echotraveler

Hey guys,

today i filed an excessive shipping complaint against an ebay seller.

Since i live in Puerto Rico i thought shipping would cost more than continental, and usps calculator estimated 107.00, so we agreed at the end of auction on 120.00 for shipping. The bike was delivered pretty fast (2 weeks) for parcel post (boat) and was well packed, the item was different color from the photos (which semmed photoshoped ), but it was the bike (1965 Moulton) pretty good condition .

when i see the box i notice the sticker that says 50.00 bucks! ! i contacted the seler 3 times and after a 1 week he answeres thru private email not ebay. before i read his email i reported the excessive shipping...in the email he says we agreed on the shipping ... i replyed that this situation is a missunderstanding, that his a good seller, im a good buyer, and i payd for my item which was 270.00 yet overpaid shipping for at least 40.00 (assuming he spent 30.00 on the box ). so if my basic math is ok i paid 310.00 for my bike, which is 10.00 over my max bet.

i told him i dont want to be a pain, but i dont want to be cheated on shipping just because im in Puerto Rico....

anyone experience this, am i overreacting, am i the bad guy?

added the pic he sent...ill post some other pics tonight, the actual bike is grey

njkayaker

Cool bike.

Shipping costs might include the cost of the box and packing.

garysol1 

So...lets make sure I got this correct...
YOU agreed on a shipping cost and the bike arrived well packed and with no damage yet YOUr mad and filed a complaint because you feel the price YOU agreed upon for shipping was to much?

echotraveler

thanx! its very nice!

50 bucks for shipping and i can deal with 30.00 for packing...how he sees it i paid 50 for shipping and 90.00 for packing...the auction said 66.00 for continental shipping....i think i mentioned this on the OP

echotraveler

exacltly...because the usps calculator said 107...when actual shipping was 50 plus packing.

am i so wrong? isn't 120 still more than actual shipping?

garysol1 

You may be out a few bucks......Packing material is silly expensive especially bubble wrap unless he reused old material. My .02 is if you guys agreed upon a price and the bike came through shipping with no defects or damage then let it go. The fact the bike arrived in such good shape shows the seller cares and did you right.

alicestrong

He's charging you a lot just to handle your stuff...

echotraveler

i mostly wanted the money back beacuse right now im expecting a kid and spending money on my bike is a luxury... 40.00 would be great to buy new tires, or tubes...or a dingdong bell...

guess its all now on ebays hand cause i cant backout from a complaint, and well i do think he enjoyed the extra money....

anyone experience how ebay deals with this situations? if i read ebays policy, im supposed to get some money back, and the seller will put a "continental 48 states only" because of me...maybe not, but i feel pretty bad about this second assumption....

CCrew

You agreed on a price, he shipped promptly and in good condition. Deal's done. I can't see anywhere where it's his fault.

CollectiveInk

He doesn't have to refund the difference since you agreed on it. Ebay won't make him (most likely). The most you could do is withdrawl the complaint. Box the bike back up, ship it back to him (since it's the wrong color) and be out the cost of shipping back.

-or-

Realize a lot of people are padding the shipping costs due to Ebay/Paypal fees and bid accordingly. Yes, $40 is $40 and it sucks to be out it. But unless you're willing to return the bike (and probably lose $50 in return shipping) I'd just deal with it, and consider it a life lesson.

Had you agreed upon "actual shipping plus handling" then my advice would be different.

Good luck. Enjoy the bike (and the little one when he/she arrives. )

Little Darwin

This won't help you, but what was entered on the Postal Calculator to get the shipping estimate?

I would like to know, because I will report it to the proper developers if I can recreate it and save others this grief. It should give accurate rates for any shipment.

echotraveler

thanx guys, i can deal with it, right now im a bit worried about the other side... ive dealt so many times thru internet and nothing like this has ever happened (knock on wood)...

i entered an estimate of the weight 40 pounds and what i thought a big package would be like 3 feet tall x 1 feet depth x 4 feet long... actual box was much smaller....around 1 footx 2 feet tall x 3.5 long weight was like 40 +.... i think the usps calculator is pretty accurate...i was overestimating to be sure not to downball the guy on shipping.

=-(
next time, ill be sure to wait for him to box and then estimate, then pay for actuall shipping and handling.....not just imagine...

Nermal

That's my take, exactly. I've ordered books from Amazon stores priced at $.01, with shipping/handling at $3.75. My price is $3.76, and I'm a willing buyer meeting with a willing seller. I assume there might be issues with a seller from my own state being subject to sales tax or some other cost based on listed selling price, as opposed to total cost. I got what I ordered, and paid what I expected to pay. Done deal.

echotraveler

he replyed and amongs many right things he said 1 wrong "overseas shippng is expensive"..i replyed back, that i will suck it up, but was compelled to talk to him because ACTUAL shipping was WAY less than EXPECTED...no matter what I think or what he thinks of overseas shipping, he knows that he got the best out of it...

Esteban32696

The overcharge seems to be an honest mistake. If I were the seller, there would have been a letter sent to you with the excessive shipping charges & a note, enclosed.

njkayaker

If the agreement was for actual shipping costs, you'd have a legitimate point. It's fairly common knowlege that, in many cases, the ebay "profit" includes what the seller gets for "shipping". The auction should have indicated a shipping price to a "normal" location (eg, within the continental US). The price for shipments to places beyond that should only reflect the actual difference in shipping service price.

bigshew

I sold a book on amazon 2 wks ago for $1.99. It wasn't worth my time as all I made was 3 cents.
The way I see it is if the total price was a good deal the buyer should be happy.
What if the shipping cost turned out to be $40 more than was agreed upon? Would the buyer say "Let me pay the extra $40"?

Rogue Leader

I ebay a lot and I undercharged on shipping on one auction but still sent it in good faith (I have a UPS account and I scrwed up with the package weights, so they told me they were gonna nail my CC when i dropped it off). Told the buyer about the mistake, and recieved a oh well go pound sand.

You win some you lose some.

miamijim

Thats why I never use the calculators.

You were happy paying $120....time to suck it up and deal with it.

alicestrong

He was only "happy" paying $120 because he thought that was the actual shipping/ reasonable in his mind handling cost.

??

enine

Consider yourself lucky, any time I've ever used the usps calculator I add extra weight to my package and it still estimates way less than the actual cost, and thats before I get to the counter and get told no you can't send it that cheap way, you have to send it this expensive way. A couple times I've had to drive to a different postoffice to be able to ship it the method the calculator allowed.

pgk

The way I see it is you both agreed on a price, yes? It's a done deal dude!! Next time do your homework on shipping costs. Chalk it up to a good learning experience..

Little Darwin

The massive difference can be in the size, and that is it for any of the companies... You go over a certain size, and weight is virtually irrelevant.

Thanks for the clarification, I would have chased down the right people to correct it if it was a calculator issue.