Wow! That's rediculous!

No doubt therre are a lot of sellers out there who are looking to make a profit on shipping alone. I'm not one of those sellers. I think that's a fairly poor practice, and honestly, you won't keep many customers doing stuff like that.

Often, I'll sell a chip, and after shipping and everything, I'll have suffered a substantial (percentage wise) loss on the sale. Since I start all of my auctions at .99 (I usually get a better final price for them starting this low, and the listing fee is a little less too), some of them sell at that price. I've never purchased a chip for resale at anything close to .99, so I lose money.

However, my s/h fees aren't to make up for any losses. I'm doing no more than covering expenses. Every retail industry does the same thing. If taxes go up or if cost of materials rise, prices go up. They have to cover their operating costs. I believe it's the same on eBay. However, I'm not raising my s/h charges at all.

I think Banjo is right: The seller clearly states the s/h costs in the auction, and when you bid, you've agreed to abide by those costs. There are MANY times I've not bid on an item because of the s/h costs. Those need to be factored into your final bid amount, and if you're not agreeable to them, you shouldn't bid.

I completely agree with you that there is a TON of abuse out there. I don't think just putting s/h costs out there is enough; they have to be fairly reasonable too. I think mine are, but you're right, some people just charge crazy amounts. There was a guy who was selling CDs out there, shipping via media mail in padded mailers charging $10 for EACH CD!! Sellers like that, IMO, should be avoided.

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