Is it fair to leave negative feedback for over inflated postage?

[SamuelWestsMistress]

Just a musing really. I'm not really a huge eBay buyer but have recently been buying stuff for DD. just doll things really and all private sellers.

It's occurred to me that they seem to be charging greatly over he odds for postage. I pay £4 for postage and when it arrives its franked at £1.50. I've avoided many sellers like this so it's really not an issue to me, I've just not bought from them.

But do people ever leave negative feedback for inflated prices on postage? I know there is the star rating, but it doesn't seem to do a lot. It seems in the last few years I've been away from eBay the postage prices have rocketed!

Its a bit harsh to me - you know upfront what the postage costs are and you know roughly whether its a heavy / awkward sized item that warrants increased cost - its your choice whether to proceed or not. Also, some sellers say its not just the postage, its the packaging, the cost to them of sending (i.e. parking at post office sometimes etc). I'd just avoid the seller in future if you're unhappy with their charges.

I wouldn't.

As Mandy says, you would know before you bid roughly what the postage is. If you decide to proceed, just add it to the total purchase price. To proceed and then to leave negative feedback for over-inflated postage just seems churlish and point-scoring. Bearing in mind they are private sellers, do you really need to be vindictive for someone making a few quid on postage?

Thanks to sellers over inflating postage, EBay are now going to start charging FVFs on the total cost including postage.

The only people to lose will be the buyers, Ebay suggest making it "free" postage but this is obviously just built into the price, now I'm going to have to add on more to cover the increase in costs.

Additionally, due to the way Royal Mail now price parcels, postage can be expensive. I can post a 1kg parcel for less than a 100g item - because the 100g item is over 8cm deep.

But, in your case, as you know what the postage actually was, I'd either contact the buyer and ask for something back, or leave a comment in the feedback. The star system does do something, if you have more than a certain amount, or percentage then Ebay limit your account.

As others have said - you know the cost beforehand. Also with franked postage - it costs between £25 to £50 to rent the franking machine, one ink cartridge costs £80 (not joking here) and then you have to buy the labels etc that are suitable for that machine. Plus bubblewrap + brown paper etc The seller might be making an extra pound or two, but not as much as it appears. Come Sept. Ebay are charging business sellers final value fees on postage as well as on the item price, so the postage charges may reduce. Still, I have to agree it would be churlish to leave negative or neutral feedback for what you know from the start.

I agree that it doesn't seem fair. But like other posters have said, there are other factors to consider and you must take the total price into consideration when you bid.

I think eBay has an internal system for the star rating and email you if you get too many low stars. I would leave positive if the order is in good order and comment in the feedback.

No, mainly because I think that if the postage looks too high I don't bid in the first place.

I have seen plenty of neutrals & Negs that mentioned postage.

You should always attempt to resolve the problem before leaving Neg F/back. So if you didn't like the excess on postage you could ask them for a rebate. Not just go straight to a Neg.
Either way you'll end up on their BBL, and if you leave enough Negs especially for things like postage then you'd end up on my BBL, too.

Postage has soared for lots of factors not Seller's fault & most sellers are just guessing at what will be reasonable; they get caught out loads, have to pay extra out of pocket, but few ask for extra to cover it. I don't know why (some) buyers feel they have right to demand a rebate on "excess" postage but insist they have no duty to pay for any excess the seller forgot to charge for.

I once paid a hefty amount for postage and then received the item franked through the sellers work franking machine - it was a large company so obvious no permission. I left normal feedback, but shopped her to the company.

I am a seller and have just been caught out as something cost less to post than I thought . the problem is that the post office have changed their pricing structure and it's hard to know how much it will be.

to make up for it I sent it faster and better class then advertised and if she complained I might refund some. however it doesn't cover my packing costs and time to go to the post office.

You should mark it low stars when prompted. I would. eBay do take postage seriously hence the star rating being offered

a private seller can't charge for their time to go to the post office though. Or for their petrol, parking.

Higgle that is massively out of order. How do you know that the seller had sent it without their firm's knowledge? Most firms have a facility for letting employees sent personal mail, it just gets charged to their personal account and deducted at the end of the month. I'd count that as being a big old meddler.

What's your eBay name so we can block you?

maybe contact the seller. I think £4 is excessive if it only cost £1.50 to send especially if they are a private seller. high postage costs really put me off and I won't buy if i think they are being greedy. with clothing it only costs £2.20 to send most items so I think £2.99 is reasonable not say £3.99 unless it is bulky.

I don't think ebay should make money on the postage. what a cheek!

I keep my postage low and recently refunded a buyer as it was less than I thought even though they didn't request this. They were delighted. I didn't have to do this

I always send everything signed for as that is the only method by which you are covered by PayPal if it goes missing.
The cheapest it can be is £3.15 but for anything bigger it costs more. The price is horrendous but you can thank the Royal Mail for that. Surely the price is obvious from the beginning, don't bid if you don't like it?

Higgle I work for a very large company and used to pay work the cost for them to send eBay parcels through their franking machines. Then I read about some self righteous person on here marking down stars for similar as they assumed was dodgy, and so I stopped doing it. Although I guess if you'd "shopped" me, work wouldn't have cared as they would have known I always paid my way.

I nearly always lose out on postage as I'm in the highlands and it seems mad to charge £4 p&p for a dress or similar ,on the one occasion sonething was cheaper to post than expected I received negative feedback . It's so difficult to gauge postage costs , surely it depends where you are posting to as we'll? Even within the uk that can vary massively , your being unfair if you leave negative feedback unless the postage is hugely excessive

I'm surprised at the response to my post. If this person was using work franking machine to post to me presumably she was doing it on all her parcels, so a theft from employer of £30+ - I don't think that is right. I did ask when I rang if they allowed employees to have an arrangement to use their franking machine. At the end of the day she was a thief, and theft from employer is a serious matter.

I see it as theft too Higgle. If it was my company I would not be very happy. Maybe she did pay?

TBH i wouldn't dream of doing this at work. If I were to send a private letter I would always supply a stamp. I remember a colleague used to send parcels from work and he would pay whatever it cost to the finance department which is fine. we also used to get some parcels delivered from ebay. I always let someone know if I was expecting a package.

HIggle I agree with the other posters - one of my firms did this (a very large law firm), I just had to take the item to be posted to the post room, they'd frank it and tell me the cost, I'd then take the money to the cashier. Its not unusual, especially if you work somewhere without a post office close by. I'd have gone ballistic if you'd have contacted my employer reporting a "theft" just on a misconstrued assumption when you have no idea of the facts.

Low stars for outrageous inflated postage and if really, really taking the piss a neutral.

It annoys me that some people are profiting from postage so now everyone is going to be penalised.

I don't buy the "you knew how much postage was so don't bid if you don't like it" either.

I think you we're out of order too higgle. Meddling busy-bodying of the highest order.

Were not we're (bloody iPhone!)