eBay

kyna-le · ‎10-25-2023

Thought bout getting a 3.5 hp outboard motor made in China from a seller in California. Price was $346 CAD. Put in my Canadian postal code for shipping. Rubbed my eyes a few times to make sure I wasn't hallucinating and it was $1399 CAD. Adding fees and taxes the grand total is $1806 CAD. If I purchased a brand new 2023 Mercury 6hp outboard motor with free shipping from the local marina, I'd save $46.

I live about 100 km from the US border so just as a test I put in a zip code for Niagara Falls, NY for the listing and the shipping was free. eBay International Shipping Scumbaggery at it's finest.

marnotom! · ‎10-25-2023

Free shipping within the United States for an outboard motor? As the kids would say, "That's sus."

I'm looking at a listing for an assortment of outboard motors. The listing claims they ship out of Chino, California, but the seller is registered in China and their feedback percentage is 98.6. The listing description is in fragmented English. Other listings for outboard motors shipping out of China show shipping rates of US$11-15 to Canada, so I'm thinking the ones in this particular listing ship out of China rather than Chino as well.

Interestingly enough, the shipping to Australia on this listing is about US$20, but to New Zealand, the UK and Canada it's over US$1000. Either there's a glitch afoot or the seller's somehow done something to bork eIS on this listing.

I think eIS may have saved you a lot of after-sales frustration. Who knows if the motor would have made it past the Illinois forwarding hub anyway?

luv4orphans · ‎10-25-2023

They offer free shipping within the US but make up for their shortfall by charging Cdn buyers more. I've noticed that quite a bit. Just my opinion though and would be hard to prove. Some sellers just put international shipping costs and nothing for Canada so we end up with the international quote. Unless you ask because its seems a bit ridiculous, you pay what's quoted. Not sure on this one but it does seem a bit extreme. How much does this thing weigh.

marnotom! · ‎10-25-2023

@luv4orphans wrote:|

They offer free shipping within the US but make up for their shortfall by charging Cdn buyers more.

Not for an item forwarded through the eBay International Shipping service. If the item is shipped within the US for “free,” all of the international shipping charge you see is levied by eBay International Shipping rather than the seller and eIS.