Seller charged double what they paid for postage - where do I go from here?

[picklesauce]

Hello,

I'm not that good at eBay so any help would be appreciated!

I bought some items from someone on eBay and asked them to combine shipping as I wanted more than one of their things. I won both auctions for £0.99 each

postage originally was £3.50 per item so I assumed it would be combined for both - I was then charged on the invoice £5 postage after id won, which I paid because I presumed they would be aware of what it would cost to send much more than I was as I didn't have the items to see...

I have just received the item and it cost £2.60 for them to send - I know it seems petty but the principle of it is just a bit of a piss take proportionally?

They also somehow have made it 'free p&p' on the feedback form when on the invoice it states £5.00 so I can't even leave negative feedback about the cost of postage which has annoyed me in itself because it makes it seem a bit calculated/cheeky.

I always refund the difference (bar 20p packaging costs) if I have charged too much postage when I send out, and would just pay it and get on with it had I chosen to bid on an item with the p&p stated even if I knew it was too high, it's more the way it's been done.

Is there anything I can do?

Apart from get a grip etc. I am hormonal and pregnant so perhaps being a bit ott here!

Thanks in advance!

I'm guessing each item was a bargain even at the original £4.49 or you wouldn't have bid.

The seller has made next to nothing after ebay have had their three monstrously large bites at the cherry .

I'd quit whinging and thank my lucky stars I'd got any reduction at all.

I think the OP is annoyed because they asked before they bid if the seller would combine the postage and they said yes. The OP assumed they would combine at nearer the price of one postage since the two items would go for the same postage price. This means the OP wasn't prepared to pay that much for the two.

I agree the fees on ebay are very high. That's why I choose not to sell much on ebay now.

I don't bid on items with rip off postage.

I also sell stuff and it takes time to pack some stuff, drive to po etc but I don't think it's on to charge more than 40p per item. I don't list for less than £1.99 then at least it's worth my time!

eBay should cap it at 50p.

That's exactly it closer and the fact I couldn't even leave feedback seemed odd. I also sell occasionally but haven't done so in ages and wanted to know what protocol was tbh. I am not against people charging more for postage as it's your own fault if you bid on it and see it costs that much, hence I have taken responsibility for not checking.

I have left feedback with positive and said everything was perfect but perhaps the 2.60 postage excess was a bit steep, which I think is reasonable.

I've also explained on this thread that I appreciate it was a good deal, haven't disputed that at all, and also that it was my fault for not checking what combined postage would be before bidding if I wasn't prepared to go along with what was suggested by buyer. I always refund etc if I charge too much etc so just assumed that was what people do, I also didn't know about postage being taxed by eBay either so will keep that in mind!

Thanks for the replies!

Yesterday I worked out that the seller's actual excess profit on this was about £1.75 (after all the fees). Assuming they actually deserve 99p per item otherwise.

I am still very intrigued how they showed a postage amount in listing but then changed it to inclusive so that OP couldn't rate the DSR (I think that's what happened?)

when you bid for an item, you have got to consider the cost as the bid plus the P&P. If it's more than you want to pay, don't bid.

If you want a combined postage, ask before you bid and consider the bid price plus the combined P&P. If it's more than you want to pay, don't bid.

Sometimes a seller will offer a decent reduction if you ask before bidding. Afterwards, you have no leverage.

lljkk I said up the thread that I think they might have sent the invoice with £0 postage and then added a sellers charge (where it says "seller discounts(-) or charges(+)") of £5. It's all I can think of.

Interestingly something similar hapenned to me recently when selling some low value items. I don't use eBay much and have no clue how much postage is so i put postgat the same as the lowest that other peoples same items were listed at. One person bought 2 things for a couple of quid. I sold about 8 or 9 or the same thing. When I was packaging everything up I noticed that I had 2 envelopes with the same address on. Both items had already been paid for with paypal without me getting the have to issue a request for payment. So I put both items in one Jiffy bag and went out to post everything. When I got back i noticed an email (direct to me but not in my eBay inbox - weird?) asking me to combine postage. So I have posted them together but they have already paid postage on both items?

Am worried I am going to have an irate buyer like OP now on my case so I have emailed them and said I will try and find out how to refund them one postage of still required (I don't know how to do this)

I think others are right, give the seller a break, a lot of this for on behind the scenes at eBay without the seller even being aware. I have done exactly the same to my buyer but through no concious decision of my own.

This seller had 1000+ feedback I would say they were aware! I'm not bothered if someone doesn't know what they're doing as it's an honest mistake anyway but this was definitely a conscious thing...!

As I previously said - it's fine, honestly. I was just a bit annoyed that a) I didn't think to check/that I should have to when asked to combine (my fault as previously said 100 times), and b) it seemed a bit off to charge double postage on principle, i didn't get on anyone's case, in fact I left positive feedback with a note about postage costs being quite high as they were.

Again, at the end of the day you put stuff on eBay you accept there may not be a market for it / the market might not be as strong as you like and you may get minimum bid regardless - it's happened to me a few times it's just the way it is, I'm not not giving someone a break - I just don't do the same and thought it was a bit off under the circumstances!

I have taken responsibility for not checking, given positive feedback and taken everything on board... It's fine.

piglet I will in future check the actual cost of combined postage prior to bidding, as I only checked that they would combine prior to placing a bid not the actual cost - I just didn't think to check it would be charged with as much excess if it was combined and also I don't know how I would have known it'd not cost that much as I didn't have the item - happy to suck it up as I should have checked!

lljkk Not sure how they did it on the invoice - does sound like they could have done what closer suggests!

Thanks everyone for suggestions / input!

I'm looking for a set of winter wheels. Some of them say "courier delivery £150" and some say "collection only." If it's 50 miles it's achievable; if it's 300 miles or more, out of the question. Sadly the bid price is only the start.