Postage issues

[ChablisLover]

So I bought 2 items from the same seller

The original invoice stated the postage as combined but for £8

I asked for a discount and the buyers offered £2 discount

She sent both items together and when arrived they cost £2.20 to post - so in effect a £3.80 profit

So I emailed her and he advised that I got 2 pairs of trousers for £8 - the trousers were 99p so I got a bargain! The seller also said she had to factor in fees both eBay and PayPal and packing and petrol.

She also describes the trousers as worn a few times - I would describe a well worn

I am within my rights to contact eBay and complain both on the excessive postage and the description?

Thanks for any advice

Oh she has also amended listing to show Free p&p so I can't leave low star ratings!!!

Anyone?

Or should I just put it down to experience?

It is a bit much profit for her to have made on postage, I have had similar problems with eBay and have put it down to experience, maybe put in the feedback where u write " postage far too much, item more worn than expected," they won't like that, and they will hopefully learn from it as well

Thanks

Think that's what I'll have to do

Just annoying she amended invoice to show free p&p so I can't give accurate feedback on the stars

I'm really quite shocked that a seller can even do that. It's cheating.

OOH you did get the trousers for 99p each so I can see the seller's point of view. They will still have to pay sellers fees and possibly pay pal costs and they did give you a £2 discount.

However maybe £2.80 profit on postage is a bit much. sounds like the original postage was too much.

I would open a dispute.

I'm amazed that she could change the postage rate after the auction had ended. That really is cheating

From a sellers point of view its galling to see an item go at 99p. By the time I've paid ebay and pay pal I get about 55p plus small amount for packing. However if you start an item at 99p you risk it ending there and you charge a reasonable p&p for postage and packing not

p, p & p - postage packing and profit

I partially refunded 4 people last night because postage was less than I expected even after my 15- 20p overheads for packing materials

OTOH, I posted 2 coats last night, and the maximum price Ebay allows for p&p is £4.75. The weight of the coats meant the cheapest I could post them for was £5.30. Ebay is a law unto itself. you win some, you lose some. I would not be too upset about paying £6 for a couple of pairs of trousers.

Are they nice trousers, OP? Would you pay £8 for them at a jumble sale? £4 postage on items that really cost £2.20 does seem a bit like fee avoidance to me, I suppose I'd expect under £3.50, under £3 even.

Ebay has missed 30p in FVF, I reckon. I don't know if that's enough to bother them.

OP paid £7.98.
RM got £2.20.
Paypal got 47p
Ebay FVF is 20p
So seller profited £5.11 before time & packaging. (7.98-2.87)

If sold to 2 different buyers, they would have paid £9.98
RM would have had £4.40
Paypal would have had 74p
Ebay FVF would still be 20p
& seller's pre-P+P profit would have been £4.64.

Not sure if OP would be happy with a 50p further reduction, though.

People should not complain about price they got for item if they start at 99p, if no one less bid buyer would get them for 99p even if she had been prepared to pay £10.

P&P is for postage and packing materials it is not for time; parking; petrol; ebay fees, listing fees or paypal fees unless item is huge or breakable more than 40p for packing is very hard to justify

a business seller may charge for time as it is their salary and they will be taxed on it, if you charge for your time it is taxable, however business sellers very rarely overcharge on postage as feedback DSR so important to top seller ratings

the seller of coats could have sent with collectplus for £4

overcharging for postage to make up for 99p sales is one of my pet hates and if you do it to me and do not give reasonable refund once pointed out you will get low stars and possibly negative feedback,

it is possible as trousers she may have thought they would cost £3.50 not £2.20 to post

I would point out that

"I realise that it is not easy to judge postage costs in advance but you charged me £6 for postage actual cost was £2.20, I would like £3 refund as 80p extra will easily cover packing costs. I would like to settle this amicably before leaving feedback"

if you get refund you leave positive feedback and good DSR if you do not you leave low stars for postage and communication and possibly neutral/negative depending no how good product was

Would mentioning f/back count as f/back extortion?

no it is fine to say I was hoping you can solve this problem before leaving appropiate feedback, leaving bad feedback without giving seller chance to put things right is bad form, feedback extortion is something like I want a refund of £3 or I will leave bad feedback for no good reason, or similar threats, merely mentioning feedback or resolution centre is not extortion, neither is to say i want £3 refund as you overcharged me by £3 plus

it is better for both seller and buyer to resolve issues promptly and courteously without involving ebay,

if i have a problem I always say that I donot leave bad feedback without contacting seller to anable situation to be put right, sometimes things go wrong items break in transit seller missed small defect and so it was not mentioned, postage over estimated,

when I am selling I refund anything that arrives broken on receipt of photo ( saves buyer returning) I refund any postal difference on return from PO not that I get it wrong often but that comes with experience

could anyone tell me how much postage would cost to send a book weighing just over a kilo. am i right thinking anything under goes for £2.20 basic 2nd class.

did try postage calculator but seemed so complicated.

postage in uk under 750g 2nd class 2.20
under 1kg 2nd class £3.50
above 1kg parcels £5.30 which would be your book, however max for books is £4 so you need to send collectplus which will be £3.99

thanks Sarah how do you do collectplus. is that royal mail or something else.

something else; go to collectplus website, fill in details, pay; print label and drop off at nearest collection point within 48 hours. as its a book over 1kg you will be £1.30 out of pocket with royal mail, so even if nearest collect plus drop off is a bit further than PO you will not lose money

Also with Collectplus it has to be in a Jiffy Bag (or similar) and longest dimension must be less than 50cm, to get the £3.99 rate. £4.99 if boxed. Up to a stupid weight (in case anyone feels like posting bricks). Look closely at their instructions.

do you have to do it online or could you do it at the collection point and pay over the counter? Does it have to be in a padded envelope?

i think there is a collection point at a supermarker near us.

The website is very easy to use, Alemci, but you need a credit card (or Paypal account), access to printer and an accessible email address. You register the details, pay up, and then get a link to a PDF file that you can print off & tape (tape well) to the parcel. You can use the website to confirm the drop off point nearest you.

When you take the parcel in they scan it & give you a receipt which has the tracking code on it. Keep the receipt in case of problems.

I don't know how strict CollectPlus are about whether it's a proper Padded envelope or if a mere plastic bag would do. I wouldn't risk a plastic bag without asking them.

I use mailing bags all the time with collectplus it is fine, they are also fine with small boxes for jiffy bag category you just type in dimesions and weight and up comes price you must have a printer though all cheap couriers require you print label, cheapest courier without printer is citylink which is £8-9 for upto 15 kilos

collectplus is not cheaper once over 6kg

but do you need a sticky label for the printer to print or can you just use paper and sellotape it on parcel.

paper and tape is fine - you don't need a sticky label

Sarah: what is a "mailing bag"? is that just a carrier bag?
Interesting that you've got away with small boxes in the Jiffy Bag category. How big did you dare to have the box be?

Lljkk and saragtigh

Thanks for the good advice

I will contact get again

I understand where you're coming from
OP. But I'm a bit confused you knew exactly how much p&p you had to pay and still bid...? So you were actually willing to pay that amount until the package arrive? Would it have been better for the seller to have deleted the postage cost first?!