Not the Best Business Practice


As a frequent buyer of postcards from various Hippostcard and other dealers, I have a suggestion that I know is unlikely to be well received or adopted.... stop inflating your postage/handling costs. For example, I just received an order of seven postcards that came to $25 but was charged $6 for postage/handling -- that's just about a 25% increase in the final purchase price and that, to me, is just about unreasonable. To make matters worse, this Hippostcard dealer did not place each card in a sleeve, used a flimsy section of a file folder for backing, and sent the package for $.55 -- ripping off the USPS and netting a nice extra profit of $5.45.

Comments

  • 7 Comments sorted by Votes Date Added
  • Not all dealers work like this. Tooting my own horn, in my store, buyers pay $1 for P&H, regardless of whether he or she buys one card or twenty.

    https://www.hippostcard.com/store/docgfd-postcards
  • I am a new buyer here...I see shipping costs all over the place. Have to be aware of those INFLATED shipping costs.
  • I can understand the issue with the packing, but some dealers on Ebay charge $3.80 for one single card. I won't buy from them unless it's some extraordinary bargain or a HTF card.
  • Just received an order from a seller I have not done business with before. It is my responsibility to review invoices before paying. In this case I did not. My Fault. The seller charged me $9 for a $2.00 envelope. While he made $7.00 he lost any future sales with me. Buyer Beware...or pay attention to you invoice (ouch)
  • It is quite irritating when sellers hose their customers with excessive S/H. I usually charge a $1.75 flat fee for as many cards that are purchased at the same time & shipped in the same package.
  • I just hope buyers compare S&H when they look at the same card offered by different sellers. I charge $1 to send one card or two-hundred cards, but have seen sellers that charge $3 for the first card and then add a charge for each additional card purchased. They offer their cards at lower prices, but if their shipping fees are taken into account, buyers are actually paying more, assuming everything else (such as condition, for example) is equal. Its a marketing ploy that I find irritating from a seller's and buyer's perspective.
    Equally as irritating are the sellers that fit the above high S&H ploy that in addition have their cards listed on sale at 70% off in perpetuity. They make up their "sale" prices with their inflated shipping fees while never not having their items on sale.
  • Newbie here - and I no doubt lack complete knowledge of how hippo works. But...I registered to submit offers on TWO postcards (which I had to submit separately....then try to explain purchase contingent on being able to purchase BOTH cards.) I also 'watched' . Seller NEVER responded. My offers, apparently public, motivated someone else who I guess had been 'watching' these cards to purchase ONE of them. And, buyer may well have not paid full price but smply madee higheer offer than I did - for ONE card. SMH I assure all I will NEVER consider this seller in future. But - system should REQUIRE reply - and probably should block purchase until offer is responded to. This isn't ebay where I can see other bids and choose how to proceed. So far, NOT impressed with this site ...and certainly not leaving ebay for a site that clearlly isn't buyer friendly.
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