overcharged on shipping - what is a reasonable handling fee?

Hattysattic

Hattysattic

VFG Secretary
two questions really... i bought a 50's tulle and nylon formal - admittedly quite a flouncy one, so probably quite heavy - earlier this week from ebay.com (i'm in the uk).
requested surface shipping, as i am in no rush for it at all and quite frankly have been spending too much lately and not selling! I usually get a shipping quote before bidding on anything, but not this time..

i got an invoice this morning for $40.00 shipping at 'sellers standard international rate', no message with it saying how it will be shipped.

So i've written and said 'maybe you didn't get my request for economy mail?' Is it me or does that seem a lot even for airmail? I don't usually bother but have constantly been overcharged lately (not just in the US!) and felt this was a tad unfair, especially seeing as in this case it will be figured into any total as far as customs are concerned.

So a even if it were a huge 6lb package sent USPS air parcel that would cost $32, which would make a $8 handling fee if I have been charged airmail instead - and i do realise some sellers will not ship surface.

It was a US only auction that I had permission to bid on (so I don't really want to make too much fuss!), and the s/h fee within the US was $9.95 priority plus delivery confirmation, if that gives anyone a clue to weight (i can't work the USPS website backwards!)

So two questions, US sellers!

firstly, how much do you think a ballerina nylon voile and net prom dress could weigh, maximum?

and just out of interest, what is a reasonable handling fee to be paying (or charging! mine's about 60p/$1)?

I absolutely hate questioning invoices as it seems really petty, but sometimes i think it needs to be done!

thank you !!!
:D
 
It is hard to guesstimate how heavy something would be based on $9.95 because the shipping rate varies acrossed the country. The same thing that might cost me $3.95 Priority mail to send it half way acrossed my state could cost anywhere from $4.90-$6.85 or more for places acrossed the country. If you go to http://www.usps.com and use the shipping calculator, you can put the shippers zip in there and fill in some sample zips. California and Alaska start with 9 (try 90210 lol) Massachusetts starts with 0, the Great Lakes States start with 4 or 5 and FLorida starts with 3. So you can play around.

It really depends on what the handling is for. If it is a very unusually shaped garment that requires extra care - special boxes like a hoop skirt or something particularly delicate it could be extra. Or maybe they didn't estimate weight properly. The third situation is it could have fallen under the 4lbs and sent by global priority

Chris
 
I doubt that this weighs over 4 lbs and anything under
4 lbs can be sent letterpost air to the UK. (4 lbs would be
$23.10)

USPS UK Postage Rate Charts

Your seller may not be aware of the letterpost rates so send her that link and tell her to scroll past the text to the
charts. Letterpost air is the first chart after all the writing.

Or, she may just be charging a hefty amount because she thinks mailing anything out of the US is a giant hassle - it really is hard to tell.

I feel your pain on the exorbitant shipping rates Hattie!

Sue
 
oh yes, hadn't thought about the GP option... i'm sure they will be fine about it and get back to me. i did try the made up zip code thing to try and find out the weight but gave up (must remember 90201 for next time i do that!)

so as a seller do you have a fixed shipping/handling charge, or is it easier to go on a case by case basis? because i don't wrap my items until they are sold and paid for i tend to guestimate the weight, just so i can state a shipping/handling cost from the start. i have to say this is a bit of a flawed system, as more often than not some of the profit is lost on making up shipping!
 
Because global priority envelopes are free in the US, she may not want to be bothered sending it any other way. I recently ran into this with a seller in the US. Letterpost air would've cost me quite abit less than global
priority to Canada, but she was not about to go to the store to purchase an envelope to send it in because the GP envs are free.

Obviously this is the seller's perogative, but eventually when the USPS
discontinues their free supplies maybe the postage rates charged by
some will even out abit.

Sue
 
That does seem like an exorbitant amount for shipping. I usually quote a fixed amount on US shipping. Sometime, I am a little over and sometime I lose a little. It is according to zip code I send to.

I always charge exact shipping for international. In my description, I say there MAY be up to a $2.00 handling fee. So many packages sent Air Letter Post cannot be insured, so I have started getting a Certificate of Mailing which costs about $1.00 and if I have to purchase a special padded envelope or get a special box, that may cost about $1.00. However, most of the time, I just eat these charges and just charge exact shipping.
 
One thing to remember is the size restrictions for letter post. If it is a very full and fluffy dress, the seller may be forced to use parcel post, even though the box weighs less than 4 pounds. I recently had to do this on a sale of 3 cartwheel hats to the UK. I could not make them fit in a box that would meet the dimensional restrictions for letter post and I ended up eating the nearly $7 difference because I had not accounted for it.

Jody
 
For what its worth, I happen to have such a dress right now that is going to Australia.

I just checked - if it were going to the UK, it would run either $24 air parcel post or $23 surface parcel post..

It' s an odd thing but surface is often about the same as air.

Air Letter Post is handy, but my local post office has become very particular about the size restrictions. Essentially it's a shoe box or less. So many hats and dresses just won't fit.

Hollis
 
thank you all for your advice - even though i've bought many a formal now (some - like my husband - would say too many!) from overseas i still get a little hesitant when it comes to querying high shipping rates.
it seems like it really is a totally variable thing anyway, and i know sellers who don't usually post out of the country are only doing their best to make sense of the usps international mail calculator..

so i think i will just always try and get quotes from now on! still not heard back but i'm sure it will be fine, thanks again for "listening" !
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top