Nah, it's just a pennywise pound foolish seller. But if this is oversea shipping, then I can sympathize with the seller.
Pro tip: do not sell overseas. |
Canada...I had two nightmarish months waiting for a Micro BL-10X turntable from Canada. The tracking interrupted when the parcel left Canada and then appeared in Rusisan in 1.5 or 2 months.
Besides, though I paid for double packaging, the seller said when he brought the TT to the post office they did not accept it in the double box due to its size, so he had to discard the outer box... I thing he was lying - the TT is not bulky and its net weight is only 12.5 kg.
Luckily, it came safe in a single manufacturer's box and I am happy with this turntable. |
That's right. I acquired this player from my sun as he doesn't need it any longer. The top cover had scratches, I brought it to the powder painting shop, the work seemed good but I cannot assemble it now. Perhaps, the coating had extra layer which interferes... I have to explore it. |
Wow! Strong comments. Completely disagree based on my substantial experience and reality. Just too broad of a brush being used here. I have separated the two and with wonderful outcomes and actually saved the buyer money. We are not all Devils on this wonderful site. As always, buyer beware and look at the feedback! |
It's common to not quote shipping until destination and shipping method is known. It's uncommon and suspicious if someone tries to separate the charges... sounds dishonest and manipulative. Best to walk away from anyone who tries to avoid 1 completed charge to close the deal. |
Shipping and paypal fees are nothing if your item happens to get caught up in customs. Anyone every try shipping something to and from Canada? lol. Your package just disappears for a couple of months, and reappears with a bunch of orange stickers all over it holding what used to be the box together. And your audio components is now a kit that requires assembly. |
Last two comments are spot on with overseas sales. The seller is being smart. |
While I have sold items overseas they were small and I have never had a problem. They were all sent by USPS.
Larger items can get much more complicated and shipping can get into hundreds of dollars so I understand the sellers system in this case because shipping cost can't be figured in advance.
Personally I would just forgo foreign sales entirely to avoid the potential nightmares and headaches, customs being one of them.
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I see nothing wrong with the seller asking for a separate
payment/invoice for shipping if it's going to be the actual
shipping charges. I wish that I had thought of it in the
past. I've been killed on shipping several times on items
that I've sold. But, if I thought it would help the item
sell faster, I'd just go with the flat/estimated shipping
rate and eat the difference.
If this was an item that I just HAVE to have, I'd just pay
the extra fees to obtain the item. I wouldn't waste time
haggling over shipping if the estimate was anywhere near
reasonable.
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I should have mentioned this before, but I have seen many times, where a seller is trying to do the right thing with a policy like this. When a seller charges a flat rate for shipping and fees, they often get accused with trying to make a profit on them. And for the most part its true. Most sellers add a little extra to make sure they're covered no matter what happens. I haven't sold anything in quite a while, but I'm no exception. None of us wants to loose money when we sell something. But my point is, some sellers want to be completely honest and only charge actual fees. Not a penny more or less. I'm not saying that's the case here. I'm just presenting a different view. For all I know, the seller could very well be dishonest. |
What country is the seller from? I see that your country is Russia which (no offense intended toward you whatsoever, only the potential seller) barely beats out Nigeria as far as potential transactional issues are concerned. There is always another seller, be patient. |
"PayPal and eBay explicitly state that the buyer is not to be assessed the fees and yet I see it all the time. It's time the buyers started telling the sellers to go pound sand..."
That's because PayPal and eBay are the same company. They've always had that policy, but they can only enforce it on eBay. Unless something has changed, PayPal can't stop you from collecting the fee from a buyer on other sites. If a seller on AG charges a PayPal fee, they aren't breaking any rules. |
Run for the hills!
If it's this complicated now, imagine what will happen when he doubles the shipping cost to you and already has your other money-you will be screwed. Worse yet, imagine how tough it will be to get any satisfaction if there is a problem with the piece. RUN FOREST, RUN... |
One thing not mentioned here is that the fees he has charged you are *his* to pay, not yours. If he didn't bother to figure the fees into the selling price that's his problem. PayPal and eBay explicitly state that the buyer is not to be assessed the fees and yet I see it all the time. It's time the buyers started telling the sellers to go pound sand...
-RW- |
Some people make this whole thing much more complicated than it needs to be. I'd ignore this one. |
Well if he is tried to charge you an ebay fee for an item sold on this site, I'd be pretty careful about buying anything from him, unless of course it's that awesome bridge he's got listed with a $0.01 reserve ;-) |
Go to post office for quote? With potential buyers zip code and product weight, he can get all the quotes he needs online.
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And that is strange since I did not post that answer twice.
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Yes, very strange. What is his sales feedback?
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this isn't strange at all. He probably wants to lock in the sale before going to the post office for a quote, then have the buyer back out. |
He charged 4.25% as PayPal fee (not 3%) and tried to charge 7% as E-bay fee (but subsequently changed his mind).
In the meantime, I borrowed a similar item to figure out whether I like it or not, and then will decide. |
I'm with Swampwalker on this. He's probably been burned
in the past by under-calculating shipping. You're not
paying the fee twice because 3% of the total will always
be 3%.
If you pay $1000 + 3% it is $1030. Then shipping costs
$50 + 3% = $51.50. Or if you paid the full amount plus
shipping it'd be $1050 + 3% = $1081.50. $1030 + $51.50 =
$1081.50. Break it up or combine it. Percentages don't
change.
But it definitely is an odd way to go about selling an
item nonetheless. |
He's trying to hedge his bets on the shipping to make sure that it's not heavier than he thought after it's packed up. OTOH, if you are paying a %, it shouldn't matter how many invoices it's broken into. |
Yes, very strange. What is his sales feedback?
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