Over priced shipping for eggs!

[scbatz33]

Shipping isn't just a free box from the PO. and even if all they did was wrap in newspaper, round here a local newspaper is $1.50. Plus gas is $3.78 a gallon on a good day not to mention the time to wrap the eggs and drive to the post office. And that's if you do ABSOLUTELY bare minimum. I have bubble wrap, tape, newspaper, egg cartons, foil, labels, ink, paper towels....all those expenses add up.

I have always charged $15 for a 12+ egg auction....three years now. If I send it in a flat rate box that's $14.95. I lose money on shipping. If I send it in a regular Priority box, sure it might cost a bit less for the shipping part, but there are more expenses than what a seller hands over to the P.O.

Sellers tell you their shipping up front. you CHOSE to spend the money. If you thought it was too high, you shouldn't have bid.

 

[Orchid]

Time is the highest priced commodity there is, and shipping eggs (or anything else) takes time.

 

[mamawolf544]

I just printed a label from paypal on line, the shipping was $14.20. I charged $16.00 that was a combined shipping price.
I still have to bubble wrap 14 turkey eggs, and I buy all my bubble wrap new. Tape, put labels that I have printed with my computer and then drive to the PO.
Not counting my time it is probably costing me $3.00 to ship the eggs.
I cant wait to go to the foam inserts. I am buying some very soon.
Now I do understand, I paid $15.00 shipping last month off of E-Bay and I got 1 tiny box Marked $4.20 with a foam insert. I think he could have got by with $10.00 shipping, so it does get frustrating.

 

[ChooksChick]

Quote:
What she said!!

Yes, you really must consider what the time and trouble are worth, as well as the value of the eggs. I guarantee I had a completely different attitude prior to my own egg sales. I buy pre-cut foam inserts that are made specifically for the boxes I use, I buy the tape, the special pens that are very visible, the labels, the gas...it's really about the care put into the packaging that can get the eggs to you safely. If your sellers didn't pack to the level that you expected, that's something you should discuss with them, but it doesn't mean everyone who charges a higher shipping fee is gouging you. I charge $15 for the shipping and it ends up costing me sometimes, and sometimes I make a buck or two off the shipping...it all shakes out. I'm not going to add time calculating what the gas and tape cost on an individual basis to make sure each customer is paying their exact fees any more than Wal-Mart will charge you less for an item made in your town than they charge someone across the country. It's a business, and I'm trying hard to be fair- ultimately, time spent doing the math would cost the customer, as well.

I do understand your complaint, though, and feel you ought to ask good questions about the packing in advance to see if that feels like it's the right value for you.

One last thing- before I used foam, I packed the ones going to customers closer to me as well as humanly possible (which took a bit longer)- short distances are notoriously more catastrophic on eggs because it is brutal truck time instead of nice flight time.

 

[Dobela]

I haven't shipped eggs but I was once a very busy seller on eBay. Yeah, you can get bubble wrap for free. But even that isn't free unless someone is bringing it to you. Some local dollar stores would save their bubble wrap for me but I still had to take time to pick it up, use gas to pick it up, and then spend a long time going thru it to make certain it was usable. Many times it would have large patches where all the air cushions were popped. Eventually the 'free' bubble wrap just wasn't worth it any more and I began buying bubble wrap.

Time is another huge issue. If the post office won't pick up packages from your door (some do, some don't), then you have to go to the post office to mail. Again, there is more gas and lots more time unless you get lucky and no on else is there ahead of you.

To the OP, the seller may have made a small amount of money on your particular sale, but my guess is that in the overall scheme of things, the seller is probably not making any money from shipping. I charged a flat rate on everything because it was easier for my buyers to know how much they were spending up front. Some I came out ahead, but really, over all, I always lost money on shipping.

 

[featherz]

Most of the shipped eggs I have received take me 1/2 an hour to unwrap every single lovingly packaged egg, so I can only assume it takes the seller that long to wrap them. I've received some pretty ornate packaging on egg shipments - the package may or may not be free but it's gotta take a while to wrap all those eggs, cushion, etc. So I wouldn't balk at paying more than the actual shipping cost unless the eggs came poorly wrapped and protected (which so far has not happened to me).

 

[ranchhand]

I recently received some very well packaged eggs and the seller had UNDERestimated the shipping cost. I intend to send her the overage, it's obvious she put a lot of time and effort into packaging the eggs. The PO had a little fun with the box, but that isn't the seller's fault at all.

I buy and sell online all the time. If I don't think the shipping cost is fair, then I don't bid.

 

[artathart]

Lol......So let me get this correct. Now I am not just paying shipping fees for the actual shipping, I am paying for everyones valuable time????? And I am paying for their gas as well?????? I can see a lot of sellers are getting upset about my "Ramble". Is't this the right section for this post? Yet for some reason many say I shouldn't have bid on the eggs if I didn't fee the price was fair. I really don't think you are in a position to tell me what I should or shouldn't do. Besides, I bid with the understanding that everyone is good and honest when the fact of the matter is, They are not. I assumed it cost what I paid to have them shipped....And if something truely cost $15....Then I have no problem paying for it. Otherwise, I have a problem when my box shows up marked HALF what I spent on shipping using a egg carton and newspaper. Which the newspaper I am sure was not bought for the purpose of JUST pasking my eggs but I guess I have to pay for someones Sunday reading now as well? Someone said that sure the seller might profit a little off my shipping but in the long run it will even out for them......I don't care about the sellers long run. What about the value of my time and money? When I sell eggs.....IF I sell eggs, Iassure you I will in detail describe in the listing the shipping is calculated on buyers zipcode. It takes maybe 5 mins (With slow internet) to go to the USPs website and calculate shipping. I don't intend to charge people for the $5.000 of my time. Nor am I going to charge people for sitting and wrapping a egg with bubble wrap and tape. I may charge for whatever materials, but thats it. I have to say I diasagree 100% and still feel the same way when I posted this ramble and now that know what reasons are behind your "Shipping fee's" I likely wont order any more.

 

[Orchid]

Just to be clear, I don't sell eggs. But I do understand that the costs that go into shipping are more than the price the post office has stamped on the box.

 

[DuckLady]

This is the reason some factor packaging, listing fees and other costs of the transaction into the price of the eggs.

That way people can say the shipping is fair but complain about the cost of the eggs!

Sometimes ya just can't win.

I agree that if the shipping is too high for a person's taste, then the potential buyer should message the seller to politely ask about it or just walk away.

No one forced anyone to buy anything.