Shipping ethics and you. What do you do when shipping is more/less than expected?

As a seller I personally feel there's a little bit of a difference when you quote someone "Shipping/handling" rather than just "Shipping." If it's just shipping, then it's literally the price of the postage. If it's also handling, that means whatever car ride to the post office, time spent, and supplies used. However if something was WAY over, say I thought postage would cost $20 and it wound up being $10, I would definitely refund a bit from my shipping/handling fee.

As a buyer, I would appreciate the distinction in the original sales quote, but definitely understand a $5 tip here and there to account for people's time/gas money/parking money/packing materials, etc. Honestly, between personal sellers, we're still paying so much less shipping than when we buy overseas and have to pay EMS shipping. I'm happy to make their job easier by covering some of their expenses to post the item.

 

If there's a huge difference between what was quoted (as shipping with handling fees) and what I paid for, then I would probably ask for a partial refund on it. I actually weigh what I sell at the post office to get a quote for buyers to make sure that the quotes I give are pretty accurate. I realize that's time consuming though schedule wise for people, but I have time in my schedule to do so.

As a buyer, I expect to pay the difference of what is quoted if it is more. However, as a seller, I usually don't mind making up the difference (particularly when shipping internationally) as I know shipping rates from Canada can be ridiculous.

 

Agreed! I have been running into shipping quote problems with the USPS international website calculator. I put in the weight and dimensions, then I look at the options. I get to the post office with a certain amount of money for the cost only to find out that USPS doesn't ship first class to say Canada when the website distinctly told me it was going to be $13. My options were either regular mail which was $3 or $4 and priority which was $28. At the time, I sent it regular mail because I didn't want to delay sending the item any longer, and wasn't sure if the buyer would be willing to pay the extra $15. I just came back, sent a PM and explained what I was told.

I definitely let the post office know they needed to do a HUGE overhaul to the international shipping section of the website.

I had one buyer who did notice the $10 difference and offered to pay me that money back. I don't normally ask for it because I feel like the post office here giving me bad info isn't the buyer's fault.

 

As a seller I try my best to give accurate quotes. But despite having a postal scale I am often surprised by how far off the shipping estimates at USPS actually are. I take in to consideration the extras, like shipping supplies but if the person still over payed I contact them and return the extra. Usually when I under quote prices I just accept the loss. I don't feel right contacting some one and requesting they send more money because I under estimated shipping. As a buyer I am usually so thrilled when the package arrives that I don't even notice the shipping price on it. I appreciate if some one tells me it cost less than expected and refunds the money but wouldn't be comfortable requesting they do so.

 

I live maybe four minutes away from my USPS office, and they have a very helpful kiosk that I can pay for shipping label's myself with debit card. I also love to ship Priority as the flat rate boxes are probably my favorite easy shipping tool. My shipping quotes are exact, I don't charge "handling" fee's because I consider it a part of the sales transaction.

( * edit - If I sold something, I would just go to the P.O. and get an actual quote. I don't mind doing this and actually, it reflects positively on my selling reputation ).

If I found someone to have over charged me for shipping, I would be irritated, because it's dishonest - plain and simple. I would also PM them and ask about it. Depending on the response, I might never deal with them again.

Then again, if the seller lives a considerable amount of distance from a shipping retailer, then I could see the justifications of charge a "handling" fee. I would also like to be made aware of this before I buy from them.

 

I don't charge handling fees or paypal fees. In my case (distance, working hours) it's not feasible for me to run to the post office every time and get an exact shipping quote so I try to use the package measurements and weight with the online shipping calculator. I'd go broke filling my car with gas trying to get an exact quote on every package.

This town is huge and there are 4 postal locations I know of. One is pick up only, no retail services. One is cash only, closed on Saturday, third one is closed on Saturday, and then the main one downtown.

If the post office website quotes me wrong, I will refund the difference to the buyer. Now that I am aware of the website issue, I will say via PM that there is a chance it could be off and I will refund if overage is paid.

 

I do a lot of ebay. I set a flat rate on most items. A few times the buyer has lived close to me and I over charged on shipping. If the amount I charged is $2 over the real cost I refund the differance.
I have also under charged. In that case I have sent the item and paid the differance myself.

 

I avoid the whole thing by including the shipping with my sale price if I am shipping something in my own country. If I am shipping overseas, I estimate the shipping cost using the guidelines on the USPS website. If the actual amount turns out to be less, I refund the difference and if it is more, I pay for it myself. I dislike quibbling with these details.

 

n the case that shipping is LESS than quoted:

As a buyer if you get the package and you paid $40 for shipping and on the package it says that it was only $15, do you feel entitled to a shipping refund? This has happened to me before on a small scale, usually around 5 dollars, but then I think about the time they had to take, etc. If It was a large difference of over 30 then yes, I would feel entitled to a refund because it should not take a full tank and an hour off work to mail my tiny package

As a seller do you feel that the price was agreed to by both parties so do you feel that a refund is not necessarily needed? Not really no, the buyer is especially subject to the whim of the seller on this one. The seller can have an item you really want at a great price then say "well I only ship priority with 1,000 insurance and confirmation and signature and only on tuesdays" and you kind of have to go with it. You also dont know what they will be shipping your item in, weight, etc. so until you recieve it you have no idea what the box will look like

In the case that shipping is MORE than quoted:

As a buyer do you feel that the seller should pay the difference of what they quoted? I have seen the other side with this transaction! When first getting into the hobby I was so new to mailing internationally. Often times I would quote someone for a package I had just shipped and the quote would be missing insurance or something. Next thing I know Im out over 50 from my pocket because I had never been in the situation before. Honestly, as a buyer I would comply with a refund (at least partial) if someone misquoted me several under. As a seller I would expect people to do the same and realize that sometimes people dont have alot of money and that might be why they sell things. Thus, forcing this amount to come from their pocket is just unfair. I have never directly asked a buyer for a refund of shipping, but I have mentioned "oh your package went 30 over the cost" and I never get so much as a thank you for it, its always an "ok, Ill tell you when it gets here" really, now when I quote shipping I say taht buying from me they agree to pay actual shipping price even if I under-quote

As a seller do you feel that the buyer should make up the difference?answered above ^

 

Usually the shipping I quote is too low! I end up just sending it out without asking for more money. Since the postal office only tends to be less than $10 off. If I ship for too much, I calculate in how much the shipping box/supplies cost as well (again usually a few dollars) and then refund the rest.

The way I see it, shipping isn't really the time to make money. It's actually selling the doll. By the time it comes to shipping, I try to break even as much a possible, but don't mind spending extra for more insurance (for example).

 

As a seller, I do build the cost of materials used and handling of the item into the shipping cost, and the post offices "shipment price" doesn't include those. so when you see a different price quoted on the package that could be why.
If you feel the price is outrageously different, you may want to contact your seller, and ask for specific details on why shipping price was listed at $40 when the package says $15.

Also, if I came to find that I had under quoted my shipping price to the buyer, and the transaction was already in progress. (for example they'd already purchased it with the price already listed, or better yet already payed.) then that's my mistake, and I would bite the difference.
I don't think it's professional or ethical to ask someone else to pay for your mistakes.

When it comes to ebay, there is a policy against some shipping situations.
For example, you buy 5 pendants with the shipping price of $5, the item cost at $1, yet the invoice you receive says your total is $30.
That is charging the price of the item into the shipping when you're sure it won't sell for what you want, THAT is something that should be griped about. especially if the seller says it's because the items are individually packaged and they arrive in ONE package instead of 5.
As a buyer I've been through a lot of the "bad" shipping problems myself, I try to avoid them when it comes to selling to customers. The best that you can do is try and get answers, you may find that the shipping costs were justified in the end.

 

Same here. That just seems to work out for the best all around.

 

I agree with the insurance comment. I include delivery confirmation on all of my packages automatically at no cost to the buyer. Lately, I have been insuring the larger items for free because I feel it protects me as well as the buyer.

 

I never build in the cost of shipping. It might work if you life in the dead center of the country, but at least in the US, shipping something to my fellow East-Coasters takes about half less shipping than sending something to the West-Coasters. There are sometimes I will buy based on location for that very reason.

 

I try whenever possible to get an actual shipping quote, but sometimes for sales it may be better to include it in the original thread... in that case I give my best estimate. If it ends up being more (as I have a tendency to underestimate) I just pay the extra, as it was my responsibility to figure out the shipping before quoting it. If it's less... that depends. Honestly if it's just a little bit less I'll just let that cover packing and shipping supplies and be done with it. If it's a significant percentage I'll refund that amount, but it just seems like more hassle than it's worth to refund $1 if the shipping is $15 instead of $16. More often I end up paying a couple dollars myself, though.

 

I actually do live a little south of about the dead center of the country. It costs about the same to send packages anywhere in the US for me.

 

In the case that shipping is LESS than quoted:

As a buyer if you get the package and you paid $40 for shipping and on the package it says that it was only $15, do you feel entitled to a shipping refund? Yeah, with *that* huge a difference I'd probably ask for a refund. If it was obvious that the seller had to go out and buy new boxes etc for shipping I might offer to pay a nominal handling fee kind of thing, though. It would depend on the overall situation.

As a seller do you feel that the price was agreed to by both parties so do you feel that a refund is not necessarily needed? Well that big a difference is kind of highway robbery, really. If I'd got a super-valuable doll for a song I'd likely let it go, but if I'd paid top dollar I would probably mention it. I'm pretty experienced as a seller/shipper so my quotes are usually spot on or I make them a bit less than actual as a good-faith/thank you gesture.

One time I had a rude cretinous buyer (here on DOA) demand why I'd charged her like... A DOLLAR for shipping when it only cost OMG EIGHTY-SEVEN CENTS one time, though. I was shocked by that. I'd never quibble about such a small amount of money. Bad form indeed. I refunded her, but wow.. Icky!


In the case that shipping is MORE than quoted:

As a buyer do you feel that the seller should pay the difference of what they quoted?
I've never been asked to do this, so I guess it would depend on the situation. I'd probably cough it up though if they asked remotely nicely.

As a seller do you feel that the buyer should make up the difference?
Nah, I generally try to undercharge a little, as I said above.

Overall, shipping has skyrocketed in recent years, so I can see why it can be a big issue at times. Most people aren't that experienced with it, so there's a lot of room for mistakes and unpleasant surprises. USPS.com Shipping Calculator is your friend. ^_~

Raven