over priced postage and seller ignoring me

[wanttosinglikemarycoughlan]

I bought a bag
Arrived and it is fine
I was charged £5.85 postage which actually cost £2.80. I am fed up of over pricing on postage
I messaged seller saying I was over charged on postage and have been ignored
I haven't left feedback yet
Is there anything I can do?

There is nothing you can do. Overpricing the postage is a common scam. You need to check the postage before bidding, they can charge whatever they like. I was amazed when I realised this. I had been refunding people when I sold stuff if the postage was less than I had estimated. More fool me.

It is hard to know the postage costs until it arrives though

I think it makes you a decent seller orange

just neg and leave low stars - they are not allowed to profit on postage. The nonsense about checking before bidding - how is a buyer meant to know how much an item weighs and costs to send? And if you leave 1 star for p&p and anything else you want to like comms, then a seller CANNOT charge whatever they like and will lose their account if other buyers leave appropriate feedback.

As a seller I am very much on the side of the buyer here and have little time for those that say that providing the postage charge is stated then it doesn't matter that sellers make a profit as the buyer knows before they bid how much postage is going to cost.

I am no saint, but I am honest and EBay is quite clear that sellers should not make a profit on postage. Before I list I know exactly how much an item will cost to post and this is what I charge my buyers. I'd be well annoyed if as a buyer I was charged more than double what it cost and I'd be doing what mindyourown suggests.

EBay would be great if everyone was honest and obeyed the rules but sadly they aren't and if things like over-charging on postage are allowed to go on without comment the practice will continue.

As a seller though, my wish is that there was some way I could leave negative feedback for buyers who are slow to pay and generally take the p..s. If there is one I haven't found it yet!

I'd have prob give 2 pound refund for postage. If I've overestimated I send email and refund as soon as items sent.

Could they have thought it was going to go medium parcel size, and then when they got to the post office, it was charged at small parcel?

Also remember, Ebay kindly take 10% of the postage costs now, and they will have to pay Paypal fees, plus possibly packaging if it's new.

But having said all that, the seller should respond to you and if it was me, I would refund some of it.

Just to add: the 10% Ebay markup on postage is on the original postage they will not get the feees back for the refund amount (or at least I haven't found a way of doing this yet)

10% fees and 100% profit on postage are miles apart though aren't they. Overcharging by that amount is pure and simple greed. There is no excuse. A seller cannot charge extra in postage for fees.

I'd email again, giving them a deadline to refund some postage by, or you'll leave negative feedback.

you must have a rough idea of how big the item is and hence what it would cost to post. If you buy something with a big postage charge, that is really your lookout - you knew the deal before you bid.

I usually work out the postage cost before I sell and then charge at cost (Taking a hit). If it does work out cheaper I refund the buyer. I absorb the cost of packing and my time - but then I don't sell stuff very often.

that is not true - how can you blame the buyer for a seller being greedy? eBay operates on trust, and a buyer trusts a seller to not rip them off. And Special, if you want to charge for your time then you need to be a business - registered with HMRC and eBay. You can't charge for your time in p&p as a private seller. Nor can you charge for petrol, bus fees or any other spurious amounts.

This winds me up - I don't bid on anything where I think the postage is too high.

I was looking at strappy summer tops last week - £5.50 postage for something that will fit flat in an A4 envelope? no thank you.

And, no, I won't think of the sale as a whole price, (because someone will be along to say that) I'd rather they raised the starting price and charged the correct postage.

I agree totally Gemma. And it is easy to avoid a seller who charges a fiver to post a small clothing item - it isn't so easy with other items where you don't know the weight and size.

Rogan
It is best not to threaten neg feedback (frowned upon/not allowed by ebay) rather OP could say something like.."I noticed the actual P&P was X and I paid Y Would it be possible for you to refund me some of the excess postage please. I realise it is sometimes difficult to judge P&P before posting"

If you don't hear back from seller try a second message
" I am happy with the item but feel the P&P was a little high. I thought I would give you the chance to respond before I leave any feedback, kind regards etc"

If you don't hear back then leave feedback/stars as you feel appropriate. In this case if item ok then it would be lower stars for comms and postage cost but not a negative. I only leave a neg on very rare occasions and it would be for a terrible item plus poor service or rude comms.

oh btw if you do leave fb that mentions P&P being high and seller leaves any nasty fb for you as buyer then ebay will remove their comment (they cannot neg a buyer anyway but are not allowed to be rude that you queried high P&P)

I would expect a refund on a mark up of postage like that,I have been looking at some items for sale this am and noticed that charges for posting are just plain stupidity,£4.20 to post a thin top similar to one I posted out last week for £1.17p if folded correctly and packed correctly you can keep within the guidelines for large letter for items like this,same goes for shoes most charge £6.19 but I pack mine heel to toe and in a folded A4 plastic bag and never more than £2.80,or hermes for £2.98.so some sellers are really out of order imo.

Dh always offers free postage, and sets his start price/buy-it-now price accordingly. That way people can decide if the whole price is fair for the item they are considering, and choose whether to buy on that basis.

He is fair about the amount he builds in for postage and packing.

Yep I always roll postage into the overall price and then offer "free" postage - I charge a 30p mark up on postage (for packaging and petrol to deliver) and I got sick of the number of stingy buyers querying it.

playing Devils advocate. Apart from the 10% EBay take and the 10% paypal take I think you have to take on board the amount to park, the petrol costs etc to get to the post office and the cost of the jiffy bag etc.

But do agree £5.85 is excessive but you were happy to pay that amount when you bid on the item.

Personally I won't touch anything that does not have a reasonable P&p amount. Or I tend to like to find stuff in the area and ask if I can collect before I bid.

I don't necessarily rule an item out for having a big P&P cost - if it is something I want, and I feel that the total cost is still within what I am prepared to pay, then I bid/buy.

Although it is "P&P" most comments on here refer to postage only. I don't bother selling things like clothes any more as I kept losing money by the time I'd bought a padded bag and tissue paper.

I don't think buyers should have to pay for sellers parking and petrol.
It I'd P&P so I think it is fine to include new packaging but I don't believe they don't go to town for their own reasons.

Unless you are a business you cannot charge for parking, petrol, fees etc... P&P is just that - nothing more. Anything else is utter greed. There is no excuse.

It's "greed" to Charge for the cost of delivering the item?

What nonsense.

It's greed to pay 99p for an item and then quibble over an extra quid of p&p, in my view.