very true...
although sometimes it's worth it.
this < auction >was for an oscilloscope that should have gone for ~$50 - $110, and I was certainly willing to pay that. Also shipping delicate electronic test equipment (around 30lb) isn't something you want to do haphazardly.
The seller is DoveBid, which is a well established auction company that has been around for a while (~60 yrs or so) and was the main liqudater for a number of big tech firms around the Bay Area over the last few years... Anyone recall Excite@Home?
The winning bid for sniped at $10.45 but the shipping was flat-rated for $55, and was the reason I almost passed over the auction. As it was, I needed the oscilloscope in fairly short order and figured the combined price was worth it.. Payed for the auction when it closed (asking if it was worth it to drive out and pick up the gear - about 2 hours round trip), recieved a followup call about 2 minutes later -- very professional, friendly and efficient! Turns out that they (DoveBid) prepackages the items before sale, and just flat-rates everything.. I guess when you are selling $20k electronics, it makes sense. Well, I paypal'd them the $65 at 3:30pm on Thursday and had a package waiting on my doorstep less than 24hours later! And, if you read < dovebid-tmg > feedback the packaging job gets mentioned quite a few times -- they're serious! Fully isolated with custom blown foam in a box big enough for six oscilloscopes -- they wasn't some typical garage ebay seller by any means, and one of the few exceptions to the excessive shipping costs avoidance rule I've run across.
Final thoughts? I like flat-rate on my auctions, it speeds payments and reduces confusion, even if it means that I occasionally pay overages on my UPS bill.. Once or twice my final, actual cost of shipping was almost exceeded the final buyers cost -- but that's part of doing business.
Also, buyers always forget just how much shipping supplies can cost, and time and expenses that Shipping & Handling really does go to cover. You just have to be reasonable about it.
sotty if this got a little long,
/ac