You know, you bring up eBay shipping and the USPS quite often here, and the amazing thing is that you just don't seem to know anything about it. It's really, truly astonishing to behold.

Here's some points for you to ponder:

1. You really, really need to stop with the "what don't you understand?" bullshit.

On behalf of all serious eBay sellers here, let me just be clear: we get it. And we've been doing it a lot longer than you have.

2. If it's two pieces of sturdy cardboard that you're so worried about, those will also fit quite nicely into a flat-rate envelope. Again, for $4.60. Again, with free delivery confirmation. Again, with an envelope that was free for the seller. Again, with the USPS' quickest non-overnight service. What part of all of that do you not understand?

3. Priority Mail is a guaranteed two- or three-day service. First-class has no such guarantees, and, in fact, can often be quite inconsistent between some areas of the country. First-class can often be a nice method to offer to a buyer, but it is not "the same thing" as Priority and should not be represented as such.

4. In what possible set of circumstances would you ever be receiving a module in an $8.95 flat-rate box? (they are $8.95, BTW, not $8). Frankly, I'm not sure I believe this at all.

I can see a seller trying to charge you $8.95 for shipping (and, if that's the case, you should be buying elsewhere), but I can't fathom a seller actually taking the time to use a flat-rate box to ship a single module when literally any other method would be both easier to deal with and cheaper to ship. And why use the box when the flat-rate envelope accomplishes the exact same thing and offers the identical service for half the cost and about one-third of the hassle?

Your story doesn't add up. Got any live auctions links you could post here? I'd like to see these sellers for myself.

+++++

I honestly don't get you or why you get so riled up about eBay shipping. If, as a buyer, you are trying to save yourself some money, then you can do that without posting your rants here. Just shop around a little bit.

But if you're trying to tell a lot of very experienced eBay veterans here that first-class is "obviously" always better than Priority Mail, then either get your facts straight, go away, or come to the understanding that there is a difference between opinion and fact.

Plaag wrote:I have to wonder if Titan was selling stuff NobleKnight didn't want to buy.

I'll try to lurch us away from shipping and back onto idiot sellers by saying that I've been wondering the same thing over the past few days.

Titan confuses me: they announce they are selling, yet still appear to be doing business. They tried to put up a front about Titan and Tonya being separate entities when they were and are clearly the exact same business. The owner seems like a decent fellow, yet lets the most unprofessional, immature "businesswoman" imaginable constantly injure his reputation through her antics.

Baffling.

Not that it matters. You could add Titan/Tonya to the lifetime boycott that I use as my signature line. They'll never see a dime from me.

Just a note,
Dayecon is no longer a registered ebayer...
-But he is still a thief-.
It seems that the dayecon vs. acaeum trial is no more scheduled.
Let's be aware of a possible resurgence of that muppet under another name.

Deimos,
Got to agree with you about Canada Post's current US and International rates.
When I quote a price I always feel like my potential customers will feel like I am trying to rip them off on postage.
On a few occasions I have even taken a small loss on shipping just to try to keep it reasonable and competitive with US sellers.
When I do have situations where my original quote was calculated too high I send a paypal refund for the diffference.
But then I look at some US sellers on eBay and for things like a regular sized module or paperback book they list shipping to Canada at $20.00  

g026r wrote:Anybody ever dealt with mchobby before?

Bought a couple of items from him about 10 days ago.  Paid ~$18 for shipping. (About par for a stack of items going 'cross the border.)  Items arrived today with (according to my SO who just picked them up) $9 in postage on them and a $10 COD charge.

Methinks that someone's got some 'splain' to do. [ Image ]

Was it shipped USPS or UPS? If it is UPS anything over $20 gets tagged with brokerage fees.

g026r wrote:Anybody ever dealt with mchobby before?

Bought a couple of items from him about 10 days ago.  Paid ~$18 for shipping. (About par for a stack of items going 'cross the border.)  Items arrived today with (according to my SO who just picked them up) $9 in postage on them and a $10 COD charge.

Was it Canada Customs?  



Sometimes they like to charge citizens for the privilege of rifling through their stuff, but it's semi-random as they don't have the manpower to check each and every package.



The fee is a base $5, and a percentage of the item's declared worth on top.  Plus there'll be GST.  This happens most often when the seller lists the items as "Games" instead of "Used Books", but it can pop up anytime they're bored, really.  You can ask the seller to mark it as a "Gift", but you're playing with mail fraud there, technically.

Badmike wrote:I'll be waiting in Texas for the Mounties to ride up.....they better be packing, cause I'll be.  Nuff said.

Mike B.

Dude, don't shoot, that's just us coming down for a game.  All Canucks dress like Mounties, all the time -- unless we're under cover.  

g026r wrote:Anybody ever dealt with mchobby before?

I bought a bunch of stuff from them a while back and had no problems. It was shipped by USPS and I think I got nailed with the Canada customs on that one too.  Although lately it seems like only 1 out of 20 or so packages I receive get charged.

In the US, "going postal" means flipping out and shooting up your co-workers.  So, we tend to talk to our mail carriers real polite-like.  

On the other hand, we get pretty inexpensive shipping and are perfectly safe so long as we do not make any sudden hand motions in the post office line.  

I consider $5 to be the highest reasonable cost to ship almost any standard-sized game book or any three modules within the US..and that means two-day priority envelopes.  (I'll still buy...I just factor in the shipping cost as part of the price...sometimes the main part.)  I am totally uninterested in "handling" as a shipping cost.  So long as the items arrive intact, the actual shipping method is irrelevant to me.

As a buyer, I prefer media mail because it costs less....and because  anticipating the arrival of a module or book is half the fun of the purchase....the other 50% being 25% searching out a good deal and 25% winning or losing a sniping contest.

Possibly because I will not bid without a firm shipping quote...I have had remarkably few problems with Ebay sellers shipping me items.  The couple of problems I've had have been very minor.  People are remarkably honest and usually mean well...and one time I misread the listing and bid on an item without realizing that the seller was in Singapore!  He was very nice about it and sent me a bonus item.  

I will deal with Tonya/Titan from time to time...especially when I buy multiple items and figure $3+ per item including shipping.

I have never had a problem with an Acaeum member...in fact, "going the extra mile" is common with Acaeum sellers.