Big tech and the likes have made it almost impossible for the little guy to survive now. On top of that almost everything is a monthly fee, I'm surprised eBay hasn't added that too. I'm surprised that there isn't more good competition in the auction arena.
Great explanation. Exactly why I use flat rate on saws . Your better off eating say $5-8 bucks (I’m pretty good estimating)on shipping In the United States . Its still a issue with out of country sales through there second hand shipping companies.They charge way extra but it’s out of my control..It’s disgusting what I pay for there platform but understand the audience it brings . That’s why I also cut back on eBay saw sales . Hard to sell a $50 saw with $50 shipping.
I've sold some saws from here in Canada to the USA, when im putting in international shipping it will say buyers pays 40-90$ dollars something like that, I always use the same home depot boxes 11x12x18. Well anyways at least 2 times when saw is sold the buyer ends up paying 150-250 canadian.. and then when I print shipping label it usually only costs me 50-70$ canadian...I've been watching it more so that I can give buyer a refund on shipping
I'm at the point where I'm starting to shy away from eBay for saw purchases, unless it's a stupid good price. Once in a while I have reached out to sellers with pretty good luck and either got a discount, or provided my own label. I actually bought a saw tonight and tried to provide a label and the seller basically said what you did in your video. The buyer paying shipping through eBay, eliminates the eBay fees for him. I had the order cancelled. I have the feeling what eBay charges the seller for a shipping label, isn't what eBay actually gives said shipping company for the label either. The small company I work for gets stupid good shipping rates from both UPS and FedEx and most of our shipments are actually freight, so the rates aren't because of our volume... On top of all that. Ebay likes to charge us sales tax for shipping charges and international purchases, what a joke. I wish a competing selling platform would pop up. Facebook Marketplace seemed like it had potential in the early days, now it's just a downward spiral as well.
4-6 years ago I used to have about 100 eBay listings, often eBay's calculated shipping would not cover the actual cost. I guess I quit eBay before they raised the shipping costs.
Ebay has agreements with shippers that give discounts they pass down to the seller, but I doubt they pass all of the discount down. If you take the item to be shipped to UPS, USPS, or Fed Ex, you won't get any of that discount. That is the price Ebay shows in the listing. They show no discount. Ebay changed their policy to include shipping in the fees because sellers were selling a $100 item for $1, and then charge $99 shipping. Also every shipper raises their shipping cost every year sometimes more often than that, and they add surcharges, like a fuel surcharge. Ebay might be quoting prices with all the surcharges that could be in place considering they can change randomly. If you have been out of the Ebay, and others marketplace for 4, or 5 years, it's a real eyeopener in what has changed.
I get all of that...but in this particular instance there was no way I could get the cost estimate on UPS's website above about $71, so there's still a big disconnect for me.
Ebay uses usps calculator for shipping and some of these new sellers do not realize how to click all shipping options when they are buying their ebay label and UPS beats usps for larger powerhead packages by more than half
I think all eBay users have noticed the high nonsensical shipping costs. Similar fleecing has been occurring with local in person auctions in my area. All but the Mennonite/Amish auctions charge "buyer's premiums" for purchases at auctions of 10% to 15% and 3% for using plastic. So, the seller makes 70% (estimate is-variable), the auctioneer makes 40% to 45%, and the buyer pays 110% to 115%. Whether by sneaky ways or stated premiums, paying your bidding price is largely gone and is now part of history.
I would guess that some sellers are measuring their package dimensions based on a fully assembled saw. Taking the bar off and condensing a package will make a HUGE difference in cost. This would also possibly explain the huge costs that you see sometimes. I see shipping costs that are easily $50 to $100 higher than they should be.
That could be part of it for sure. But in my instance the saw had no bar and the seller told me exactly what box size he used when setting up the auction.
So i bought a saw from a different auction site and this was the case. No ebay fees, Just handling and shipping. Had to have a custom box made because they didnt want to disassemble the saw to ship.. Paid 80$ for the saw, 201$ for shipping....
This video is super helpful! It's somewhat annoying to pay $70 in shipping for a saw from PA (I live in MA) but get free shipping on a saw I buy from CA or AZ even when the price of the saw itself is fair. Seems like the answer is somewhat convoluted at first glance, but your video has shed much light on the issue. Thanks!
Leon, You are spot on. In some of our correspondence I’ve indicated my frustration with the entire listing and selling activity. I thoroughly enjoy working on the old saws, but after I’ve finished with them they go on the shelf rather than dealing with the listing/shipping hassle. I didn’t intend to become a “collector” but I guess that is what I’ve become. I’ve been fortunate to be able to put some of these old gems in appreciative hands by word of mouth, but that is about the extent of it. Always enjoy and appreciate your insight.
I have bought a TON of saws on ebay in the last year and a half and I am still looking for a reasonable answer to this question you have brought up. I have bought a lot of the saws for shipping under $30 from as far away as east coast and on the flip side I have had to pay in the neighborhood of $100-175 for some saws that were priced right and I really wanted but had a NASTY shipping cost with the item. I have had Oregon and California shipments that were that high. It is hard for me to believe the sellers are not aware of the shipping. Perhaps some are not as you have pointed out, but that leaves quite a large number of sellers that probably do know and don't care. Even smaller items can cost $30, no real weight or volume involved. Some sellers are very blunt and say in the description to NOT bother them about shipping, that it is what it is. I often have very small items with near zero weight and no volume that still charge additional ship fee when you buy more than one, while there is clearly no actual added cost to ship. Go figure, it baffles me. I routinely see similar or exact same items with wildly varying ship costs. Often, two similar items will be listed with one real cheap, but the shipping is sky high and then you have the competing listing (s) that has an item cost much higher, but the shipping is much lower cost. This is inconsistent, even if it is an ebay thing to hide fees and manipulate the profit returns to the seller. Overall it just looks highly suspicious that sellers use the shipping rate as a means of getting their profit while using a listing price for the item that makes it look really attractive, in my mind it is purposeful deception to gain a selling advantage. One thing I can bet is that if you follow the money ebay is busy making sure they maximize their fee profit line. I am thankful for you presentation of this topic, will watch again and maybe see you have given info I missed in this sleepless early AM watching.
I think there's a chunk of sellers that definitely don't care...I'd say those are the ones with the disclaimer of "don't bug me". I know 10-15 years ago it was a real problem; the $.99 auctions with $30-50 shipping for a 2 ounce item. I'm not sure that's everything that's happening now. Ebay has no incentive to tackle it now that they are making a profit off the entire transaction. No skin off their backs!
@@LeonsChainsawPartsAndRepair i haven't sold anything in 2 months, but on the smaller items i usually make a couple of bucks on shipping, But what i meant was the calculated shipping for me was always very accurate...And what i paid was what the buyer paid and what i paid usps,, haven't used ups in years and would never go to a ups store
This is why I stick to buying saws locally. I can’t justify spending a ton of money for shipping. Sometimes the shipping cost more than the saw!
Big tech and the likes have made it almost impossible for the little guy to survive now. On top of that almost everything is a monthly fee, I'm surprised eBay hasn't added that too. I'm surprised that there isn't more good competition in the auction arena.
Great explanation. Exactly why I use flat rate on saws . Your better off eating say $5-8 bucks (I’m pretty good estimating)on shipping In the United States . Its still a issue with out of country sales through there second hand shipping companies.They charge way extra but it’s out of my control..It’s disgusting what I pay for there platform but understand the audience it brings . That’s why I also cut back on eBay saw sales . Hard to sell a $50 saw with $50 shipping.
I've sold some saws from here in Canada to the USA, when im putting in international shipping it will say buyers pays 40-90$ dollars something like that, I always use the same home depot boxes 11x12x18. Well anyways at least 2 times when saw is sold the buyer ends up paying 150-250 canadian.. and then when I print shipping label it usually only costs me 50-70$ canadian...I've been watching it more so that I can give buyer a refund on shipping
I'm at the point where I'm starting to shy away from eBay for saw purchases, unless it's a stupid good price. Once in a while I have reached out to sellers with pretty good luck and either got a discount, or provided my own label. I actually bought a saw tonight and tried to provide a label and the seller basically said what you did in your video. The buyer paying shipping through eBay, eliminates the eBay fees for him. I had the order cancelled. I have the feeling what eBay charges the seller for a shipping label, isn't what eBay actually gives said shipping company for the label either. The small company I work for gets stupid good shipping rates from both UPS and FedEx and most of our shipments are actually freight, so the rates aren't because of our volume... On top of all that. Ebay likes to charge us sales tax for shipping charges and international purchases, what a joke. I wish a competing selling platform would pop up. Facebook Marketplace seemed like it had potential in the early days, now it's just a downward spiral as well.
4-6 years ago I used to have about 100 eBay listings, often eBay's calculated shipping would not cover the actual cost. I guess I quit eBay before they raised the shipping costs.
Where are you selling now?
The high shipping costs is to make up for eBay taking there share from your sale. So seller chooses higher shipping price to make up for the loss
Ebay has agreements with shippers that give discounts they pass down to the seller, but I doubt they pass all of the discount down. If you take the item to be shipped to UPS, USPS, or Fed Ex, you won't get any of that discount. That is the price Ebay shows in the listing. They show no discount. Ebay changed their policy to include shipping in the fees because sellers were selling a $100 item for $1, and then charge $99 shipping. Also every shipper raises their shipping cost every year sometimes more often than that, and they add surcharges, like a fuel surcharge. Ebay might be quoting prices with all the surcharges that could be in place considering they can change randomly. If you have been out of the Ebay, and others marketplace for 4, or 5 years, it's a real eyeopener in what has changed.
I get all of that...but in this particular instance there was no way I could get the cost estimate on UPS's website above about $71, so there's still a big disconnect for me.
Ebay uses usps calculator for shipping and some of these new sellers do not realize how to click all shipping options when they are buying their ebay label and UPS beats usps for larger powerhead packages by more than half
Shipping's not bad on the small items I buy on ebay like carburetors, coils, etc.
I think all eBay users have noticed the high nonsensical shipping costs. Similar fleecing has been occurring with local in person auctions in my area. All but the Mennonite/Amish auctions charge "buyer's premiums" for purchases at auctions of 10% to 15% and 3% for using plastic. So, the seller makes 70% (estimate is-variable), the auctioneer makes 40% to 45%, and the buyer pays 110% to 115%.
Whether by sneaky ways or stated premiums, paying your bidding price is largely gone and is now part of history.
I would guess that some sellers are measuring their package dimensions based on a fully assembled saw. Taking the bar off and condensing a package will make a HUGE difference in cost. This would also possibly explain the huge costs that you see sometimes. I see shipping costs that are easily $50 to $100 higher than they should be.
That could be part of it for sure. But in my instance the saw had no bar and the seller told me exactly what box size he used when setting up the auction.
So i bought a saw from a different auction site and this was the case. No ebay fees, Just handling and shipping. Had to have a custom box made because they didnt want to disassemble the saw to ship..
Paid 80$ for the saw, 201$ for shipping....
This video is super helpful! It's somewhat annoying to pay $70 in shipping for a saw from PA (I live in MA) but get free shipping on a saw I buy from CA or AZ even when the price of the saw itself is fair. Seems like the answer is somewhat convoluted at first glance, but your video has shed much light on the issue. Thanks!
Leon,
You are spot on. In some of our correspondence I’ve indicated my frustration with the entire listing and selling activity. I thoroughly enjoy working on the old saws, but after I’ve finished with them they go on the shelf rather than dealing with the listing/shipping hassle. I didn’t intend to become a “collector” but I guess that is what I’ve become. I’ve been fortunate to be able to put some of these old gems in appreciative hands by word of mouth, but that is about the extent of it.
Always enjoy and appreciate your insight.
I don't buy any thing any more unless free shipping
I find if you complain they give back the extra they sont need for shipping.
It only cost 50 to ship a saw from ny to oregon.
I have bought a TON of saws on ebay in the last year and a half and I am still looking for a reasonable answer to this question you have brought up. I have bought a lot of the saws for shipping under $30 from as far away as east coast and on the flip side I have had to pay in the neighborhood of $100-175 for some saws that were priced right and I really wanted but had a NASTY shipping cost with the item. I have had Oregon and California shipments that were that high. It is hard for me to believe the sellers are not aware of the shipping. Perhaps some are not as you have pointed out, but that leaves quite a large number of sellers that probably do know and don't care. Even smaller items can cost $30, no real weight or volume involved. Some sellers are very blunt and say in the description to NOT bother them about shipping, that it is what it is. I often have very small items with near zero weight and no volume that still charge additional ship fee when you buy more than one, while there is clearly no actual added cost to ship. Go figure, it baffles me. I routinely see similar or exact same items with wildly varying ship costs. Often, two similar items will be listed with one real cheap, but the shipping is sky high and then you have the competing listing (s) that has an item cost much higher, but the shipping is much lower cost. This is inconsistent, even if it is an ebay thing to hide fees and manipulate the profit returns to the seller. Overall it just looks highly suspicious that sellers use the shipping rate as a means of getting their profit while using a listing price for the item that makes it look really attractive, in my mind it is purposeful deception to gain a selling advantage. One thing I can bet is that if you follow the money ebay is busy making sure they maximize their fee profit line. I am thankful for you presentation of this topic, will watch again and maybe see you have given info I missed in this sleepless early AM watching.
I think there's a chunk of sellers that definitely don't care...I'd say those are the ones with the disclaimer of "don't bug me". I know 10-15 years ago it was a real problem; the $.99 auctions with $30-50 shipping for a 2 ounce item. I'm not sure that's everything that's happening now. Ebay has no incentive to tackle it now that they are making a profit off the entire transaction. No skin off their backs!
i use calculated,sadly i dont make any extra $$
That's the thing, for at least the instance I analyzed, the extra was not going to the seller...only one other place for it to go!
@@LeonsChainsawPartsAndRepair i haven't sold anything in 2 months, but on the smaller items i usually make a couple of bucks on shipping, But what i meant was the calculated shipping for me was always very accurate...And what i paid was what the buyer paid and what i paid usps,, haven't used ups in years and would never go to a ups store
Who owns eBay?