Thread: What's wrong with this Boker?

It costs $6 to send a razor from the USA to the UK.

This seller is asking $30. He is not the sort of E Bay dealer that I am prepared to deal with.

His postage overcharging puts me off looking any further.

Nice looking razor by the way and I'm pleased for you. You got a good deal.

Originally Posted by English

It costs $6 to send a razor from the USA to the UK.

This seller is asking $30. He is not the sort of E Bay dealer that I am prepared to deal with.

His postage overcharging puts me off looking any further.

Nice looking razor by the way and I'm pleased for you. You got a good deal.

Many U.S. sellers do that in order to discourage shipping internationally. I would compare it to a plumber charging tripl-time for a Sunday night house call. Even though eBay's policy doesn't allow for that kind of overcharging, I have never heard of them cracking down on this particular practice.

If he ships USPS priority in the flat rate box. The fee jumps from $8 to over thirty when the package has to cross the pond.

I don't know if an envelope would be allowed for international shipping either, the USPS get kind of funney sometimes.

Originally Posted by Brad

What am I missing here. I hope I just got lucky.

Nice purchase!

You're not missing anything. If deals could not still be had on Ebay for razors, I can speak for myself and say I'd probably never buy another razor on Ebay. They're getting fewer and further between, but if deals disappear....by by Ebay for me (as a buyer of course, not as a seller!)

Ya did good.

Chris L

Please don't try and excuse the guy. We are talking about shipping a $20 razor over the pond. It's no different to shipping a parcel across the US.

You wrap the razor in bubble wrap and stick it in a Jiffy bag. Simple. You take it down the Post Office, pay the clerk about $5.60 for USPS priority mail and bingo. Anything more than this is both unnecessary, eneconomic and a total con/ rip off.

You don't need a box. You don't need insurance. You just need a little integrity and trust. I've had numerous items shipped in this manner with never a problem or delay.
Touch wood.

Do you know, the only time you will experiance a delay on a razor is when it's put in a box.

Lets go deeper. If the guy writes down the value of the goods at more than £18 ie $35, I wll have to pay 17.5% import duty and in addition, my postal service will charge me a £8/$15 handling fee for collecting the duty.

So the razor is $20 add postage $30, add Duty $8 add handling fee $15. So I end up paying $73 for a $20 razor.

Incidentally, I'm not just getting at the guy because he's in the USA. We have enough of our own rip off merchants in the UK. But You do seem to have more than your fair share of traders who can not think outside of the US.

Gets off soap box and sighs deeply, whilst reaching for a glass of something strong.

Originally Posted by English

We have enough of our own rip off merchants in the UK...

... Gets off soap box and sighs deeply, whilst reaching for a glass of something strong.

I don't think the seller is ripping anyone off. And I'll take some of what you're having, please!

Lee,

Cheers.

Well you will know if you have been ripped off when you get charged $20 and your goods arrive in a parcel with a $ 5.60 postage stamp on the front.

What do you call it. Fair trading. Handling charges. Entrepreneurial flair.

I like many others call it rip off. It's an all to common e bay fraud by sellers.

If the seller incurs the cost I agree it's not rip off, its just plain stupidity. But as I said, now days, I just pass these ebay sellers bye with the click of a button.

Isn't technology wonderful.

Peter.

Originally Posted by English

Lee,

Cheers.

Well you will know if you have been ripped off when you get charged $20 and your goods arrive in a parcel with a $ 5.60 postage stamp on the front.

What do you call it. Fair trading. Handling charges. Entrepreneurial flair.

I like many others call it rip off. It's an all to common e bay fraud by sellers.

If the seller incurs the cost I agree it's not rip off, its just plain stupidity. But as I said, now days, I just pass these ebay sellers bye with the click of a button.

Isn't technology wonderful.

Peter.

My greatest hope is that I haven't become so cynical as to have lost integrity in business ethics. I think the seller is simply quoting high to discourage international orders. If it's a $25 hassle to him, I think he's well within bounds to charge it up front before a purchase is made. And like you said, if you don't like the up-front terms, rip-off or not, you can certainly pass it by.

However, if the item is something a U.K. buyer can't find elsewhere, or is on a tight schedule, or whatever, he or she may gladly pay a high shipping fee to be able to purchase the item, and would be glad that the buyer didn't simply refuse international orders based on not being able to charge a higher fee to satisfy the demands for integrity from others.

I would expect a fine package though

Originally Posted by English

Lets go deeper. If the guy writes down the value of the goods at more than £18 ie $35, I wll have to pay 17.5% import duty and in addition, my postal service will charge me a £8/$15 handling fee for collecting the duty.

In your theoretical example, why would the value of the razor be $35 when it sold for $20? I wouldn't/don't consider any shipping costs of any kind to be factored into the value of something when I ship it internationally.

I don't think I'm the most ethical person in the world, but with that said, I am not comfortable underreporting the value of something I sell in order for the buyer to avoid a VAT or a higher VAT. (I wasn't the seller of this Boker, I'm just adding my 2 cents that no one asked me to add).

Chris L

Let's not change this thread into something ugly. Discussion about things other than the Boker don't belong and only serve to cause heated debate. If needed, the thread can be closed. Let's keep it civil and friendly.

Thank you for your consideration.