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Do you consider an eBay seller who ships "media mail" dishonest?

Miscellaneous Subject 
786 views 4 replies 4 participants last post by  Dean MacManus 
#1 ·
Today I received a figure I purchased with "free shipping" that had $8 postage due. The seller shipped " media mail" which is for movies, software, dvds,books, newspapers, etc.
In other words, MEDIA.
It is a very inexpensive way to ship, but the Post Office regularly checks suspiciously large packages.
This is the third time I have received a package postage due for this reason. The previous sellers refunded postage but both sent messages stating " I have NEVER had the Post Office open one of my packages before...."
I await a response from this seller.
It doesn't matter.
You lied, and got caught.
Maybe you just roll the dice a lot and refund when you have to.
i won't buy from you again, even after the refund.
Maybe it's just me?
Thoughts?
 
#2 ·
.
The way that this could happen innocently (benefit of the doubt) is where a seller has or used to have a business that's mainly media driven -- like he sells movies mainly, and movie/TV collectibles on the side. It's actually not that uncommon that sellers who used to do DVDs then Blu-Rays have seen that market collapse, except for rarities, but their collectibles side took off.

There are two sides to the issue I guess. I respect to scamming postal rates vis a vis the post office, I couldn't get too worked up about it if both the sender and the recipient knew the game in advance. But for a seller to put an unsuspecting buyer in that situation is surely reprehensible. Even the best scenario, "Sorry you had to pay, I knew that might happen, of course I'll refund you" seems to be an unacceptable thing to put a buyer through, unless agreed to in advance. All of this derives from the instability of how shipping has to be handled online, thus forcing some sellers into bad situations to compete with "free shipping" and then cut corners to stay viable.
 
#4 ·
GOLLY . . .

We've had some "grey area" / "eye brow raising" discussions as of late with regards to sellers & shipping.

"Dishonest" could be an applicable term, but asides from what you posted do we all know the absolute circumstances per say or does it matter since you are the buying / paying customer and it's how you perceive the issue based on what happened (i.e. being stiffed with the forwarding cost, etc.)?

Perhaps . . . "cheap" and "opportunistic" is another way to describe the seller using media mail?

I've never used USPS media mail to ship anything out whenever I sold on eBay just to save $. "Cutting corners" doesn't necessarily yield the desired/wanted effects. I speak from experience personally and professionally in that regards.

I guess it's a growing and more noticeable trend due to a combination of increasing shipping costs and greed to put it simply.

If this was an eBay transaction, then you have every legitimate right as a buyer to leave the seller a well earned negative feedback.
Thanks, I agree with both of you regarding the complete story. In the case of the previous shippers, they made it clear that they knew what they did, but were shocked to be caught. The current seller issued a refund with no further comment.
The only thing I can add, as you may or may not be aware if you sell on ebay, is that the terms for sending media mail are pretty well spelled out at the time of selection.
As MoonBaseAlphaMale pointed out, it could still have happened innocently if the seller primarily handled media and transitioned into other areas.
At the end of the day, I blew off my steam, got my refund and in cases such as this I simply don't send any feedback at all. I'm good until the next time it happens. At least this time it was $8 and I had cash in the house. The first time was $23 and I had to wait till the next day and go to the P.O.
Lol.
 
#3 ·
GOLLY . . .

We've had some "grey area" / "eye brow raising" discussions as of late with regards to sellers & shipping.

"Dishonest" could be an applicable term, but asides from what you posted do we all know the absolute circumstances per say or does it matter since you are the buying / paying customer and it's how you perceive the issue based on what happened (i.e. being stiffed with the forwarding cost, etc.)?

Perhaps . . . "cheap" and "opportunistic" is another way to describe the seller using media mail?

I've never used USPS media mail to ship anything out whenever I sold on eBay just to save $. "Cutting corners" doesn't necessarily yield the desired/wanted effects. I speak from experience personally and professionally in that regards.

I guess it's a growing and more noticeable trend due to a combination of increasing shipping costs and greed to put it simply.

If this was an eBay transaction, then you have every legitimate right as a buyer to leave the seller a well earned negative feedback.
 
#5 ·
It's dishonest. I get irritated when people ship my items using Priority Mail boxes wrapped in plain brown paper and they only paid for media mail or first class shipping. As if everybody doesn't have easy access to free boxes at work or laying around their house etc. I can't stand people that cheat the system, and they are everywhere.
 
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