johnny1423

Hi all
While trolling a while back I ran across a fellow Cincinnatian that seemed to sell some cool 944/951 stuff.
Yesterday I came across his auction(NR)selling chrome powder coated 951 hard pipes.
I sent a message asking if local pick up was ok(since my office is in his same zip code)...I got no response.
I threw a low bid out and won for $15.50 Shipping was listed at $22.82 (how he arrived at this price is beyond me..at most the pipes in a box is 1 pound or so).
I immediately sent another message that I was right around the corner from him and would like to pick up in person.
His response came right away(funny he did not respond BEFORE i bought)
"I'm sorry we dont have local pickup"
I sent a note right back reminding him I am very close, asking if we could work a solution...I even offered to buy lunch for his trouble.
His response.."The pipes cost me more than the purchases price & shipping. I'm just trying to recoupe some of my cost- You got a great deal on a quality product.These sell for over 100.00 at the swap meets.If you dont want them I have another buyer, check around first, I think you will find you got a very very good deal".
I sent another note informing him that what he had invested,what the item is worth, and what the item sells for are not relevant to each other...also that way overcharging for shipping is a no-no and just bad business.
In the end I paid the a-hole his money.
I just thought you all should be aware.
His ebay name is porsche944944
PS- I will be selling my original hard pipes if anyone is interested...I promise not to rape on shipping!!!!

tifosiman

I think I know who he is. If it is who I am thinking of he swindled a fellow 'lister out of a deposit on a 951.

I greatly dislike the growing trend on ebay to make your profit on the shipping in order to avoid paying percentage fees on the actual selling price of the goods. I wish ebay could come up with a way to police that. In the end I guess it will still be the ever-famous "buyer beware".

aribop

I was watching that auctionbut after looking at the shipping cost I decided to pass.

xsboost90

yeah ive seen alot of auctions like that- $10 for a transmission and $1000 for shipping type of stuff.

75ohm

Holy **** - you are RIGHT! This sounds petty for what I bought, but holds true... a 2 dollar item with 10 bucks in shipping. Or another one, a 5 dollar item with 14 bucks in shipping. For both, worth my total investment but I have seen that trend... I bet 10 bucks (50 with shipping) that Ebay will be all over it soon...

GodSpeed

a while back i saw some serge droplinks for sale on ebay for one doller!!! the shipping was $45

Tom R.

look up the steel floor mats. after you added the shipping i could have gotten a set from moss motors for my miata cheaper.

smlporsche

Let me play the devil's advocate....

First I don't know the individual or anything about him. I have however sold quite a few parts on eBay from my S2 while turning it into a track car.
As an individual seller it is virtually impossible to know what it will cost to ship a particular item to a particular destination. In my situation I took a WAG and hoped for the best. Sometimes I burned myself, sometimes I made a couple of extra dollars.

Now as a buyer you have to figure the price including shipping as the total price, whatever it is. If a seller charges $50 for shipping then you must include that figure into your decision into wether it is worth it to you or not. By placing your bid you are agreeing to the terms set forth by the seller. Period.

And finally the cost of the item has no bearing on the cost of shipping.

Just my $02.

owner944

The reason for shifting the cost to the shipping is that ebay doesn't take a cut of the shipping pric, only the bid price. If you have a $50 bid and a $10 shipping cost, ebay will get about $5. If you have a $10 bid and a $50 shipping cost, ebay will only get about $1.50.

So, caveat emptor, dude!

89magic98

I agree with this - I don't expect the seller to make an extra trip to the post office to calculate shipping costs exactly. Further, shipping "costs" that we don't think of include packing material, time/gas for the trip to the post office, not just postage.

I'd rather not go through the inconvenience of meeting someone in person to sell a part. What is my time worth if the buyer shows up late, cancels out, or makes you rearrange your day to meet them? A seller is also justified in not letting someone come to his house or place of work either.

jgporsche

i got a nasty email from the same ebay seller. i myself sell powder coated parts on ebay, and sell them at realistic prices. he cursed me for selling "inferior products" and taking "HIS" business from him.

aribop

Forward that email to Ebay...unless he has bought your products he has no way to know what the quality is...besides, Ebay discourages this type of behavior.

jgporsche

please ..... i sent ebay an email regarding stolen products, and they told me to contact my local authorities. the guy lived 700 miles away. ebay is such a SCAM, period!

1st they charge you for starting an auction.
next they charge you another fee after the auction is over.
then you get taxed again when you get paid through paypal.

Kurt R

If I have to say one good thing about eBay - at least you can modify the display page and display shipping right next to the bid price in the list. That sure saves a lot of time clicking on the low priced auctions just to see the shipping price.

Legoland951

If the shipping cost is CLEARLY stated, pay it or don't bid on it. Nothing shady about it as its represented and I bid on anything with that in mind. In the rare instance I sell anything on ebay, I always charge actual shipping cost even if it cost me time and $ for packaging material.