You're such a rebel, stickin' it to "the man" like that.

Look, you and I both know they're hoping for dumb buyers who will assume the shipping is reasonable and only notice after they've bought it. Yes, that does require a dumb buyer and it's their own fault for missing that--however, setting up an auction to exploit that kind of buyer is deceptive and in my opinion unethical. I don't know why you would defend that behavior, but that's your choice.

It's my understanding that ebay now attaches fees to the S&H cost in order to get around practices like this, which were very common for a while.

I recall seeing outrageously low BIN prices but stupid high shipping charges.

It's an end-around.

Doesn't seem like that big a deal to me. He has high shipping costs.
I assume that anyone buying online knows that some places have free shipping sometimes, and other times the buyer pays shipping, so unless free shipping is specified, people would know that a shipping charge is involved and would look to see how much it is.

Yep, seen that.

Just made me think... you could do "Free Shipping" with said upcharge

So tell me where the shipping charge is in this ad:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1964-Vintage...p2047675.l2557

Shipping: $30.37 Economy Shipping | See details

Item location:
Cape Elizabeth, Maine, United States

Ships to:
Worldwide

It's interesting that they note they'll refund the item cost if there's an issue, but they will not refund the shipping and handling. Normally that would make sense, but in this case it means they don't refund the "PAAS" cost they've added into the s&h. There's no grey area on that one, that's totally unfair.

The shipping charge is right where it says it is. The PAAS charge is the last line in the description:

Frame and Wheel rating: Good condition
Frame and Wheel PAAS charge: $20.00

What amazes me is that they get $100+/shipped for those.

Not really. The only reason $30.37 shows is bacuse you entered a zip code. The PAAS is suppose to include shipping. So is it $30.37? Or is it $20? And why is it different based on zip code? A USPS flat raye box is $11.

I totally agree. Put an extra 10% work into something and you are likely going to get a good ROI. It seems this seller is trying to force that hand.

You make a lot of assumptions.

Better than getting my knickers in a twist about following ebay rules. Good luck with that.

Jim, I really have no idea, and if I were planning on buying from the seller I would ask for clarification first. Why don't you ask him yourself, since you seem to be worked up about it?

Not to get started on politics, but I assume you mean public school fees, such as for school trips, choirs, bands, and sports ... it's real easy! If the schools are going to offer classes and services that the kids and many parents (the stakeholders) demand when making requests for their child, but will not pay for in taxes, the schools must request the fees. Most taxpayers seem to want to only pay for the three R's. However, bands, orchestras, football teams, and those class trips to DC are expensive.

A formerly common seller is a very good friend of mine, and he got excellent prices for his items by carefully researching the item, making good pix, doing a good write-up, and describing his packaging techniques clearly and sometimes with illustrations. Now he has a real job.

But basically, his customers paid for his quality, but it was because of his quality. They chose to follow his auctions into the stratosphere.

I e-mailed this seller and asked if local pickup was ok as I was, well ........ LOCAL. I was told no local pickup. I guess they just want to rule out any buyers in the Phoenix area.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/190984197939...84.m1436.l2649

I think a minimum bid price would be the wiser way to go, this is deceptive selling at best IMHO.

Whatever you think of the sellers methods might not matter. Judging by his positive feedback, it seems his paying customers aren't too worried.

Scott

you must not know what a headache local pickup can be. I have a bike I built FOR a local who has not picked it up yet. I'm ready to sell it off and be done with it.

*shrug*

You make a lot of assumptions about my knickers.

Don't get me wrong, they're quite adorable. But I'm sure you knew that, otherwise you wouldn't be obsessing about them on a public forum. I know you're hoping they're my lucky knickers. Really, any knickers I wear are my lucky knickers. Then again, there's really no luck needed.

Score.

I'm so far from being worked up....

When I'm a 'consumer' I can choose to buy from whomever I'd like. I made a decision and chose to NOT to buy from the seller. His loss....not mine!!!

Seller is making two mistakes:

1. He is charging too much for shipping.

2. He is giving WAY too much information justifying his high shipping.

Really, if he wants to overcharge for shipping, a short comment: "My shipping rates include a small fee for packing and handling."

IMHO, sellers who charge for handling will get dinged on the detailed seller ratings which will keep him from top rated seller status (juicy discounts from ebay for sellers). This is one reason at least half of my items go with "free shipping".

As a buyer, myself, I would still vote with my feet and look elsewhere.

Sure I do, I arrange it quite often. A meeting at a local Starbucks at a given time and date is setup. If they don't show, the money is refunded through PayPal and I move on to the next buyer. I politely make this clear when communicating with the buyer.

Communication is the key. As always, your mileage will vary.

This is useful advice.

I tend to give buyers a window of where I will be for about 2 hours. Usually, it's a place I'm going to be anyway. They have to show up in that time window.