Thread: Ridiculous postage charges. What's the worst you've had?

I find shipping to outside of Canada less expensive than shipping inside of Canada. It can be very frustrating at times. I don't understand why they would charge so much. Maybe they've been burned and want to make sure it makes it to the destination.

The vast majority of high feedback ebay sellers are honest people,I have gotten and givin many postage refunds,in the past 13 years on ebay.
International postage can at times be difficult to calculate with all the mailing options available.
Talk to the seller long before an auction ends about your shipping concerns if any.If you feel that the seller is trying to gouge on the shipping and you can give him a better less costly shipping option by doing your own calculations,all may be well,if not,do not bid,simple solution,no grief.

Nothing more annoying than paying $20 US shipping and recieving a small brown padded envelope with a $4.25 sticker on it...

Originally Posted by EisenFaust

Nothing more annoying than paying $20 US shipping and recieving a small brown padded envelope with a $4.25 sticker on it...

Ask for a refund,most reputable sellers will issue one.

When you buy on ebay it's the seller's responsibility that the goods are delivered to the buyer, not simply shipped. The fact is that the shippers charge that much money to provide delivery confirmation and insurance for international shipments.

So the seller has the choice between taking the risk themselves and shipping uninsured/without delivery confirmation or pay/charge the expensive shipping and drive off prospective buyers.
The buyer has only the choice to bid or not to bid given the shipping costs which are always disclosed ahead of time and the seller cannot charge more than that.

Several months ago I sold something on ebay to a guy in Israel. It was with USPS (flat rate priority international) within 2 hours of the auction close and his immediate payment, yet the last scan was at the local distribution center and that was all. Two months later the buyer still hadn't received it and the only thing the post office told me is that that type of postage doesn't include any insurance or tracking. The buyer was rather unhappy, but another month later (3 after my mailing) he received the package and after seeing the post stamp was glad to see that I hadn't lied to him.

So I didn't end up losing the money this time, or the buyer the merchandize, but international shipping is risky or expensive.

you make a very good point, Gugi.

I have no complaint about shipping charges in general. When you live in Australia you take what you can get and are grateful for it. I remember when I was a lad we had to walk 15 days to get to ebay, sleeping under a disused tissue each night on the side of the information highway. All the rich guys would zoom by in their Gixens and never offer us a lift until the last minute. It was tough, but we were made of strong stuff back then.

James.