Amazon...?

[Lucky13]

Why is it, when you buy books at the Amazon.co.uk, shipping anywhere in the world to here is £2.80, but when you think that you've got a good deal on your hands at the Amazon.com, you almost choke on your coffee/tea/whatever...
Had three good books in my basket at Amazon.com, but when I got to the checkout, I almost fainted, the S/H was almost four times the price of the books, over £50, one book was a shade over $1, another was just over $8, the third was almost $15, in the end, the lot would have have been roughly £71 with the shipping....Just to say, buying them here on the Amazon.co.uk, the lot would have been £49 and that's only because I couldn't find the two cheapest books here, otherwise the price would have been even lower...

Probably should have put this in the what annoyed you today thread....

 

[fubar57]

Same goes for eBay Jan, I find a decently priced kit in the U.S. and the shipping is 25-40$ and now I believe there is an extra fee added to that. I've shipped a kit to the states for under 10$. I can get kits across either ocean for free or under 20$ shipping.

Geo

 

[Lucky13]

True, been shipping all over the place here, more than once at the post office I've thought....is that it?!

I think that them barstewards are up to something....

 

[GrauGeist]

The sellers use the shipping to pad their profits.

Seriously. This is not always the case, however, you'll see many auctions that have a very low selling price, but the shipping is fairly high. Especially if you look at the actual shipping cost from the seller's address to your address.

Amazon is not much different. If the Amazon item is actually from Amazon (or partner), the shipping is usually pretty fair, but if it's a seller on Amazon, the shipping gets ridiculous.

You can actually find many tutorials on how to make a profit with shipping costs at auction/sales sites. Some ebay sellers actually charge a stiff shipping cost even when they are drop shipping a sale item that includes free shipping in their agreement.

 

[bobbysocks]

what he ^ said. that is just a sneaky way to entice buyers. there is a motorcyle part i have had on my watch list for a while....the guy will drop the sale price by $20usd but if you look he bumps up the S&H the same amount. when i buy something i never do "1-click purchasing " i always review the purchase and see what the other costs will be before confirming the purchase. there are a couple times i noticed the shipping costs were more than what they advertised on the page....so nixed the buy ( and informed ebay/amazon ). <<< that is another tactic used. they figure if you catch it they will drag their feet but give you the money back. if you do not catch the price difference they skinned you for a few more $$$$ and got away with it. oh and i never look at those sites after a night of drinking....did that once and LEARNED my lesson.

 

[at6]

That pretty much sums up why I closed my Ebay account and quit buying online.

 

[bobbysocks]

i do buy a lot online....i just look things over very well. i have amazon prime so i buy most of my items that are offered that way. ebay i usually look for free shipping or scrutinize the trans action closely.

 

[Lucky13]

Same here fellas, watch carefully on ebay and Amazon... More than once, I've found something that people are asking silly money for on Amazon, for the fraction of the price on ebay, or the other way around, other times, I've found it somewhere else, like some of my latest Milwaukee Road books, keep it up like this and those two will one day close up shop!

 

[Lucky13]

Here's a good idea, of people asking silly money for a book..... Mikoyan MiG-21 (Famous Russian Aircraft) Hardcover – April 7, 2008 by Yemif Gordon (Author)

$999!? Honestly!? Get a grip of yourself!