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ebay required insurance, is this a scam?

specialidiot

specialidiot

Break Glass, Smoke Lucky
I'd been looking for George Thorogood's new CD, The Hard Stuff and found what I thought was a good deal on ebay. Item 280079684368, $8.83 plus $4.99 for shipping and handling. So when the total came to over $15, I asked the seller to adjust. His reply: Read the listing again. Came to find out that there is mandatory $2 insurance. $2 insurance for a $9 item? I emailed the seller requesting proof of insurance, although I'm sure I'll not get it. Its some type of mystery fee.

I found an article on ebay.com that says this may be a violation of their excessive fees rule.

Anyway, I'm sure I'll get no where and in the big scheme of things its only $2. But now I regret not buying right from GT's site.

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is this mandatory from ebay or the seller?, i've recenty purchased a few items and have not run into this. I know some sellers insist on insurance, especailly for international (including Canada) bidders.
 
It was mandatory from the seller, added at checkout. I repeat, $2 for an item costing $8.83? He's already charging $4.99 for first class USPS, so I'm paying probably $2 for handling already.
 
specialidiot said:
It was mandatory from the seller, added at checkout. I repeat, $2 for an item costing $8.83? He's already charging $4.99 for first class USPS, so I'm paying probably $2 for handling already.
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Yep. He's definitely padding the rates. Insurance to $50 costs $1.35.

http://www.usps.com/insurance/welcome.htm

First Class postage for a CD is probably $2.07 or less.

http://pe.usps.gov/text/dmm300/ratesandfees.htm#wp3787938

He'll probably take your money and send it Media Mail uninsured for a cost of $1.59.
 
personally i'm a big fan of ebay, i live in a small town so pickins are a little slim here for anything, i recently picked up a 50$ receiver off ebay, shipping was another 65$ :tears: , and because it was sent FedEx i'll be looking at about 40-50$ brokerage fees :tears: . It's getting to the point where smaller purchases are becoming not worth it, i'm sure there are those who might say it's only 2$, but 2 bucks is 2 bucks. I think alot of sellers are trying to make back their money on lower priced items (high shipping and handling fees, insurance), i suppose since the mandatory insurance fees was in the description, there's probably not much you can do, except never buy from this seller again.
 
specialidiot said:
I emailed the seller requesting proof of insurance, although I'm sure I'll not get it. Its some type of mystery fee.
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There should be some sort of indication that the item is insured when you receive the item from UPS on the outside of the box.

And presumably he's using ground, right? Because depending on the method he is using, then I believe there's usually an automatic insurance for up to US$100 included...am I remembering that correctly?
 
Putting on asbestos longjohns:

It looks like this is probably the listing we are talking about:

http://cgi.ebay.com/HARD-STUFF-THOR...DVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item280079684368

Assuming Jukin Jay is write about shipping cost, the seller pays $3.42 to the Post Office. He is also buying some kind of mailing box which the USPS would probably charge $1.50 but let's say $.75 since he his buying in some quantity, so his total cost for postal charges and materials is ~$4.17. If he charges $6.99, his "profit" on shipping is $2.82, which is what he pays himself to pack and wait in line at the post office for 10-15min to buy insurance and mail. If I am selling a $200 item, I would be inclined to eat all these nickle and dime incidentals. If I'm trying to make any profit on $9 sales, I can't afford to do this for every sale.

I can understand why he requires insurance. If it were optional and a buyer refused, what would happen if the CD never arrived? You can be sure he would either have to send out free replacement or receive negative feedback from the buyer.

It might be a little high but it doesn't sound unreasonable, especially if it is clearly laid out in the listing.


Denis
 
dhenryp said:
It might be a little high but it doesn't sound unreasonable, especially if it is clearly laid out in the listing.
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clearly laid out? well... not really. It's buried in the fine print. The $4.99 shipping is bolded, the $2.00 insurance is not, and is several lines down.

I think its a poor practice. when I leave feedback, it will be positive but the note will point out this mandatory and inflated insurance figure.
 
dhenryp said:
He is also buying some kind of mailing box which the USPS would probably charge $1.50 but let's say $.75 since he his buying in some quantity
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Less than that, he can get the padded mailers commonly used right on ebay, qty 50, for $16.49 (incl shipping) which is about 33 cents apiece, and at the volume this guy deals (over 36,000 feedbacks) and 41,238 items currently listed, I doubt he stands in line at the post office.

He's clearly making a lot of his profit on his s&h and MANDATORY insurance.
 
specialidiot said:
clearly laid out? well... not really. It's buried in the fine print. The $4.99 shipping is bolded, the $2.00 insurance is not, and is several lines down.

I think its a poor practice. when I leave feedback, it will be positive but the note will point out this mandatory and inflated insurance figure.
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Not to take sides but only to help explain.

YOU HAVE TO READ THE WHOLE AUCTION PAGE NO MATTER WHAT.

If it's on the page your on the hook for it period. If it only comes up after hitting a BIN price then you got a point.

When I shop for LP's on ebay I look at the shipping cost as part of the deal so I might buy from Seller B over seller A dues to being a buck or two cheaper on shipping.
 
Insurance is ALWAYS a good idea, and I prefer to charge all my buyers for it. Like someone said earlier, USPS insurance is $1.35 for up to $50.00, so he's ripping you off for a whopping $0.65.

Is that really worth getting your undies in a bunch?????
 
specialidiot said:
clearly laid out? well... not really. It's buried in the fine print. The $4.99 shipping is bolded, the $2.00 insurance is not, and is several lines down.

I don't want to poke at what is obviously a sore spot with a stick but (and there is always a but) - You are right, it's not bolded, but I wouldn't call it buried either. The insurance is the same font and size as the shipping and only three lines down. I'm just saying the "extra" $.65 (2.00 charge - 1.35 USPS cost) insurance charge wouldn't bother me. YRMV.

Denis
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Andyman said:
Insurance is ALWAYS a good idea, and I prefer to charge all my buyers for it. Like someone said earlier, USPS insurance is $1.35 for up to $50.00, so he's ripping you off for a whopping $0.65.

Is that really worth getting your undies in a bunch?????
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.65 x 36,466 transactions is $23,702.90

Yeah I stopped reading when I found the shipping fee, so my fault. My undies are not in a bunch, I just think this is wrong and thought I'd point it out.
 
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