Thursday, November 1, 2007

A little Ebay puzzler

I've got a nice little Ebay problem to ponder on for a few hours. I won an auction about 10 days ago for a big lot of puzzles. The shipping quote listed in the auction was $25, which sounded about right for something bulky but light (they're the foam-backed 3D puzzles). The seller was new, only 4 feedback, but I decided that the price was good enough to make it worth a shot. What I didn't notice at first was that while the seller's location was listed in the US, the puzzles were in Mexico. So the seller emails me after the auction ends, saying that he's out of town but will be in Mexico this week and get back to me with a definite shipping price as soon as he checks with UPS/DHL/etc.

I got the shipping price from him today (after asking for it) - $63 to $69 dollars, depending on carrier, thanks to Customs. Ouch. Since my winning bid was only $20, that really hikes the total up. I'm not sure whether to go ahead and pay, or see if we can't mutually agree to cancel the transaction or something. That effectively doubles the average price per puzzle, which is what's making me go "Ack!" - but it's still a decent deal, providing the puzzles are in good shape.

And now I don't know what to do. Gah!!!!

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