shipping charges & such

BSLAPPER · #1 03-11-2008, 10:30 AM

Hello i've been trying to sell a few things on here that most people expect you to pay for the shipping? an plus want the stuff for dam near nothing.I know this were you might get a good deal but c'mon i've been comming across some real dead
beats! cheap people dont want to pay for shipping or any other charges depending on the type of payment.Am i wrong
in this or what or give the cheap people a better deal. whats up i would appreciate any input on this matter. so i know what to do. thank you lisa

fenderhutz · #2 03-11-2008, 10:47 AM

Well if you are asking for paypal fees for one, you are in the wrong. It's against the Paypal terms of service.

Price your items with shipping included, they tend to sell better that way.

Paypal fees on $100.00 is $2.90, if someone asks me to cover those fees on here for a measly transaction I will drop interest in the sale period. In the same token I just bought a bass on here where I OFFERED to cover some of the paypal fees, which is perfectly fine.

Times are hard nationwide right now and I can tell you 8 months ago you could move just about anything on here for a decent price. Now I have seen things sell on here for about 10-20% less than Ebay prices.

Wait until these GAS ridden bassists get some taxes back. In the last year I have noticed selling cycles and since after December it's been lower than average.

All opinions, but I have bought and sold over 41 items in the last 9 months on here and spend about 30 hours a week on the forums due to being at work.

neurotictim · #3 03-11-2008, 10:58 AM

As far as shipping charges go, use FedEx and they're not too bad - I don't remember what I paid to have a head shipped from here to GA, but it was very reasonable, in the $25 to $35 range.

Same deal when I bought my SX from here - the shipping was quite reasonable, or the seller ate some of it - it costed about $25. About the same as the TBC I bought here, IIRC.

I recently overpaid to ship an item I sold here overseas, but that's because I didn't know what to pay. Expect to spend roughly $100 to send a bass overseas via USPS.

PayPal fees are a big no-no here, you have to include them in the price you're selling the item for. Most items here sell "shipped" meaning the seller figures out what he/she wants for something, adds what they think it'll cost to ship (the figures above are IME) and Paypal fees... but they don't say they're adding the fees and shipping to the price, it's one all-inclusive deal. Also, be prepared to negotiate on your price some. Unless you're giving stuff away, people (myself included) will tend to want to haggle with you.

Hope that helps.

dave64o · #4 03-11-2008, 11:00 AM

I've sold several basses here and have always offered one price delivered, insured, and Paypal fees included. I also look through previous for sale ads, eBay, Craigslist, etc. to get a good idea of what a fair current price is and post it at the lower end of the price range (even though every bass I've sold here has been in excellent condition), partly because I've gotten some pretty good deals here and I think it's good karma to just pass it along. So far that strategy has worked well because I haven't had a bass sit there until I had to pull it or re-list it.

I've gotten some lowball offers on the last few I've sold, but since I'm under no obligation to accept them I just say I'll get back to them if nothing better comes in. So far I've never had to get back in touch with anyone who gave me one of those offers.

Yeah, it sucks not getting what you want, not getting top dollar, not getting all the money you've put into it, not making a little bit on the sale when you got a screaming good deal, etc. However, you also have to just accept that the price isn't what you want it to sell for, it's what someone else is willing to pay for it. Sometimes it's a lot, sometimes it's not, and things seem to run in cycles, both in general and for specific brands. It's the nature of the market. And for every good deal I've had to give, I've also gotten a good deal too, so I figure it all balances.

BSLAPPER · #5 03-11-2008, 11:07 AM

hey thanks very much for the input i will do things different
from now on i appreciate all your help. thanks lisa

musicelectronix · #6 03-13-2008, 01:24 AM

I really like to share my 2 cents here.

I don't want to directly accuse anyone, but... It doesn't matter how much the PayPal fees are, just like fenderhutz, I wouldn't deal with a person who says "also %5 to cover PayPal fees". I think this is cheap, not the other way around

There is a difference between asking about an ad posted here and saying "ok, it's a deal", and that difference is huge obviously. Your understanding of things is completely wrong. You mention "dead beat", but I assume you mean "dead bid". Nobody is bidding here, classified section of TB is not eBay.

I want to share one of my recent experiences here, not to flame anyone, just to clarify what BSLAPPER meant. She/He (I am not sure, because BSLAPPER sometimes sign as lisa, sometimes as allen) listed a Korg Tuner for $90. It was an average price and I sent pm to that person. She/he returned back to me about a day later (I actually bidded on a DTR-2 eBay the same day) and wrote me "$90 plus $20 shipping and %5 PayPal fees". I just wrote back "Thanks, I will pass" and BSLAPPER returned back to me with this: "thats what i thought, when you think your going to get it for nothing you didnt think i was going to ship it to you for free did you? you guys on here crack me up your all so cheap."

So based on her/his understanding, I bidded for the tuner the moment I sent the message and then when I decided not to deal with her/him (mainly because of the PayPal fees coverage, which is a direct violation of TB rules and PayPal user aggreement) and this was a cheap move. Unbelievable!

What I am trying to say is, this person doesn't refer to the low ball offers or anything like that as cheap. Again, just to clarify. On an other note, I am glad I didn't make any transaction with this person, no good would have come out of it.

Thunder Pulse · #7 03-13-2008, 07:48 AM

I offer to pay PayPal fees for cheap stuff. It's not worth my time to drive to the bank, stand in line, go through the transaction, and then go to the post office and go through the same thing to get a money order.

As far as shipping, what pisses me off is sellers that charge 'flat rate' shipping. Why not actual shipping charges? In the example above, $20 to ship a tuner is absurd. It also doesn't cost $40 or $50 to ship a bass unless you use one of the 'Wrap & Ship' type stores instead of going directly to FedEx/Kinkos. When you add a middleman to the process it's obviously going to cost more, and the sellers pass that cost on to the buyer. I shipped an empty bass case (in a box) from Ohio to Oklahoma with FedEx, $16.33. With a bass inside it would be closer to $20, but that's still half what some of these people want to charge. They're basically stealing over $20 from you in a case like that, or classifying it as a 'handling charge.' I don't mind paying a nominal fee for them to take the package to the shipping office, but over $20? Please.