Unusual stuff on Ebay

[Jimhart]

Not sure if it's the economy or what, but there's some unusual Festool stuff going on on Ebay. Nothing outrageous, just a heads up to folks who don't go there often.

One guy in NY seems to think it's clever to low ball the price, then ask the highest S&H ever. For example, he's listed a CT33 with some extras for $425 Buy it Now. Shipping $382. I would hate to not notice that until after i pushed the Buy it Now button. Yesterday, he sold a Festool Planer for $300, plus $103 shipping. Still not too bad of a deal, but........

There's another former dealer selling off a lot of inventory. Almost all of his Buy it Now prices are above current retail once you've added on shipping.

Jim

 

[sw1211]

Speaking of unusual, the latest McFeelys catalog came over the weekend.  Not a single Festool in there.  Their website still has everything listed.  Wonder why they'd spend the money sending out a catalog and not include Festool.  Fein and Bosch had multiple pages.

 

[Forrest Anderson]

One guy in NY seems to think it's clever to low ball the price, then ask the highest S&H ever. For example, he's listed a CT33 with some extras for $425 Buy it Now. Shipping $382. I would hate to not notice that until after i pushed the Buy it Now button. Yesterday, he sold a Festool Planer for $300, plus $103 shipping. Still not too bad of a deal, but........

Charging excessive shipping is a method of circumventing eBay fees, and is against eBay rules. Sellers can be reported to eBay, and a range of actions that eBay can take are listed at the end of the following extract, taken from http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/listing-shipping.html

Excessive Shipping Charges Policy

When listing an item using eBay?s shipping calculator, or specifying a shipping cost in categories for which eBay does not prescribe maximum shipping and handling charges, sellers may charge reasonable shipping and handling fees to cover the costs of mailing, packaging, and handling. eBay will rely on member reports and its own discretion to determine whether or not a seller?s shipping, handling, packaging, and/or insurance charges are excessive. Shipping and handling fees may not be listed as a percentage of the final sale price.

Shipping and handling charges may include:

Actual Shipping cost: This is the actual cost paid to the carrier (i.e. postage) for shipping the item.
Handling Fee: Actual packaging material costs may be charged. A handling fee in addition to actual shipping cost may be charged if it is not excessive.
Insurance: Sellers may offer buyers insurance and extra services provided through the carrier at actual cost. These services include, but are not limited to: Certificate of Mailing, Certified Mail, Collect on Delivery, Delivery Confirmation, Insured Mail, Registered Mail, Restricted Delivery, Return Receipt, Signature Confirmation and Special Handling.

Charges not allowed in Shipping & Handling:

Tax: Only actual applicable federal, state, country, city, VAT, and equivalent taxes may be charged.
Additional insurance protection: No additional amount such as ?self insurance? may be added.Sellers who do not use a licensed 3rd party insurance company may not require buyers to purchase insurance. This is a violation of state law.
Tariffs and duties: For cross border transactions, sellers may not collect tariffs and duties.However, buyer may be responsible for actual tariffs and duties as required by country laws.
Fees related to Shipping & Handling: Gasoline, mileage, time spent at a carrier, time spent packaging the item, eBay and PayPal fees may not be added.

Violations of this policy may result in a range of actions, including:

Listing cancellation
Limits on account privileges
Account suspension
Forfeiture of eBay fees on cancelled listings
Loss of PowerSeller status

Forrest

 

[nickao]

Yeah that shipping thing used to be the norm you do not see it that much anymore as people have become more sophisticated. But when eBay first started up that was rampant.

I still see guy charging like 30.00 when it should cost 9.00 saying it is a handling fee. I just shy away from that . Many times you can get free ship from Amazon for the same price or a few dollars more so always compare anything to amazon an your local stores of course.

 

[rnt80]

Sadly, I noticed that someone has bid on a 42" guide rail that has a shipping cost of $70!  The opening bid is $50.  I don't understand how these people sleep at night or look themselves in the mirror.

 

[getyourbone]

Speaking of unusual, the latest McFeelys catalog came over the weekend.  Not a single Festool in there.  Their website still has everything listed.  Wonder why they'd spend the money sending out a catalog and not include Festool.  Fein and Bosch had multiple pages.

My guess is the retailer gets co-op dollars for advertising from the manufacturers.  They may not have had any co-op from Festool to spend? 

Any dealers out there that can confirm this?

 

[nickao]

Sadly, I noticed that someone has bid on a 42" guide rail that has a shipping cost of $70!  The opening bid is $50.  I don't understand how these people sleep at night or look themselves in the mirror.

I don't understand how someone can be so stupid to bid on it in the first place. If the buyer does not do their homework that is their problem. And if the buyer over pays, but feels good with the deal that is fine for both parties.

I mean the shipping is clearly listed and marked. It is not false advertising or deceiving in anyway and no one has to bid on it. If they bid on it they still have time to retract their bid. I just hate when buyers get "buyers remorse" after the purchase. To me if you bid and win and read the listing wrong that is your problem.

Ebay has so many rules in place for the buyers that I have not sold anything on there in 18 months and I will not. It is the sellers getting mostly screwed these days, not the buyers. I can't even give a bad strike to anyone if they rip me off and do not pay, but they could give me a bad strike if I do everything perfect, it's ridiculous. I had a complaint because it took 3 days for an item to arrive to someone. I sent it out that day and my listing said 8-10 days, still he left a negative remark, its stupid. I go to the store in town and I can not leave a bad mark at the front door against them and local sellers say online sellers have an advantage, thats bull crap as far as customer complaints getting to a potential client.

Luckily my inlay buisiness has a perfect 100% rating out of 950 transactions, but I am done with ebay except for buying only now.