Yep. I still think you're a fool if you pay it.
I was told long ago that it is illegal to charge "eBay fees". Might want to research that.
If you want to be foolish and pay, then do this: Pay for ONE item. When it arrives, pay for the next. Etc, etc. If there are any issues, rape her with negs and create another eBay account. You mostly buy anyways, so it won't be a big deal.
If you cave in, you just feed the fires of idiocy. But it's up to you.

Aneoth wrote:

maxwell wrote:Well I for one am not on aneoth's side. The guy is a liar. I would never ever do any sending or business with him again.

Who rang your bell....?  

We (Me, you and the members of this forum) have already been through all of that, and far more than we wanted several weeks ago. Please move one with your life. Why make these accusations and bear false witness now? After all this time?

Guys, chill.  It's not annoying to hear people bitch, (kinda fun, actually), but when it gets personal it just drives off members and wastes everyone's time.  Leave it on the gaming table, and roll the dice to see who's right.      And please, leave the biblical references outta it (false witness?), cuz we all know Odin is the one true god.

Sorry to hear about the excessive shipping/handling, Aneoth.  More annoying is seeing how sellers think that they can charge an additional $5 the second it hits the border.  

deimos3428 wrote:Guys, chill.

Amen, brother. Why does this keep getting brought to the forums? First Darkseraphim gets publicly called out, now this. Are we going to lose ANOTHER member (Dark, you are greatly missed) because of what should have been a private discussion?

E-mail or PM is the way to go, not public forums.

Hey folks. Here is an update on the highest shipping rates on E-Bay and in I think anywhere this side of the moon.

After winning a couple of additional stray listings after the initial auctions from my posts above: Here is the total invoice now due, for all of the items I had bid on before I knew what he meant by combining shipping costs..........

Item #  Item Title  Qty.   Price  
5945289380  AD&D Al-Qadim Lot - All NEW  1   US $46.00  
5945286772  DRAGONS - Valor & Snarl  1   US $10.50  
5945246088  Mark of Amber - Audio CD Adventure  1   US $5.00  
5945245345  AD&D Red Steel - 2 boxed sets NEW  1   US $20.50  
5945244078  AD&D Tomes - The Rod of Seven Parts  1   US $20.55  

Subtotal:   US $102.55  
Shipping and handling via US Postal Service Media Mail: US $43.50   8O        
Total:   US $146.05

Aa an answer to my last E-Mail to him he gave me a phone number for at his store. I have called the number several times in the past few days with no answer. He stated that his hours at the store are from 10 AM to 10 PM mountain time.

Aneoth wrote:5945289380  AD&D Al-Qadim Lot - All NEW  1   US $46.00  
5945286772  DRAGONS - Valor & Snarl  1   US $10.50  
5945246088  Mark of Amber - Audio CD Adventure  1   US $5.00  
5945245345  AD&D Red Steel - 2 boxed sets NEW  1   US $20.50  
5945244078  AD&D Tomes - The Rod of Seven Parts  1   US $20.55  

Subtotal:   US $102.55  
Shipping and handling via US Postal Service Media Mail: US $43.50   8O        
Total:   US $146.05

Okay, we're getting a lot of mileage out of this, but an important question is not being asked: why, when the shipping costs were clearly labeled, was anyone bidding on these items in the first place?

Let me be clear: I'm NOT a big fan of this seller. The official USPS Media Mail chart ENDS at $22.84, which is the cost to send SEVENTY pounds of material. For $43.50, one could, presumably, ship a Yugo. Clearly, this seller is a shameless shipping profiteer of the first order. And Aneoth has done us all a service by warning us about a seller who, without a doubt, does not have their buyers' interests at heart.

However, that's not the whole story. This seller — again, a stone idiot — did indicate, within the listings, the (ridiculous) shipping costs of all of the these auctions, whether it was $10 for a boxed set or $7 for a CD-ROM (Jesus wept). Given that these costs, taken separately, are patently absurd, why would anyone think this seller would suddenly provide a huge savings for multiple wins     I'm going to steal a line from John Cleese's Sir Lancelot here: such a thing is obviously not part of this seller's idiom. You're not going to get a bargain from a rip-off artist, especially after the sale has been made.

Sorry, but there were warning signs (including specified shipping costs) all over these auctions — anyone who proceeded to place a bid did so at their own risk. As I mentioned in another post, I don't enjoy defending moronic sellers, but we haven't been telling the whole story here.

He returned an E-Mail today and I learned that the shop is closed on Mondays, so that is why no answer on the phone. He did not tell me in his previous E-Mail that his store would be closed on Monday.

It was not JUST the shipping costs alone that tick me off here, though they are indeed ludicrous by themselves.

He states in all of the listings and in all of the invoices sent to me that he ships using parcel post, then says in the SAME invoice that the items will be sent out by Media Mail. They are most certainly not the same things.

Also, he stated to me BEFORE I bid on multiple items of his that he would combine shipping costs........and lower costs considerably. Admittedly his idea of considerable is far from my own.

Aneoth wrote:He returned an E-Mail today and I learned that the shop is closed on Mondays, so that is why no answer on the phone. He did not tell me in his previous E-Mail that his store would be closed on Monday.

It was not JUST the shipping costs alone that tick me off here, though they are indeed ludicrous by themselves.

He states in all of the listings and in all of the invoices sent to me that he ships using parcel post, then says in the SAME invoice that the items will be sent out by Media Mail. They are most certainly not the same things.

Also, he stated to me BEFORE I bid on multiple items of his that he would combine shipping costs........and lower costs considerably. Admittedly his idea of considerable is far from my own.

Isn't media mail a form of parcel post (written materials such as books, recordable materials such as cds, tapes, etc), just cheaper?  I'm pretty sure they ship the same way (surface mail by truck or train instead of air) just media mail is cheaper.

I just had a situation where a seller informed me BEFORE the auction that insurance was optional, then after I won the option insurance was MANDATORY because of the fragility of the items (Huh?).  I paid for it, but he definitely will not get postive feedback for his "bait and switch" tactics.

Just for curiousity's sake, how much did he offer to "combine" the purchases for?  Apparantly not very much.  Please remember to let us know exactly how much postage is on the box once you recieve it...

Mike B.

Aneoth wrote:So apparently they are NOT the same thing......

They're definitely not the same. Different restrictions, different price structure, etc. Plus, parcel post is zoned; media mail is strictly weight-based.

beyondthebreach wrote:About Media Mail vs. Parcel Post:  They "are" and "are not" the same thing.  Everyone is right.  As Badmike said:  They are the same in the respect that Media Mail is Parcel Post for "Media".  They are handled, treated and shipped the same way the by the USPS.  The only difference is the rate structure which is much less.

What that means is that:  If someone is unaware and is intending to send books by Parcel Post, they are essentially sending it Media Mail, but paying the Parcel Post rate.  In all situations where this has arisen, I have explained it to the seller and they have agreed to send it Media Mail.

BTB is correct.  Parcel Post and Media Mail are mailed exactly the same way; however, Media Mail is cheaper but is also slightly more restrictive.  In effect it's a form of Parcel Post that the USPS gives certain allowances to so it's cheaper to mail this way, but the items have to fit the criteria.

My friend in the PO explained it to me today: Media mail used to be called "Library Mail" or "Book Rate" because it was a special designation of 4th class or Parcel Post used by libraries to mail books, video tapes, CDs, etc.  However, anyone can use it.  I suspect it came around because typically local libraries are constantly cash poor and anything that can help them save money is good for struggling library. There are certain restrictions:  Technically, it can only be used to mail "Media" as defined by their rulebook, which generally means books, cassette tapes, CDs, DVDs, VHS tapes, Record albums, etc (Interestingly, magazines are NOT considered media mail, probably because they carry advertising).  Personal correspondence, raw meat, any publication with advertising inside, Grandma's cukoo clock collection, a car engine, tonka toys, etc cannot be shipped media mail and must be mailed parcel post.

That's the theory; in practice, however, if you bring a box to the USPS counter and say it's books and needs to be mailed media mail, unless they are incredibly bored or incredibly paranoid and decide to open the box, it can go out media mail.  If the item, when shaken, emits a sound like broken glass I would suspect they might decide your item is not media mail and refuse to mail it as such.  I would also suspect that may be construed as mail fraud.  I can say from experience that from hundreds and hundreds of mailings, I've never had the contents of a box opened although I have been asked on numerous occassions "What is the contents?" or "Are there books inside?" when requesting media mail over parcel post.  

I would suspect that "technically" many D&D items are not media mail; boxed sets, miniatures, dice, gaming magazines, would not be media mail as defined. All rulebooks would be, and I make a case for modules being media (I've mailed them as such for years) since they pretty much fit the criteria, and if some snoopy Inch High Private Eye type in the postal fraud dept ever opened one of these, they would appear to be books of a sort, so there.  I have actually been slightly hassled a few times upon mailing very large and heavy packages as media mail instead of 4th class parcel post (since they were losing a considerable amount in postage) but both times the contents were actual D&D novels and modules and I offered to open the boxes right then and there to prove so, and they backed down and gave me the media mail rate.  

So, the windy explanations aside, it appears your guy, Aneoth, is pretending to charge you 4th class parcel post rates while sending the items out the cheaper, but equally slow, media mail rate.  Actually, he is raping you on shipping costs either way, but the way he presented it makes it even sleazier.  I'm with Dreadlord, if this guy wants to eff with you then pay for each item with a seperate payment and demand each be sent in a different, separate box (say they are gifts to different gaming buddies and you want to keep the contents seperate for gift wrapping ease!), give him this hassle if he is going to be such a dick. He'll wish he cut you a deal after he has to package and mail all that stuff.

I got your PM today Aneoth I'll email privately when I get the chance..

Mike B.