Have you ever offered to help with shipping costs on a trade?

Just as the title states, have you ever offered to cover part/all of the other party's shipping costs in a trade (not you buying the pin). I came across a situation this morning where I had been sending them requests for a while for a couple of pins I really want, and they replied this morning saying:

We already checked if we could send the jumbo but sending the Jumbo cost us $20. That is way too much.

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(Yes they are in Europe which might explain the costs) I e-mailed them back and pointed out I will have shipping costs as well, but I would be willing to help cover some of their costs if a trade could be worked out.

How do you look at that? Is Shipping Costs part of the hobby in general, or if one is asking for a Jumbo compared to regular sized pins, should they help out if the costs are high?

I mean, I trade with some people in France, and my packages via US Priority International are over $30 in shipping costs, where theirs to me are around 11 Euros (about $16) but I have never thought to ask for them to help cover the higher costs, etc

Thoughts?

Shipping costs are a part of the trade and, as such, should be considered part of the negotiation. In cases when the values of the pins or costs of shipping have a variance, I think it is appropriate for the party on the "losing" end to say that part of the deal is that the other person pay for shipping. YMMV.

If they are shipping a jumbo i throw in an extra pin to help "cover" the cost of the extra shipping for them. Usually it is part of the pin negotiations. i have offered and sometimes the other person suggests it as well.

Never, I believe its part of the trade . After all, you have to pay to send theirs . Ridiculous ! Now if you want the pin that bad, then of course, its up to you .

i think its just part of the hobby what ever your shipping you pay for , just like what ever you receive the other person pays for but if they send you a message like its to much to ship and you really want the pin i would offer to pay the shipping or another pin to off set the cost . i think it just depends how much you want the pin

bfogartyjr said:

Shipping costs are a part of the trade and, as such, should be considered part of the negotiation. In cases when the values of the pins or costs of shipping have a variance, I think it is appropriate for the party on the "losing" end to say that part of the deal is that the other person pay for shipping. YMMV.

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nursek8 said:

If they are shipping a jumbo i throw in an extra pin to help "cover" the cost of the extra shipping for them. Usually it is part of the pin negotiations. i have offered and sometimes the other person suggests it as well.

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I agree, it should be part of the negotiations. Think of it this way: if you are trying to trade for a framed set valued at $60 and you offer a pin or pins valued at $60 that may seem fair to you, but when you pay $3 in shipping and they pay $20 is that really fair? If the situation were reversed would you feel that was fair? In this situation I think the more fair thing to do is trade a $77 value for the framed set. That way, after shipping, both parties are at $80. If shipping isn't considered than there is little incentive for anyone that owns frames or jumbos to ever trade them because they are taking a loss on them.

I wouldn't rule it out if I really wanted the pin. Maybe you could offer to split the difference- pay for half.

If it's a jumbo or framed set, I offer to split the shipping or send an additional pin, because I would expect the same. I remember once, I traded a sought after Stitch Auctions pin for a Beauty and the Beast SUPER Jumbo. Since both market values at the time were equal, we thought it would be fair to split shipping, in the end got a perfect deal.

I think it's perfectly acceptable to negotiate shipping costs. Like erudolf said, in the end, you need to think about the total value of the deal and whether its a really even trade. Nuresk8 puts up another good option - adding in an extra pin to cover shipping. I may suggest that in the future for European trades.

I confess you have amde me think I have always covered it as it becomes six of one and half a dozen of another if yous ee what I mean on the other hand sometimes with multiple trades it does get expensive. I have only asked for an equal share of coverinf costs if someone abroad asks for insurance on a pin I would not normally cover I just wonder if we ought to be thinking about it or not I need to ponder on this one I think
Jacqui

I've always covered it, never even thought about asking, but I've also never traded overseas, so!

The only time I would mention it would be if the shipping were excessive like €60 + (i.e. posting someone a collection of 20 vinylmations), otherwise I wouldn't mention it ... and that would be assuming the cost of what ever they were shipping was substantially less like 20 pins approx. $20, but if I was trading like for like it would never come up!