eBay combined postage!

[JugzyMalone]

I'm very tired so maybe I'm not thinking this through properly

A pro seller is selling a lot of small craft bits, all free postage. I'm interested in maybe 5 things so wrote to ask if she'll combine postage. She wrote back to say postage is free and that I could pay extra for 1st class if I wanted.

I don't want to hassle her but surely postage is not actually free and surely she knows what I meant? Should I write back or forget it? She's the only person selling one of the things I wanted.

You want her to send five items together?

You mean combined PACKAGING and not postage?

You were wrong to ask her to combine postage when there is no charge for p&p!
I assume what you actually wanted was a discount for purchasing 5 items? In which case that is what you should have asked for.

I dont think shes at fault here you've worded the question badly. I'd probably have replied the same. You want combined packing. When people ask for combined postage its usually to reduce the postage costs

Wut?

The postage is FREE

If you want to make a point you could order each item separately. Wait a couple of days after you get the "item has been despatched" email to make sure one item has been posted before you buy the next.

But that's petty, and who has the time?

Order the item that only she has from her, filter by lowest price + P&P for the rest and buy them elsewhere. If time is of the essence, check the box on the left for UK only.

You knew the cost when you placed a bid.... I think your in the wrong ..

@ThatLibraryMiss ha ha that is petty I love it! And I do have lots of time... 🤔

@mummmy2017 I haven't bid anything, they're on BIN.

@redwoodmazza combined everything! It's the postage part that's expensive though, surely

@Cwtches123 yeah I guess, but it's not that i want a discount, it's that i want to pay the p&p charge once rather than five times? It's not actually free is it, she's incorporated it into the BIN price of the items.

yeah I guess, but it's not that i want a discount, it's that i want to pay the p&p charge once rather than five times? It's not actually free is it, she's incorporated it into the BIN price of the items.

Wow! There’s right and then there’s TIGHT!

The postage charge incorporates packaging, trip to the post office or arranging the courier, cost of storage and probably a lot more things than just the cost of the actual postage.

Oh FGS, you're the kind of buyer we Ebay sellers dread. Just buy it and pay the price. If you don't want to, don't buy. It's a simple as that. It's hard enough already selling on Ebay with their charges, which also apply to shipping, which I think is very unfair. I'm sure if you could find these items cheaper elsewhere you would have bought them already wouldn't you.

Jesus. As a previous Ebay seller who (thankfully!) packed it in, this stuff is so, so annoying.

I sold wool. You buy one ball I make a loss. You buy two balls I break even. You buy three balls I probably made about 40p. It was only the people who bought 6-10 (which thankfully isn't that uncommon for wool) who actually made me any profit.

It's why I packed in selling on Ebay. Their free postage stuff they keep pushing is just insane, EVERYONE knows it's not free, and the amount of people who messaged to ask if they could remove the whole £2 profit from the order because I'll be combining postage are just the worst possible. Don't be that guy!

Also to add from the other point of view, I did feel a bit bad when someone purchased like 20 and I made a lot of profit but this was the only thing making up for all the people who bought ones and twos.

Its Ebay. They're arseholes. They really penalise you for not offering free postage by making you pay a higher % of fees and shunting you down the listings.

It really does nothing for sellers or customers who want to buy multiple variations or quantities of something.

They're trying to be Amazon, which is worse than stupid imo because Amazon do what they do really quite well, Ebay should do something different really well (as they always did).

The postage charge incorporates packaging, trip to the post office or arranging the courier, cost of storage and probably a lot more things than just the cost of the actual postage.

I’m sure it does, but that doesn’t increase if there are ten things in the packet instead of one - to clarify, I am happy to pay for packaging and trip to the post office as well, but these are tiny items and I’d have to order hundreds before it made any difference to the packaging and stamp.

Its Ebay. They're arseholes. They really penalise you for not offering free postage by making you pay a higher % of fees and shunting you down the listings.

I didn’t realise they did this. They really are dicks aren’t they. I sell a fair bit on there too but not as a business so didn’t realise this. I’m getting pretty sick of them tbh.

I sold wool. You buy one ball I make a loss.

How can you survive like that? Are eBay driving your prices down so you have to do that?

Anyway I’ve found someone selling ten times the amount for an extra pound (!) as they are doing 40% off multiple purchases (!!). Apologies to anyone who is getting screwed over by eBay and good luck with your businesses. Private sellers have always been happy to combine p&p (I do it myself, in fact I prefer it as I don’t have to print two labels) but I guess it’s different for professionals.

If you had asked me that question I would have blocked you immediately, it sounds like a problem waiting to happen.

My free P&P items are priced to include part of the postage, I cover the rest from the sale price and rarely make much on things, but as I am trying to clear the house I prefer a little rather than nothing, otherwise would just give them away, but really can't afford to do that with everything, and it adds up, gives me enough to buy something we need.

You sound like the kind of buyer that would give low stars so, yes, you would be blocked.