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Original poster

Response from seller about high postage price. WOW!

68 replies

pickledparsnip · 10/08/2013 13:04

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.

OP posts:
Rooners · 10/08/2013 14:29

If she wants to make more money then she needs to start her items at a price she is happy with. This may mean they don't sell but she's not allowed to profit from P&P...it should cover her packaging and postage charges and then a bit for her petrol if she needs to drive to the PO.

I often guess P&P, sometimes it is more, in fact usually I lose on P&P but it's a nightmare trying to get the right price as RM keep changing it, they often give you a different price when you get there and I have rubbish scales anyway.

It's going to get even harder soon, they are getting a lot more fussy about postage prices (and photographs etc)

I bloody HATE selling on ebay.

GemmaTeller · 10/08/2013 14:32

I'd request the difference back and ask her is she registered as a business seller, because from the ways she's worded her email and saying people are paying her to list/bid on items she's running it as a business.

She could take the time to weigh on her scales and check the online postage calculator or she could take the items to the post office and get a quote, I can't stand people who think its OK to guesstimate the postage and make no effort to refund the difference.

alemci · 10/08/2013 14:54

yanbu the p & p as a private seller are not meant to make a profit

picnicbasketcase · 10/08/2013 15:30

YANBU at all, even though this isn't in AIBU anyway. Sellers aren't supposed to charge their buyers for their time, petrol, compensation for repetitive strain injury caused by typing and taking photos, the wear on their shoe leather or anything else other than postage and packaging. As for her rude, 'woe-is-me I'm so poor' reply, I'm afraid that would make me leave her a negative.

lljkk · 10/08/2013 15:46

Seller WAS fair.
Seller stated exactly what delivery charge would be. No subterfuge. No deception.
The only "cheating" was a mahoosive 34p of Ebay fees. And truth be told, even tax-dodging Ebay doesn't care about 34p.

There are different bits of guidance for Ebay sellers about what is included in the P+P. Which is why everyone debates this. I interpret the guidance for private sellers as "must be reasonable" including time & materials.

It's weird how in these threads most everyone talks about not daring to charge even 5p over RoyalMail cost BUT reality is we can all see that few sellers do that on Ebay itself. Mumsnet != Real life, as usual.

alemci · 10/08/2013 15:55

yes but £3 profit from p&p is too much IMO. Maybe a £1.

buyer thought the postage was around £5 not a much lower amount.

I have refunded postage without being asked if it is less than I expected. I think it should only be about 40-50p higher than the actual Royal Mail charge.

I think her hard luck story is like emotional blackmail.

PeriodMath · 10/08/2013 16:05

Do you quibble postage with every company you buy from online? Many have steep postage costs which cannot possibly correlate to the actual cost of sending but it's a standard cost which you factor into the final price...don't you?

Same with eBay. If you didn't like the p&p charge, you shouldn't have bid for the item.

Original poster
pickledparsnip · 10/08/2013 16:10

alemci that was exactly what I thought - emotional blackmail. I mean seriously you can't say things like this:

[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]

perhaps your need is greater than mine?

Completely unfair and irrelevant.

OP posts:
PennieLane · 10/08/2013 16:11

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

lljkk · 10/08/2013 16:12

And most online retailers have deals worked out with the delivery company, they shift enough volume to negotiate significant discounts per parcel. Private sellers have no such privilege.

Personally I think seller is a numpty not to rebate whatever OP wants, but I'd be putting OP straight on my BBL too.

Original poster
pickledparsnip · 10/08/2013 16:13

Ha seriously PeriodMath? Of course I don't, but we're not talking about a company here are we?

Oh and as I said up the thread, I was happy to bid on the item with the stated p+p because I believed the item would cost that much to be sent...turns out it didn't. As I said up thread, I was mostly shocked by her answer.

I get the feeling I am repeating myself here!

OP posts:
Original poster
pickledparsnip · 10/08/2013 16:15

I think we'll just have to agree to disagree here. I sell loads on eBay, and never make a profit from postage and packaging. Yes eBay takes time, listing stuff and taking photos, but if you want to be paid for that then include it in the listing price.

OP posts:
VivaLeBeaver · 10/08/2013 16:16

Personally it wouldn't bother me. You obv felt the item was worth the total price inc the p&p. I don't sell on eBay but do buy stuff and this does happen. But i figure if people were reported and it was stopped then they'd just make the reserve price higher and as a buyer you'd end up paying more as the total price might be higher to take into account increased eBay fees.

And when high st stores charge me £3.99 for one tshirt, it doesn't cost that much in p&p.

Original poster
pickledparsnip · 10/08/2013 16:17

My whole point was that her response was ridiculous, patronising and clearly trying to make me feel guilty. It is also obviously fee avoidance, something that eBay doesn't allow.

I am not a newbie on eBay, seller can clearly see that from my feedback, so was surprised at the tone of her message.

OP posts:
picnicbasketcase · 10/08/2013 16:19

I don't think it's a question of knowing the cost before bidding. If the seller calculates the cost based on has weighing it and has bought the packaging and it arrives having cost the buyer the same or very close to what it's actually cost them to send, fair enough, no quibbles.

But if, for example, you pay £5 p&p and the item turns up in a normal brown envelope with a second class stamp on it, it's equally fair to be pissed off that the seller has decided to send it as cheaply as possible and keep the difference. It's simply not how eBay is supposed to work.

Original poster
pickledparsnip · 10/08/2013 16:20

Yes thank you picnic, that is how I see it too.

OP posts:
Vajazzler · 10/08/2013 16:21

I think yanbu. I don't mind paying higher postage costs if that is the actual cost of the postage. A mark up of more than 50p will get me requesting a partial refund and a mark down on the postage stars.

mindyourownbusiness · 10/08/2013 16:26

You wouldn't like me then !!!! I used to get introductory discounts from couriers by opening new accounts with different ones all over the place. When I ran out of couriers I went through my entire (non ebayers) family including DHs email addresses and details (with permission of course) to create a new account each time getting 20/25% off courier charges each time.

Did I pass this saving onto the buyer - err... No.

Morgause · 10/08/2013 16:36

It's difficult to judge if P&P is a rip off until you actually receive the parcel so it's not a very good argument to say you saw the P&P price before you bid.

If it cost £5 to send I'd be happy to pay 99p for packing.

This was a total rip off, report the seller to ebay.

Mintyy · 10/08/2013 16:52

Its this sort of nonsense that stops me from buying anything on ebay. I would never try and sell on there, but I would buy things if only I wasn't being taken for a ride by greedy sellers.

That email response is utterly ridiculous. Her attitude seems to be that you owe her a living and should be grateful for the chance to buy her second hand stuff.

DamnDeDoubtance · 10/08/2013 17:05

If you hadn't seen how much the postage actually cost I presume you would have been happy with your purchase?

Personally it wouldn't bother me if the £3 was in her pocket or Royal Mails, I just look at total cost.

lljkk · 10/08/2013 17:12

What was the sale price, Pickled?

MYOB: that is so clever!! I may look into that for the Xmas rush.

CatsWearingTutus · 10/08/2013 17:18

I will never understand why people care if their money goes to the post office or to an individual. Bid the total amount you're willing to pay and leave it at that. No need to even check the postage actually paid against the invoice amount. And no need to help ebay enforce their own greedy policies, either. The seller does sound like she needs the money more than you, ebay, or the post office. Let it go.

PeriodMath · 10/08/2013 17:55

What's the point of this thread if you already know how you feel about it? You're clearly not looking for opinions, just validation for your own.

EachAndEveryHighway · 10/08/2013 18:43

To be fair to the OP this is not posted in AIBU, so comments like that are a bit harsh PeriodMath. The OP is just making a comment about Ebay postage.

FWIW I totally agree with her - sellers like this are being greedy. If they object so much to Ebay fees, why use it?? Why don't they just sell their stuff through the local paper or Facebook? Oh yes, that's right, they prefer Ebay because their stuff is then marketed to a wider audience. So pay the fees then and stop trying to rip off the buyer with the postage!!