silly postage costs

[pamplem0usse]

Received an item today I was charged £3.50 postage for. They sent it for a £0.69 stamp in a reused carrier bag they are claiming cost £1.25. They say they'll refund me £1 which I still think is daylight robbery.
I've pointed out this is against ebay policy but they won't budge.
Wwyd? I'm inclined to just decline and leave negative feedback.

But surely you already knew how much postage you were being charged and you were happy to pay it?

I've just sold a few things on ebay and didn't realise how much the costs had gone up by. We ate into the small amount of profit we made and in once case, I paid more in postage than I was paid for the item and the postage! It happens and it'll teach me to increase my prices, but I confess that high postage costs put me off. I try to figure what's a reasonable amount for the item I'm bidding on and if it seems high, I don't bid. OR I'll bid what I want to pay for the item in total. That way, they can rip me off, as long as I get my 'bargain'.

If you don't like the postal costs, don't bid. If the item cost 69p to post, you must have known that £3.50 was a high charge???

Bid on the total amount. Given the high fees ebay charge a lot of sellers will try to bump up their profits by adding a bit onto the postage fee. I don't really blame them but if they add on too much they'll eventually be banned by ebay for low star ratings. If you don't want the item for the selling price plus the postage, don't bid.

i would leave neg and low stars - a seller shouldn't profit on p&p - it is against the rules and is classed as fee avoidance.

You presume if you are charged £3.50 that is what postage will cost - the rubbish about if you don't like it don't bid is utter crap, you trust the seller to quote the actual cost, not rip you off, which is what your seller has clearly done.

What difference could it possibly make to you whether the money goes to the seller or the post office? You know the price when you bid. No need to be nasty and vindictive about it. Leave low stars if you want but a neg is complete overkill.

Not to defend this particular seller - I have no idea how well and tidy the item was packed in this case, but... it costs me 0.50 just to park to go to the local post office, surely I can include this in postage costs.

a private seller is not allowed to charge for parking, petrol, time, etc though.

A seller pays final value fees on the item price, not on the p&p price, so a seller who sells an item for couple of pounds and then way overcharges on postage is avoiding fees, which is not allowed.

I agree that sellers should not overcharge for postage. I recently won an auction a swimsuit. I did not know how much it was going to post, the seller did. I thought it might be up to £3 if the fabric was dense, underwired cups etc, small parcel rate. seller sent it large letter rate 2nd class and charged me £4.50. Cost her under a pound to post. Now if the postage had actually cost £3 and she'd charged £4.50, I'd have thought that a bit cheeky but let it go. But postage under £1 and she charges £4.50? That's just a rip off and deserves appropriate feedback/stars.

And it was in an inside out carrier bag so not even any packaging charges.

When I sell, I weigh everything and state actual postage.

I agree that sellers should not overcharge for postage. I recently won an auction a swimsuit. I did not know how much it was going to post, the seller did. I thought it might be up to £3 if the fabric was dense, underwired cups etc, small parcel rate. seller sent it large letter rate 2nd class and charged me £4.50. Cost her under a pound to post. Now if the postage had actually cost £3 and she'd charged £4.50, I'd have thought that a bit cheeky but let it go. But postage under £1 and she charges £4.50? That's just a rip off and deserves appropriate feedback/stars.

And it was in an inside out carrier bag so not even any packaging charges.

When I sell, I weigh everything and state actual postage.

Actually I find it very difficult to work out how much an item will cost with the new postage structure unless I have an item in front of me. I was a bit shocked about the blatent profiteering as she told me she included the tine taken to post an item in her costings.
I think it's dishonest to over charge by that much, especially after refusing to refund the excess.

You just put the item on your kitchen scales and open the royal mail website on the pricing info pages.

On the odd occasion that my scales are midway between one price band and the next, I charge the higher one but I refund the difference if the post office puts it in the lower band.

The charge is for postage. Anything else is just a deduction out of the selling price IMO.

I know the seller is not allowed to charge for time, but is it true about the parking? I have never charged anyone over the stamp price, but I am interested. Any links to ebay terms you can post here please?

postage and packing is that cost of postage plus whichever of the following you use mail bag cardboard box bubble wrap polystyrene beads etc
my brief guide is that 30p extra would cover packing for any item of clothing

50p for any item needing small / medium box

70p for anything breakable in large box (over 30cm) ie needs bubble wrap and polystyrene beads etc

only large number of breakables ie a tea set would justify £2 due to quantity of bubble wrap etc

it can be difficult to judge whether something will slide through large letter slot at about £1 or whether will be a small parcel at £2.60 if you charge £3 expecting it to cost £2.60 and you manage to get if through large letter slot at 250g and it costs £ 1.10 you refund £1.50 via paypal when you get home with brief note " hi X a small refund for postage as managed to send as a letter not parcel regards Y"

as a private seller you can not charge for time/ petrol/ parking; a business seller can but is unlikely to as very few business sellers overcharge on postage

if you charge for petrol it makes your car a business vehicle which means you need business insurance etc

private sellers are presumed to be selling their own stuff and so dropping stuff at post office on school run shopping trip etc even if you are making a special trip and do nothing else but visit post office you can not charge for time as that makes it income (and therefore you are a business seller) which may be taxable and is certainly declarable

I check bid + postage price before i bid then include postage in my total price so stop when i've reached my max limit. I've bought 3 baby snowsuits this week and a lit flipping more dang ebay all 3.50/4 pound postage which is reasonable but saw a fair few at 6/7/8 pound and just didn't bid. I got all 3 snowsuits for around £6 each.

I'd be peed off at being ridiculously overcharged and 1.25 for a carrier bag is just

I agree with everything sarahtigh says.

I also don't bid on any item charging a stupid amount for postage, even if price of the item + postage comes within my budget for that it item.

I just think it shows a really grabby attitude to charge double and triple the actual postage.

** that item

I think its really hard to judge postage, I estimated £6.50 the other day but was 100 grams heavier at the post office than my scales so cost me nearly double.

I can't pass this on, so now I'm going to increase the postage amount in the hope I don't end up out if pocket

I agree. People are really taking the piss these days. I don't mind being charged £3.50 for something that will cost £2.60 to send as the 90p will cover their PayPal fees and the cost of the bag.

I just paid someone £3.99 for postage and it arrived in a tesco bag with a large letter stamp on. The item was OK and I can't be arsed to argue with her for a few quid but I left her one star for packaging and postage.

Plus people are still insisting on using fucking Royal Mail for heavier items. Just bought a cost which cost £9 to post (which I paid). Why don't people use Collect Plus or Hermes?

ah. Now I'm a rookie seller here, and I've been charging £3.50 to send recorded (registered? signed for at any rate) because that's what it costs just for the stamps. I would rather send recorded so that I can't get anyone mucking about saying they didn't receive something. Do you think it's better to send 2nd class not recorded and just go for cheapest postage?

The official advice is to send recorded. I personally don't bother for cheaper items (I.e. most of my items). But obviously if you don't, you have to suck up the loss and refund if the buyer claims non receipt. In 4 years of selling, it's happened to me about 4 times.

If someone sends recorded I don't mind paying for that, as long as they are charging the rate for recorded postage and not banging an extra £3.50 on top.

I still use royal mail as the post office is a 10 min walk away, or I drive past it anywhere I go anywhere. I don't want to wait in for a collection and I don't want to leave my parcel at one of the 'pick up posts' at some corner shop across town.

WHen I'm buying I'd rather sellers used royal mail and I will pay the extra for a heavy item for it to just be taken back to the sorting office at the town centre 2 miles away with tons of free parking, and I can go and pick it up on a Saturday morning or up till 9 on a Wednesday evening. If you miss a courier its a FAFF having to ring those automated lines to get a new day for them to deliver and wait in, or drive 15 miles (yes 15 miles for the furthest yet and about 5 miles for the closest) to get to where they took the parcel back to.

Royal mail is not perfect, and sometimes not the cheapest, but for me its really really convenient.

I find it very confusing.
Just listed my first few items.
Are the eBay postage cost estimates any good?
I couldn't see an option for "recorded delivery" on the drop down list.
Is it called something else?

I offered free p&c and hope that the price covers my expenses.

P&P

if you choose to send recorded it must only be the £1.10 extra ebay expressly forbid adding any surcharge to insurance signed for so if your regular second class charge is £3 ( ie £2.60 for postage and 40p for packing ) your 2nd class signed for must be £4.10 you can not charge 4.20 to allow for extra fees

if you have a problem with postal staff saying it is not a small parcel when it is ( like another thread when some work said it must go through with space all round ) just say oh if its too big for small parcel i'll just take it home and send by courier there is no benefit to PO to charge medium parcel as they are paid per parcel, it just needs to go through slot without being forced

if selling clothes make sure you squeeze air out of bags so they are flat