OMG can this shipping price be right?!?!?

Sugarflower · Post by **Sugarflower** » Tue Jan 17, 2006 1:57 am

I collect washi dolls and found two auctions tonight on ebay. I thought what a great starting price these loevely little dolls have but then checked out the shipping! Yipes! I hope potential bidders pay close attention to the auctions info.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Japanese-Origami-Pa ... dZViewItem
http://cgi.ebay.com/NR-Japanese-Origami ... dZViewItem

Elendil · Post by **Elendil** » Tue Jan 17, 2006 2:11 am

Well there are 3 possibilities as to why they are asking $120 for shipping.

1. Its a common tactic that I've seen with other auctions, ask pennies for the actual price and charge a horrendous amount for 'shipping', thereby skirting all of eBay's fee system.

2. Maybe the seller doesn't understand the yen to dollar conversion rate or its a typo.

3. The paper dolls are reaaaaaaaaaaaaaaalllllllllllyyyyyyyyyyyyy fragile?

Judging from their past auctions, where they asked for $15 to $24 for shipping, it makes me think that maybe its a typo and the seller used the same description for both auctions. If its intentional then its something that should be reported to ebay.

Nikki

kittens · Post by **kittens** » Tue Jan 17, 2006 8:35 am

You might want to ask the seller..... I think it might be typo..... So if you ask him or her then it might help the seller as well......

Nene · Post by **Nene** » Tue Jan 17, 2006 10:02 am

To me, it looks like a circumvention of Ebay fees by listing the dolls at the cheapest possible price and then adding on huge shipping fees to make up for the cost. Perhaps they've decided to try this tactic but it's against Ebay rules nonetheless. I can't imagine they'd weigh that heavy. I think when I ordered my SNES from Japan, it didn't even cost that much for EMS. Plus, look at what they tried first before they decided they'd make more money by upping shipping and reducing the starting bid: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 7733749203

kittens · Post by **kittens** » Tue Jan 17, 2006 10:32 am

Aaaag..... That sounds very fishy!!!

I hate some sellers do this faulty thing!!!

Nene · Post by **Nene** » Tue Jan 17, 2006 10:38 am

I always report sellers for this sorta thing if the shipping is massively inflated and the item listed for way cheaper than its worth. Already reported those. And especially with the evidence of the previous doll, it does look very fishy. I don't like to see some sellers get away with it whilst honest ones comply with the rules. ^_^

Pomidor · Post by **Pomidor** » Tue Jan 17, 2006 10:41 am

Elendil wrote:Well there are 3 possibilities as to why they are asking $120 for shipping.

1. Its a common tactic that I've seen with other auctions, ask pennies for the actual price and charge a horrendous amount for 'shipping', thereby skirting all of eBay's fee system.

This is the most likely reason. Its is done by sellers on Yj *often* so i wouldnt be suprised if that practice has been porter over to eBay by this seller. Anyway I think its fair enough to do.. Im not an advocate of eBay fees and policies... and if the seller is genuine then I dont see a problem, especially if they pass some of the fee savings onto you.

SmacznyPomidor

Zag · Post by **Zag** » Tue Jan 17, 2006 11:45 am

*reads other responses*
What, you guys don't think they're gonna ship it wrapped in watered silk, in a box of solid gold with 5 carat rubies on it?

That was my guess....

star-phoenix · Post by **star-phoenix** » Tue Jan 17, 2006 2:18 pm

Charging outrageous shipping prices is against Ebay policies. You know, Ebay has to have as much profit from the seller as possible and they don't get anything for shipping costs. So, the seller is avoiding having to pay more Ebay fees.