seller agreed to combined postage but its still high, help me negotiate

[pinkandred]

Hi, I bought 3 items from the same seller (they are only childrens t-shirts so no weight to them). They each had £3 postage. I asked her to combine postage and she has reduced it to £7.95.

Now I sell fairly regularly on ebay and I know that what I have bought will come in at less than £3 for 2nd class delivery. I think this is greedy but what do I do. Do I try to negotiate before paying or let her send the items to me and look at how much she paid then ask for a partial refund on the basis that she has way overcharged me.

Does she state in her listing that she will combine postage? Even for one she is overcharging as a child's tee shirt will fit in a large letter size envelope.

I am still annoyed at being ripped off for postage a few weeks back, so I'd probably put in.a request to cancel the transactions, me being in a bad mood today....

There should be a button to report sellers for overcharging on postage!

I see both sides of this. That is a lot of postage but you did buy them at the price she asked for knowing the postage cost. Apart from the posting for her she has to wrap, and take them to a post office ( my nearest one is 4 miles away) so I always think postage covers these aspects too. She has combined postage but unfortunately not to what you were hoping. I don't think I would refund any more.

You bid knowing the P&P price, so you should just pay up, I'd say. Mark her stars down if you feel strongly about it.

Honestly? I would just pay it.
She had reduced the postage already for you. Many people sell items very cheaply and make up some costs with postage. I thought this was just accepted. I personally don't agree with it, so only buy items with realistic costs.

I'm not an expert on postage costs but I posted a tiny tiny packet (smallest envelope size, a t shirt would not have fit), very light, last week and it was £3.

no you shouldn't pay up - her p&p is utterly extortionate and feedback annoyance

I wouldn't pay it either.

not feedback annoyance - fee avoidance (sorry need more coffee)

I'd write back and ask of she is sending it by special next day delivery ? Since regular mail would cost x and you are happy to take the risk, as long as POP is obtained.

well no that is wrong, as sending without signature is risk for the seller not the buyer - still it is way too much and blatant greed

What is the sale price?

If it were me I would tell her what I thought a reasonable postage price was and ask for that. Something like £4, maybe. Would that allow her insurance?

Mind you'll get put on her BBL for it, but probably not a worry.

It is shit. Mind you, last week I noticed the same bidder had won 2 of my auctions (and one was total bargain of boden outfit for a baby for 99p) - I thought I'd be nice and stick in same envelope and refund her costs of one of the p&p (and I'd only charged £2.90 anyway for each item). PayPal apparently emails the buyer if they get a refund - but have I heard anything? Have I heck. Not a thank you or even the decency of leaving me (any) feedback. So I am inclined to think next time - why bother?!

Bother because if they don't like postage they can mark you down to 1 or 2 on postage DSRs, and if you get more than 2% 1-2s on postage DSRs in last 3 months it gets flagged up in your seller performance review,and then Ebay might start restricting your account.

Well she's agreed to reduce it to £5.50 but sent me a message today saying that she has sent it recorded delivery.

So, its now likely that she wont have made a profit on the postage but, the listing says 2nd class royal mail. I know its only a few pounds but its the principal. She didn't even ask me if I wanted recorded delivery. If she had, I would have told her to post 2nd class. The most annoying thing is that we are going on holiday in the morning for the weekend so we wont even be here to sign for it.

People are selling on eBay to make money. If they want to make a few extra pence by charging higher for postage then I really don't see the problem. You were aware of the postage charges when you bid. She has already discounted the postage costs which has saved you a couple of quid. She could just of easily sent then all separately and then you would have both lost out.

I am happy to let a buyer make a little extra from their postage and consider the postage price when biding. If I think it's too high, I don't bid. Would never dream of giving a negative for it.

but they aren't meant to make money on p&p - that is just plain fee avoidance which is not permitted.

I am not going to drudge up any sympathy for tax-dodgying treats-sellers-like-crud Ebay losing on fees. Sellers who deserve a decent postage reduction is different.

if she sent 3 separate parcels fair enough but you can't say you do not combine postage and then send 3 items in 1 parcel

for t-shirts £1 over the cost of P&P would cover all costs

I never charge more than 50p for postage. I don't want my stars to be rated bad, or to risk a negative. She IS fee avoiding. You're not allowed to take extra for your petrol costs, parking etc. You start your bids higher to account for that. I'm a seller and a buyer.. so i always get grrrr at being ripped off with postage as am so fair myself

Very often, i will charge the exact amount of postage and not a penny more...and factor in the packaging etc to the bid , or not if i think i'll get a good final price

Well just got back from my weekend away and there is a note from the post office on the floor saying they tried to deliver a parcel but it requires a signature. So, its been taken back to the sorting office & I need to collect it.

I am working full time all week and am so annoyed, I didn't even want signed for delivery, and it wasn't what was advertised!!

What was the total sale price on all 3 items?

ragged it was less than £10. Why do you ask? I don't really see how this makes a difference to what has happened with regards to postage.

I tend to look at the combined price + P&P for an item, and only bid/buy if I consider it to be a reasonable price when combined. That way I never feel ripped off, but it does restrict the items I will bid on.

OP that's really annoying that she sent it recorded delivery. I wonder what her reasoning was or maybe she just made a mistake at the post office. It is a PITA for you now.

SDTG that was the best advice I got when I first started bidding for things on ebay - to figure out what my maximum bid is when postage is taken into account, put in that maximum bid (even if that means putting in a £10.02 bid for something that's currently 99p), and then just ignore the auction until it's over. I do miss out on things by just a little bit occasionally but in general it's by far the least stressful way to buy things and I never feel like I've paid too much when I win something, and I never have buyer's regret because I've fallen for the excitement of the auction and want to win at any cost.

If anyone can point out any improvements to this strategy I'm all ears, I'm a pretty plain vanilla ebayer!

To be fair to the seller op, if you have been a bit of a pita regarding the postage costs that were on the listing before you made the bid I think she done the right thing by sending the items recorded. I would have done the same, I run my business through eBay and if I get a pita buyer I will always send their stuff out to them recorded.