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eBay had (maybe still has I don't use it) that problem too. Sellers would list something with a Buy-It-Now price of $5, but when you got to the last step, you'

eBay had (maybe still has I don't use it) that problem too. Sellers would list something with a Buy-It-Now price of $5, but when you got to the last step, you'd see that shipping was $25. At the time we suggested that they limit shipping fees to no more than 50% of the total cost of the item, but it never got implemented. I just checked and it looks like their compromise was to set max shipping rates for different types of items: https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/shipping-items/maximum-shipping-costs?id=4655 https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/shipping-items/maximum-shi...

dumpsterlid 4y ago
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hijinks 4y ago
in the late 90s i sold dave matthews band bootlegs from their concerts on ebay. Ya not legal but I did it in college to make money since I had a cd burner. If I remember correctly ebay didn't take a percentage of the shipping only the sale. So I'd sell it for $5 but charge $25 for shipping and they only took a % of the $5 so I'd keep a lot more money
- jedberg 4y ago
  Yep, that was part of why people did it.
tempoponet 4y ago
I feel transparency in pricing is more valuable to the users. I've sold items that cost more to ship than they were worth; the problem is that if they choose to return the item I would eat the shipping cost if I offered "free shipping". The result is that bulky worthless items have lopsided price/shipping. Ebay offers the UI tools to show users the bottom line and they can make an informed decision.
- jedberg 4y ago
  But you can just charge for shipping a return. And like I said I don't use eBay anymore, but back then, they didn't give the tools. You could only sort by listing price without shipping included. If they now offer tools to include shipping in the search, then sure.
  - brewdad 4y ago
    If it was a $5 item that cost $10 to ship, they are still out the $10 though. Buyer might pay return shipping but the seller has to refund the $5 and isn't getting that $10 back. I'm not aware that Ebay would allow you to have a 200% "return fee".
    - jedberg 4y ago
      That's a fair point.

dumpsterlid 4y ago

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hijinks 4y ago

in the late 90s i sold dave matthews band bootlegs from their concerts on ebay. Ya not legal but I did it in college to make money since I had a cd burner. If I remember correctly ebay didn't take a percentage of the shipping only the sale. So I'd sell it for $5 but charge $25 for shipping and they only took a % of the $5 so I'd keep a lot more money

jedberg 4y ago
Yep, that was part of why people did it.

tempoponet 4y ago

I feel transparency in pricing is more valuable to the users. I've sold items that cost more to ship than they were worth; the problem is that if they choose to return the item I would eat the shipping cost if I offered "free shipping". The result is that bulky worthless items have lopsided price/shipping. Ebay offers the UI tools to show users the bottom line and they can make an informed decision.

jedberg 4y ago
But you can just charge for shipping a return. And like I said I don't use eBay anymore, but back then, they didn't give the tools. You could only sort by listing price without shipping included. If they now offer tools to include shipping in the search, then sure.
- brewdad 4y ago
  If it was a $5 item that cost $10 to ship, they are still out the $10 though. Buyer might pay return shipping but the seller has to refund the $5 and isn't getting that $10 back. I'm not aware that Ebay would allow you to have a 200% "return fee".
  - jedberg 4y ago
    That's a fair point.