** Small rant ** This guy really needs to find better shipping options because $54.00 via Australia Post is a rip off. I do all my shipping through Sendle and between capital cities and large regional areas serviced well by Couriers it would cost me $21.95 to send that parcel and that includes a parcel pickup service. Even if you live out in whoop whoop where there is poor Courier coverage so they rely on a 3rd party to deliver it you'd be looking at $34.95. So anyone looking at buying this or anything else with hefty postage prices do yourself a favour and look at alternatives and see if you can work with the seller to use them instead.
I hadn't noticed that but I live close to him so I guess that makes a different - it's been no more than 30 bucks for a PC case from him in the past. Initially he was using a courier and stuff was packed well, the last case I bought from him was AU post and just dumped into a thin box with no padding, so wasn't loving that.
I don't think it would cost that much to send with aus post, I have sent whole computers for less then that.
Some of the excessive post quotes on eBay may be for people's time packing it. Which is fair enough. I've essentially wasted a lot of my time in the past trying to find suitable packaging, printing con notes and address labels,. Often for free and am a bit over it now. Certain items that I can predict will be a nuisance for me I'll throw some handling charge in with the actual shipping cost, since eBay allows you to. And the buyer can see in advance Really depends on the item though.. reaching a bigger audience by offering cheap shipping can and does outweigh any inconvenience sometimes if it's hard to sell and pickup isn't exactly trouble free either. So I'm always weighing that up
It does, having sent an empty AT case to North QLD (from Melb) earlier in the year - it more comes down to the dimensions that make it significantly more expensive to ship, not the weight these days. Mine cost $60-odd to send; it was going to be $80+, the PO told me to shave some size of the package to get it out cheaper. Also put in $10 worth of packaging I didn't ask more for. Frankly I can't be bothered dealing with a courier as it takes more time to get it out the door via them, and I've already spent a lot on "free" packaging, time spent packing - if a bidder knows postage is going to be steep, they take the hit and I'll refund the difference if overquoted.
I think I am probably forgetting how easy it is for me because of my work sitaution. We have regular Courier runs and plenty of packing supplies I can use so anytime I sell anything I just simply bring it into work, pack it up nicely and then just give it to the Courier. Normally Courier pickups through Sendle are arranged next day but in most cases I can have things out the same day. But yes if you don't have access to packaging material or built up a little stockpile at home I can see how it would be an extra hassle. Still good to know though that these kind of services are available if you need to arrange a pickup from a seller as you can save yourself a bundle in the process.
CRTs are a good example - 99.995% of all remaining CRT monitors in au are in Melbourne ( i'm thinking because they're so heavy they all drifted to the bottom of the continent over time??? ) 100% of those are pickup only - even the expensive ones, and it's not because of the raw cost of postage, it's because it's too bigger PITA and risk on the sellers behalf. They dont want to wait to hear the buyer bitching at them when it arrives with a broken neck board or something. So even if you organise the courier, theyre generally not interested. If you have the original box with all the ideally shaped styro it's relatively easy game, I mean obviously when crt's were a thing they were shipped all over the place.
But who in the right mind ever kept those boxes, let alone the god awful styrofoam? I don't think anyone could have guessed back then that CRT displays would ever be as sought after as they are now.
Another beautiful specimen in the 'won't be a bargain for long' category: https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/IBM-PS-2-Model-55-SX/143591911524
I've noticed that too, why on earth is there so much good retro gear in Melbourne?? Yes CRT's are a big problem. If your'e lucky enough to find a seller who just happens to have a box I think you stand a chance, but otherwise good luck with that. While not a CRT I did have some good success scoring these from a seller in Victoria who listed them as Pickup Only. I brought the Samsung 560V ($15.00) and Viewmaster CM350 ($13.00). It's going to cost me $34.95 in this case because it's a regional area so not as well serviced but that's a lot cheaper than what Aus Post would of charged. I've been looking for a small Beige LCD for a while and again all the listings I've seen seem to be down in the retro hub that is Victoria. https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Cheap-O...280-1024-retro-gaming-windows-XP/174242400663
Let's see if we can repeat this cycle! (with another example of a model 30) Bit rougher example than the one you posted, but no doubt the price will ratchet up at the auction close. https://www.trademe.co.nz/computers/vintage/listing-2610367272.htm
Man that jumped in price quickly. Was following along and in the space of about 5 seconds two bids came in that tripled previous bids