I never bid on "reserve" because I know it's more then I'm willing to pay.

Shipping is suppose to be the actual amt of shipping not extra because a person wants more money...That's why on buyers Feedback you have to state if shipping was accurate. If not, your percentage goes down from 100%. People can complain to ebay if they see you are charging more then the actual shipping...and ebay will kick you off.

If I have a large item I use ebay calculator that asks for the size box, weight etc...and then they automatically figure out shipping costs for each bidder...

If I saw 40.00 shipping that's an automatic no bid from me even with .99 starting price because I know your adding costs into your shipping...

I've sold heavy sewing machines and shipping was no more then 27.00 via the post office...shipping from NY out to CA...And another machine was 18.00 to FL...

Myself, I don't even bid on the auctions that have reserve
on them. If I really want the item, I will put my max and accept the shipping cost that is stated. If I don't like the high shipping then I don't even bother to bid.

Hey, I admit that I put the shipping way too high. But I'm sticking with the reserve. I'm not gonna accidentally sell a machine for next to nothing

IMHO, shipping consists of more than the price to actually mail the item. It can legitimately include the packing materials, your cost in getting the item to the post office/mailing store, as well as your time in safely packaging the item. Sometimes it's obvious that the seller is trying to make up for a cheap sales price by inflating the shipping charge, but that's not the only reason for a big shipping fee. If I were going to ship a sewing machine, I would be putting a lot of time and effort into safely packing it, and I would feel perfectly justified charging for that.

If they didn't like the shipping price they shouldn't have even considered bidding in the first place. It sounds like they waited until the last few minutes of the auction to contact you hoping that you wouldn't want to relist the machine and so would sell it to them cheap.

Just wondering...Do you think you will get a bad review if the person who buys your machine has lots of trouble with it, too?

Try to be absolutely honest when describing the item. If parts are missing, there's rust, scratches, then say so. Then a bad review is not justified.

A seller said a cookie jar head had been broken, that it would still be a good collector's item. The head had been SHATTERED and didn't show that in the picture. I gave her a neutral and she had a fit!

I shop Ebay and CL all the time. I do not even consider ones with "reserve" since I simply do not want to play the game.

My sewing machine I actually saw on Ebay first, and I contacted the seller, since she lived in the same city. I wanted to avoid shipping charges. She actually had it listed on CL as well. Luckily for me, she sold it to me, and its been a fantastic machine. It is just like new, and she basically had upgraded, which is what I am in the process of doing now. When I get ready to sell mine I will post it here, and on CL.

Bottom line is I think most folks just want to know, how much do you want for the item? If its in their budget they will bid, if not they will just keep on looking.

Shipping prices are so varied, its hard to say if they are padding those to get more money. I honestly look for "free shipping" most of the time. If its something I really want, like fabric : ) I will pay the shipping.

I think I have only given one bad review in the last 15yrs or so. That was because the person was misleading in his/her ad. The Header stated you would get "4 Pimatene Mist" and in the body of the ad it stated only 3. I unfortunately for me, did not read the body of the ad, and was suprised when I only received 3. I would have bid differently had I realized this.

These people should check the shipping themselves and see it's not cheap

Actually it does not matter the type auction a seller runs and what the start bid is, or reserve, or whatever. What matters is what the buyer is willing to pay with shipping.

If all buyers would just put the most they are willing to pay with shipping and be done with it there would be no issues as mentioned here.

If you as a buyer are looking for a widget on eBay you should know the most you are willing to pay for it with shipping. With that being said check out the BIN's and if such an item is there for what you are willing to pay for it with shipping OR FOR LESS go ahead and buy it and be done with it.

If you want to go the way of the auction find what you are looking for and put your most top bid you are willing to pay for it with shipping and be done with it. If no one outbids you.....you are the winner and if someone does move on to the next seller that has what you are looking for.

People should realize that there will be times you will pay more in shipping than for the item you are bidding on or buying cause that is just the nature of what shipping cost these days.

On the other hand sellers who start an auction so low and jack up the shipping in order to avoid eBay fees can and will get booted of eBay if reported and eBay finds they do it all the time. I've seen it happen time and again in the last 16 years on eBay.

Personally as a seller on there over the years I've done it all as far as selling using auction bids, reserves to protect lowest I would take for an item which always went higher than reserve, and BIN's.

As a buyer I have bid on regular and reserve auctions and also have done many BIN's simply because I find a seller that has the widget I want at a price I'm willing to pay for it.

In the last few years I deal alot with sellers that have BIN or Best Offer. I am able to buy many things on eBay with Best offer.

Different strokes for different folks in the way folks can buy on that site.

If I do bid on an item I'd rather save it in my watch list and SNIPE it at the last 3-5 seconds left in an auction.