I do not sell here but have bought and sold actively on other sites; shotguns or watches ranging mostly from $1200-3000, but some bigger stuff goes though there. I've bought a couple of knives here so far, and it looks like G&S and including shipping is the convention.
The "net to me" is an accepted convention on some of these other sites, just an observation. I'd say it's very common. It's also common to accept only USPS money orders for firearms, which is all I'll accept for higher priced items, or wire transfer. All types of checks are too risky unless you wait to insure they clear, and money gram money orders can be counterfeited, and PayPal isn't fraud-free either, so I'm told.
Money orders are also common for watches, but much more PayPal there, where you see a mix of terms, like "please add 3% for fees", or "fees included", or" net to me". I once sold an item on a sailing forum and when the net wasn't right, I contacted the guy to let him know he was short. But this was the accepted practice in that venue and my understanding was that he had overlooked this and simply needed to add $10, $20 or $65. Whatever the sale was, and he gladly obliged.
I have always broken my sales down into 1) sale price for item 2) shipping and insurance 3) fees. Maybe it's just me, but I like to know what I'm paying for. As a result, I've sold most things that way, except smaller stuff. Like under $200
On this site, nearly every sale is via a small flat rate box. That makes a big difference.
On the other sites, we use expedited services with often $10-30 or more in insurance. Watches often ship expedited and pistols are required to go overnight, long guns, ground. It adds a lot to the cost, but I only charge the actual cost of the shipping and insurance. If the item doesn't arrive, buyer is refunded and I file claim. It's fair. And policy per PayPal
Family and Friends is used on one site for purchases of thousands of dollars between highly trusted members. It's quite common. But again, every forum has a convention, and pricing is commensurate with that overall scheme.
After some reflection, and reading this and other threads on the interwebs, I am now going to exclusively use the correct service for transactions. Sometimes people just choose on their own though, and automatically go F&F, to avoid fees, show trust, I don't know. We're all pretty happy to have places we can more or less trust fellow active members with a history, and pursue our hobbies while saving a bunch of $. It feels good to have Internet "friends" that you know would not cheat you. We're not making money, in some ways we're sharing knives, and pay only a small price to possess them for a little while. Want a sebenza? Buy one used, then when you're over the thrill or if it isn't your style, sell it for a small loss and move it on to the next guy, often in brand new condition.
That's the spirit in which I do business, where we're not in this for profit, some of us. I don't really want others to bear these fees when they're not built into the cost. Flat rate shipping and fees on a $100 knife? Much easier to absorb, and pricing across the board should factor in these costs.
Just some thoughts as a new member having navigated this recently and come to the conclusion that I'll keep it simple and be very clear about my terms. Which means spelling out all the acronyms! Goods and services, shipping and insurance included, etc. this works well for knives, but not as well for all firearms where I've spent $50 to ship a $900 heavy gun in a heavy case.
One thing I would never do after seeing all these recent discussions is assume we're all on the same page.
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