Holy Shipping!

I just won a pin today, with the original card and everything. I won it for around $15 but when I went to pay the total came to $23! I knew before hand that the shipping was gonna be $7.60, she was just lucky I wanted that pin so badly! XD and yes she does live in the US so it is not coming from over seas.
What is the most you paid for a pin? Not like a pin boxset but just one pin?
What is the lowest?
And what do you think should be the right amount?

The most I paid for one pin was in this case, $7.60.
The lowest, besides free shipping =P, was $1.99.
And what I think would be around the right amount would be like $2.75ish.

I found one seller on eBay who only charges $1.00 for the first pin, and $0.50 for each pin after that. I don't know how they do it, considering that it costs me $1.64 just for the shipping on one pin... but hey, I'll take it!

That's a ridiculous amount to charge for shipping. Be sure to rate the seller only 1 star for shipping price.

supertank said:

I found one seller on eBay who only charges $1.00 for the first pin, and $0.50 for each pin after that. I don't know how they do it, considering that it costs me $1.64 just for the shipping on one pin... but hey, I'll take it!

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Haha I know! I think it is another way for people to get extra money, you pay full price for the pin then over pay for shipping and the sellers get extra with he money 'for shipping'. My pin cost me $15 with $7.60 shipping and I think it will only be like $3.00, because it comes on a big backer, so she will be getting an Extra $4.60! Well that kinda sucks =/

Was it the Si and Am in the green basket pin? I was bidding on that as well, but made sure to keep in mind the $7+ shipping and when it got close to the price of the others up for sale now, and those that have been up for sale in the past, I quit. That shipping cost is absolutely ridiculous!

HiddenMickeys said:

Was it the Si and Am in the green basket pin? I was bidding on that as well, but made sure to keep in mind the $7+ shipping and when it got close to the price of the others up for sale now, and those that have been up for sale in the past, I quit. That shipping cost is absolutely ridiculous!

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Haha It was the same seller but it was a Toy Story pin that I've never seen on ebay before. I know! I mean she/he just lives in Cali. shipping from there is not even close to $7 something! Like nWoJeffDW mentioned I am only gonna give her a one star on the shipping prices. ;D

In fairness to the seller, it will depend on the quality of the packaging job they do and the method of shipping they select.

If they are using a small box - I had originally purchased a small jewelry quality box for shipping before the company went out of business for about $0.25. Next add in your standard bubble envelope, about $1.00 retail vs quantity discounts which can get them as low as $0.10. Then toss in PRIORITY mail on average now $5.15 to 6.20. Suddenly that price sounds much more reasonable.

On the other hand if it shows up in a normal bubble envelope, recycyled a time or three, and just first class postage/tracking --> blast away.

And the song/dance of how hard it was to take it to the post office / cost of going there gets NO sympathy. Post office will pick up packages FOR FREE at your home. They will also pick up Priority mailing upon request/notification.

On the Si and Am pin, the shipping method was named as "Economic" so I don't think the seller will be shipping via Priority. If so, I would agree that the $7+ shipping cost would be closer. I didn't see what was listed as the shipping method for the Toy Story one but since it's the same seller, I'm just guessing it's the same shipping method. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you though, Zero2Hero. Maybe it will be super-well packed and in an actual box rather than just a bubble mailer. Let's think positive!

Hey, congrats on the win! It's such a nice pin. I have one in my collection, too.

I saw that auction when it was first listed. I noticed the low starting bid, and thought it would make a nice trader if no one else bids. Then I saw the shipping price, and said "forget it". I didn't bid. Glad you won it!

I use the electronic pay/ship for my ebay sales, and for shipping trades. The average cost for 1 pin, in bubble wrap and a standard padded envelope is $1.64. The heaviest pin I have shipped, singly, was a PODMH and it shipped, on card, well wrapped for $1.81. Haven't had any complaints about packaging so far.

was it a thumper pin? I bid on a thumper a couple times today and lost... the shipping was listed at $7.60. Thats why I stopped bidding too. It was to be shipped economy or some such. First class priority is my prefured method. And they could have shipped it in a flat rate box cheaper. Ug. folks overcharge on shipping.

I ship a half bubble mailer First Class USPS with Deliv. Conf. It cost me $.50 for the half bubble mailer, $1.95 for the First Class, and $.97 for Deliv. Conf. Add that up and I charge roughly $3.50 per pin and free after the first to combine.

$1.64 for shipping a pin? Where is everyone shipping pins from? When I go to the post office and I hand them my LBE with one or 2 pins in it, and ask for DC I know it's going to be $2.80.

Ok, so $7.00 is a lot for shipping but handling is included. That seller has to pay for some materials to get you your pin safely to your home, this isn't pin trading. Maybe $5.00 would be more reasonable if it is a big pin but if you did an average of Ebay sellers, it's probably somewhere around $3.50.

I won a pin from the same seller, but I thought something was wrong with S&H prices. Sometimes, they put in an estimated weight and Ebay calculates the shipping based on that weight and zip code. Ebay's shipping calculator can be messed up at times.

That $7.60 did not make sense to me, so I requested total from the seller although I won just one pin. Then my S&H quote came back at $6.00 - a little bit lower at least.

When you consider that he is selling LE 250 legacy pins open auction style with low opening bids, the total is still not bad. A lot of sellers are offering the same pins around $30+, so I thought it was still ok. I wanted to trade for one legacy pin and the other person asked me arm+leg and half-a-kidney, so this seller was my only option.

The same seller listed Ariel now, but his S&H came down to $5.00.

Bellecat22 said:

$1.64 for shipping a pin? Where is everyone shipping pins from? When I go to the post office and I hand them my LBE with one or 2 pins in it, and ask for DC I know it's going to be $2.80.

Ok, so $7.00 is a lot for shipping but handling is included. That seller has to pay for some materials to get you your pin safely to your home, this isn't pin trading. Maybe $5.00 would be more reasonable if it is a big pin but if you did an average of Ebay sellers, it's probably somewhere around $3.50.

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I use electronic pay via paypal and ebay. Electronic rates are lower than office rates. I assume because we are not getting "customer service."

If you have a paypal account, and need to ship go to www.paypal.com/shipnow

ship first class package/envelope (3-5 day)
most single pins with wrap and bubble envelope wiegh under just under 2 oz, so it charges 2 oz price. (always round up)
generally, DC tracking is free when you use the paypal shipping. another $ saver there....

Also, we buy our envelopes in bulk online, comes out to oh... .50c or there abouts each.

Bellecat22 said:

$1.64 for shipping a pin? Where is everyone shipping pins from? When I go to the post office and I hand them my LBE with one or 2 pins in it, and ask for DC I know it's going to be $2.80.

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EBay has a deal with USPS where if you ship first class on a package 3 oz or less, it's only $1.64 with delivery confirmation. You get the same deal if someone buys a pin from you through PayPal, but only if the money is marked 'goods.'

Just be careful dinging the stars of sellers you might want to buy from again. A lot of sellers will put you on the blocked buyer list for giving them low stars.

wow that high of a shipping charge would have stopped me from bidding, because i feel the seller is bumpin their price this way. One pin using paypal shipping, which i am sure they do since they are a seller on ebay is $1.64 add an envelope and even tracking its still only $2 more. This is why i am particular with ebay sellers. For example if i trade and ship 6 pins to someone, usuing bubble wrap and padded mailer it is about 5-6oz which costs 2.12-2.20 to mail with DC included but on ebay a seller (most common) does 3.00 first pin and .50 each additional so thats 5.50. To me that is a $3 profit they are adding to the sale, which is crap. Now i bid with just one seller for a while so i may win 10+pins....so you see how it adds up. Still best to pick a seller and bid with them for the whole time period allowed than pying $3 a pin all the time. As far as what Roxane said above--SCREW THAT. If a seller blocks you for honest feedback, than good riddens. Although they can respond by saying shipping charges were listed and you bid anyway. Finally, i love these pins. I enjoy them and think they are lovely but they are pins. Hard pieces of medal and they do not require to be wrapped and shipped as though they are light bulbs (whos packaging sux btw). Bubble wrap will do the trick and an envelope. So $7+ for shipping is alot.

All this was just my dumb opinion. Carry on.

I expect that the ebay fees and PayPal fees are built into S&H. If you don't like the S&H, don't bid. Remember, ebay takes fees out of the TOTAL PRICE so that they (ebay) can make money on the S&H fees too now.

starry_solo said:

I expect that the ebay fees and PayPal fees are built into S&H. If you don't like the S&H, don't bid. Remember, ebay takes fees out of the TOTAL PRICE so that they (ebay) can make money on the S&H fees too now.

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You are so right! This is why I don't sell much on Ebay anymore. Ebay/Paypal raise their fees every year and make it impossible for sellers to make money so sellers have to raise prices/fees.

Thanks for all the advice on ebay/paypal shipping!

Yeah, I saw that Si/Am pin and thought about bidding on it. But when I saw the shipping, I said NO WAY. Even though sellers get charged a fee for price and for shipping costs, I only get eBay bucks for the price (and NOT the shipping). So, a lesson for the seller (which I am not, by the way): If eBay charges the same rate for price and shipping, raise the price and lower the shipping--it'll help out the buyers more.

The seller sent me a refund for $1.64, so that brings my total paid for shipping down to $4.36. She entered the tracking number after shipping the pin and when I click on it, I can see that she also purchased insurance. That is why the S&H was so high I think.

Did anybody else got a partial refund from the same seller?

supertank said:

EBay has a deal with USPS where if you ship first class on a package 3 oz or less, it's only $1.64 with delivery confirmation. You get the same deal if someone buys a pin from you through PayPal, but only if the money is marked 'goods.'

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Actually EVERYBODY gets this same deal. You just have to use the electronic postage option on the USPS web page. And no you don't have to mark it as "goods", just First Class Mail / Package.