I give up with bloody Ebay

[VerilyMerrily]

Sold some items a few days ago.

I stated CLEARLY that buyers should allow up to 10 days for delivery, as I work full time and dont get to the post office that often - and that they should take this into account BEFORE bidding.

I then emailed everyone who had won my items stating the same in a polite, friendly way 'Just to remind you...' etc.

Have had three complaints already, and one person who wants a refund.

I also sold a beautiful £150 coat brand new with tags for an absolute pittance, took it the post office and they asked for silly money to post it - much, much more than I estimated and much more than the royal mail site estimated. I explained this to the buyer, in a very polite, 'this is a bit of a problem what shall we do?' way, thinking may be we could split postage costs, and she was vile, , wants a refund and is giving me bad feedback.

Honestly? Fuck Ebay.

People want it all for nothing. But tbh, regarding the postage, I don't think you have a leg to stand on. If you give a price - even a guide price - I think you have to stick to it. You can't ask the buyer to pay more than you initially stated. Even if the post office estimate was wrong, it falls to you to pay. Been there, Bloody annoying. I've even over estimated on occasion, and then given buyer a little refund.

A few months ago I sold a pair of boots. Weighed them, did an estimate on Royal Mail site, and when I sold them & took them to PO - 4 quid more than estimate. But I paid it, as it's not the buyer's problem.

Why would you sell a £150 coat on ebay and run the risk of only getting the starting price or a couple of quid. I see lots of stuff being sold on ebay still with tags. Am I being dumb but surely if it's been bought for you, you'd be given the receipt or if you bought it and no longer liked it dont most reputable shops i.e M & S, John Lewis, Next etc let you exchange or give you a credit note?

It was sale item. No returns. I hate the coat, so not particularly bothered about making loads on it, but I do think that if you get a beautiful coat for peanuts, you could fork out an extra fiver for postage, surely?

Obviously not.

I just think it is SO unfair that she won the coat for next to nothing, yet I have to pay the extortionate postage price. I am not paying it, and have asked her to take out a dispute against me if she wants to.

There are Ebay rules and there is common sense and a bit of bloody decency.

Hey ho. After 10 yrs on Ebay and never one single bit of negative feedback, I will let her do what she wants and couldnt give a toss. Just letting off steam, really!

you can't ask for extra postage costs after the auction has finished.

You are responsible for the postage regardless of whether you misjudged the true costs

I would be annoyed if asked to pay extra postage. I don't bid on some things if the postage is too high.
How much extra do you have to pay on postage?

Could you use a courier instead? They're usually cheaper for heavy items I think.

TBH I have sold things at a loss on ebay after misjudging the postage, but you live and learn I guess.

I don't blame you for letting off steam because when it goes wrong, you wish you hadn't bothered. I think your buyer is being a sod, I once undercharged and contacted the buyer to ask for extra money and they gave me a bit of a bollocking but obliged because it's not right I should lose out. I'd definitely check out myhermes because I reckon you could get it sent for £3.30. Unfortunately if the buyer is a bit of a cow, she'll probably leave you rubbish feedback just because she can. I'm starting to think there are a lot of nutjobs out there on ebay.

Hope it works out :)

any coat could be sent by a courier for £5, unfortunately you can not get extra for postage you just have to take it on chin

I know what you mean. I recently sold a brand new firetrap skirt for a pound... and the buyer wanted combined postage discount! Luckily she lost the other auction.

It goes both ways of course. I've had embarrassingly good bargains myself, and think blimey, that'll barely cover their costs.

I am afraid the postage you have to swallow but can you come to a compromise and use collect + same as 2nd recorded, or near abouts I think under 1kg is 3.99 and it goes up a £1 but have a look on the website, and you can drop off in diff places so it could be a goer.

I have to say I purchased a book from ebay and the guy sent me a message afterwards saying the postage was way more than he thought and could I send him £4 more? I checked the postage when it arrived and yes it was more, however he had the book, he knew where he was posting it from and should have correclty weighed it.

On the other hand, I recently estimated all my postage as large letters (which they were) but one didn't quite fit in the little slot -i.e it didn't fall through really easily. TBH it was irritating as it quite clearly says on the rm website 2.5cm but it has to be beneath that not actually 2.5cm

Either find an alternative (collect + or similar) or give her a refund.

Do you have any idea what "auction" means? 10 years on eBay and you never worked that out...

if i've underestimated the postage costs (as have many times) i always pay up myself, the extra, as it's not the buyer's fault, and is mine for not checking before listing. And yes, I know it is a pain, but can't ask them to pay extra that wasn't on your listing

I buy and sell on ebay - an auction is an auction and if you win something lovely for 99p the seller needs to accept with good grace - it has nothing to do with the postage price. When I sell I always weigh the item in or on top of its packaging and put a few sheets of paper on top too to be sure, that way you can charge acurately. OP I'm afraid you have no one to blame but yourself for this situation it is not down to "bloody Ebay" .

WRT people having no patience when you've explained twice they may have to wait for you to post, I don't blame you at all for being pissed off.

However, you have to honour what you've charged in postage and not ask people to pay extra. This cannot be allowed to happen or some unscrupulous sellers could start messaging people saying 'It's more than I thought, give us an extra fiver' or whatever when they find they've undercharged by 50p. Far better to overestimate and then refund.

You cannot ask the buyer to pay the extra postage.

If you had wanted more for the coat, you should have listed it with a higher starting price or waited until winter when you would have got more interest.

You do not have a leg to stand on; expect negative feedback.

I think 10 days is a long time to wait, but not completely unreasonable, particularly as you stated it on the listing.

I sold a computer on eBay, sent it via parcel force. A week later the buyer emailed and said I had sent him an empty box....really???

I had the parcel weighed before I sent it, I was in the process of contacting parcel force, I emailed him and told him this.
4 hours later I got an email saying the box was damaged and parcel force repacked and delivered it...lying bastard.

Sorry op, no use to you whatsoever but I hate eBay.