"LRod" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 06 Jan 2006 22:04:53 GMT, "Toller" wrote:

I've gotten a number of complaints like that because I (like everyone
else
on eBay) charge about $5 handling. It takes time to pack it up and ship
it.

Well, why don't you break it down altogether: $6 house payment, $2
mortgage interest, $3.50 gas, 75¢ electricity, 50¢ tape, etc. Those
are all rents that should be in the base price of the product, just
like the raw materials and the machinery is to a manufacturer.

It's unethical, in my opinion to break out a separate (additional)
charge for "handling" when that cost should be a part of the cost of
the product. It represents pure profit, so far as I'm concerned, just
like extended warranties, just because someone wants to maintain a
price point to make a sale. It belongs in the price.

Well, it's a little harder to build the price in on an auction. Since the
seller doesn't know what the final price will be, it makes sense for the
shipping and handling to be factored in by the buyer. I think it's
different for a seller who auctions something here and there than it is for
an established business who actually knows their fixed and variable costs
and can factor them into the sales price. For me, I take the actual
shipping cost and throw in $2 for supplies. I don't think it's unethical to
break out a handling cost. What I think is unethical is one of the other
stories in this thread where the bidder asked for the shipping cost prior to
bidding and then when the auction is over a handling charge is sneaked in.

todd