Seller recovering fees through p&p?

[hoobypickypicky]

Is this me being petty or is this an unreasonable way to trade on ebay?

I've won three items from the same (private) seller. I asked in advance if she'd combine postage and she said yes, she charges full p&p for the first item and half p&p for subsequent ones. The full p&p is high - almost double the Royal Mail charge - and although she needs to add on something for packing fragile items she's still pushing her luck but I worked on the theory that if I could win at a good price it would be just about reasonable.

I did win at a good price. I've asked for a combined p&p figure and she's replied with this - what I want to know is whether she's taking the rise by expecting me to pay her ebay and Paypal fees and if so how I should respond.

"what i do normally is half the amount of the second item postage wiseand hope it covers the cost its har to know since they have put a charge on postage thats ebay and then paypal thank you for buying and dont hesitate to email me if youd prefer me to get it weighed add on packkaging and the 20percent that ebay and paypal will charge me thats ten percent each on postage"

TIA. :)

nope - not permitted. P&P is just that - not fees, petrol, time or anything else. She is having a laugh. You could leave 3 negs 8 days apart with low stars and seriously damage her account - not that I suggest you would, but her greed is pretty disgraceful.

Ebay do say to allow extra to cover the new fees they charge for postage when calculating your postage charges so actually I think it's fair enough. Otherwise you are charging the basic postage/packaging/petrol cost but some of that is taken away from you in fees so you end up out of pocket.

It's tricky but you will see how much she pays when the item arrives so then you can decide to rate her postage fees as reasonable or not.

Thank you both. I've just had a brainwave and asked her to send via MyHermes or similar, as that will keep the cost down significantly. If she's willing to do that rather than deliberately try to make a profit on p&p charges and charge me for the new fees I don't mind so much. :)

I have a feeling that she won't though, and will keep you posted.

My Hermes will be £4.20 then I guess.

I think Myhermes has a new £2.80 rate, but would have to be light & small. And won't include much in the way of insurance, either.

If you're happy with the price including delivery then I don't think OP has a moral right to demand bigger rebate on postage.
Ebay's guidance about what sellers can reasonably charge for p+p is actually very wooly. They really do want buyers to decide for themselves what they think is reasonable.

Why didn't you agree the price for P+P before bidding? Or just bid what you were willing to pay inc the p+p charges? When I see a high postage price I just adjust what im willing to bid accordingly...... You can't really argue about the cost after purchase IMO

OP - please ignore the you knew the price before you bid nonsense.

You trusted the seller to be reasonable and not greedy - this she has proved not to be hasn't she. Sellers who hike up the p&p price to get more profit are dishonest and grasping.

Keepcalmanddrinkwine - where exactly does eBay say that you can allow extra to cover the new fees they charge for postage when calculating your postage charges?

I can't find it anywhere... and certainly not in Selling Practicies Policy.

Do you remember years ago seller used to charge extra for paypal and then ebay banned it - some still do try and get away with it.

Oh yes - I had forgotten about that!

I would expect to be charged exactly what it cost the seller to send it. Mark them down on their stars if you think it's too much, or leave a neutral feedback.

Last time I sold was the first time I had done so since they introduced the fees and I got a comment explaining them and saying to bear them in mind when setting my prices. I wouldn't mark my prices higher but I would want to cover the actual postage and packing cost so probably would add another 20p or so to be sure. I would also include the cost of any packaging as I but padded envelopes for some items.

That is very different to adding lots on to profit from P&P.

I think the seller means the extra charged on the postage element.

i.e. if the Postage actually costs £3, and so they charge £3.50, they will be out of pocket.

10% FVF fee on Postage element is 35p
3.5% Paypal fees - 13p
Packaging, say 30p

Total cost to seller is £3.78

It is true that it is against Ebay policy to recoup your fees by charging additional postage, but you can charge enough to cover the actual postage plus the fees on the postage element. iyswim