If you are an Ebay shopper, then this note might be helpful when leaving feedback for sellers. I have been selling on Ebay for about 3 years now and do it as a hobby. There are however, folks who sell on Ebay for a living. They rely on their sales to generate a significant income.
As an Ebay buyer, there are many things to consider before making a purchase. The cost of the item, the feedback percentage, the number of negative feedbacks in a given period and what the negative feedbacks were for.
For a seller it's very important to maintain a good rating. As a seller, I pride myself in offering good customer service as well as being fair to the buyer. I have a policy stated in all my auctions regarding my shipping policy and it's the buyers responsibility to read the policy of each seller as it varys from seller to seller. My policy is that I will ship the item within 3 business days after receiving a cleared payment from buyer. Saturday and Sunday are not business days therefore, if I receive a payment on a Thursday or Friday, I have until Tuesday or Wednesday of the following week to ship and still be within my policy. I usually try to ship the following day and in some cases the same day as the payment is received, however, I have other obligations that may not allow instant shipping.
Once I ship a package, it is out of my hands as to the time frame of delivery. My auctions state the shipping method as well as the estimated delivery, per the United States Postal Service. I am amazed at how many times I receive a message from a buyer 3 days after payment has been made wanting to know where their package is. Sometimes the buyers will state that they paid 4 days ago and still have not received their package. I usually respond in kind as to the date of sale, date of payment, my shipping policy, the date shipped, tracking # and the USPS estimated delivery date. The buyer responds with a kind thank you and sometimes they apologize for being impatient. There are many times that I receive good feedback on all items except shipping time. Buyers please don't penalize the seller for the USPS slow shipping time. If you want your item in a timely manner, kindly communicate that to the seller and they can arrange for a faster shipping method. You of course would need to pay the higher price for faster shipping.
This leads me to my next item. Shipping & handling fees are included in each and every auction. As a seller, there are many costs involved in selling online. There are packaging materials, time involved, gas that is used to run the business etc. These costs are included in the handling fee. The shipping costs are based on the United States Postal Service and United Parcel Service fees. As a seller, I don't charge a huge handling fee. In fact, my handling fee is usually less than a dollar. Ebay charges it's sellers a fee to list an item and a fee to sell an item. The fee for selling an item is a percentage of what the item sold for as well as the shipping cost. For example if I sell an item for $9.00 and the shipping on that item is $8.00, I pay a fee on $17.00. This is to ensure that buyers are not being overcharged shipping costs. Paypal also charges a fee to use their service and that fee is also a percentage of the selling and shipping cost. I can tell you that after Ebay and Paypal get their fees from sellers, the profit shrinks. The higher the item plus shipping the higher the fees. I know that I try to keep my shipping as low as possible so avoid high fees. The amount I receive from a buyer for shipping is almost exact as to what I pay at the post office. In fact, the amount is printed on a receipt that is attached to a label on the box. Anyone who receives a package in the mail can clearly see what the postage cost was. If a buyer pays me $10.50 to ship an item they bought from me, the amount I pay to ship is normally within five to fifty cents of that amount. Again, it seems that buyers are upset about the high shipping fees so they give the seller a low rating.
When someone buys something online, they know the cost before they pay for the item. If they feel the shipping is too high then they shouldn't purchase the item. Why blame the seller for shipping costs that are out of their control? Low ratings hurt sellers because they lower their feedback percentage which in turn makes buyers leery of buying from them. I hope that people who buy online will think about the feedback they leave. Be realistic and fair.
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