...and petty not to pay the extra postage?

[Fortheloveofscience]

This afternoon I won something on an eBay auction, was fairly pleased with the price but the postage cost was quite chunky. Just after the auction ended I had a message from the seller saying that they’d tried to edit the postage because they’ve under-charged but we’re unable to, it should have been 66% as much again of what they’ve listed and can I pay the difference.

I’m a little put out since I bid based on the info on the listing, and with the increase the postage is now about 30% of the cost of the item. If I’d put an item up and realised I’d messed up the postage, if it genuinely isn’t possible to edit I would have removed and re-listed.

Is it dickish to refuse over a few quid? And if I say no, can they cancel the sale?

Yanbu. 'I'm sorry for you that you detailed the postage incorrectly. I purchased this item based on this price.'

How much do you want it?
Personally I would say sod you, it is not my fault it cost more to post.
Then wait...

Personally I'd be saying no. You've no proof at all that when it arrives the postage would higher. Presumably they included an element for packing.

I wouldn’t agree to it, especially if it’s significantly adding to the overall price. Would you have paid it had it been that much originally?

I sold something on eBay. I'd underestimated the postage. I paid the extra couple of quid myself. Wouldn't have dreamt of asking buyer to pay more. I have also refunded postage where it turned out to be cheaper than I'd charged. Politely refuse if you don't want to pay it.

I messed up a listing and under charged by £7.... after I posted I did ask the buyer if they would be willing to send the money... I was ignore.. upsetting but understandable.

I had someone moan because I charged £3.50 for something as the postage was only £2.95 by royal mail. I explained I charge for packaging as it's not free...they paid but left low star rating.

Cant win either way.

I wouldn't pay though. If it comes and you can see they have well under charged. If you feel guilty enough you could send the additional

Thanks everyone, I was fully expecting to be told I WBU. Having done a quick search I am pretty confident that myHermes will send it out for roughly what I paid in postage, possibly less depending on exact weight. In the message the seller only quotes RM and Parcelforce prices.

I once bought a pair of speakers on eBay. There were very few bids and I got a bargain. When they arrived the stamps on the box had cost more than I paid for the item including P&P. Good sellers suck it up when they make a mistake.

In any case, many eBay listings intentionally undercharge for postage to generate more interest - there must be many thousands of listings with free P&P, but there are precious few couriers who will actually deliver for nothing! You bid based on the total cost of getting the item you want.

Meant to add - the postage cost didn’t look unreasonable for what they were selling, and is in line with the postage on other similar items.

Maybe as a compromise say you’re not able to pay more but happy if they want to use an alternative courier.

Hmm, could be they're trying it on.

On eBay you pay 10 percent fees on item & postage. Charging you outside of your winning bid transaction is against eBay rules & could be a way of them avoiding costs.

They can't just 'add' extra!

YANBU, its the sellers mistake. You are only required to pay the price stated in the listing. But suggest that they send it by MyHermes or another cheaper courier as they may only know about the expensive optioins.

But the cost of postage vs the cost of the item is irrelevant. Look up how much it costs to post a tin of beans, for example.

Update - I did as you suggested and said I was happy for them to send cheaper with myHermes, they said that was fine and they’d sort as soon as I paid which I did immediately.

6 days later I’ve had no shipping notification and sent a message yesterday for an update which was ignored.

Oh no!

Flag it with ebay and get your money back.

I've had issue with stuff not being posted (or ever even existed?) before and it's a total PITA. generally don't use ebay as a result.

Yes, definitely raise with eBay. In my experience they'll sort this fairly quickly

Open an Item Not Received request. Seller then has 8 days to provide tracking showing its been delivered or to refund you. If they ignore that, you can then escalate the request to eBay and they'll refund you.