AIBU to be annoyed with this buyer?

[thatfeeling]

I was selling an item on ebay. It's worth £160, the item is discontinued and I was selling it for £110. Brand new and with the box. Large item and very heavy. P&P was stated at £10.

The listing came to an end with no bidders. Within the hour I had a message from a guy asking to buy the item as he really wanted it. Also, could I knock some money off? He asked me to relist the item with a Buy Now option with preferably money off my original starting bid.

I explained that I paid £110 for the item so I couldn't go any lower other wise I would be out of pocket and that I was selling it without a profit. I also pointed out that it's a discontinued item with already a substantial amount off the retail price so it was already a really good bargain.

He said fine so I listed it for £110 and he purchased it right away. He then emailed me again asking that seeing as how he'd paid so quickly, would it be possible for me to go to the post office that afternoon and post it.

The item was listed for 2nd class post with 2 day dispatch time. However, as a gesture of good will, I agreed and went straight to the post office.

Now, the postage came up lower than expected, so I opted for 1st class not 2nd class as advertised. It came to £6.

He then emailed me the next morning thanking me for the item and that he was really pleased and it, however, as the postage came to £6, please could I refund him the £4. He said me sending him the £4 via PayPal would be sufficient.

I feel I've already bent backwards for this buyer and abided by his slightly demanding requests as it is. The postage was clearly stated and by purchasing the item he accepted a contract to agree to pay.

To add to insult the ebay fees/paypal have come to almost £20 so I'm actually really out of pocket after the sale

AIBU to feel pissed off at this comeback?

What about it, munch? It could easily cost £30 if you wanted to buy a special box. And yet most sellers on eBay tend to recycle package material (which I think is fantastic).

I don't understand though, I thought eBay deducted fees from all your takings, including the p&p? So £10 isn't £10?

It may not be deductible from your income for a tax return, but surely your actual costs of taking a single item to the post office is an actual cost, as is the cost of packaging the item up.

I've moved to Shpock and gumtree because I just can't be bothered with the ridiculousness that is eBay now....I've been stung too many times and some buyers really do just take the biscuit.

No, e b a y don't deduct from postsge.

If they think you're inflating postage price and reducing item price so that you pay them less commission, then they may ban you.

Yes they do Chloe.

sellercentre.ebay.co.uk/private/what-fees-youll-pay

ebay changed their final value fees so now you pay on both auction close price and P&P. So ebay get their money regardless

eg item £1, P&P £99 or item £99 P&P £1 - in most categories final value fees are 10% of both so £10 in both of my examples. Then paypal fees on top. So I now always include in the P&P cost the ebay and paypal fees that relate to the postage charges.

Ah sorry, didn't realise it had changed.

Ignore him. The extra money is for your time and trouble. I used eBay recently after a break of about ten years and I was gobsmacked at how cheeky people have got. I was selling something that I'd bought for £120. I'd seen that the same thing was going for £50 or so. Straight away a woman offered me £15 as a buy it now, saying she needed it urgently. When I said no, she started arguing via message.

What would you have done if your guesstimation of £10 had been too low and it cost you £15 to post? would you have asked buyer for an extra £5?
As a private seller you cannot charge for your time, petrol, etc, only postage and packaging.
Yes, as a one off or occasional seller packaging can indeed come to several pounds. Something i've found myself when sending something as a gift to a friend. If you're not bulk buying or already have some around it can be expensive. You can itemise the packaging costs in an ebay message to him, £1 for bubble wrap etc, but only with actual prices you paid and if it really did cost you almost £4 in packing materials. Ebay don't have a dispute system for postage costs/part refunds. They could technically open a snad claim (but you have messages to prove he's doing it maliciously for a postage refund. Whilst the system is automated you could report the buyer for MBG fraud). If they open a claim they can ask for a partial refund, but ebay won't enforce one, they will only enforce return for full refund.

Also it is not your buyers fault you made a loss because of Ebay fees, thats not an adequate reason to keep the £4 if you really didn't spend that much on packaging.

Yep Sabine, after putting an item up with a starting price of around £100, I got a message 'I'll pay you £70 Hun and collect today, won't mess you around'.

I said I couldn't accept that, then I thought ahhh sod it and admit I fell for her very rubbish sob story a bit. I thought I'll get rid of it, she then said 'ahhh sorry Hun, I'll only pay £50 now I've seen another one in Kent with a lower starting price (I live 200 miles away and she lived near me). She completely bombarded me with messages and screen shots of the 'other item' so I knew she wasn't 'making it up'. I said 'of course I understand that's best for you, go and get the other item'. A few days later....'ok I'll pay you the £70'. Me.....no. Out of principle I'd rather put it in the bin than sell it to someone like that (I know this makes me an idiot but I can't help it).