When people want to sell items at a garage-sale or church-fete or market stall, they have to put their items in boxes and bags, load up their car or get someone to give them a lift or pay for a taxi. Next, they have to find someplace to park. They next have to cart their items from their car to the market or hall or stall or just out into their own driveway if it's a home garage-sale. They have to display their items. They have to sit in the sun or dusty hall or crowded market and keep an eye on their goods -- put up with endless tire-kickers, questions, people's sticky hands, insults, etc. At the end of the day, even if they haven't made a single sale, they have to pack everything up again and head off to where the day began
When people buy something at a market or church/school fete or home garage-sale, those buyers expect the seller to wrap the item and bag or box it. They don't expect to pay extra for that. Potential buyers wouldn't entertain a seller whining about having to drive 40 miles to the markets. That's the seller's look-out. If they weren't prepared to do the leg-work to gain a few dollars, they should have stayed home and given their items to St. Vinnie's.
Ebay is an 'online market-place' --- right ? It's an online version of the school-fete or front-yard garage-sale where people want to sell without the hassle of sitting in the sun all day dealing with tyre-kickers and hagglers or of loading the car and driving through busy traffic and all the other inconvenience
When sellers start looking at sales through the eyes of those from whom they hope to make money, there will be far fewer disputes
All it takes is a bit of basic intelligence. For example, before even considering listing something for sale, anyone with a bit of intelligence would first work out how they're going to send that item. They'd try popping it in a bag. Or they'd scout around for the correct size box. Then they'd work out -- in their own time -- just how much it would cost to send that item. Only when they had all the details clear would they list that item for sale. And they'd take the time to inform all prospective buyers -- within the item's description -- of all the ins and outs, including packaging, etc.. Armed with full information, buyers could then decide if they wanted to purchase the item or not, including freight or postage costs
The buyer is entitled to be appraised of ALL outstanding costs within the listing
Imagine going to a market stall where the seller included the cost of his petrol and time in the final price. Better still, try selling that way at a market or garage-sale or fete. Try putting extra on top of the marked-price because you've had to drag the stuff from your garage to the front yard. Sellers would laugh as they walked off
It's dishonest to list an item at a certain price as a means of getting a sale, only to add extras later on account of travel to post-office and wrapping to ensure the item arrives in one piece. No. If a seller intends to charge a buyer for his travel and other costs, then those should be included in the start-price, not added later
