Silk Road forums
Discussion => Silk Road discussion => Topic started by: Dutchpig28 on May 12, 2013, 09:50 am
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I have noticed recently that a few vendors tend to undercut competition but require excessive shipping costs. This means that their product looks cheaper at first glace, but when you do the maths (sale price+shipping) they can often end up being the most expensive offer. This is the case with "gotmilk", who offers equivalent quantities of Armodafinil for slightly cheaper than everyone else, but then asks for ฿0.18 worth of shipping while some of his competition offer shipping for free. Though I don't really respect this business practice I have nothing against it per se: vendors have the right to engage in whatever activity brings them more money.
However, I do believe there would be a very simple solution to this: modify the API when navigating the marketplace so that the quoted prices include the shipping options. This both gives buyers a better idea of how much they will actually be spending and could also curb this business practice.
Does anyone agree with me?
Or do you just have no fucks to give?
What do you think?
N.B.: I have nothing against "gotmilk". Everything I stated about him or his goods is factual information.
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I have noticed recently that a few vendors tend to undercut competition but require excessive shipping costs. This means that their product looks cheaper at first glace, but when you do the maths (sale price+shipping) they can often end up being the most expensive offer. This is the case with "gotmilk", who offers equivalent quantities of Armodafinil for slightly cheaper than everyone else, but then asks for ฿0.18 worth of shipping while some of his competition offer shipping for free. Though I don't really respect this business practice I have nothing against it per se: vendors have the right to engage in whatever activity brings them more money.
However, I do believe there would be a very simple solution to this: modify the API when navigating the marketplace so that the quoted prices include the shipping options. This both gives buyers a better idea of how much they will actually be spending and could also curb this business practice.
Does anyone agree with me?
Or do you just have no fucks to give?
What do you think?
N.B.: I have nothing against "gotmilk". Everything I stated about him or his goods is factual information.
Hi Dutchpig28,
This is a great suggestion, but unfortunately it wouldn't be doable as many vendors offer multiple shipping options for many of their products - regular, priority, express etc.
Perhaps open up a thread in the Feature requests forum about it? Would be a great feature to have for sure, if it could be implemented in such a way as to reflect the various shipping options available!
Libertas
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This is a great suggestion, but unfortunately it wouldn't be doable as many vendors offer multiple shipping options for many of their products - regular, priority, express etc.
Perhaps open up a thread in the Feature requests forum about it? Would be a great feature to have for sure, if it could be implemented in such a way as to reflect the various shipping options available!
Libertas
Yeah you're right - its a shame really though as it is a great point - i've experienced this too, and by the time i've put the stuff in my basket and actually looked at the shipping options, I can't be bothered to go browsing again so just take the extra cost ::)
I know i'll be slated for making the comparison for the 10000th time, but this same selling tactic is common on... dare i say it... eBay. Their answer is to show the shipping price in addition to the item price, but still separately from the original price. It would be cool to have that on SR. Obviously its a little more work for you guys, to accommodate the multiple options, but maybe there is a way. Even adding it to the tooltip would be great, and wouldnt even mean changing the page layout
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This is a great suggestion, but unfortunately it wouldn't be doable as many vendors offer multiple shipping options for many of their products - regular, priority, express etc.
Perhaps open up a thread in the Feature requests forum about it? Would be a great feature to have for sure, if it could be implemented in such a way as to reflect the various shipping options available!
Libertas
Yeah you're right - its a shame really though as it is a great point - i've experienced this too, and by the time i've put the stuff in my basket and actually looked at the shipping options, I can't be bothered to go browsing again so just take the extra cost ::)
I know i'll be slated for making the comparison for the 10000th time, but this same selling tactic is common on... dare i say it... eBay. Their answer is to show the shipping price in addition to the item price, but still separately from the original price. It would be cool to have that on SR. Obviously its a little more work for you guys, to accommodate the multiple options, but maybe there is a way. Even adding it to the tooltip would be great, and wouldnt even mean changing the page layout
The main problem with adding new features to the site is that the code has to be absolutely bullet-proof. Any new code introduced into Silk Road potentially introduces a security risk so things that are unnecessary aren't developed or thought about as much as things that will help secure the site.
Libertas
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This is a great suggestion, but unfortunately it wouldn't be doable as many vendors offer multiple shipping options for many of their products - regular, priority, express etc.
Perhaps open up a thread in the Feature requests forum about it? Would be a great feature to have for sure, if it could be implemented in such a way as to reflect the various shipping options available!
Libertas
Yeah you're right - its a shame really though as it is a great point - i've experienced this too, and by the time i've put the stuff in my basket and actually looked at the shipping options, I can't be bothered to go browsing again so just take the extra cost ::)
I know i'll be slated for making the comparison for the 10000th time, but this same selling tactic is common on... dare i say it... eBay. Their answer is to show the shipping price in addition to the item price, but still separately from the original price. It would be cool to have that on SR. Obviously its a little more work for you guys, to accommodate the multiple options, but maybe there is a way. Even adding it to the tooltip would be great, and wouldnt even mean changing the page layout
The main problem with adding new features to the site is that the code has to be absolutely bullet-proof. Any new code introduced into Silk Road potentially introduces a security risk so things that are unnecessary aren't developed or thought about as much as things that will help secure the site.
Libertas
In that case... I can live without it 8)
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Hi Dutchpig28,
This is a great suggestion, but unfortunately it wouldn't be doable as many vendors offer multiple shipping options for many of their products - regular, priority, express etc.
Perhaps open up a thread in the Feature requests forum about it? Would be a great feature to have for sure, if it could be implemented in such a way as to reflect the various shipping options available!
Libertas
It works on ebay, so it is doable :)
Most of the buyers have their homecountry selected. The buyers usually have 2-3 options for shipping, so it shouldn't be hard to write a script that decides which option is applicable for the buyer based on his home country. If there is more than 1 option applicable, the script can display the lowest priced one.
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It works on ebay, so it is doable :)
Most of the buyers have their homecountry selected. The buyers usually have 2-3 options for shipping, so it shouldn't be hard to write a script that decides which option is applicable for the buyer based on his home country. If there is more than 1 option applicable, the script can display the lowest priced one.
Hi experimental333,
Please refer to my last post in this thread outlining why, although this is possible, it is not likely to be implemented any time soon. Silk Road is NOT ebay, and should never be thought of as even being in the same vein as it.
Getting familiar with something makes you comfortable, getting comfortable makes you lazy, and getting lazy gets you caught.
Libertas
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I have noticed recently that a few vendors tend to undercut competition but require excessive shipping costs. This means that their product looks cheaper at first glace, but when you do the maths (sale price+shipping) they can often end up being the most expensive offer. This is the case with "gotmilk", who offers equivalent quantities of Armodafinil for slightly cheaper than everyone else, but then asks for ฿0.18 worth of shipping while some of his competition offer shipping for free. Though I don't really respect this business practice I have nothing against it per se: vendors have the right to engage in whatever activity brings them more money.
However, I do believe there would be a very simple solution to this: modify the API when navigating the marketplace so that the quoted prices include the shipping options. This both gives buyers a better idea of how much they will actually be spending and could also curb this business practice.
Does anyone agree with me?
Or do you just have no fucks to give?
What do you think?
N.B.: I have nothing against "gotmilk". Everything I stated about him or his goods is factual information.
To avoid this I have all the items in the listing including shipping cost.
Standard shipped priority.
Still manage to stay one of the cheapest.
Of course that is not possible when you have more expensive methods like tracking etc.
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To avoid this I have all the items in the listing including shipping cost.
Standard shipped priority.
Still manage to stay one of the cheapest.
Of course that is not possible when you have more expensive methods like tracking etc.
Just to make sure you're aware: shipping costs are exempt from commission, but by including it in the price of the listing you have to pay commission on it. Could work out cheaper for you if you separate the two as you won't be paying fees on it.
Libertas
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To avoid this I have all the items in the listing including shipping cost.
Standard shipped priority.
Still manage to stay one of the cheapest.
Of course that is not possible when you have more expensive methods like tracking etc.
Just to make sure you're aware: shipping costs are exempt from commission, but by including it in the price of the listing you have to pay commission on it. Could work out cheaper for you if you separate the two as you won't be paying fees on it.
Libertas
Not that I'd do this... but potentially I could list all my products at $1 each and charge $60 for postage on one item, $100 postage on another, etc.
I'm sure SR admins would see it though and make me change the prices.
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The main problem with adding new features to the site is that the code has to be absolutely bullet-proof. Any new code introduced into Silk Road potentially introduces a security risk so things that are unnecessary aren't developed or thought about as much as things that will help secure the site.
Libertas
Right, I have absolutely no know-how in the coding department, so I didn't know how easy of difficult it could be to implement. I thought that automatically pairing the cheapest shipping option with the base price could be an option, but, even if it were easier to implement, that might open up the possibility of tricking the system: vendors would set up an extra shipping option (free) but which couldn't actually be used to purchase the item.
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To avoid this I have all the items in the listing including shipping cost.
Standard shipped priority.
Still manage to stay one of the cheapest.
Of course that is not possible when you have more expensive methods like tracking etc.
Just to make sure you're aware: shipping costs are exempt from commission, but by including it in the price of the listing you have to pay commission on it. Could work out cheaper for you if you separate the two as you won't be paying fees on it.
Libertas
Not that I'd do this... but potentially I could list all my products at $1 each and charge $60 for postage on one item, $100 postage on another, etc.
I'm sure SR admins would see it though and make me change the prices.
Technically speaking, yes you could. Vendors have tried to exploit this in the past but have quickly been brought into line by SR admins.
Libertas
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To avoid this I have all the items in the listing including shipping cost.
Standard shipped priority.
Still manage to stay one of the cheapest.
Of course that is not possible when you have more expensive methods like tracking etc.
Just to make sure you're aware: shipping costs are exempt from commission, but by including it in the price of the listing you have to pay commission on it. Could work out cheaper for you if you separate the two as you won't be paying fees on it.
Libertas
yes I realized that but thanks for the warning
My shipping costs are more than the average anyway...drive to another country to ship.
Still like it this way, like to give my customers that extra.
I take this selling very serious but anyway.....I do it for fun.