Bit disappointed with eBay purchase & postage

[Hrrrm]

I bought a bag on eBay (only bidder). It had previously been listed but didn't sell, so I asked the seller if they'd be willing to accept a lower offer. They weren't, and I really wanted the bag (had been looking for ages), so fair enough, I was willing to pay the price.

Bag arrived in good time, but the piping has split in one place (ca. 2cm), and it is quite dirty in the creases. The bottom was also slightly muddy.

I thought it would come with a detachable shoulder strap as it has the rings in the sides and the fake versions all do but it didn't. This wasn't shown or mentioned in the listing though, so my fault.

The postage was £7, but actually cost under £3, and bag arrived wrapped in a black bin bag, nothing else. I know postage is meant to include materials, travel cost etc, but over £4 for this?

Is there anything I can do? I'm a bit disappointed as u was really looking forward to having this bag. saddo

how did the actual condition of the bag compare to the description? Were there photos? You can start a "not as described" thingy if the description was not good. You could contact the seller. As a seller I might do a full refund if you returned the item.

Regarding the shoulder strap, yes your fault.

Postage was excessive, I use recycled wrapping and only charge the actual postage, no more. At the very least you can leave low stars for this.

Postage cost is just for packaging and the posting cost. They aren't allowed to charge for travel time of costs. So you could query that and ask for a slight refund.

If you are unhappy with condition I would ask to return for full refund if it's not as described.

no postage is most certainly not meant to cover travel costs, or fees or anything else. And the item should have been as described. I would contact the seller and ask them how they want to resolve the issue.

If you are really not happy with the bag open a item not as described case. You will then have to return to the seller sent by recorded delivery to prove it's been received to get a full refund but you will not get the postage back to return as that's paid for by the buyer .

Or if you want to keep the bag leave the appropriate feedback and at the same time you can leave star ratings called Dsr for the seller for what you think of their delivery time postage and packing ect

signed for delivery doesn't always guarantee a signature though - My Hermes is cheaper at £3 for a return with full tracking.

I'd like to keep the bag as it is generally ok (just not as perfect as I thought). There was only one photo of the bag from the front, and not a very detailed one.

Is it ok to ask for a partial postage refund? I thought it would look a bit cheeky as I had previously asked the seller about making a lower offer, so it might appear as if I was making stuff up to make the bag cheaper. (Which I'm not, the postage was shown on the Royal Mail sticker)

yes of course it is ok to ask for a postage refund. You trusted them to be accurate - you didn't know the weight of the bag or the quality of the packaging it would be wrapped in.

Yes - ask for a postage refund before you leave feedback. Quote ebay's sellers' policy, which clearly states you may only charge actual postage costs.

Ebay will have 70p of that £7 you paid for P+P, so I suggest you ask for no more than £3 refund on postage. Multiple versions of the seller's policy guidelines say contradictory things about what postage charges should be like, so I suggest don't quote anything.

If you are unhappy with the bag then I would just return it for full refund. This saves a lot of bother. What was the sale price?

I think it's okay to ask for postage back, but you knew the price before you brought the item. I know other will disagree with me but sometimes postage is hard to gage and sometimes it will just tip into the higher cost bracket or vice versa.

but it didn't cost that amount when the seller went to post it did it - that is the whole point.

Which why I said it was okay to ask to for the money re over charge on postage. But I do think that sellers get a raw deal sometimes. If the package tips into a more expensive category then they don't get to ask for more.

That's true. But I never send things in bin bags when I sell. I know it's cheap, but it's just not nice. And it's quite a big jump from 2.80 to 7.00! I usually weigh items on my kitchen scales and then calculate postage on Royal Mail website.

Hmm. The seller has offered full refund if I return the bag. Not willing to offer partial postage refund as I agreed to the cost when I bought the bag, apparently.

But - I want to keep it, plus I've already cleaned it.

Is there anything I can do or do I just have to suck it up? As they offered a refund, would it be unreasonable of me to leave neutral or negative feedback? I'm quite annoyed actually.

yes leave a neg if you want to - it is your opinion of the transaction. I negged a seller for just about the same thing - and oddly enough it has been removed - so it may not hang around. Even more galling!

Oh no, that's really annoying. This seller has lots of positive feedback (no neg), so I'm really surprised at their attitude.

I would leave negative and low seller postage ratings. She is being unreasonable in not refunding you part of the excessive postage and just sounds greedy. For postage of that amount you would expect it to be beautifully wrapped in tissues and well padded out - not a measly bin liner.

How much was the bag? Have you suggested how much of a refund you wanted or was it just a straight no?

I suggested a specific amount. The bag was under £30 (£50 new).

Seller hasn't got any negative feedback.

I think you're being cheeky. You knew the price of the postage when you bought it and agreed to pay it. They have offered you a full refund for the item, but no, you want to keep the bag. If they haven't got any negative feedback, it would generally indicate that the person is not trying to rip customers off on a regular basis.

Yes, I'm a seller on Ebay (no, I didn't sell this bag) and I do think sellers get a very hard time. Ebay now charge 10 per cent on postage charged, so you actually paid £6.30 postage to the seller and 70p to Ebay for postage.

I can't abide sellers who rip people off on postage. If it's a genuine 'slipped into the wrong bracket' then they should offer a parial refund off their own bat. As regards condition, you're never going to get the money back properly because you won't get the return postage back, so just keep it, leave neutral feedback and hammer her star ratings.

and if the seller had charged a more reasonable £3-4 postage they would have only paid 30-40p fees on that. The argument that you knew what is was when you bid is rubbish - you don't know the quality of the packaging, the weight of the item or the method which will be used. You trust the seller not to con you out of money.

Yes, I thought a bag is going to be more heavy than e.g. a shirt or jewellery, plus it might be an awkward shape. This one was folded and squashed, and cost less than half of the expected cost.

I wouldn't want to lose money on postage myself, but as a buyer I shouldn't have to make up for the potential fact that this happened to the seller in the past.