Heavy item to the Highlands - I've asked for more postage - okay?

[DitaVonCheese]

I've just sold a heavy (5+ kg) item on ebay. It was originally collection only then I had a request for a postage option so I weighed it and worked out it would be £6.50 with a courier so included that in the listing. The buyer is not the person who asked for the quote in the first place but lives in the Highlands so a courier would be nearly £16 - item sold for £13.50 + £6.50 postage.

Royal Mail classes the Highlands as mainland Britain so would actually be cheaper at £10.34 so I've contacted the buyer and asked them to pay the extra due to their location increasing the cost - is that okay do you think or am I going to get negative feedback?

Meh :(

[DitaVonCheese]

Okay, seller has got back to me saying basically it's not her problem that postage is higher and she's not prepared to pay extra. She says my listing says economy delivery is £6.50 so that's what she should pay. Actually it says "other courier" is £6.50.

Having a shitty evening and utterly hacked off with this. Who's right here?

[fergoose]

I think the buyer may be right - but you should speak to eBay live help to ask

[fergoose]

ok - found this on community boards - you can't ask her to pay extra

community.ebay.co.uk/thread.jspa?threadID=1900024795&rw=true&anticache=1317022072525

[Chopstheduck]

Have you looked around at some of the cheaper couriers, collect + is normally very cheap, or Hermes.

[JarethTheGoblinKing]

Try parcel2go.com and see if they quote less? I've just sent a large parcel with them for less than £8 on a 2 day delivery.

[JarethTheGoblinKing]

Does your listing state UK only shipping?

It doesn't matter what Royal Mail specifies as part of the UK for their shipping purposes - you specified courier, so the buyer should have checked with you before bidding on the item (IMO). I would write back explaining that as she's outside mainland UK, and that the item needs to be sent by courier, then it is going to cost extra.

[DitaVonCheese]

Thanks, I found that as well last night. I'm so annoyed, I was really pleased when I found a cheap courier as I could offer a reasonably priced option and now feel like I'm being penalised for it.

I've now blocked the Highlands & Islands from future auctions

[DitaVonCheese]

Oops, loads of x-posts, sorry!

RM charges the same wherever in the UK you are, so would be £10.34 whether she's in the Highlands or just down the road.

However, if she was just down the road, there would be the option of sending it by courier for less, so that was the price I quoted (for someone else). As she's in the Highlands, that option isn't available - cheapest courier is £15.50.

So I have to make up the difference between the actual postage - £10.34 with RM - and the price I quoted - £6.50. Which isn't loads but is still bloody annoying.

[JarethTheGoblinKing]

I don't think you should have to pay that. She would have been aware that it was a courier listing, so should have contacted you to ask for a shipping quote, just like anybody in Ireland or the rest of Europe would have done.

I'd contact ebay just to make sure they're on your side though, then tell her to stick it. Hvae you got someone you can do a second chance offer to?

[Maisiethemorningsidecat]

Was she mainland or on one of the islands? It would only have required shipping if she lived on one of the islands. Highlands and Islands covers an enormous geographical area of the UK.

[fergoose]

why don't you ask your buyer to cancel the auction?

[nothruroad]

The highlands are not outside the mainland UK!

[DitaVonCheese]

She's on the mainland I think. It doesn't require shipping - the point is that elsewhere there would be a cheaper shipping option, but where she lives there isn't, so I have to pay the higher RM fee.

How do I check with ebay?

[DitaVonCheese]

Fergoose, because she wants it and thinks I should post at the price I quoted :(

[2blessed2bstressed]

Erm Jareth...the Highlands are not outside mainland UK - and we've got electricity and running water and everything now

[Maisiethemorningsidecat]

I think you have to post at that price Dita - I had a look at the link Fergoose sent, and it seems to indicate that you can't ask for extra postage unless the buyer asks for an 'upgrade' (if I've read it correctly...)

Very annoying for you

[fergoose]

How much was the item - I guess you have to decide how much you want to protect your feedback and if you are prepared to lose out on the postage cost.

Mind you, you could send it, lose money and still get a negative.

[sarahtigh]

I used to live in scottish islands but when using couriers there rates specifically exclude highlands and islands so for heavier items i include something along these lines

" I have quoted for royal mail standard parcels, for parcels over 2 kg it is often cheaper to use a courier but whether it is fair or not;couriers do charge more for remote areas so if you know you live in an area deemed as remote by couriers please email for quote before purchasing or use the royal mail option"

if you live in an area where couriers charge more you do know!!!!!

highlands are not outside mainland uk but you go to courier website and there is a whole host of postcodes that are excluded most of perthshire, argyll, the highlands even the city of inverness obviously all the islands but often isle of man cornwall etc, in remote areas royal mail is mostly cheaper than island/highland courier which is generally £15 for any parcel at all

[JarethTheGoblinKing]

Sorry, brain did something stupid. No need to be quite so fucking patronizing when I was trying to help the op. What I meant was that its a part of the UK that isn't covered by normal courier services (despite having running water and the internet) and the buyer should have been aware of that

[JarethTheGoblinKing]

Sarah, sorry - that wasn't to you

[Maisiethemorningsidecat]

Fucking patronising???

Really?

I'm pretty sure Blessed was being light hearted - hence the . No need to get quite so venomous.

[JarethTheGoblinKing]

Sorry
It was late and I felt stupid.

Anyway, as you were

[Maisiethemorningsidecat]

[OracleInaCoracle]

unfortunately, im on the side of the buyer here. I bought an easy bake oven from the us for my niece. the seller quoted p&p then emailed me after I paid doubling the postage. the sale has been reversed (although, I could have insisted on him sending it to me at the quoted price, but Im nice) and I have left neutral feedback.

[DitaVonCheese]

Ooh, it's all kicking off - should have posted in AIBU

Perhaps I'm lucky that this is the first time that I've ever experienced this, despite having (positive) feedback of 900+ Learned my lesson now though. Meh again.

Have realised that I've actually posted the Q&A on the listing where someone asked me to quote postage and I said it would be £10.50 with RM or £6.50 with courier, so the buyer should have known that it would cost more than £6.50. Total item price was £13.50 so I've had to shell out a third of it in extra postage.

Lissie sorry you had a bad experience - you are nice not to insist on them posting it! Sounds like they just made an error though. Had the buyer asked me to quote for postage then I would obviously have told her the right price, but she didn't, so I feel like I'm being penalised for her failing to contact me.