S&H - Yet Another eBay Scam?

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

Maybe this is an old scam, but today I got to thinking that I don't
see xD Picture Cards around much, and when I do, they're at least
twice the cost of other flash memory cards. I've been thinking that I
should pick up another one for my camera before they go out of
production.

Since it's raining, I took a look at eBay after finding the best price
in a newspaper ad of $50 after rebates. I didn't even get to the
memory cards. I got distracted by a bunch of listings for USB xD card
readers (something else that I've found in stores at twice the price
of readers that take 8 other types of cards). One was 99 cents. One
was $1.29, and there were a few others for similarly absurdly low Buy
It Now prices.

But they all had absurdly high shipping and handling charges. This
weighs less than an ounce. It could safely go by US mail anywhere in
the US for a buck including a brand new padded envelope, but S&H ran
$10-14 depending on the selling price of the item (the lower the BIN
price, the higher the shipping cost). Adding in the shipping, they all
ran about $15-$17 which still isn't so bad, but it's obvious that the
sellers are making their money on the S&H. That just sounds dishonest
to me, particulalry since it looked like at least a few of these (at
different sale prices) were coming from the same seller. They all
contained the same wording of the gist "Don't ask for a discount on
shipping. If you don't like our policy, don't bid." I didn't buy.

Why can't I find these things in stores, even for $15? I'd be happy to
buy one over the counter for that price.

I know that most of the 'deals' that people make here are from private
sellers, so this might not be a big problem if you want a microphone
or sound card, but it sure frosts me.

--
I'm really Mike Rivers (mrivers@d-and-d.com)
However, until the spam goes away or Hell freezes over,
lots of IP addresses are blocked from this system. If
you e-mail me and it bounces, use your secret decoder ring
and reach me here: double-m-eleven-double-zero at yahoo

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

"EggHd" <egghd@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20040918135919.15331.00000670@mb-m22.aol.com...
> The S&H that some peole add to ebay auctions can be high.
>
> I always look at S&H 2nd after price.
>
>
>
>


i think this is the sellers way of minimizing the "cut" that he has to give
to e-bay.

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

On 18 Sep 2004 13:17:58 -0400, mrivers@d-and-d.com (Mike Rivers)
wrote:

>Adding in the shipping, they all
>ran about $15-$17 which still isn't so bad, but it's obvious that the
>sellers are making their money on the S&H.

Yep it's really typical of smaller items on ebay. The problem I have
with these kinds of sellers is that many of them have 1000 auctions
going at once, and their customer service can be terrible if something
goes wrong or if they make a mistake, etc because they don't have time
to deal with people individually. Check feedback carefully before
buying...

Al

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

In article <K4KdnervjKmS59HcRVn-rw@adelphia.com> timperryspammenot@adelphia.net writes:

> i think this is the sellers way of minimizing the "cut" that he has to give
> to e-bay.

Never thought of that. Like I said, it sounds dishonest to me. Better
to cheat eBay than cheat the customer, I guess.

--
I'm really Mike Rivers (mrivers@d-and-d.com)
However, until the spam goes away or Hell freezes over,
lots of IP addresses are blocked from this system. If
you e-mail me and it bounces, use your secret decoder ring
and reach me here: double-m-eleven-double-zero at yahoo