Insanity

Henry Brooks · March 2020

Just received the following feedback - be warned. Yes I requested adjustment through contact and yes I am going to politely tell him/her to take their business elsewhere - we need to be able to block bidders.

Very HIGH P&H charge of $2 on a purchase of $3.75 considering that the item was sent in a regular envelope with a 1st class stamp ! - Card was good - Prompt Delivery - MUST do better about P&H

dennis jorgensen · March 2020

There are collectors who are cheapskates and have never attempted to operate a business in the real world and they can drive a business person nuts. They generally ignore the posted information on shipping costs, and probably don't have the brains to figure out the handling part of S & H. Where I live and work the minimum wage is CAD$14 per hour or .233 cents per minute. If it takes 5 minutes to get a shipment ready that is a labour cost of 1.16, plus the cost of an envelope and any stiffener. I then have to pay Canada Post 1.30 to mail to the US - so to me $2 is a realistic charge, and in fact probably less than the actual cost.

Martin Glaenzer · March 2020

I got another one for the books on ebay....
Postcard buyer left: Nice postcard, little pricey, but bought anyway.... (positive feedback).

The grand total was... wait for it, wait for it....;. $4.99 including free s+h.

This really bothered me. I know I should just shrug it off, but dude. How much money did I make broken down to an hourly pay buying, scanning, listing, shipping that thing for free....

SMH

John Maloney · April 2020

I'm not a seller and only a small buyer but it seems to me that if a customer buys an item and pays for it and pays for the s&h, then they shouldn't complain about the price.
Don't like the price? Don't buy it. Simple.
A suggestion for buyers: When you find something you like and want, put it in you cart then search through the sellers inventory. You'll probably find some more things you like and add them to your cart. When you checkout, the s&h charge will seem very reasonable. $3.00 s&h on a $20.00 order is way better than $3.00 on a single $1.25 postcard.
You're welcome.

John Keller · May 2020

Gee, I just started here. Ebay has decided to over charge for their idea of "Managed Payments" They want to control everything and break away from Pay Pal. I have started listing in the Auction format. I am also bringing over all my followers from Ebay. Maybe if you're lucky, they will buy from you too. Now, I sell a lot of cards. I drive taxi three days per week and can be in the taxi for 12 to 15 hours per day. 31 years of it. I start my auctions at $1 unless the card is damaged and then it starts at $0.25 or $0.10 if it is in Bad Shape. I don't care if I list a Hot Air Balloon Race or a boring Street Scene, They start at $1. It gets better: If you buy 5 or more cards per invoice from me, I give FREE POSTAGE to anywhere in the world. That's right, FREE. I don't care if you buy 5 cards and want them sent to China or Russia or the North Pole.
You want more sales on something you didn't pay that much for and want to make more money at this hobby, you have to use simple marketing. I don't need to run sales. Every day is a sale day.
Hope you guys all get some extra sales from my buyers lingering around. Feel free to check out my auctions and soon items at fixed prices in the store, Probably for $1.50 to $2.00 with the same shipping deal. I haven't figured out any way to fix the invoices, so I guess I have to refund shipping on those bigger orders. Just give me time to do it. I am here to enjoy the hobby.

RuthAnn Davidson · June 2020

So I guess I am a cheapskate post card collector. Maybe because it offends me that when Shipping (and by the way, it says on ebay SHIPPING, not S&H) is $3.75 and it arrives in a simple envelope with little to no support, and a 50 cent stamp, I feel like I overpaid. I'm on SSDI and there aren't a lot of antique stores nearby. So I enjoy browsing on ebay and Hippostcard, and finding bargains. I will pay for a really nice card that I want, according to condition. And if I pay $3-4 for shipping and it comes in a padded envelope or I can tell care was taken, then I don't mind. But if I see a $2 card and the shipping is $2.50, I think twice. Sorry if this upsets some sellers, but that's the facts of business.

George DeKornfeld · June 2020

Some sellers lower the prices of their cards to make them seem more attractively priced and try to make it up on the S&H end. Its important to look at both sides of the equation before pulling the 'buy' trigger.
Meanwhile, not all sellers play this game, and in an unashamed example of self-promotion:

https://www.hippostcard.com/store/docgfd-postcards/?sort=started_desc

S&H = $1, for one card, or twenty.

Tracy Barber · February 2021

Then again, there are sellers, like me, who do not try to bilk the buyer wih exorbitant prices. I sell low and I charge low for postage. $1 seems a likely start and for multiples, it's a weight concern. I use a scale. Certain features of USPS have changed and cost more, like registration.

Mitch Mather · March 2021

I have done the calculations and with all the fees, cost of packaging and all, you immediately lose money on an initial S&H fee of $1, let alone free for all subsequent purchases at the same time. You have to make that up somewhere or you are just losing money. I have fairly low prices for all my cards, so if I were to do that, I would be either giving them away or paying PayPal and Hip to send them to folks. I prefer to have reasonable S&H fees and low prices for my cards.

That said, there is more than one way to skin a cat (so to speak) and the end game is what really matters, and whether we are a buyer or a seller we all need to pay attention to that. Yet for some buyers, that isn't good enough, they just want whatever for less, even if you either don't make money or lose money.

Theresa Embrey · March 2021

We use calculated shipping, a postal scale, will happily combine orders, padded envelopes, stiffeners, and charge an extra $2 in handling for international orders (for those items that we can ship internationally).

We know some buyers see our shipping costs and balk. That's okay. We don't want to refund people for collectible items damaged in shipping. We want them to enjoy their treasures and come back for more.

Ronald Tegeti · July 2021

@RuthAnn Davidson made some good observations about the pricing of postcards and the shipping involved. I recently sold a modern card for $0.49. My shipping policy is $1.75 for whatever number of cards your purchase at the same time & shipped in the same package. The buyer probably found something for his collection and the $2.24 was reasonable.

@Carol Brooks Good for you. On Ebay, I had a customer who nothing I ever did by way of accomodation satisfied him; he routinely would ignore terms as related to shipping. Essentially, he dictated what he wished to pay per card. He threatened me when I refused to leave him positive feedback. Told him in no uncertain terms that while he might bully other sellers, that wouldn't happen here. I later blocked him from future bidding. He was furious! Later sending me a profanity-laced screed. What is so wrong with wanting to save money on shipping ..he asked? Some buyers just enjoy living a life of victimhood.

Colleen Langewisch · July 2021

@John Maloney Just because a buyer 'caves' and buys something doesn't mean they shouldn't be able to give ACCURATE review of transaction. I can't evaluatee transaction until I receive mdse and see how it was pkg'd & sent. So, yes, often doesn't match condition, is way overpriced for condition ... and also as already pointed out - charging $'s when actual cost was 55 cent FCM, and item stuck in envelope ... that's GOUGING. So, no matter how much I "want" something there are some sellers I just won't buy from - and some I'll never buy from again. So far I am NOT impressed with this site ... and so far it seems set up to solely favor sellers. So - thanks but I'm NOT leaving ebay.

Insanity

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