Postage overcharges

[Gingefringe]

I know that this has been done to death but I'm sick of people overcharging on postage which seems to be quite common at the moment.

I received a pair of shoes this morning where the postage had been quoted at £6.40 Recorded for but when they arrived they had been sent 2nd class at £2.80 - therefore an overcharge of £3.40. When I questioned the seller and politely asked for a partial refund and also why they had been advertised at Signed For rates I received a very off-hand response that I had a bargain with the shoes and that I should know that people make money on postage!

I will of course leave a neutral feedback and low stars but is there a way I can also report her to Ebay for misrepresenting the method of postage as she clearly gained by sending the cheapest way possible whilst stating that they would be sent recorded.

I'm fuming as I always refund buyers if I've miscalculated postage (without prompting) and think that this is an honest and considerate thing to do.

That's deliberate misrepresentation. I'd do a live chat thing with ebay and tell them about it, see what they suggest.

why not neg? Neutral seems too kind don't you think?

This is breaking the rules and eBay have a very dim view of this.
Contact customer service and report them.
You can also open a dispute, I think there may even be an option for postage overcharging.

It's a bigger issue than overcharging. You paid for recorded first class and the item was sent second class not recorded.

I reported someone today who had items at BIN for a couple of pounds with postage being in the tens of pounds. I at first thought they had put the price in postage and postage in price but they had well over 150 feedback so it wasn't a newbie not understanding the form format.

I reported them because it was blatant fee avoidance. I'm talking £40 postage for an item the size of, erm, a perfume bottle.

And you're right, overcharging postage fees seem commonplace on eBay these days. I refuse to buy something that has well beyond the expected p&p.

I don't understand how it's fee avoidance now though, since they charge. 10% final value on the whole item including postage

Laurie is right, fees cannot be avoided this way any longer, FVF is on item + P&P as a whole.

It is annoying and we had a huge debate on this not long ago. Some people think along the lines of "you knew how much it would cost before you bid etc" and I can see that but the point is if you pay £5 postage they should at least be sending 1st recorded not 2nd class letter stamp like some sellers do. Now that is just cheeky.

I think overcharging is really irritating and shouldn't be done. Same thing happened to me when seller sent item as a letter but had charged over £5
As a seller I charge actual postage and refund if I have over estimated. TBH why annoy buyers by high postage that can cause you bad fb or stars? I don't see the sense in that.
Politely request a P&P refund, if they refuse then you can leave appropriate feedback and stars. Oh and if they leave you critical fb on a pos about asking for postage refund ebay will remove it if you ask them.

it is fee avoidance if they pay less to list something at a lower start price and rack up the postage instead though isn't it

I now just do an all-in price as I got sick of buyers haggling over postage (I charge a small amount to cover packaging, and am always amazed at people who will bother to write for 25p or whatever to be refunded).

I thought the new rules now meant that FVF are charged on P&P, so it makes no difference to fees. A private seller can list 20 items for free so no impact to listing fee. I've probably missed something - I only sell a couple of items a month now.

So if it isn't fee avoidance, why put a brand new bottle of perfume for sale at £3 and charge £40 for postage. The mind boggles..

it is fee avoidance as far as listing fees are concerned - well it can be.

The seller charging £40 postage doesn't realise that fees now get charged on p&p probably - lots of sellers don't know.

I agree that the perfume person doesn't realise fvf are on total. Just odd. The fact that they listed a perfume for £3 would probably put me off and £40 postage then just screams bad seller so I would avoid. Perhaps they will send the perfume round in a cab!

It's touching that you're all so upset about the reduced profit margins of Ebay Corp.

Business sellers have a legit grievance about competitors who indulge in illicit fee avoidance.

I think people are upset at being ripped off - not worrying about ebay profits.

If not worried about profits, then why do posters bang on about fee avoidance? What does fee avoidance matter to a buyer?

I can't see how anyone but Ebay Corp could complain about possible rip off, either.

ebay is bullshit now tbh. I dont calculate postage. If youre not a business seller, idont see how anyone makes any money. How about if you dont like the charges, dont actually bid??

ive been charged a flat rate postage by figleaves for sending a pair of knickers, so its not just ebay sellers, but i knew this before buying.

I agree, I would be more annoyed that it was sent via a different post than described. I can't get worked up over a seller making a few pounds on the postage, if I don't like the total cost I don't buy. I don't buy items that cost £10 with £30 postage from abroad because if the item goes missing I'm never sure if you can only claim for the value of the item.

I get more cross when large companies charge a flat rate delivery charge e.g. £4.95 on something that could fit in a C4 envelope.

Like Jodie, I don't bid/buy unless I am happy with the total cost. However, quoting for one, more expensive, sort of postage and then using a cheaper one is deliberately fraudulent, IMO, and I would be leaving a negative feedback, and complaining to Ebay.

I'd be annoyed if I paid for signed for delivery and it came 2nd class post,does the seller not have the brains to realise that if the item went missing they would have to return the full payment as they had no proof of delivery,they may have proof of posting but that is a totally different thing altogether than proof of delivery.
Some sellers use e-bay's guidelines for postage costs instead of going to post office and picking up a leaflet with RM charges if you are going to do something at least do it properly.I would certainly be leaving neg feedback on this and mark down on stars for postage.