I hope he loses money on this auction

voodoocat · Mar 3, 2004

I just won an auction for a flatbed scanner that also has a light lid for scanning up to 4x5 transparencies. After I win the auction I find out that I won it from someone that is maybe 15 miles from my house. Jackass won't allow for local pickups and charges $20 shipping and handling.

terri · Mar 3, 2004

You know what to do.....spread the word on ebay!! :twisted:

Congrats on the scanner, I know you wanted one. :thumbsup:

Dew · Mar 3, 2004

sucker!!!! :soapbox:

voodoocat · Mar 3, 2004

Hey it was still cheap. The scanner retails for $285

and I got it for $48 total.

When he emailed me back that I couldn't pick it up, I replied saying "Payment sent through paypal. $20 to ship 15 miles. Incredible" I so wish I could have included a :roll: emoticon.

oriecat · Mar 3, 2004

That totally sucks. I would leave negative or neutral feedback for that reason alone! There's just no reason he couldn't agree to at least meet you in a public place...

urameatball · Mar 3, 2004

Well, if the auction didn't say anything about pickup being available, the seller isn't breaking any rules... especially if he already specified shipping is $20.
Usually, I check with the seller before bidding to see where they are and if they're willing to let me pickup. That way, nothing like this would happen.

Anyway, it's a good find and you got an amazing deal. I'm guessing another $20 is a bummer but it's not the end of the world.
What I'm worried about is the seller sending you an item that isn't "EXACTLY" as described, therefore he wants to 'ship it'. In which case, I would still pick it up even if I pay the extra $20

voodoocat · Mar 3, 2004

Yeah, I'm not saying he isn't breaking any rules. It's just aggrivating cause you know he's making a profit on the shipping and handling. Plus knowing fedex it'll take a route through alaska to get to me :roll:

urameatball · Mar 3, 2004

knowing how close you live, the seller will probably drop it off at your door

TwistMyArm · Mar 3, 2004

I would think it would be far less of a headache to have someone pick something up then for you to go and ship it, but that's just me.

vonnagy · Mar 3, 2004

at least since he's only 15 miles from where ya live, if the scanner is buggered, you'll prolly be able to track him down :gun:

Geronimo · Mar 3, 2004

voodoocat said:
Plus knowing fedex it'll take a route through alaska to get to me :roll:

I will test it out for you. Making sure it works for awhile then release it back into the stream of shipping.

Mitica100 · Mar 4, 2004

oriecat said:
That totally sucks. I would leave negative or neutral feedback for that reason alone! There's just no reason he couldn't agree to at least meet you in a public place...

On the other side of the spectrum, I just purchased a Carl Zeiss Proxar for Hasselblad for dirt cheap and the guy flew here to Phoenix, from Atlanta to give it to me! Well, actually he had business in town but he did e-mail me to say that he'll give the filter to me so I can avoid the $3.00 shipping charge! How nice is that???

Left really great feedback for the guy.

GerryDavid · Mar 8, 2004

voodoocat said:
Jackass won't allow for local pickups and charges $20 shipping and handling.

Thats why you contact them ahead of time to arrage something. Sellers often pad the S&H to cover the ebay and paypal costs, which isnt slight. Plus its also a pain to arrange a local pick up cuz if its your part time business, your not around your location all the time, and you will have to wait around the house for the customer to drop by, if they drop by on that day.

terri said:
You know what to do.....spread the word on ebay!!

Spread the word on ebay that a seller is going by thier terms of sale? If thier terms said there was a local pick up then its one thing, but if it didnt say it was available or said it wasnt available for sure, then why try to harass this guy? Handling is part of the profit, or at least covers part of the expense of selling on ebay.

If you dont like the stated S&H, dont bid. If you bid, dont complain. :0)

havoc · Mar 8, 2004

I proudly pad my shipping costs a couple of bucks. On the other hand i have lost money on shipping as well.
Many people pad the shipping costs on E-Bay though, i think its kind of unfair to complain since E-bay has lowered the prices on what we want to buy so much. Before Ebay, camera products could only be bought from a dealer, or a privite party via advertisments. The equipement is so expensive in the camera shops that many people wouldn't get into this hobby without a place like Ebay.

I personally wouldn't pay 900 dollars in a camera shop that i purchased awhile back on ebay for 400 dollars. I never would have gotten into the hobby at camera shop prices. Probably wouldn't have at used pricces in ads either.

When i am paying half price or better for photo equipement, i can't find it in myself to complain about a slightly inflated shipping price.

Additionally shipping is expensive. It keeps going up every yr. When i first started selling on Ebay a couple yrs back i thought it was expensive to send something like a dvd player accross the country (US postal about 10 bucks). I sold one on Ebay about 2 months ago, 10 dollars for the DVD player, and 20 bucks for shipping. I thought i was padding the shipping too much but when i got to the post office it took every bit of that 20 dollars to ship it. Sure it might have been cheaper UPS, but i was shipping alot of stuff, and UPS is expensive for little things, plus unless you have a bussiness, UPS is less convenient. Shipping is expensive anyway you look at it.