Just a note to remind those who buy via catalog or the net to be aware of in infamous shipping and handling charges.
Every year about this time I order a calendar by Joseph R Tomelleri titled “Trout of North America”. The art work is fantastic and history of the fish is well written.
This year, via Froogle, I found several places that sold the calendar for between 8 and 9 dollars. However the cost of shipping varied from a low of $2.50 to $6.00.
Six bucks to mail a calendar? Needless to say they did not get my order.
good warning and well timed. If it’s not posted clearly, you should always ask up front about shipping costs. Also it helps to order early so you can use the slower but cheaper delivery systems.
shipping costs on ebay purchases are notoriously high simply because ebay doesn’t charge a commission on them… yet.
sending flies down to the US costs me an average of 4-5$, when the same size package gets sent back up here it is usually about 1.50 tops. Go figure. (and UPS is suing the Canadian postal service on the grounds that it is “subsidized”… yeah right, maybe by the public sending the mail :roll:
I buy and sell quite a bit of electronic equipment on ebay. Trust me, when I tell someone what I paid for it, I include the shipping. DAH! I will not bid on anything with outlandish shipping and handling charges. There are so many who work with ebay and so many fools who fall for some of the tricks. Nothing beats experience. Tread lightly if at first you enter the ebay zone.
I once bought a set of 500 poker chips on ebay for a penny, of course i paid $59.95 for shipping :shock:
Yes i knew exactly what i as doing, when i shop on ebay i set a budget goal that includes shipping. In this case the shipping was exorbitantly high but the selling price was riducously low so it worked out
Ebay high shipping charges is usually to avoid ebay listing and selling fees. Ebay is aware and busy checking out reports of such antics. Report abusers to ebay.
I don’t disagree that the sellers use existing rules (ebay, fed. and state taxes) to their advantage. However, the buyers use the same rules to their advantage as well. Crotalus had it right. A buyer should look at the anticipated total price. If it’s going to be too much, don’t bid. I once bought pocket knives for $1.00 each. The shipping was a flat fee depending on quantity. I think it was: 1-6 @ $5.00, 7-12 @ $8. I only wanted 2 but decided to buy 6.
You willing to sell one of your ‘Mosquitos’ for $1? I’ll even pay $50 for shipping :lol:
I once bought a jack knife on ebay. It was listed for pennies. Didn’t look at the shipping fee(Dumb)…how much could it be? At the time priority mail was $3.85 under a pound anywhere in the U.S. (Now $4.05)…It was $29.95 shipping!!! And it was one of those crummy $9.99 knives they sell in quick marts…Asian import that would not hold an edge. Just before 9/11 gov was trying to find a way to tax sales on ebay…then it was forgotten about…still no taxes but only a matter of time. Some people charge state sales tax in their own state sales, mostly people who also have actual stores and sell old stuff ,or buy out stuff, or imported flies that cost them $3 a dozen. But still no taxes on ebay sales…at least not on normal items…not familiar with cars, boats or other multi thousand dollar items. These guys charge these high fees mainly to avoid paying ebay selling and listing fees to ebay. Ebay has had several ‘town meetings’ and other announcements on this practice. Sun glasses, fake RayBans etc are often sold this way. I have yet to see an item on ebay with these phoney S/H charges where the total between item cost plus S/H was worth the total. I now just will not buy from these people…By the way…99 cents and 99 dollars S/H will buy you a loose Mosquito…LOL Cost $145 with rosewood base, beveled mirror and 4X4 dome at the shows LOL! See you there.
The calendar came in the mail today. There was no indication of how much of the $2.50 went to shipping and how much to handling. Not that it really mattered much. What I want to do is let Doug Shock know that the 2007 verison is every bit as nice as this years calendar.
