Seller totally overcharged me on postage - would you leave a negative feedback?

[VoodooKitten]

I bought 4 items of children's clothes from the same seller - she charged me £9 for combined postage.

The items arrived this morning, they smell of ciggie smoke and the postage actually cost her £4.

The smell is no big deal, I would wash the clothes anyway, but I'm pissed off about being overcharged for postage.

Would you leave a neg feedback for this?

no postage is supposed to reflect the actual cost
not the bus,petrol whatever.now some do add it on,but well that's chancing it.and just because it does go on doesn't mean it's ok

I think in my case as I was told before bidding that postage would be reduced once she knew the actual amount and then she changed her mind that I didn't know what it would be. Also I think if you aren't combining postage (which is fine) that you are meant to send the items in separate packages.

I completely agree with you QED - and yes if not combined they should have been sent separately.

Scottish mummy, ebay states: "You can legitimately charge for the postage cost (ie the stamp) any packaging materials, and a reasonable handling cost, within your shipping charge "

Pfft - sellers are not obliged to combine postage but if they do not then they should send everything in separate packages.

And it does state in the ebay guidelines that if you want a good feedback score you need to combine postage where appropriate.

yes, of course.

If the buyer isn't getting the benefit of reduced costs, then the seller should be sending out individually. Of course. And yes, it makes sense to combine, and most people do it.

It seems, in this case, that the seller has been unreasonable with their postage. My point is simply that ebay are unlikely to do anything about it, as the seller isn't doing anything that costs them money, and they don't much care. Yes, they shouldn't have charged so much, but the postage costs were clear at the time of buying, which the buyer agreed to.

I still say, if you don't like the postage in the advert, don't buy.

Ebay isn't a charity! Postage should include the cost of getting to the PO and allow for the time spent packaging up items ("reasonable handling cost" as Pfft says), cost of ink to print invoices etc. If someone is using ebay as a way to make a living all of these are legitimate business expenses and without them they will end up making very little money.

If a decent item starts at 99p to catch your interest, then obviously the seller hopes it will go up to a reasonable amount, but by adding a postage charge of £2 for example, they are guaranteed not to be out of pocket if it does sell for 99p. Whether you buy 1 item or 4 you know the maximum P&P they will charge for each item, so you accept that charge when you bid. If they discount its a bonus.

The smoke thing is gross and we always state that items come from a pet-free and smoke-free home, so look out for that in item description to be sure.

Larger items can fluctuate. I sold a few items this week which turned out to be around £1-£3 less to post than I stated, but then packaging costs anyway.

Then I sold another item that I'd estimated to be £30 to post, but in the end cost £37. As a seller, that's swings and roundabouts.

As a buyer, decide how much you are willing to pay in total then stick to it.

I have no problem with it covering post, packing and handling, but when I was overcharged by £5 I did ask for a partial refund. The reply I got was no cause its covering my Ebay and paypal fees. I reminded them that's not allowed and when they failed to reply left neg for all three items.

I don't agree that it's reasonable to charge for the cost of getting to the post office - where on ebay does it say you can do that? Using postage to cover fees is definitely not allowed.

A few children's clothes take no more than 5 minutes to package up, come on. I charge for the postage and for the cost of the packaging and that's it.

Also really pisses me off when people charge £4.50 for economy delivery for a tiny item and it turns up wrapped in a bin bag.

I think what I'm trying to say is, while the buyer may not have a recourse to ebay and they won't do anything about it, a seller who does stuff like this can expect to get negative feedback because they aren't a great seller.

perception, it says that you can charge a reasonable handling cost. I suppose the key is to be reasonable.

it is rubbish £5 is too much and childrens clothes is one of the worst categories for people selling at 99p and charging 2.75 -3.50 for packing t shirt when folded and air squeezed out it is a large letter which costs 92p mailing bag 10p ( tape address label etc about 3p) max acceptable mark up on 1 item of clothing is about 30p in my book,

ebay feedback says "how reasonable was postage charge" if cost 92p and charged £1.20 5 stars over £1.50 4 stars upto £2 3stars anything above £2,50 would be 1 star and neg feedback but I would email first

I have ebay business ( and yes I am registered for tax etc) and if I charge more than 50p -£1 even for china it is considered unreasonable when it needs strong box bubble wrap and polystrene beads

postage costs should be kept to minimum if you say £2 and it is really 92p give partial refund of 50p when return from PO you are not out of pocket and you get brownie points for being nice honest seller

£5 profit on postage for any item whatsoever even porcelain tea set is too too much

YANBU 1 star for postage and commiunication and neg feedback

"overcharged on postage no satisfactory reply to emails, smelt of smoke too"

that said some cheap mailing bags do give a smoky odour so that may not be sellers fault

Could you experienced sellers please advise me on correctbpostage charges? I have a dress to sell and hope to get abouut £80 for it. If i send it first class recorded and the buyer claims not to have received it, will I only be able to claim back £29 from royal mail?

Is it better to send it Special delivery? Wont the extra cost put off some buyers?

Sorry if this is a stupid question. Ive read lots of posts here about scams so im a bit nervous

for something that valuable, I use Special Delivery, and offer local collection (cash only), but I thought you could pay extra for higher value packages provided they are signed for?

Last time I looked the Post Office pricing webpage was still broken

but give it a try www.royalmail.com/price-finder

recorded only covers £46 so you will need either special delivery or a courier.

Thank you both, thats very helpful

Guys, here's a situation I wouldn't mind someone going over if they'd be so kind.

I purchased 12 items of baby clothing (2 items on some) off a seller who quoted £2.50 per individual item for postage.

I won the items for 5 pence each as no one else bid.

On requesting combined postage I anticipated a bit of a hike up because whether it's against ebay policy or not I get the need to try and increase return on 5p a product.

I was shocked (and I actually mean shocked) when I saw what amounted to a 10% discount on the total price, so individual postage costs for 12 packages totaling £30 discounted to about £26.75 in effect.

I reckon that the items could at a push exceed 2Kg but at a push and so with royal mail costs of £10.70 for anything up to 4kg, I think a £16 mark up is a bit strong some how.

I've asked her to be reasonable with the reduction given a mark up of 2.5 times the raw postage cost. She won't budge. I wont pay.

I feel like butchering her with 12 negative feedbacks seeing as she can't leave feedback on me yet but thats now I go about things.

Are ebay going to do me with a non payment record here, would it be 12 non payment records because I'm going in first if thats the case.

Any feedback / help appreciated.

yes the seller can leave 12 unpaid item cases against you for non payment then any feedback you leave would be removed. When you go to pay, does it let you amend the invoice yourself?V sneaky, but if you could amend it, put in postage of say £4 and then pay the seller then they can't open an unpaid case against you, and you will still be able to leave feedback. The seller may have set it that you can't change an invoice though. If you do leave 12 negatives they need to be a week apart to count as 12 separate, if left on same day they would only count as one.

But I would rather that and open a new account rather than pay that extortionate cost!

How much do they weigh - how on earth can the seller justify a fee like that. I have had furniture delivered cheaper!

It is clear fee avoidance and greed I reckon.

It's likely to cost her £10.70 to post and she's wanting £26. She keeps saying it's a very good offer for the amount of items I'm buying and does not seem to get the concept of postage being a separate entity to the overall amount.

£10.70? - where is that figure from - it will prob be £4 if with collect plus if it is under £2kg. And if it is £10.70 how do they justify charging £26.

I guessed £10.70 from the royal mail price guides, if it's likely to be less then she's the mick even more that I thought. Wow! Thanks for your input by the way. It sucks that I'm going to take the hit for refusing to pay (12 times)...

I'd report her for ebay fee avoidance. She's totally cheating the system here and ebay will lose out on seller fees as well.

I know that a lot of sellers are on the ebay discussion boards worried about account warnings. A common warning seems to be, Watch your P&P charges.