Dear Uncle Griff and Dear Aunt Flossie

The following information is provided to educate and inform. eBay and its employees are not liable or responsible for any type of damage or loss caused, or alleged to be caused, directly or indirectly, by the information below.

eBay's kindly old Uncle Griff has agreed to answer questions for some of our members. If you have a question you would like to ask him, email him at unclgrff@ebay.com. NOTE: Not one to be left out of anything, Uncle Griff's mother, Aunt Flossie, loves to meddle in her son's business. Aunt Flossie offers "helpful" replies to questions also (email her at unclgrff@ebay.com).

Hi Pal,

I thought I'd drop you a line and give you a seller's point of view on shipping charges.

A lot of buyers look at the postage on a package and say, "Oh lord, I've been ripped off! This only cost $4.30 to ship, and I paid $6.00!" So where is the other $1.70 in this example? Let me list the cost of an average package for you:

* Bubble pack to wrap the item - $0.30
* Padded shipping envelope - $0.85
* Tape to seal the bubble wrap and envelope - $0.10
* Postage - $4.30 Total = $5.55

This means I get paid $0.45 for the time I spend packaging and addressing the item, and driving to the post office and standing in line to mail the package, then driving home. Sounds like a pretty fair deal to me.

Larry

Hello Larry,

Uncle understands that it takes a lot of supplies to package and ship many items, and that supplies cost money. Most savvy bidders understand this as well. It's not the costs that most bidders are trying to avoid, it's the surprise of finding them out AFTER the auction has closed. The best way to pass these costs on to bidders is to let them know your handling terms before they bid. Always place your terms clearly in your auction description, and never spring shipping charges on your high bidders after they have bid on and won their items.

Regards, Uncle Griff

Dear Uncle Griff,

I have started a policy that I pay for shipping within the U.S. on any and all items I sell. My customers really like it, but my friends think I'm crazy (actually this is not the only thing that causes them to think so).

Anyway, I stand behind my decision because I feel people will bid more if they don't have to pay for shipping, and they will be happier and bid on my items more often. My friends say that people will bid the same either way, and I am just incurring an extra cost for no reason. In your opinion, which is enhanced by the many, many years of wisdom you have built up, who is correct?

Post Office Blues

Hello Post Office Blues,

Oh you are correct, of course, without a doubt. Do you know why you are right? Because of one little thing you mentioned in your letter...let Uncle quote; "...My customers really like it, but my friends think I'm crazy..." Who do you sell to, your customers or your friends? What is the best testament a seller could ever hope to attain? That's right, satisfied customers. And possum, it looks like you done got yourself quite a few! A seller's first concern should be happy customers before all else, even one's friends! As for satisfying your friends? Well, that's a whole other kettle of wax. Nothing secretly rankles one's friends more than one's own success. Revel in this illicit pleasure, but quietly, so as to not appear to be gloating.

Regards, Uncle Griff

Dear Uncle Griff,

I was wondering how sellers add certain "things" to their listings, like the little green "pic" in the item description or the animated icons, wallpaper, and different font sizes. I like it when sellers make their ads more appealing.

Thoroughly Confused

Dear Thoroughly,

The little green icon will appear to the right of any title if the seller of the item places a valid image URL address in the Image URL box provided on the Add Item page.

Sellers can dress up their item descriptions using basic HTML (HyperText Markup Language). For example, to make text bold, you enclose it within the HTML "bold" tags like so:
<B> Uncle Griff </B>
becomes
Uncle Griff

You can learn other nifty HTML tags on our Images/HTML board.

As for adding wallpaper, animated icons, music files etc...Uncle would kindly proffer the suggestion that you reconsider their employment in your listings. Although they seem cute and fun at first, all the "fluff" can seriously increase page download time, and some potential bidders will click out of your auction instead of waiting for all the goodie files to load. Besides, if any bidders are like Uncle, all of these whirling and twirling animated gifs skittering about the screen, along with endless synthesized loops of "Hernando's Hideaway" and eye-popping wallpaper, is bound to give them all splitting headaches, and they will have to lie down for a while with cold compresses on their throbbing foreheads.
Not a very good way of attracting eager bidders.

Regards, Uncle Griff

Dear Aunt Flossie,

With you being a woman and obviously having borne children, I figure that you could help me out with this question. I am a newlywed (of just 9 months) and our marital bedroom has become my husband's eBay office! This room, besides our bed, contains his computer, the eBay items he is selling, his packing stuff, and so on. I had to pack my poor Beanie Babies away just to make room for the SECOND DESK and SECOND COMPUTER! AND he is up all night on the darn things selling, selling, selling! Needless to say, eBay has sort of messed up my love life. I don't hold any grudges as I do love eBay. But I love my husband a little more. What can I do about this? Paint the eBay logo on my person? What?

The eBay Widow

Dear eBay Widow,

Rather than trying to compete for his eBay time, Aunt Flossie suggests that you incorporate your eBay fun with your newlywed instincts! Try this: Tell him whenever you notice a new bid on one of his items you are going to sneak up on him and give him one mushy kiss! You could also play "Guess the final price of my listing." Whoever makes the closest guess, gets to plan that evening's late-night activities!

Toodaloo, Aunt Flossie

Dearest, dearest, Aunt Flossie,

I love buying and selling on eBay, it's my greatest joy in life! However, I do have a small problem that is rapidly becoming a large problem. I need storage space for all the items I am buying and reselling! My kitchen table, counter, cabinets, floor, family room, and all the bedrooms are slowly being buried! Any donations toward buying me a bigger house would be much appreciated! Please help me spread the word, and send your donations to "Oh my gosh, she's been buying again!"

Fondest regards,OMGSBBA

Dear OMGSBBA,

Try hanging all of the wonderful items you have from all the ceilings in your house and create the world's largest mobile or wall hanging collection! If that doesn't work for you, dear, eBay has lots of storage items to help you with your problem! There are storage jars, storage boxes, storage chests, and lots of other types of containers you can use as a temporary "home" for your items until you sell them on eBay!

Toodaloo, Aunt Flossie