Today on My Blog Utopia, Randy Smythe has a post titled New Postal Rates Are Published! in which he provides a link to a page on the US Post Office web site titled New Prices Coming May 12, 2008.
All of us are probably aware by now that postal rates in US will be going up effective May 12, 2008 and that the price of a first class stamp will increase by one cent. However, I hadn’t yet heard anything relating to the increases in Priority Mail which I use a lot, so I followed the link to see the new Priority rates would be, only to find they won’t be announced until some time in March.
The only information is for the new domestic and international First Class rates. But, reading what they said, I was struck by two things under “Pricing Highlights”.
- Shape-based pricing for First-Class Mail International letters, flats, and parcels.
- First-Class Mail International price groups expand from five to nine groups.
For me, this poses the question - Is more complicated always better?
It wasn’t that long ago that Priority Mail could be shipped anywhere in the country for one rate based solely upon the weight of the package. Today, to ship the same package, weight, postal zones, dimensions of the package, and the shape of the package are all part of the formula to determine the shipping cost.
Simple weight is no longer the only factor in determining the cost of mailing something First Class. Once again, weight, size and thickness of the envelope, how bendable it it, and whether it’s being mailed in an envelope or a box all come into play before a shipping cost can be determined.
Is more complicated always better?
It wasn’t that many years ago, no matter where I went fishing in Minnesota ,I could keep just about any size Walleye I caught and I knew exactly what the possession limit was. Today, in addition to possession limits, there are ’slot limits’. I have to throw back any Walleye under a certain length. Then there’s a 6″ to 8″ window in which I can keep the fish. Beyond that I might be allowed to keep one large fish but the rest must be thrown back. And, if I move from one lake to another during the day, all those figures are likely to change.
Is more complicated always better?
I have a love for old sports cars. I restore them in my spare time. They are easy to work on and I can do pretty much anything I need to with one set of tools.
In my day-to-day life I drive a Ford Explorer. Try doing anything even semi-major mechanical wise with a Ford manufactured in the last ten to fifteen years. It can rapidly turn into a nightmare. And other auto manufacturers are no different. Even something as simple as changing a headlight can mean disassembling half the front end of your vehicle. And you had better have that special wrench or screw driver before you even get started.
Is more complicated always better?
eBayMinx (Tomi) publishes the Sensless Sellers blog in which she pokes fun at eBay sellers whose auction terms of service read a like a technical manual for one of the space shuttles. With many of the sellers she writes about I’d need a three page checklist before I knew if I qualified to even bid on one of their auctions.
And God forbid I should be the winning bidder. Then the real fun begins.
Is more complicated always better?
It may be for the US Post Office, for the Minnesota DNR, and for Ford, but it’s not if you are trying to build a sustainable business on eBay.
Keep things as simple and straightforward as possible for potential and winning bidders. You will have a lot less stress in your life and you will have a much better chance of building the business you dream of.
Photograph by Hans Kylberg.
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February 29th, 2008 at 7:02 pm
Gary,
I didn’t have that “special wrench” when I started to change the headlamps on my Dodge van…Ouch!!
I’m part of the K.I.S.S club!!
Great post.
March 1st, 2008 at 11:24 am
Hi Gary,
You must have missed our post on the 12th of February entitled “UPS Rates Going Up, Again” where we discussed the rate hike. At least Randy posted about it eventually…
While we agree you should keep it simple when it comes to your eBay listings, unfortunately, you have to have your Terms of Service in there to explain your policies. If you don’t make things clear to your customers, then you will have customers who will take advantage of any loophole possible. If you don’t explain your policies, you are only setting yourself up for trouble.
At least that has been our experience. Possibly your’s have been different.
-Marshall and Joli
Lizard Wisdom
March 2nd, 2008 at 1:57 am
Marshall & Jodi,
My experience has been different, but I think buyers of antiques and collectibles tend to be somewhat a different animal than the average buyer.
In the years I’ve been selling, I’ve only had one buyer who tried to take advantage of me. It didn’t work because he was lying to me and I knew it.
March 21st, 2008 at 6:56 am
Hi Gary,
I agree that antique/vintage/collectible buyers are different than the “deadbeat bidders” (I really hate that term) I hear so many sellers complaining about. Perhaps they’re different because many of them are dealers themselves. Also, collectors seeking rare or one-of-a-kind items have very dissimilar goals from folks looking to buy mass-produced goods at a discount.
I think listing one’s terms of service in a succinct fashion is fine, but when the terms are longer than the item description itself, that’s a problem. There are places in the auction template for terms of payment, shipping, and return policy - they don’t HAVE to appear in the listing text. In my experience collectors read listings very thoroughly, perhaps other buyers do not.
Between the low profit margins and supposed difficult buyers, I often wonder why anyone sells new/common items on eBay.
Always a pleasure reading your blog,
eBayMinx