Gouging! Re: My first problem w/ ebay came up... needs your advices

From: Joe <rigdonj_at_intellistar.net>
Date: Tue Apr 24 12:05:24 2001

At 10:23 AM 4/24/01 -0400, Larry wrote:
>
> One of my big beefs are the guys that ask a big shipping and handling
>charge. I sometimes wonder if that is how they really make their money.
> I've passed on many desired things due to that rip-off.
>

   This isn't confined to E-bay. This is common practice (at least in the
US). In fact, MANY times when you mail order stuff you're not even getting
it from the distributer/manufacturer. Many of them have agreements with an
outside company whereby the other company stores it in their own warehouse
and handles all the packing and shipping in return for those fat "handling
and shipping charges". It's not a practice that I approve of. I feel like
I'm paying twice for something.

   FWIW Everytime that I see anything about "handling or shipping charges"
on an auction, I e-mail the seller and ask for the exact charge BEFORE I
will bid on their item. Many times I do not bid on an item specificly
because I feel that their charges are excessive or because they fail to
reply to my questions.

   There are some bargains on E-bay but you really have to pay attention to
the details!

    Joe
Received on Tue Apr 24 2001 - 12:05:24 BST