eBay bid - have I been screwed?

El Moose Monstero · Post by **El Moose Monstero** » 2005-12-12 10:18am

Just won a bid for a laptop keyboard which I needed replacing - 20 dollars, a bargain at the price.

Seller said contact for shipping price - so I did, got no response - did a quick calculation on package weight etc and figured US to UK postage costs would only come to at most an extra 30 dollars. So I bid.

I won said bid, seller finally got back to me and said 'US international flat rate of shipping' 20 dollars. Great, then ontop of that, there was an additional charge of 39 dollars! 39 fucking dollars!

I've got to pay it, I've bid for it. But I'm really fucking pissed off about it. For 50 quid I might as well have got one from a UK provider! Plus there was absolutely no mention of any additional charges or markups on the item advertisement.

Can I do anything about it beyond leave negative feedback and swear never to take a chance on international bidding again?

Post by **Mr Bean** » 2005-12-12 10:31am

Don't bid on international products as any savings you might make as you found out, are wiped out in the shipping.

El Moose Monstero · Post by **El Moose Monstero** » 2005-12-12 10:39am

I was prepared for the additional costs of shipping, for an item that large, I was predicting perhaps a total postage cost of 30 dollars - I sent a very large international delivery from the US myself, but the additional 40 dollars on top of the flat rate shipping seems insane!

But yes, I agree - my own fault, should have been more cautious. Referred it to ebay, if they come back to me and say that it's a justified postage cost, then I'll pay it like a good boy and lump it.

Namarie · Post by **Namarie** » 2005-12-12 01:31pm

So the keyboard was 20 dollars
the shipping was 20 dollars
and an additional charge of 39 dollars... for...? what was it for exactly?

All in all 80 dollars... 40 quid for a used keyboard. Yuck.

Glocksman · Post by **Glocksman** » 2005-12-12 01:41pm

A lot of eBay sellers pad the shipping costs in order to make more money on the deal.
When I look at items to bid on, I don't even bother if the seller doesn't have a posted shipping amount, and then I factor that into the maximum amount that I'm willing to bid.

That said, did the seller have the $39 additional fee posted in his auction terms?
If not, raise hell with eBay.
If he did, you're SOL.

gizmojumpjet · Post by **gizmojumpjet** » 2005-12-12 01:50pm

I'm a member of the school that thinks flat rate shipping means exactly that: flat rate shipping. If he's trying to pad on an extra $39, simply don't pay it, give him a negative rating, and find another seller. You're under no obligation to allow someone to screw you or add on arbitrary charges.

El Moose Monstero · Post by **El Moose Monstero** » 2005-12-12 01:53pm

Namarie wrote:So the keyboard was 20 dollars
the shipping was 20 dollars
and an additional charge of 39 dollars... for...? what was it for exactly?

All in all 80 dollars... 40 quid for a used keyboard. Yuck.

Brand new laptop keyboard component actually, my laptop keyboard is knackered and no longer responding. Using a plug in job.

The chap got back to me, he says that the costs quoted are actually the full canadian shipping costs to the Uk and posted the website where he got the quotes from. I suppose it's not too much to pay, would probably have paid something similar to get one from the UK. Still not overly happy about it, as it is a little bit more than I was hoping to pay by about 20 quid, but I guess this is a lesson in itself.