contrast in 2 sellers!

[nickstmoritz]

My teenage DD bid on 2 items (she pays for them herself) a satchel bag and a cotton playsuit. P&P for bag was £6.50 P&P for playsuit was £5

Bag arrives and stamp is £3.20 so I contact and say is a P&P discount ok. Buyer says yes and refunds to make P&P actual cost. I give 5* feedback.

I contact other seller as they haven't marked as despatched yet and I paid last Fri, the item hasn't arrived yet. I use "other" to ask about the item so as not to open a case. Seller says they have posted 2nd class on Tues and it should be arriving soon. I reply that £5 seems high for 2nd class and would they consider P&P refund.

Here is reply -

"posting items is extremely costly. I also have to pay for myself to get to the post office.

I am not able to offer a refund on postage and packaging as your item was sent straight away under the delivery method listed. I would then be paying you for me to send the item and seeing as you won the item for such a reasonable price I think it's quite cheeky to even ask."

Bit different.
I do know that if you bid you should be happy with P&P. DD did not look carefully at P&P. I would have totally steered clear of this seller.

Just thought it would be interesting to share.
With the advent of defects for low DSRs it is not in a seller's interest to charge high P&P. This seller could have started item at higher price and included P&P. It is a small light item which are ideal for free P&P.

I shall await the arrival with interest (oh and I have blocked this seller too - don't want them buying any of my items!

Santa - the whole point of ebay is it is based on trust - as a buyer you trust the seller to be honest about the cost of posting. How are you meant to know the weight and size of a parcel until it arrives with you?? This nonsense of you knew the price and terms when you bid does not wash with me for one second, and with many other buyers who will ruin your stas if you have that attitude. Nearly £4 profit on postage is against the rules, and spirit, of ebay. And quite frankly it is just plain old fashioned greed and makes a buyer feel conned.

Santa, seller is a new seller so don't think she has had time to have patience tested. As for P&P you do have a point about accepting it but I also think sellers should be fair about P&P and as I said DD was a bit naiive and I was just asking politely on her behalf. This person then sent me several rude & aggressive messages even after I asked her not to send any more. I had paid in full for the item and left her feedback already. Sellers like that are bad for ebay.

Oh and also I have no problem whatsoever with normal P&P and would not ask for any refund on say £1-£2 over actual P&P. It was just on this occasion both these items were £3 or more over.

Most people would have a pretty good idea whether the P&P quoted was reasonable or not. There aren't hundreds of price brackets - if you are paying for 2nd Class it is either £1.17 for a large letter (very small item), £2.80 for a small parcel or £5.20 for a medium parcel (shoes, boots, bulkier items etc.)

£5 for a summer playsuit is clearly overcharging and yes, people should know that. Unless you wanted it posting in a shoebox.

Do you know how much it actually costs to sell on eBay nowadays? It is not generally the Buyer being conned.

And "This nonsense of you knew the price and terms when you bid does not wash with me for one second" is such a ridiculous thing to say! That is exactly how eBay works! If you aren't happy with the transaction then return the item & have a full refund (P&P is refunded too). You can't go making up your own terms as you go along AFTER bidding & paying.

OP, just chalk it up to experience & remind DD to check the P&P more closely next time.

I think you are being unfair. You are bidding on items which clearly state how much they are going to charge you for postage. It doesn't matter whether you think that is the right amount or not, you have agreed to pay it in advance so you should either not bid or pay up.

X-post there. I doubt very much whether your Seller was a new Seller - more likely an old Seller on a new account (which is perfectly OK as long as you link your accounts up).

Quite a lot of Sellers seem to do this if their feedback on one account gets trashed for some reason.

And yes, as I have agreed, it is wrong to overcharge on P&P and is not something I have ever done. If you can (not always possible I know), you might get a better experience buying from Top Rated Sellers - the hoops we have to jump through with regard to near perfect feedback, stars, turn around time, annual turnover etc. etc. means that we literally can't risk a negative feedback.

Let's agree to disagree I think. I know how much it costs to sell on ebay. I know how much it costs to send items. I paid for the item immediately as I always do. I am sure DD will be careful in future.

argh, sorry my reply was to PP not Santa.
Santa yes I know it is really hard to get Top Rated Seller. TBH seller should have done £10 with free P&P a good deal and her postage outlay was £1.17.

My original point is that 2 sellers dealt with the same issue so differently. First seller I would happily go back to, second...well what do you think? word bargepole comes to mind.

Santa - I have sold on ebay for over 10 years and am well aware of the costs thanks. I only charge p&p at cost - and have 100% feedback and v high star ratings.

And no, not everyone knows how much it will cost to send, or what method, or how heavy, or what size, dimensions, quality of packing used, etc....

But I would rather be honest and decent and not hide behind hectoring at people they knew the cost when they bid so shut up and don't dare query your greed.

I would want to block any buyer who demanded money afterwards for postage being charged as promised & contracted, and I would be grateful to another seller who gave me warning about that buyer's demands.

Well I didn't demand anything.