RINKER ON COLLECTIBLES — Column #1464

Copyright © Harry Rinker, LLC 2014

Shipping and Handling Costs: Who Is Responsible For What?

Internet auction and direct email quote buyers pay little attention to shipping and handling costs required by the seller.  Buyers accept them as part of the purchase costs.  As a result, buyers often pay more than they should.

What exactly do the requested shipping and handling charges include and, more importantly, what is not included?  While large internet sellers, such as Amazon.com, offer alternatives, most internet sellers of antiques and collectibles do not.  Understanding what options are available and carefully selecting those that matter to the buyer can reduce shipping and handling costs.  It is time to start questioning arbitrary shipping and handlings costs imposed by internet sellers that do not allow the buyer an opportunity to negotiate and/or select less expensive alternatives.

It is critical to understand the obvious and hidden costs that comprise shipping and handling costs.  Some internet sellers use these costs to pad their profits.  Shipping and handling costs can turn a bargain into an expensive purchase.

Shipping and handling costs are not one cost.  They are comprised of (1) packing supplies, (2) postage, (3) tracking fees, (4) confirmation receipt fee, (5) insurance, and (6) personnel costs.  It is not reasonable to expect the buyer to be responsible for all these costs.  Some are in the “cost to do business” category.

When a seller decides to sell on the internet, he/she must accept that packing supplies are a cost of doing business.  Supplies include, but are not limited to, boxes, packing material like bubble wrap and peanuts, cardboard dividers, packing tape, and shipping labels.  Requiring a buyer to pay for the packing supplies is a gross injustice.  Buyers are encouraged to avoid doing business with such individuals.

When buying antiques and collectibles from an internet seller, the buyer expects the seller to properly package the item or items for shipment.  Buyers assume sellers are aware of how to properly pack material.  In the case of ceramics, glass, and other breakable items, the box within a box packing technique is the minimum a buyer has a right to expect.  The choice of shipper makes no difference.  Sellers must assume every package will be handled roughly during the shipping process and prepare it accordingly.

As with any generalization, there are exceptions.  If the buyer requires a shipping methodology above standard practices, the buyer should expect to pay a portion of the packaging charges.  If the buyer requests a specific carrier be used which results in higher transportation costs, the buyer should pay the difference.

Several carriers, including the United States Postal Service, provide free boxes and other shipping materials to internet sellers.  Flat rate envelopes and boxes now are a standard shipping method.  As long as the material fits into the provided envelope or box, it ships at a flat rate no matter what the weight of the package.

Internet buyers are well advised the next time they visit a United States Post Office, Fed-Ex, UPS, DHL, or other carrier to obtain a list of rates charged and become familiar with them.  The information also is available on the internet but somewhat difficult to find and decipher.

America is a “now” nation.  Once something is purchased, buyers want it as quickly as possible.  Buyers pay higher shipping costs for this immediacy.  It is time to stop and ask the question: “Do I really need it in three days or can I wait eight to ten days?”  A willingness to wait those extra days saves money in terms of postage/shipping costs.  Patience is a virtue is a hard lesson for internet buyers.  It is well worth learning.

Buyers’ impatience also is reflected in the growing use of package tracking.  A tracking number allows a buyer to follow the progress of a purchase from the day it was dropped off with the carrier until it arrives at the buyer’s location.  It is a nice, but expensive convenience.  Sellers like it because it offers a form of protection for them.  However, it is a mistake for sellers to assume every buyer wants tracking.  Since it is commonplace for the seller to charge the buyer for this cost, it is reasonable that sellers ask buyers whether they wish the service or not.  If a buyer answers no, he/she should not be charged.  If the buyer says no and the seller still wants the tracking service, the seller must incur the cost.

Buyers should not expect to pay for confirmation of delivery.  This is another means of protection for the sellers.  Buyers in no way benefit from it.  Confirmation delivery is a cost to the seller.

Insurance is the burden of the buyer.  Buyers are incorrect to assume that insurance is automatically included in shipping and handling costs.  Sellers are not obligated to insure packages.  Further, the insurance amount should not exceed the cost of the item and postage.  Insuring a parcel for more than the value of the item is fraud, something carriers take seriously.

Some carrier rates include one or more of these features as part of the shipping costs.  Requiring one or more of these features may result in the necessity to ship the package at a higher rate.  This is another reason why it is essential that buyers become familiar with the shipment options.

Personnel time is a cost of doing business to sellers.  Calculating the amount of personnel time required to properly pack an item, prepare an invoice and label, and drive it to a carrier and then charging this cost to buyers is unacceptable.  Buyers should not have to pay a “handling” fee.  The time involved in emails or telephone conversation following the sale also is a cost absorbed by the shipper.

Further, internet sellers require purchasers to pay first before sending the item or items purchased.  This puts buyers at a distinct disadvantage.  If a buyer is dissatisfied in any way with his/her purchases, the seller has a favorable bargaining position.  If a seller does nothing, he/she has the money.  Many internet sellers protect themselves with an “all sales final” notice.  However, this is open to challenge in court the moment a question is raised about misrepresentation.  Internet buyers are encouraged to make certain they fully understand a seller’s return policy before sending payment.

Some internet sellers will disagree with portions of the above.  There are no fixed rules of sale on the internet; still a “Wild West” environment in the digital age.  Sellers feel it is their right to set the term of sale to which buyers will adhere.  Whether the terms are fair or not is irrelevant so long as buyers pay them.

Therefore, the burden falls upon the buyers to clearly understand the terms and conditions of sale before bidding on or buying an object.  Email and phone are the easiest methods of dialogue.  Buyers have every right to expect sellers to openly answer any questions that may arise.  If buyers are not happy with the shipping costs and arrangements, they should not bid or buy.

[Author’s Aside:  In fairness to sellers, once a buyer purchases an item or items at auction or through direct sale, he/she is obligated to complete the transaction.  The time to argue about shipping costs and arrangements is prior to the sale.   Once the sale is complete and the costs are clearly stated in the internet listing, the buyer is obligated to abide by them.]

Hank from West Chester, Pennsylvania, a regular listener to my WHATCHA GOT? syndicated antiques and collectibles radio call-in show, asked my opinion regarding a shipping question involving the sale of some radio supplies to a person living in a neighboring state.  Hank listed the supplies for sale on the internet.  After the buyer bought them, he informed Hank that he would drive from his home to Hank’s home to pick them up.  When he arrived at Hank’s home, Hank asked the buyer for payment before handing over the supplies.  Instead of paying the full amount agreed upon, the buyer insisted he deserved a discount since he drove from his house to Hank’s house to pick up the supplies.  Hank refused, demanding the agreed upon amount of the sale.  An argument ensued.  Hank stood his ground.  The man refused to pay and left without his supplies.

Hank was right, provided he made it clear in his internet listing that the price agreed upon was FOB (Free on Board).  This commercial concept states that the seller pays for the transportation to the location from which the seller is offering the goods for sale (in this case, Hank’s costs to acquire the supplies and getting them to his home) and the buyer pays the cost to move the goods from this location to the buyer’s location.

The incident could have been avoided had the buyer called Hank and understood Hank’s terms of sale.  I traveled multiple times at my own expense to pick up an item or items I purchased.  Never once did I ask for a discount because I made the trip.

Harry L. Rinker welcomes questions from readers about collectibles, those mass-produced items from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.  Selected letters will be answered in this column.  Harry cannot provide personal answers.  Photos and other material submitted cannot be returned.  Send your questions to: Rinker on Collectibles, 5955 Mill Point Court SE, Kentwood, MI  49512.  You also can e-mail your questions to harrylrinker@aol.com. Only e-mails containing a full name and mailing address will be considered.

You can listen and participate in WHATCHA GOT?, Harry’s antiques and collectibles radio call-in show, on Sunday mornings between 8:00 AM and 10:00 AM Eastern Time.  If you cannot find it on a station in your area, WHATCHA GOT? streams live on the Internet at www.gcnlive.com.