is somewhat more reasonable and paid immediately.

I also provided the poor guy with a link to Staples..
$1.86CDN / 50 Standard #10 envelopes


It's no wonder he was wanting to charge so much! Eighty-nine cents for 1 envelope! Yikes!!

LoL

guilty,Nov 15 2005, 12:50 AM Wrote:$4 shipping really isnt *that* much, considering he'll have to take the time to package the item, label envelope, go to the post office and send it off.  It's more than the material costs, but he could say that his time costs factor in to it.  P
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I couldn't agree with this statement more....

I was going to post it myself....

don't be a cheapass ....pay the man....move on...

$4 USD is more than reasonable to ship this to you....all things considered