eBay postage overcharge

[SaraSidle13]

I've been overcharged on postage after buying something from eBay.

Are there rules against this?

Have you taken into account someone put petrol in their to get to the post office, parking, packaging etc?

That's what I mean. I thought I read on here that they couldn't charge for that.

Nope, you can put any charge you like. Always found it annoying that postage just covers postage, ie what about buying a decent strength bag or box and bubble wrap etc (which I’ve used many times) but don’t generally charge for? It always says on the listing the cost of postage. But if it were £20 postage and the stamp says £2.45 then I’d query that, think it has to be ‘reasonable’.

Of course they bloody can!! No one would do it for free!!!

How much were you overcharged by?

They can charge for post, packing material and reasonable associated costs. (ie petrol or bus fare)

You will have seen what the seller was charging when you bid/bought the item. I don't think there's any comeback.

You're not allowed to make money on postage. Ebay are quite strict on it, however you can factor in petrol etc. It depends how much you've been overcharged by

I mean morally id be reasonable but actually they can charge whatever they like and it’s crystal clear on the listing.

How have they overcharged, surely you agreed to the charges when you bought it??

You’ve got to remember that seller also pays for ebay and PayPal percentage on that too.

Eg post office 2nd class is £1.00
Ebay/PayPal takes it to £1.15
Envelope is 40p -£1.55
Petrol etc is another 50p -£2.05

Item cost you 99p + £1.00 you want to pay for postage

That’s not even taking into account the ebay/pp cost of selling!

If you were charged what you agreed to pay you have not been overcharged.

What do you mean 'overcharged' OP? Is that factual or just your opinion? As others have pointed out, it doesn't begin and end with the cost of the stamp. Also you have the option not to buy the thing - you know - when you look at the listing and see the postage cost.

So are you just going to plop this and run away? Or do you feel like sharing the actual facts?

I guess you're right. It was only about £5 more and I agreed as it sounded reasonable but when you see it didn't cost them that much it makes you think.

Then I remembered reading something on here quite a while ago and I thought it said that they can't charge for petrol etc but maybe it said they can't make a profit outside of additional charges.

@ShitAtScarbble

I take 10 mins between posts and you assume I'm not coming back? This isn't even a juicy thread! Jesus. Maybe you need to step away from mumsnet...

Have they quoted for special delivery and then sent it normal service?

I wouldn't call it an overcharge because you agreed to pay it. But £5 extra is a piss take and you'd be justified in leaving negative feedback.

£5 more than what the postage stamp shows? Was it in a post office cardboard box as those are about £2 too? Extra packing like bubble wrap? Town tape? If in a re-used envelope and just bunged in I guess I’d be a little bit miffed but also would think I should check postage closer in future but would think it’s a bit ‘naughty’!

If you paid £10 P&P and the actual postage was around £5, it will have still cost the seller more than £5.

All packaging, 10 percent fee on £10, possible fuel cost to travel to a post office, etc.

Saying that, if the difference was more than a pound or two and an item was cheaper to post than I'd anticipated I have always reimbursed the buyer. They never say thanks but I still do it!

£5 is too much, I would complain.

I run an eBay business. Postage costs £2.85 and I charge £3.35. That covers eBay charging me 10% of my postage cost, packaging and labels. I claim my mileage through my business so don’t add that to my postage.

£5 would have me messaging the seller. Remember eBay have buyer AND seller protection

i run an ebay page for a cat charity and the way payments are set up i dont have access to the paypal account and their choice of postage is my hermes courier, who have just changed all their charges and weights so i have a choice of three weights, up to 1kg, 1-2 kg and 2-10 kgs, with size limits, yes my postage looks high when some tiny parcels could go cheaper with royal mail but i dont have a choice of who i send by, obviously if someone purchases two items i combine postage and offer discount, or if someone wants to pick up from the shop i dont charge postage , but £5 over charge is quite hefty

I started a Paypal dispute after I was refused combined postage and then seller sent all items together in a carrier bag not even sealed with parcel tape. It cost her £3.00 but she charged me £12. I asked for £8 partial refund and I got it.

I'm not going to complain because the seller will justify it as petrol and her time and what have you.

But it just got me thinking re the previous thread so I thought I'd ask here as this is where I thought I'd read it. I should have just searched though!

I've no idea how much postage costs. I couldn't tell you the price of a 1st class stamp, so I didn't really think anything was off with how much the postage said.

@SlowStarters

I'd definitely say thank you if you refunded me!

I had a lovely note in with some books I bought (for a qualification I'm studying) and I messaged the seller to say thank you because I was touched!

Aw that's lovely!

Yes it's hard for you as a buyer to guesstimate whether postage charges are accurate; true weight and parcel size once packaged are only known really by the seller.

It sucks that you were overcharged that much, I wouldn't mind 50p but £5 is significant enough to be taking the piss a bit.

Did you get a good bargain with the item at least?

@SlowStarters

It was something I've wanted for ages so I'm pleased with the item. I'd say what it is but knowing my luck, the seller is on here and I don't want them to see! 😂