Discuss egg buying on BYC versus Ebay

[BooBear]

My first time buying was from a BYCer and it was a bad experience.
I am waiting on my 2nd batch of shippied eggs that I purchased recently from a different seller here on BYC. So far I have noticed a big difference between the sellers.
The first seller waited a week to ship the eggs which then took 7 days to arrive. The eggs were old by the time I received them. 6 were coveted in poop, 1 was smashed, 2 very porious , and 1 had see through lines in the shell were it was weak. Only 3 chicks hatched.

The 2nd seller immediately shipped his eggs this Monday after I won his auction over the weekend and sent me his tracking number. He was very nice and put up with me being nervous about using Priority agian. I have good feelings so far about buying from him and am excitedly waiting for the eggs to arrive.

I have not purchased eggs from E-bay so am unable to offer feedback.
Honestly believe it pays to be cautious no matter which site you use to buy goods on the net.

 

[ZooMummzy]

Another thing that is really making me angry about shipped eggs is the people who rip you off with the shipping. I have been seeing it both on Ebay and on BYC. When I was selling on Ebay, I charged exactly...I mean exactly...what it cost me to ship the item. I wasn't charging a handling fee or a box fee or any other type of fee. They paid for their item and they paid for shipping. I never made any extra money and I feel I earned my 100% reputation on there the honest way. I even refunded people money if the shipping came to less than I originally stated. I receive eggs in the smallest box possible, $5.95 shipping, yet I paid double that? To me, that is just not right. Least to say I am keeping track of these people in my personal records and I will not be buying from them again nor will I recommend them no matter how well my hatch goes.

 

[sonjab314]

The only shipped eggs I have ever recieved were from ebay. One order I have a great success (ducks) and the next not one single egg hatched (chickens). Both orders made it to my house without eggs being broken or apparently mishandled. The rest of my eggs were purchsed locally. I just ordered from a BYCer for the first time today. I will keep you informed of how that goes.

 

[mohillbilly]

Another thing that is really making me angry about shipped eggs is the people who rip you off with the shipping. I have been seeing it both on Ebay and on BYC. When I was selling on Ebay, I charged exactly...I mean exactly...what it cost me to ship the item. I wasn't charging a handling fee or a box fee or any other type of fee. They paid for their item and they paid for shipping. I never made any extra money and I feel I earned my 100% reputation on there the honest way. I even refunded people money if the shipping came to less than I originally stated. I receive eggs in the smallest box possible, $5.95 shipping, yet I paid double that? To me, that is just not right. Least to say I am keeping track of these people in my personal records and I will not be buying from them again nor will I recommend them no matter how well my hatch goes.

You say it only cost 5.95 shipping and you double that well they didn't make money on the shipping, they lost money...when figuring shipping for any item you have to account for the gas they use to take it to the post office and all the materials used in packing it. in your case say they used 1 gallon of gas to go to and from the post office that's 3.00 packing supplies another 3.00 so it cost them 11.95 to ship you the eggs and that doesn't include gas to pick up the shipping supplies or their time which every major company that sells online charges. now if you paid more than 14.00 for your shipping they may be making money off of the shipping.

 

[Little Ameraucana Mom]

There is also ebay and paypal fees, and even on BYC most sellers bought a golden or platnum membership, . So theses fees have to be figured in your cost also.

 

[MiMis_Place]

I too keep a list of people who ship eggs in what I consider to be too small a box and charge high shipping. All eggs I"ve recieved in small boxes have NEVER made. They are always scrambled.

I do however add a $2 handling fee (helps to cover PayPal fees, ect..) and I use USPS calculated shipping. The calculated shipping usually gives me a dollar or two extra which helps to defer the cost of gas, ect...

As it is I'm not making much on my eggs when a person considers feed, time cleaning, and caring for my birds. Also I usually send more eggs if a person recieves eggs that are scrambled, very late getting there (through no fault on my part), ect... for the cost of shipping plus a little extra to help cover feed, gas, supplies, ect.... I also have to feel that the person is being honest with me and not just trying to get more eggs cheap. Since all I can do is package well, and send fertile eggs.

I am fixing to figure out the cost of my feed for 2011 versus sales in eggs for taxes. Yes I turn in ALL of my eggs sales from Ebay and BYC because when the gov't. starts taxing sales on-line and checks to see who has been paying their taxes they'll see that I do. I don't want no hassle with the gov't.

 

[Mandymooligan]

I have had the same equal luck on both. Worst eggs I ever got were some serama eggs I bought on BYC that were so porous that one cracked when I touched a blunt pencil to it to date it and they were filthy to boot. None hatched, My best hatch was some silkie eggs that I bought on Ebay (Thank you Marneypoo), 19 out of 20 and I now have my second batch of 20 and once again 19 out of 20 are doing great. Some people that sell here also sell on Ebay. I just try to find people that live in states close to mine so the shipping does not take so long. Shipping is what does the most damage but when you get eggs that consistantly look like swiss cheese when you candle them you have to wonder. The sad thing is that no matter what you say about the eggs that are old or extremely porous they can always say it was damaged in shipping. If I get bad eggs I will not leave feedback because I don't like arguing with the sellers about it. But when I get great eggs I will leave great feedback.

 

[Mandymooligan]

When you buy your shipping supplies do you just go to the supply store for each single order or do you buy enough to cover several? Do you ship out more than one box everytime you go to the PO? Those are ways to save your gas money.

You say it only cost 5.95 shipping and you double that well they didn't make money on the shipping, they lost money...when figuring shipping for any item you have to account for the gas they use to take it to the post office and all the materials used in packing it. in your case say they used 1 gallon of gas to go to and from the post office that's 3.00 packing supplies another 3.00 so it cost them 11.95 to ship you the eggs and that doesn't include gas to pick up the shipping supplies or their time which every major company that sells online charges. now if you paid more than 14.00 for your shipping they may be making money off of the shipping.

 

[HEChicken]

My only experience so far has been eBay and it was a good one. I ordered BCM eggs, won 8, received 11, well packaged with no cracks. 8 developed but only 1 hatched. I had an issue with my incubator during lockdown or I think my hatch rate would have been better - certainly not the seller's fault. The one that hatched is a pullet and it only takes a glance to see she is a high-quality hen. She is huge, beautiful conformation (IMHO), large perfect comb, and wonderful temperament.

 

[chickmanna]

This is a bit off topic, but I hope it will be useful information regarding shipping issues.

I have a business that has nothing to do with chickens, but we ship using USPS Priority every weekday and many Saturdays as well. Our product is glass so we're very familiar with the concept of "fragile."

The P.O. will provide Priority mail boxes for free and bring them to you if you order them on line. Most of the eggs I have received were either in their #07 box(12 - 18 eggs) or their #04 box (six to eight eggs). Some I've received have been an 04 box (7x7x6) nested inside an 07 box (12x12x8). Using two boxes adds about 6 ounces to the shipping weight and can bump the weight up one increment, but that's usually only about $1-$4 depending on how far the shipment is going.

These boxes can also be picked up at your P.O. If you want your mail carrier to deliver them to you, you have to get a minimum of 10 when you order on line. You can also get free Priority mail stickers which can be used as tape to close the individual egg wrappers. So as pictured below, the only thing this shipper had to pay for was the bubble wrap. ( I do see some scotch tape in there, too)



If you have an accurate scale that will tell you when your package goes from one pound to two, two pounds to 3, etc., (since that's all the more accurate you have to be with Priority Mail) you can weigh your package at home and create the shipping label on line at the USPS site. I think you may be able to create the label through PayPal also, but I'm not familiar with exactly how to do that.

While on the USPS web site, you can also request a carrier pickup so your mailperson will take the package when they deliver your regular mail. It's not necessary to go to the Post Office, you can do everything from home with a scale and a printer. If you don't live more than a half mile from your mailbox, and the road is passable, the carrier will pick your shipment up from your porch.

RE: eBay vs. BYC eggs. I just hatched eggs from eight different breeders - Four from BYC, 3 from eBay, and one who sells in both venues. I did research my eBay purchases as far as feedback, etc. and didn't purchase from anyone who did not have a significant history on eBay. That said, there was no discernable difference. I had good and bad packaging from both and good and bad hatch rates from both.