The Other Side of the Auction

So I wrote a good story about ebay but unfortunately that is not the norm.  I don't get contacted too often and in 890 feedbacks I only ever got one negative one (and the was because the dingbat did not read the posting).  I sell and ship lots and lots of t shirt.  I have it down pat and it works for me.  The only problem is when people want me to combine shipping - buy more than one shirt that is and ship them together for a lower cost.  I keep my shipping charges as low as possible to please my customers but ever so often there is a doosey that cannot do math.  Shipping is by weight and two shirts weighs twice as much as one shirt hence the shipping is more than if I was shipping one shirt.  It is not rocket science and it mystifies me that people have trouble with that simplistic equation.  I usually charge $4.99 to ship one shirt, well this gem bought two t shirts and requested a revised amount for shipping costs.  I changed it from $9.98 to $7.99 to be accommodating.  I know I was losing a little on the shipping but it all evens out in the end.  The along comes this snarky message.  Really folks as a customer service professional always remember this mantra - Sarcasm and snarkiness does not help your cause.  I literally wanted to reply, "You're a moron" and be done with it but no I explained in full and struggled to do my best not to be nasty also, although I admit it I don't believe I was completely successful.  PS I hate when people write "cheers" in an email??? So annoyes me unless you really are buying me a drink then I like it.

Here is the exchange in full it you want to read how stupid the world can be:

EMAIL FROM CUSTOMER:

Thank you for adjusting the shipping price from $9.98 to $7.99.

I still think that if it cost you $4.99 to ship one shirt, it should've been the same price if not maybe a dollar more to ship two shirts.

Anyhow, I'll ask the USPS employee to give me a shipping quote on the package when I retrieve it from my PO Box.

If USPS finds that the shipping rate to ship the package from your address to my PO Box was less than the $7.99 that you charged me, I will ask for a refund at that time.

Cheers,

REPLY TO CUSTOMER:

Hello,

I understand what you are saying and I wish the USPS was that cheap also but it is not. Shipping by USPS is based on weight -- two shirts equals double the weight hence not the same shipping cost as one shirt. Last night when I went to the post office and put the two shirts and envelope on the scale the price to your zip code the USPS fee said $6.95 --- you will not need to check with USPS as you will be able to see the cost I paid on the shipping label itself -- in addition to that I had to pay $1.08 for the envelope ($1 plus 8 cents CA sales tax) and in further addition eBay charges a 10% fee on shipping costs charged which will be 80 cents ---- all together it will cost me $8.83 (not including the cost of my time to go to the post office twice) to ship these shirts while charging you only $7.99. I was trying to be accommodating and always try to keep my shipping charges as low as possible.

When you check with USPS please let me know if there is a cheaper option as I would love to be able to offer that to my customers - my local office has indicated there is not. I appreciate your help.

thanks.