LOW ITEM PRICE BUT HIGH SHIPPING CHARGES
How to discover a scammer seller
The Big Deal
Ok, you were looking for an item and your search gives you 49 items from different sellers. You found the item you were looking for. Of course, as a smart seller you discard the more expensive and look for the less expensive option, and bid or do Buy it Now on it. You might be happy, you made a big deal, then the check out and pay your item.
This is, aparently, the normal and smart buyer. But he forgot something: checking the shipping cost and knowing how much will the grand total be before buying the item. If he or she had done this, he could have seen other options; maybe better or maybe not, but would have had more choices.
One friend told me: "I am not upset if I paid more or not for an item, we all can make a bad choice or purchase. What really upsets me is when someone tries to fool me offering me an item at low price but with a high and excesive shipping cost"
Some sellers list their items at very low prices, hoping that buyers don't realize the high shipping charges which is where the sellers are making their money. For example, on Mannequin forms you will find them starting at $ 0.99 with shipping cost of $ 39.99 when the real shipping cost is around $ 12.00. Of course, some sellers can list at $ 0.99 as an strategy to get visitors to their stores or hoping the auction goes up, but the shipping cost must be the real cost, or their auction, is just a scam.
Why do they do it?
There are many reasons, maybe one of the most important is to avoid the ebay fees. That shows them as non honest ebay sellers (I don't know what can I expect from a deshonest seller).
With a low item price the insertion fee is minimum and ebay doesn't charge final value fee on the shipping cost. So if for a honest seller listing an item could cost him $ 1.60, for a scammer seller the same listing would cost $ 0.75 (The worst thing is that the money saved will not benefit the buyer, as you will see ahead)
Another reason is, of course winning another sellers. Many people, either because they are busy or because they don't know, don't see the shipping charges or don't compare. This is a simple form of trying to fool us.
If the buyer looks at the total he would pay with other sellers, he would notice that the amount is the same or maybe pennies more or less but not the big deal someone is trying to sell him.
What about the refund of your money? If the item is defective or misrepresented for which you paid so little, how much do you think you will get back since all refund policies say the shipping cost is not refundable?. If I bought a set of three mannequin forms which cost is $ 8.99 with $ 37.99 of shipping, how much will I get back?
How can you discover them?
Ask them if they allow picks up. The answer will be "Sorry no pick ups" . How will they allow pick ups if they have their source of profits in the excesive difference between the real shipping cost and their high amount listed.
Ask them, how much is the shipping if you buy 10 or 20 pieces?. Of course the shipping will be astronomic or they would avoid it.
Check all their items, most of them will have similar prices (usually less than $ 9.99). No matter how different are the items, they have similar price but different and crazy high shipping costs.
What to do?
Be a smart buyer! Compare the total price you would pay (shipping plus item price) and the most important thing don't allow them to make us fool! . That is bad for the ebay community too because if they win, all the honest sellers will dissappear or do the same to survive.
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