What is going on here?

[lovesbabysquirmy]

My favourite is the mail order pamphlet I saw once being sold from the US - a folded piece of paper with a shipping cost of $50.

I think that could be considered skimming profits on shipping...

Nahh I could see that if the seller wants to ship it with 7-day day shipping and have it signed for upon delivery.  The signature part would drive the price right up.  And if you're just sending a little piece of paper?  Yeah I can see the seller wanting it being sent about as securely as a $1 million cheque. 

[NovelNerd]

What I don't understand in all of this is how come some shipping costs are around 2 or 3 times higher than others, from the same country. I have seen prices from France to France going up to 40€... which would be just hilarious.
And sometimes prices from Canada or Australia are just lower...

Dunno why it happens but I've had U.S. Packages close to the same size and weight shipping to different parts of the same state be pretty different.

[Stormness_1]

It all depends on what service your quote is for. Sea mail from Australia to Europe (the most expensive route for AusPost) can be a much better price than a domestic parcel express. It seems ridiculous, but that's the cheapest international service, and the most expensive domestic service. But it's like apples and oranges, they aren't relative at all and can't be compared - because it's a completely different service. So the exact same parcel could cost hugely different amounts depending on how it was sent - internationally in many countries there are options for sea, air, registered, tracked, signed for, express... and even combinations of those services, which cost more again. If the postage looks high, either don't bid, or ask the seller if they combine shipping or will use a cheaper service, or what that price gets you to see if it's worth paying extra for. And ALWAYS look at postage cost before you bid. It is part of the cost of the item. It is so annoying when a buyer bids, wins, and then goes "can I pick-up? the postage is a bit high" when I'm not offering pick-up in the listing, or wants to cancel because they "didn't look at the postage and can't afford it, oops!". If you're able to read the current bid or BIN, you're able to read the postage price, and if not message the seller to get a quote BEFORE bidding, unless you're willing to pay whatever the seller decides to charge, because that's the way it works.

[Taffeta]

Doesn't Royal Mail take weight into account, though?  I can see how my post might have been confusing, but what I meant was that the price increases because additional padding is necessary, increasing the weight (depending what the seller uses for padding.) 

I see. Yeah, I thought you meant size. But I'm not sure it has that big an impact unless you are unlucky enough to hit an increment. I just looked it up and international increments are now 250g by the looks, so unless you add 250g of packing you're probably not putting it up a level. It does make a difference but it doesn't come close to the Parcelforce volumetric nightmare.

I've sent a big box with items in and a small one with items in, all well packed and the same number, for the same rough price. It really depends if it comes under or over an increment, up to 2kg.

[Pierlala]

After several days of asking for a new invoice she just kept sending me a private message of the total amount (with the dicount). I explained that I need an invoice through Ebay. Not just a message with the total amount. I need to be able to click and pay as it usually goes.

She didn't even say anything and just opened a dispute... I explained to her that I have been asking for an invoice for the past few days politely. And that opening a dispute wasn't neccisairy.

[Khayman81]

This is getting better by the day... so now people don't even know how eBay works and still open disputes... good way to go!

[lunar_scythe]

Remember ebay sometimes opens disputes to 'help' you; your seller may be having trouble and clicked on a "have not received payment" button, assuming it would take her to a requesr payment page?

[Haruna]

After several days of asking for a new invoice she just kept sending me a private message of the total amount (with the dicount). I explained that I need an invoice through Ebay. Not just a message with the total amount. I need to be able to click and pay as it usually goes.

She didn't even say anything and just opened a dispute... I explained to her that I have been asking for an invoice for the past few days politely. And that opening a dispute wasn't neccisairy.

Hmm, might be time to call Ebay customer support. They can look at the messages you sent the seller and hopefully sort it out before the unpaid items cases close.