can a seller charge almost triple the shipping cost ? charged me over 55 dollars , yet it cost 17

[chevyventure70]

i was curious if the seller can charge way more for shipping . i was charged over 55 dollars when the package arrived it only cost 17 to ship the parcel to me . 

[femmefan1946]

Can he?

Yes.

Should he?

Probably not.

Why?

Overlooking questions of ethics, the buyer can leave appropriate feedback

and he may pay more in eBay fees on the shipping than he would in eBay fees on the actual selling price.

• The most effective feedback is calm and factual. "Charged $55 for shipping with $17 postage." Your choice of neg, neutral or positive. It is possible that he spent more on packaging and postage than is reflected in the postage alone. For example, Canada Post charges GST on shipping labels. And bubblewrap ain't free.
• At one time there were no eBay fees on shipping, however, some sleazoids would sell items for eg 99cents with $99.00 shipping, paying eBay only on the former and annoying buyers no end, just as you are. Today, sellers pay fees on both and it is generally slightly cheaper to put as much as possible in the asking price. This is why you see so many 'Free' shipping listings. Obviously the cost of shipping is somewhere, but that 'free' gives the customers the warm fuzzies.

So he shot himself in the foot.

Twice.

[aubreyclay56]

Was the item from overseas tracked cause thats about rite,or was it from canada or us?then that is twice what it should be,depending on weight and sixe of package,,

[zee-chan]

Is $17 also in CAD or in a foreign currency? 

When I buy from Japan, the shipping label's price only shows the cost of the "international shipping"; it does not show the "registered mail" service that I also purchased on the label. (Example: It costs 1080yen to ship 1kg SAL from Japan to Vancouver, and 410yen for registered mail service. When the parcel arrives the label shows shipping paid as 1080yen, not 1490yen.) Does your item have additional shipping services such as tracking and insurance attached to it? Those won't show up on the label on the parcel.

There can also be other "hidden" cost that's not reflected on the shipping label, such as the time it takes to package the parcel, the packing material, gas to drive to the post office (or to hire a courier for pick up)...etc. Except I personally include such cost in the item's listed price, not in my shipping charges, because buyers such as OP could think they got ripped off shipping...  

Bottom line is when you agreed to pay the listed amount you agreed that the item is worth the selling price + shipping charge listed. 

$10 item + $50 shipping = $60

$30 item + $30 shipping = $60

$50 item + $10 shipping = $60

The above are technically speaking all the same, so why does it matter how much the seller charged for shipping when you previously agreed to pay this total amount for this particular item? Granted it may not best practice to overcharge (?) so much on shipping. Have you considered asking the seller himself / herself what is the breakdown of the actual shipping cost because you seem to be upset about being overcharged, before leaving appropriate feedback?

[ricarmic]

Another option is that it is simply a case of human error.

If they are using flat rate shipping, it is entirely possible that they've left the wrong price in or typed it in wrong.

I have done this in the past, when I relisted something that was a lot lighter and forgot to adjust the flat rate shipping down to what it should have been.

As zee suggests, a simple email question may resolve it. Despite how frustrating it is that it happened, I suggest sending the email query in a non-confrontational way. That will have a higher likelihood of achieving a positive outcome... 

[fvghn]

I don't see the problem here, you should know what the shipping is before you buy. I don't care if the item is 99 cents and shipping 99 dollars or vice versa, the total price is all you should care about.

[ricarmic]

Hi Fvg, I totally agree, however it assumes the seller and buyer were both paying attention.... I know I've made mistakes and had the wrong shipping amount, and for sure I know some of my buyers seem to have done nothing more than look at the picture and hit buy, so anything is possible.....