Camera shops must be hurting

[Frank Petronio]

It's called the free enterprise system..nobody is forced to buy...

Yeah but sometimes people are sneaky about those charges which isn't good.

[Mark Barendt]

Yeah but sometimes people are sneaky about those charges which isn't good.

Sneaky? I used a stronger term when it happened to me.

[rdenney]

Heck - ever looked at the fine print on one of those $19.95 TV ads (that flashes past
in about 2 sec). Paying three or four times as much for "shipping and handling" as for
the product itself is routine. I know parts houses that have a $25 min charge on a fifty
cent part. Otherwise, they wouldn't even bother. Sometimes you gotta wonder, however. Like the dude at the burger stand driveup window who was getting six hundred bucks per bag of "french fries".

I bought an O-ring kit for my Kodak thermostat valve from the local distributor for Lawler Valve, who made it. They sold the kit for $25 or thereabouts. But the distributor called me back--Lawler had a $200 minimum order which could be waive in favor of a $25 handling fee. That pissed me off for two reasons: 1.)Lawler sent me to a regionally protected supplier who, despite that regional protection, does not routinely order more than $200 at a whack (I was told it might be several months), and 2.) Lawler was extorting money from end users merely because they don't want to mess with them, despite that most of their products (shower valves, for example) sell to end users. But after a short cooling-off period, I realized that if the distributor had told me the rebuild kit was $50 instead of $25, I'd have probably just paid the price without being too pissed. I've paid more for such specialized stuff before, even though the components are themselves quite cheap. I'm paying for someone to put together a kit that includes just the right items.

And it is quite nice to have that ancient Kodak valve able to hold temperature within a quarter degree with nary a drip. Lesson: If the total price is still within reason, just pay it and shut up. (I have a total of $125 into that valve--it's $475 new.)

Rick "who happily paid $20 to ship a Pentax 6x7 TTL prism shutter speed ring from Japan, because the ring was also $20--far less than the usual price" Denney

[BrianShaw]

I just bid on item without realizing the seller had a shipping and handling fee that was at least twice as high as actual postage, for a simple item. It was still a low bid but they "got" me and I probably should have canceled my bid out of spite.

I look a two things before bidding - shipping cost, and location - since that is sometimes even more important than the selling price. Some sellers are "sneaky" (greedy) about shipping, and others are sneaky about their location. Interestingly, no matter how suspicious I am of Chinese sellers I've always had good experiences with them. They really have the postal system working right for them!

[rknewcomb]

You realize right, that Ebay now takes a percentage of your postage charge as part of their "final Value Fee". So if you charge a low shipping charge that is near what it actually costs you to ship, that Ebay will cut into that.
I usually lose money on shipping because I hate to charge folks so much.

[BrianShaw]

I usually lose money on shipping because I hate to charge folks so much.

You are not alone!

[OldCrow]

I think as a whole people should shift away from ebay. They get a percentage of everything from listing (Ebay), selling(ebay), shipping(ebay shipping and USPS deal), payment (paypal sister company).

You are giving away on average to them 18-20 percent of the final sale to ebay and to sellers who work the system. This is why ebay is trying to hide everything from the customer. Try to get in touch with them on the phone. You need a pin number to do so.

[Alan Gales]

You realize right, that Ebay now takes a percentage of your postage charge as part of their "final Value Fee". So if you charge a low shipping charge that is near what it actually costs you to ship, that Ebay will cut into that.
I usually lose money on shipping because I hate to charge folks so much.

OK, I'll try again!

Ebay charging an additional price on shipping is plain ridiculous. It's just another way to get into our pockets. Pure greed! No wonder their nickname is Fee Bay.

I purchased an inexpensive postal scale from Office Depot so my shipping costs is usually right on the penny. No one likes to be raped with over priced shipping costs.

[Brian Ellis]

Is that charge really from a camera shop? You do realize that there's some of us who live in the area and it might not be that difficult to do someone a favor?

-- Brian "Will do favor for print, or just to be psychotically nice" Miller

I don't know who the seller was. And I for sure wasn't the buyer.

[Brian Ellis]

. . . I usually lose money on shipping because I hate to charge folks so much.

Me too, especially on international sales which is one reason why I no longer sell anything outside the U.S. A couple years ago I sold 10 or so 4x5 film holders to a guy in France and essentially gave him the holders for free because the actual shipping charge was so much higher than what I had quoted after going on line to figure out the charge. I forget why, it had something to do with the on line cost being based on under 4 lbs and my box was like 4 lbs 2 ounces.