Why does BoB allow sellers to charge excessive shipping fees?

[troymanq]

I don't know how many times I've come across an item that looks like a good deal, only to factor in the shipping and handling fees to realise its not worth the bid. Cheaper just to go to the shop and buy the item. There are sellers on BoB who are scoring big time on the shipping fees and I feel its time BoB stepped in. BoB only charges % on the winning bid (as far as I'm aware), so shipping fees are open to abuse. As I see it, both the buyer and BoB are the losers here. Its one thing to charge R45-R80 shipping fee for a parcel that arrives Econo-pacel R18.15 ??, but to add insult to injury, theres very little packaging material to even justify the increased cost. Usually its just covered in some ordinary wrapping like magazine paper. Some sellers also like to charge extra for each additional item or refuse to do combine shipping - which raises my suspicion about what their motive is. I don't mind paying above cost for shipping, because packing and materials cost time and money, but when its excessive or I can't combine shipping- thats when I think we're all being taken for a ride.

[lilythepink]

There have been many threads and tons of posts on this forum about shipping.

It all boils down to the fact that buyers need to read listings carefully, preferably with a magnifying glass!

[mellowred]

Hi Troymang

This must be one of the most discussed subjects on the forum.

Excessive postage is not allowed, but it is virtually impossible for BoB to police. All I can advise is that if you see excessive postage on an item, report it to BOB (just click the button at the bottom of the listing) and then move on to a more competitive and ethical seller.

Good sellers will charge no more than R40 for a R19-30 econoparcel, and then you should expect it to be very well wrapped. Most charge R30. As for combining, there should only be an additional fee when special wrapping is needed for each individual item, or when the weight goes up over the kg mark.

The only way to beat these unethical sellers is to boycott them.

PS: always check shipping before bidding ... if there are no shipping fees ... ask first.

[troymanq]

Yes, so many posts about this issue yet nothing changes. It is definitely a case of Buyer-Beware.

Thanks Mellowred for that info. Will keep it in mind.

[TS Ron]

Troymang
The bottom line do not bid if you feel unhappy about the postage! And if people shall not bid because of the price of the postage perhaps the buyer shall either reduce it. But I donot think that bob can dictate to any seller what they should charge for postage as to package an item is truly expensive. A small envelope costs approx R4.50 now and you have truly hunt for a good price of lately. I am not talking about bubble wrap which is quite expensive.

[SpearMint]

I buy and sell a lot of coins on BoB and regardless of the shipping costs declared on the offer I have never had a problem with sellers offerring me a reasonable deal to cover shipping costs.....sort of an unwritten code of decent practice amongst the coin BoBers - sanity usually prevails. I recently won some auctions on BoB. For this order I won a total of 22 x R5 coins which in total weighs less than 1kg (in fact, each coin weighs 9,5g x 22 coins = 209g excluding packing). If I was the seller in this instance I would offer my buyer the choice of R35 registered or R70 overnight counter to counter (both for up to 1kg). I was not aware of anyone in the BoB coin community that exploits shipping costs to buyers to increase the profitablity of the order....that was until now. This particular seller has in place the 'auto shipping calculation' function on his auctions and for each additional item an additional fee is added to the initial base fee. I noted this when reviewing the offer before bidding but was satisfied, as I always have been, that a reasonable shipping cost would be charged by the seller. Anyway, the calculations when completing the order for these 22 coins worked out that I needed to pay R425 to ship my parcel via Speed Services Couriers, counter to counter (remember this is local and not international). Knowing that my order weighed less than 1kg I promptly completed the order and changed the R425 to R65 (the original baseline fee requested by this seller for an overnight parcel) and made payment. For those of you out there not familiar with SAPO charges an overnight bag, up to 1kg, costs R62, regardless of whether it is 10 grams or 999 grams. I was then requested by this seller that I had to make payment in full before my parcel would be shipped. In simple terms, this seller is putting a 600% plus mark-up on SAPO shipping costs, totally changing the total order cost (my coins cost less than the R425 shipping charge). This charge (remember this is local shipping - PTA to PE, and not international) is absolutely ridiculous and quite frankly this seller is robbing buyers by doing this!!! I feel that BoB needs to get involved with this as it actually constitutes fraud. I have read in previous comments that it is difficult for BoB to police and agree that it is to a certain extent, BUT SOMETHING MUST BE DONE. I am pleased to comment in this forum that my complaint to BoB assisted me in resolving this matter however it has left a very bitter taste in my mouth. I can confirm that I will never again have any dealings with this particular seller . From my experience my advise to buyers is as follows:

1) Check the sellers ratings and read all negative ratings to understand what the problems experienced have been.
2) Read the shipping instructions carefully.
3) Confirm shipping costs with sellers via the question option if in doubt before placing a bid or buy.
4) Refuse to be exploited and defrauded by sellers charging ridiculous shipping rates, particularly with local SAPO parcels.
5) Stick to reputable sellers where possible.
6) Report via the 'Community Watch' function any obvious problems with regard to shipping costs.
7) Don't be bullied by these sellers, expose them.
8) Even if you have made the purchase and you spot a problem, sort it out with the seller BEFORE MAKING ANY PAYMENT.

Regards,
(SpearMint)

[kyle2]

I can confirm that I will never again have any dealings with this particular seller . From my experience my advise to buyers is as follows:

1) Check the sellers ratings and read all negative ratings to understand what the problems experienced have been.
2) Read the shipping instructions carefully.
3) Confirm shipping costs with sellers via the question option if in doubt before placing a bid or buy.
4) Refuse to be exploited and defrauded by sellers charging ridiculous shipping rates, particularly with local SAPO parcels.
5) Stick to reputable sellers where possible.
6) Report via the 'Community Watch' function any obvious problems with regard to shipping costs.
7) Don't be bullied by these sellers, expose them.
8) Even if you have made the purchase and you spot a problem, sort it out with the seller BEFORE MAKING ANY PAYMENT.

Regards,
(SpearMint)

Would love to see who you are refering to here, could you post a link to the auction?

[Seeds for Africa]

PS: always check shipping before bidding ... if there are no shipping fees ... ask first.

My feeling is that if a seller cant be bothered to stipulate their shipping costs, I wont ask them, I will just avoid them.

[jinxster78]

Batteries & Chargers - Wii Charging Dock + 4 x 2800mAh Batteries was sold for R241.00 on 13 Jul at 23:01 by Wireless4U in George (ID:41363941)

Yeah and in some cases Ill even avoid them further... check this dude out, I know he has a shop and I know where his shops is in (same as his username)

Collection.. R20??? Eish

I would rather pay someone R80 to ship it....

[Vegar]

I have managed to negotiate with sellers who charge too much shipping - BEFORE BIDDING - since I know exactly what the costs are, including packaging costs.

I had an experience on E-Bay with a seller who refused to reduce shipping for 8 combined items. I made him send me each item separately since I paid shipping for each item

[jinxster78]

These guys dont realise they are killing the internet buying idea...as it is, I would rather pay R300 from a shop in the mall than R250 from someone it could be a scam on.

[Linka]

I am at the moment stuck in a bid I made late last night. I was looking for a blood pressure meter and in the end bought one for R1 on the weekend special. Now I see the seller dropships and it will cost me R350 for the first item and R300 for the second. I have left the seller messages to please cancel the bid but I have not yet heard anything. Next time I will take my sleeping pill after I switched off the computer.

[Linka]

WoW!!!! The seller has just removed the bid!!!! Thank goodness!

[Vegar]

That was a close one ... I guess the seller is aware of horrified people are of high shipping costs.

[Linka]

The message I received to say the bid was cancelled also said "The reason given was - The buyer has asked for bid/purchase to be deleted and according to the Consumer Protection Act, we are required to remove the bid. We do apologise for any inconvenience caused.."
I know this thread is about high shipping costs but I just have to say thank goodness for the Consumer Protection Act!!