Response from seller about high postage price. WOW!

[pickledparsnip]

Recently bought a vintage cardigan/jacket. Listing stated Collect+ in p+p details, and due to weight presumed it would be pretty close to the £5.99 price stated. However when it arrived it only cost £2.60, so I sent the seller this

Hello

Received the jacket yesterday, thank you. I was however surprised to see the 2nd class postage paid was only £2.60 as I paid £5.99. A £3.39 difference even taking the cost of the envelope into account is a little steep!

Many thanks.

This is the response I got

Dear ? I am sorry that you are disappointed with postage costs, but perhaps you are not aware of the time/cost spent by the seller before an item reaches you?
For eg] many of us are not regular sellers , just getting rid of a few items and trying to earn a few pounds [we are actually losing £££££££££"s not really making any profit at all , if like me the items were bought in days when finances were better [I am now out of work and have no income at all other than £5-10 week I get from family/ friends/ neighbours as I bid for E-bay items for them whilst they are at work]
Anyway I digress, I have sorted out the clothing,checked for any defects, washed and ironed if needed, measured each item, taken photographs and uploaded onto the computer ,taken notes of each item and numbered each item on paper , typed the text onto the computer .
Responded to messages from prospective buyers and purchasers ,completed invoices , bought packaging, packed up items and walked to the Post Office to post them .
E-bay takes a % for each item sold .
It is a actually a Thankless task .

If you are still unhappy and want a refund , please let me know, I will be happy to give it to you, perhaps your need is greater than mine?
Please don"t think I am being difficult, I am not ... just explaining the situation for what it is .
Many thanks, kindest regads Maggie .

Ps I have been in a few Retro shops, visited Retro fairs, a jacket like this in this condition would cost ££££s.

Report the seller for fee avoidance, that's a huge mark-up.

Must add that I know that I knew the costs before bidding (I recently paid ridiculously high postage for something because I got the item for 99p and it was something I really wanted and had cost a lot). However I did think the p+p costs although high would have been justified in this instance.

I sell lots on eBay, and always refund the buyer the difference if an item was able to be sent large letter when I presumed it would go small parcel.

The guilt tripping in the sellers response blew me away! Talk about patronising!

Good thinking Moaning, I will. Thank you

I think it is just bloody cheeky! The postage price isn't supposed to include their time etc though is it?

But the charge is for P&P, not photographing, washing, etc etc.

Ha ha OP. Great minds!

This is why I despise Ebay, people quibbling over £3 and such. They get this HUGE bargain and then want even more refunds.

Honestly, I think you're being ridiculous.

and a private seller is not meant to charge for their time, ebay fees, costs to get to post office, etc. Plus they told you they were sending via courier, and actually sent by RM.

Haha yes MissStrawberry!

Oh expat, you have no idea how much I paid for the item in the first place. I think being charged lots more for postage is bloody off, but my shock horror was mostly at the seller's ridiculous and lengthy response.
It made me far more annoyed than I was to begin with!

To be honest, when bidding for an item/buying an item outright on eBay I always take the postage price into account. I add it to the price of the item and see it as an overall price.
I don't really care how much the postage ended up being in reality.. Sometimes it's less than the postage price listed and sometimes it's actually more. But to be honest, it doesn't bother me. If I'm happy with the overall price I paid (including postage) then I'm fine with it.

Tell her that ripping people off with postage costs is not a good way to "earn a few pounds". "Earning" involves work not deception, and you were paying for postage not f*cking wages.

Have a look at how many other items she's selling because if she's making £3 off all of them she'll have a tidy little income there.

I think yabu and I agree with the seller. eBay is full of people trying to get something for nothing.
on a separate note, it is very hard to accurately guess postage when listing.

YANBU - postage and packing is just that - postage and packing!!

If they want to charge for their time, washing, drying, ironing, checking for defects etc, that should be in the listing price not the P&P price.

I always charge P&P just slightly more than cost, use recycled packaging and avoid making a specific car journey to the post office - tie it in with existing journey to avoid fuel costs.

I might be a bit extreme, but your seller is taking it way too far beyond the other extreme!!

i think shes fair. If you werent happy with postage costs, then dont bid. Noones forcing you. Lots of big companies have a minimum postage rate too

Unless as a buyer you know the exact weight and dimensions of an item packaged, you can't possibly know in advance how much the postage will be ... you just have to trust that the seller will be fair.

I would give bad feedback for that if it was me - give her the chance of offering you a partial postage refund first though. She is taking the piss.

YABABU.

If you didn't like the P+P price, don't bid.

Yanbu. It is true there are lots of people who want something for nothing. The seller wants something for nothing by over charging for p&p, and deciding to go with the po rather than using the method stated in listing.

You don't have to guess how much something costs. Couriers state in weight brackets. In the case of the op, collect+ the service claimed to be used would have charged £4.74.
The post office, which tbh, this is the sellers fault for using this service, has online calculator. From home, you chuck everything on your scales, add the details and it tells you how much it will cost. Even with adding extra for packaging, it doesn't cost an extra £3.39.

P&P charges are just that. They don't include any extras.

Agree with EachAnd EveryHighway.

To those who have said I am bu (not that I asked If I was!), I clearly said that I was happy to pay that amount as I believed it would cost about that much to be posted due to size and weight. What I was shocked by was her ridiculous response and justification for charging so much when it actually didn't cost that much. They are actually all things that I believed eBay didn't allow anyway.

Yes but Branleuse she isn't a big company is she?!

Harriet I like your response! I have had a look and most of her listings have very high postage and others not. All a bit over the place and with no rhyme or reason. Weird.

Oh well. This was really just supposed to be a lighthearted thread at my shock horror at her daft response. I thought it was shocking and funny, and thought others might like to read it too and perhaps we could share in our shockedness! Am now more shocked that some think her response if perfectly justified. Well I never!

you agreed to the costs of postage when you bid

so - tough

(though i agree its steep)

by the way the email you got sounds like someone on the verge of a nervous breakdown. leave them be.

Proper sellers weigh their items before listing. It's not enough to just guess. Postage costs are just for postage and packing costs, not for the seller's time. If I were you I would request she refunds the difference just for being a cheeky twat in her response.