About buying stuff on eBay.....

Check with LJ fedsawdave he knows everything regarding shipping charges.

-- --<<<<<< I will not stop until I get it right. >>>>>>--

One thought about the shipping, some sellers do that for us Canadians. You don’t pay insurance or import fees on shipping, just purchase price.

In my experience you don’t find many good deals from people who know about the tools. The guys you get deals from scrounge thrift stores and garage sales for items that they know they can resell at a profit.

-- You know.... I think that old wood needs to be furniture.

Well No
I’ve bought hundreds of things on e bay and most were fine ,including equipment,trucks,tools ,food and of course routers and more .Your evaluation is pretty good when you run across things like those kind of items don’t bid. It’s like any business transaction if you don’t feel good about the seller or don’t believe what there telling you or the won’t tell you what you want to know,don’t do business with them.

-- Jim from Heirloom Woodshop Southern Oregon

One note I would add to this is that I have bought items on Ebay and had ridiculous shipping charges, such as $500, for an item only to see a discount applied that brings it to a reasonable level when I go to make the payment. I am not sure if this is what is going on with you or not but I really do not see what the purpose behind this practice is for. If a shipping charge is advertised as $10.00 I fail to see the logic behind posting a $500 shipping charge and then applying a discount of $490.00.

-- With God's help all things are possible- even woodworking. Woodworking is not just a hobby, it is an (expletive deleted) expensive hobby.

Shipping, handling, duty charges you can never trust what they are going to be it is a gamble.
Even if it is free always beware of some charges

-- --<<<<<< I will not stop until I get it right. >>>>>>--

I’ve bought lots of stuff on eBay and never had a problem. You just need to remember that anything that seems too good to be true probably is. Keep your expectations in line, and you’ll be okay.

As far as shipping and handling, some sellers like to price low, but get you on the shipping and handling. Others will offer free shipping, but they get you on the price. I’ve found it is best to add the price and the shipping together and just look at the bottom line when deciding if an item is worth it or not. For example, I bought a bunch of clamps one time that were dirt cheap. Shipping was about three times the price of the clamps, but the bottom line was still a pretty good deal.

-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"

remember that planes are often heavy and awkwardly shaped. All shipping has gotten more expensive. normal sized planes shouldn’t ussually cost more than $15 per item no matter where in the continental US you are.

I always contact sellers for the precise amount they will charge. I don’t bid until I get an answer. Those shipping calculators that some sellers link to their listings are pretty reliable.
Anyone ever receive an item that was grossly misrepresented?
Scott, I wonder if overinflating the shipping charge, then discounting it, puts them in a more favorable bracket in their UPS account? Just a guess…

-- If Stradivarius was alive today, he'd be using Gorilla Glue.

CharlieM1958, That was one of the points I alluded to earlier. If your ‘dirt cheap’ clamps were so unsatisfactory that you had no choice but to send them back, the seller would still keep the lion’s share of your money in his pocket, by refunding your dirt-cheap purchase price and keeping the inflated shipping fees in his pocket.

-- If Stradivarius was alive today, he'd be using Gorilla Glue.

We have had an Ebay busisness for 8 years now. We sell collectables and antique paper, trade cards and mics. We have also bought hundreds of items on Ebay as well. If a seller does not post shipping costs and return policy we ask them before we bid. If they do not provide this information, we do not bid. We have never had a problem selling or buying on Ebay.

-- Mc Bridge Cabinets, Iowa

Never had a problem with Ebay. I look close at what the seller is charging for shipping.

The largest I had was a driveshaft for my bike. $5.00 only one to bid, $14.00 shipping for weight. Retail used is 600 plus 1300.00 new.

And a set of front forks since they were 10 dollars. Shipped for 22.00

I have gotten a few tools, I watch the bids. I check how they are being shipped and stay within the US for the most part.

Make sure they are firm upfront.

-- Measure once cut twice....oh wait....ooops.

Ebay is just people…most are honest, some prone more to profit (many are businesses), and some are a bit dishonest. Most of my dealings have been good. I expect realistic shipping charges or I won’t bid/buy.

There are several guys who have an excellent reputation for rehabbing and selling handplanes on wwing forums like Woodnet…possibly some here, I just don’t know who they are.

I charge Flat rate shipping for my Curly Maple, It’s pretty much $1.00 a pound. On the east coast I might make a dollar / ship to the west coast I lose a dollar. It all works out.
Use your gut feeling, and contact the seller ask them Why are you charging this amount. Pretty much if you think it’s a funny deal it probably is, so find a different seller that you feel comfortable with and buy from them. Ebay works on the fact that people are generally good. However, I did get it once, it was my own fault for not going with my gut feeling. The seller location was listed as USA. That should have tipped me off.
I bought a Little Einstines DVD pack for my son Nick. When I got it, it turned out to be in Korean. The sellers account had been closed and I got ripped off. My sister took it to the city and asked about five differnt asian people if they could read the cover until one said yes, my sister gave it to her, she was happy to give it to her grandkids.

-- There's many a slip betwixt a cup and a lip.--Scott

You should check yourself, but I believe the numbers stated in the original post would violate eBay’s terms of service relating to shipping charges.

eBay only collects final value fees on the actual selling price of the item, not shipping, so they have an interest in items with extremely inflated shipping charges. I’d pass on bidding on the item, and report the auctions. I don’t know if eBay will do anything, but it’s not difficult to report the seller.

-- - Please help keep Lumberjocks an enjoyable escape by refusing to participate in political discussions. Simply spit out the bait and ignore the thread...

Also look at the sellers feed back score. I have sold and bought on e-bay for 6 years and maintain 100% positive feed back. I don’t buy from sellers with less then 90%. I only had 1 bad buy but it was my fault for not completly reading the discription. I bought a dozen tape measures and didn’t realize they were only metric.
But then I did sell them and made a small profit so not so bad after all.

-- Rick, Pa. Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.

people do that as a workaround on the ebay posting fees as the shipping charges are not counted towards the price of posting and selling an item on ebay.

basically it works like this

the seller has an item he wants to sell for $100. shipping the item will likely cost about $8 so the seller lists the item for $1 and charges $108 for shipping

when the item sells (for $1) ebay charges him their fees for a $1 item and the seller pockets his $100 fee free

it is a clear violation of ebays rules although many people do it. i would avoid that seller personally….