Ebay and shipping

I was a little bored this morning so did some simple browsing through things on the Internet. I decided to search out some large tatsy shuttles (for tatting). That search lead me to eBay. From there I got lead to some different auctions for all types of shuttles. I have shuttles for weaving, use some of the large shuttles for huge macrame projects, so these are always of an interest to me.

I started noticing that there was some very large auctions for bobbin lace pins and decided to check them out. They are lots of older shuttles that look pretty neat, or would after a bit of cleanup.

Then I noticed the shipping and started to laugh. I know the eBay rules. There is not suppose to be any large amounts of increases in shipping/handling costs as this is kind of a way to cheat the buyer. I don't know how many of you look at eBay but the most recent trend is to up the shipping costs a lot.

OK there is handling, packing materials, and then the actual shipping costs. Well, recently I shipped off two dresses back to the place they were bought. Packing actually cost me nothing as they went back in the box from the company. Still I sent them priority mail (the fastest one), added in $200 for insurance (dress $100 each), then added delivery confirmations to the mix. All in all these cost me $11 total shipping.

So why in the world would it cost from $8 to $11 to ship a little amount of bobbins, regular mail, no shipping, no insurance. Boy that must be some packing material. I also recently shipped a large box of yarn to a friend and that was not the lightest box, not like these little bobbins would be, but it didn't cost me anywhere near the cost of those bobbins to be shipped.

At this point in time I have pretty much stopped buying on eBay. That is not to say I won't if there is something I really want at a good price, but it has, eBay, become the biggest scam of the day if you are not careful. The sellers raise those shipping cost way too high, they want a starting bid of way too much and very often a simple search of the Internet will find you the exact same thing at a lower cost, and less shipping. For example the tatsy shuttles I first started my search for, I could name several great dealers who's costs are less and the shipping is definitely a lot less then the eBay sellers wanted.

OK that is my gripe for the practice I see getting worse and worse. So if you do eBay, do be sure to watch for that over inflated shipping costs (not all sellers run that practice, but it can catch you unawares if you are not careful) and when you see that oh so wanted something, do a simple search to see if it is available someplace else first. You just might get a surprise and be money in the bank because you took the time for that little search. ROFLOL

Oh one last thing, be sure to check the "antique" listings, they are not always as "antique" as the seller wants you to think they are.