[NTLK] About FS EBay PayPal and Shipping

My FS post seems to have fired up a debate. I deliberately chose this
list prior to EBay'ing in an effort to let members have first option
on the 100 and 2100, due to their passion and interest in these
excellent devices. Whether I make more money on EBay isn't of great
concern. I'll have to pay listing fees on E-Bay, but that's how they
make a living. We all know that at the outset, and it comes with a
worldwide marketplace. I could spend a lot of time trawling for lists
and user groups for other various items I am about to sell, but
there's a large time factor involved that makes ROI not so hot.
Paypal does come into it's own when you start dealing over
international boundaries with money exchange and banking deposits.
It's still so much cheaper than any of the conventional Foreign
Exchange processes in regard to fees. A no brainer really.

My main gripe is with the Shippers. This applies to more than just
Ebay. I buy a lot from the US, and the online stores have stitched up
deals with the likes of UPS, FedEx and the others. The costs are
astronomical. I recently had one order where the shipping quote was
$125 on an order worth $200. After telling the company we'd accept a
USPS Airmail consignment, and that we'd not go ahead otherwise, they
sent via USPS at $26, a $99 saving. USPS, Australia Post and others
all seem to me to have reasonable delivery times and rates. I don't
see the attraction of using DHL, UPS etc. unless they are offering
incredibly better services. So now i always negotiate shipping if it
seems OTT, and the merchant can decide whether or not to go outside
their standard deal to get my business.

My new motto.

Shop around before Shipping

Rant over.

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