Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.dcameras,uk.rec.video.digital (
More info?)
On Tue, 22 Jun 2004 19:55:13 +0100, Tony Morgan
<tonymorgan@xtreme.pipex.net> wrote:
>In message <ldtgd0lmdprr470ekrmp8qjehp869asq4l@4ax.com>,
>spamfree@nospam.com writes
>>The item itself might be cheap, but be prepared to be raped with the
>>shipping costs. The last time I looked on Ebay, someone had a 64 meg
>>smart media card for "Buy it Now" $29.99. The S+H cost was $35.00 (of
>>course the S+H cost was hidden in tons of fine print). Exactly the
>>reason I will never use Ebay or recommend ebay to anyone else.
>
>I can't believe E-bay - or rather the prices asked/paid there. A year
>ago I was looking for a table saw (to be precise a specific Nutool
>model). People there were bidding at £30 more than the cost of buying
>direct from Nutool - Nutool didn't charge delivery but the E-bay seller
>was asking an additional £20 for delivery.
Exactly the reason I no longer use ebay.
I was recently looking for an older model reciprocating saw, identical
to the one I have had for years. Mine has lasted over 10 years, but
recently got a broken part, and the mfgr no longer carries the part.
Just for the heck of it, I was googling around the web to see if I
could get an identical saw. Somehow, a link took me to ebay, and I
saw an ad for one of those real cheap junky saws that they sell at
flea markets because once you buy the thing, there is no company that
will back you up if it breaks, and all the instructions are in some
foreign language. Anyhow, the guy had it listed as "Buy it Now", for
99cents. Well, that price caught my eye, I got to thinking that even
if the thing only works for a couple hours, it's worth 99cents. Then
I read the fine (and well hidden) print. SHIPPING & HANDLING $40.00
anywhere in the US. INSURANCE $5.99 REQUIRED (or we will not
guarantee delivery). (Canada and other countries are more for
shipping).
So, in the end, the total final price was $46.99
I did a little checking on this.
First off, this same identical tool lists for $19.95 from one of the
online stores that sells these cheap tools. They had it listed "on
sale" for $15.95. Their shipping calculator gave me a quote of
approximately $8.50 to my zipcode.
The final total price would be about $24.45 from the retailer.
OR about $22 less than Ebay.
However, the retailer offerred free shipping if I purchased $50 or
more in items, so I could have actually ordered THREE of these saws,
for the same price I would pay for ONE saw on Ebay, as long as I also
ordered some other small item for about $4 to make up the difference
to bring my total over the $50 mark.
If I wasn't convinced before this, I surely am convinced now, to avoid
using Ebay like a deadly disease.
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