Rant: FS forum and shipping rates

[brtspears2]

I try to be a fair seller, working on the heatwave. I charge the price for shipping as I see it on USPS.gov or UPS.com, and people start flaming me about how my rates stink and how I'm ripping them off. I COULD send them ram in an envelope or a motherboard in a paper liner, but thats just not my style. A few more bux to get your stuff there safely is what I'm seeing.

Or I've lost total touch of what FS/T forum is all about. Helping each other. But me, being broke, hate to lose even more money by giving away free/reduced price shipping. Yes it costs $9 to ship a motherboard USPS prority because I dont want to slap a sticker on the mobo box and send it on its deathwish. Yes it costs $3.85 + $2.20 insurance to ship a stick of ram, because I rather not stick it in an evelope and send it on its deathwish.

 

[DAWeinG]

Maybe you should just put the shipped price. That way, no one has any complaints

 

[Yzzim]

The FS/FT forum is good if you want a smooth deal and need some quick cash.

If you want to get more for your item but also have the possibility of some hassles (more so than FS/FT) then go to Ebay. Lately I've taken a lot of things to Ebay which if I sold on FS/FT I'd end up making a lot less cash.

Examples:
PS2 package I had was selling for <$200 shipped on FS/FT. Took it to Ebay and got $210+$15 shipping.

Radeon 64MB DDR was selling for $45 shipped on FS/FT. Took it to Ebay and got $60 + $8 shipping.

Might not seem like a lot at first, but they add up quickly.

 

[vegetation]

Less hassles? I think ebay will bring about less hassles. I sell a ton of stuff and rarely get people asking thousands of questions; most of it just one or two liner answers that I have to give. Ebay will probably bring you more cash, but if you zero feedback you wont get as much, but then again everyone has to start at the big zero.

Originally posted by: Yzzim
The FS/FT forum is good if you want a smooth deal and need some quick cash.

If you want to get more for your item but also have the possibility of some hassles (more so than FS/FT) then go to Ebay. Lately I've taken a lot of things to Ebay which if I sold on FS/FT I'd end up making a lot less cash.

Examples:
PS2 package I had was selling for <$200 shipped on FS/FT. Took it to Ebay and got $210+$15 shipping.

Radeon 64MB DDR was selling for $45 shipped on FS/FT. Took it to Ebay and got $60 + $8 shipping.

Might not seem like a lot at first, but they add up quickly.

 

[MrBond]

I don't think casual traders realize how much USPS Priority has actually went up with the last price increase. $5 used to be good enough to get something cross country (a CDRom drive), but after the price increase its closer to $10. I bought a router this summer, cost the seller $10 to ship it to me, it's not even that heavy.

 

[Yzzim]

Originally posted by: vegetation
Less hassles? I think ebay will bring about less hassles. I sell a ton of stuff and rarely get people asking thousands of questions; most of it just one or two liner answers that I have to give. Ebay will probably bring you more cash, but if you zero feedback you wont get as much, but then again everyone has to start at the big zero.

Originally posted by: Yzzim
The FS/FT forum is good if you want a smooth deal and need some quick cash.

If you want to get more for your item but also have the possibility of some hassles (more so than FS/FT) then go to Ebay. Lately I've taken a lot of things to Ebay which if I sold on FS/FT I'd end up making a lot less cash.

Examples:
PS2 package I had was selling for <$200 shipped on FS/FT. Took it to Ebay and got $210+$15 shipping.

Radeon 64MB DDR was selling for $45 shipped on FS/FT. Took it to Ebay and got $60 + $8 shipping.

Might not seem like a lot at first, but they add up quickly.

If you sell things computer related on the FS/FT forum, from my experiences, you get a lot less questions because the majority of people here know half assed what they're doing. On Ebay they percentage goes way down so you have people saying "My cpu is broken!" just because the moron has tried to overclock it without having the HSF on, and is now trying to return it to you. Not saying that won't happen on FS/FT but there's less of a chance since it's more of a community.
There's no way I'm going to sell a motherboard, processor, or ram on ebay, just because of what could be done to it.

 

[jimmyhaha]

AT FS/FT : can sell thing fast if u sell below market value, can't rip off shipping fee

ebay : pain in the @ss dealing with morons (most of them are) and non-paying bidders (1 out of 5), can jack up shipping fee, but ebay fee SUCK big... 5-10 % down to toilet ...

it's ALWAYS hard to sell something than buy something..

 

[snooker]

Shipping will do nothing but keep going up, so one day the FS/FT forums will not be much.

10 years from now who will want to ship a stick of ram worth $30 and pay $20 in shipping......

 

[Dhawk]

I have noticed the trend of traders at FS/T to advertise their stuff for $xx.xx plus shipping. It use to be that everyone would include shipping in their advertised price.

I think most of us that are even just semi active traders are aware of the increase in shipping cost increase.

 

[Geekbabe]

Originally posted by: DAWeinG
Maybe you should just put the shipped price. That way, no one has any complaints

I always factor in shipping when setting the selling price for my items,it just makes life easier

 

[ChrisIsBored]

Maybe you should just put the shipped price. That way, no one has any complaints

That's the way I do it!

If you sell things computer related on the FS/FT forum, from my experiences, you get a lot less questions because the majority of people here know half assed what they're doing. On Ebay they percentage goes way down so you have people saying "My cpu is broken!" just because the moron has tried to overclock it without having the HSF on, and is now trying to return it to you. Not saying that won't happen on FS/FT but there's less of a chance since it's more of a community.
There's no way I'm going to sell a motherboard, processor, or ram on ebay, just because of what could be done to it.

I actually had someone do that!

 

[FoBoT]

people that want more dollars should sell on ebay and buy (selectively) on FS/FT, there are good deals if you are picky and ignore the money whores

 

[Renob]

Maybe you should just put the shipped price. That way, no one has any complaints

Word.

 

[Geekbabe]

Originally posted by: FoBoT
people that want more dollars should sell on ebay and buy (selectively) on FS/FT, there are good deals if you are picky and ignore the money whores

Considering that on average that the prices on FS/FT are way lower than retail and that most traders bend over backwards to ensure buyer satisfaction, I think the term "money whores" is rather offensive.

 

[KingNothing]

Have you looked into FedEx Ground rates? For the stuff I've been shipping they're the same price or cheaper than USPS+insurance+tracking. Receiving an insurance claim is more likely too from what I've been reading on the forum.

 

[FoBoT]

Originally posted by: baffled2

Considering that on average that the prices on FS/FT are way lower than retail and that most traders bend over backwards to ensure buyer satisfaction, I think the term "money whores" is rather offensive.

sorry to offend you, but there are many people posting used stuff there for at/above retail prices of new stuff, i can give some examples if you like

there are plenty of good traders there, but there are also the riff raff that want too much for used goods, again , sorry to offend you baffled2
as i said , it is prudent to be selective

 

[Geekbabe]

Originally posted by: FoBoT

Originally posted by: baffled2

Considering that on average that the prices on FS/FT are way lower than retail and that most traders bend over backwards to ensure buyer satisfaction, I think the term "money whores" is rather offensive.

sorry to offend you, but there are many people posting used stuff there for at/above retail prices of new stuff, i can give some examples if you like

there are plenty of good traders there, but there are also the riff raff that want too much for used goods, again , sorry to offend you baffled2
as i said , it is prudent to be selective

I think it very important for a buyer to research their prices before buying,if a seller has overpriced their items they won't move then will they? A seller can however set whatever value they like on their stuff, I did quite well over on the boards both buying and selling for years,I've lost track of the numbers of computers I've assembled from parts obtained there and at a price considerably below that of retail.Of course, I'm an old school trader and have always priced my shiat to move quickly

 

[FoBoT]

Originally posted by: baffled2
I'm an old school trader and have always priced my shiat to move quickly

same here, i don't want my FS/FT thread to grow to 126 replies, i guess i am just a cheap b@stard

 

[Red Dawn]

The For Sale Forum has become populated with the clueless over the last few years. Sure there are some great traders still there from it's heydey but now they are as many Hysterical Buffoons as there are good traders. It's still the best in terms of sheer volume (though PCA had a more knowledgable membership)

 

[smp]

Originally posted by: brtspears2
I try to be a fair seller, working on the heatwave. I charge the price for shipping as I see it on USPS.gov or UPS.com, and people start flaming me about how my rates stink and how I'm ripping them off. I COULD send them ram in an envelope or a motherboard in a paper liner, but thats just not my style. A few more bux to get your stuff there safely is what I'm seeing. Or I've lost total touch of what FS/T forum is all about. Helping each other. But me, being broke, hate to lose even more money by giving away free/reduced price shipping. Yes it costs $9 to ship a motherboard USPS prority because I dont want to slap a sticker on the mobo box and send it on its deathwish. Yes it costs $3.85 + $2.20 insurance to ship a stick of ram, because I rather not stick it in an evelope and send it on its deathwish.

Hey I hope you weren't talking about our pending deal.... I never said I had a problem with your price. Do you accept cc paypal or should I make out a MO?
YGPM

edit: and yes, I am with some of the other posters here. A lot of the prices are just too high, might as well buy new locally at that point, with warantee no less! There are still good deals to be found though, which is why I hang out.