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.

Of course I already know how I feel about it Period, I was shocked and decided to share on Mumsnet. The whole point of a forum is that people post their thoughts & opinions, but I wasn't looking for my opinion to be swayed. I made it quite clear what my opinion was. Everyone is entitled to their own & I stand by mine.

I also wasn't asking if I was being unreasonable or not, not sure how that spilled over onto the eBay topic.

Thank you EachAndEvery

I think MN = AIBU nowadays.
I want to question whether the seller really profited from the postage, but depends what the sale price is.

Really lojkk? news to me! I keep well away from AIBU, not happy about it spilling over to the other topics!

Seller clearly is distressed/STR

Feedbackwise, say you're pleased with item but just leave a low rating for postage cost.

Previous post sent before finished and with typo I was correcting.

Was trying to say distressed/stressed.

Interesting. I've only ever asked for the postage difference back once and that was on three purchases sent in one package. Total p&p paid 9, cost to seller 3. I asked for 4 pounds back out of 6 to take into consideration the packaging but the seller refunded the 6 pounds which I thought was generous. In her defence I paid instantly so she didn't have a chance to send an amended invoice.

I wish all sellers were like this one!

Ebay now includes the postage costs when calculating fees - ie, it takes commission on the postage as well as the sale. I only found this out after listing a bunch of stuff at the price of the stamps, damn it My point being, ebay probably doesn't mind if sellers bump the p&p as it'll get more commission that way.

The email you received does sound like a really distressed person to me, Pickled. If you want to insist on getting a couple of quid back from them, go for it, but I rather your indignation at the seller's wording is misplaced.

No FVF on postage until 4 september, Garlic.

Oh! Phew :)

When I'm selling I always pop the items into a mailing bag with a couple of sheets of paper and weigh, then I charge what the postage will actually be. It is not difficult. When I'm buying I don't take issue if there is about a pound difference but if it is more than this I mark down on the stars when I do feedback and don't give very fulsome praise i.e. "nice jumper" instead of "nice jumper 5* in all respects, very pleased. "

I guess that works with clothes. With other stuff (type of stuff I tend to ship) need some padding to prevent damage en-route. Then there's the challenge of including that padding but still making it into the cheapest parcel size category. Why should include the hassle of keeping all sorts of types of packaging in my house, even if it is recycled, as part of my costs?

At the beginning, Ebay made it clear that sellers could charge whatever they thought reasonable for their time and costs (including petrol). They have slowly reworded the guidance to be less generous over the years which leads to these pointless debates. Not that I want to pay 10% on postage, but it will be a relief to see these debates largely go away.

I agree it's high. I've just bought a dress for £6 p&p and it'll arrive 2nd class. I think that's outrageous but I wanted the dress quite a lot. I'm very to myself about it though and wouldn't normally encourage Ebaying like that and wouldn't have bid on it as a rule, but as I say I wanted the item.

If you can see what it'll be from the outset what can you say?

ebay changed wording as actually charging for time makes it a taxable activity
no-one can charge for time unless a business whether ebay child minding dog walking or being a CEO, if you make a charge for your time you then have to log charge etc this is also why P&P should not include fuel, parking etc as there is a tax regime for them in reality ebay not interested but that is the law, if you charge for petrol or parking it makes your car a business vehicle and should then be insured as such

a business seller can charge for time, petrol parking etc a private seller can't

whether private or business you can charge for envelopes bubble wrap bags, boxes sellotape etc

I've just packed up & printed postage for a bunch of things, and thought of this thread ... because they're all going to cost more than I thought!

Now, would you see what postage I've paid and send me some more money? (In spite of having got very expensive, new, items for under a fiver plus postage!)

Thought not!

I am bloody giving up on ebay. Should have kept these things for later :(

I also think the seller sounds in a bad way, let it go.

As a seller I have lost money on postage before but I don't contact the buyer asking for the difference! It's swings and roundabouts really.