postage rant

[wanttosinglikemarycoughlan]

I need to take a break from ebay, I am sick of being stung by sellers making profit on postage
I bought some boots for my DD and the postage was £6.50
I couldn't decide if to bid or not because it seemed high but I thought boots may be heavy
It cost £2.80
The messages from the seller pissed me off even more, long winded and patronising
I am tempted to post them on here!
I think its time ebay rules allowed buyers to open a case for excessive postage charges
And don't' give me the old 'don't bid if you are not happy with the charge'
I am happy to pay for postage and until you get the parcel it is impossible to know the cost

[butterflybuttons]

please do neg and leave low stars - I do agree with you completely though. P&P is just that - not profit. Is just plain greed quite frankly.

[SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius]

When dh sells things on ebay, he always offers free postage and packing (unless it is a big item that is collection only) - he sets the starting price a bit higher to reflect this.

When I buy things on ebay, I look at the postage cost together with the cost of the item, and I only buy it if I feel it is still a bargain, when the postage costs are included. And to be honest, I don't ever check the packages when they arrive, to see how much the postage actually was - and this way I don't get wound up if the seller is making a bit extra on the packing. I'm sorry if you don't want to hear this - but it is the sensible approach to ebay - only bid if you think the total cost is a bargain/an amount you are happy to pay for the item. Or only bid on items where postage and packing are free.

But if you are unhappy, and think that the buyer is over-inflating the postage costs (which, to be fair, aren't that hard to estimate), then you could report them to ebay. Iirc, you don't pay fees on postage costs, so people use this as a, somewhat dishonest, way to avoid some fees and make a bit more money.

[butterflybuttons]

You do now pay fees on postage costs now.

And the total price including postage is such a cop out - you trust a seller to be honest about the cost. Making a huge profit on postage is against any morals or ethics isn't it?

[lljkk]

£3.20 is a "huge profit"?

[NannyLouise29]

I sold something the other day, eBay put a default postage charge of approximately £5 on it. I often quickly estimate postage costs but thought that if this is what is a usual charge for this item then ok. After it sold I sent my boyfriend to the Post Office to send it, and thought no more of it.

I then had a questioning email from the buyer questioning the postage as apparently it only cost £2.80 to post. I refunded her, and all was well, but I just wanted to put out there that I definitely wasn't out to make a "huge profit". These things happen, and I generally don't check the cost of postage of an item once it arrives to me. For all I know, the seller had to drive to the Post Office to post the item. If I wasn't happy with the postage charge I just wouldn't have bid.

[butterflybuttons]

a seller isn't allowed to charge for petrol, parking or any other costs if they aren't a business

And yes, charging more than double on postage certainly is a huge profit.

[SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius]

Butterflybuttons - I can promise you dh doesn't make a huge profit on P&P. And if you only bid what you think is a fair price, a price that you are happy to pay for the item, does it actually matter what proportion of the price you pay is the postage costs?

[Sherborne]

Surely the cost is p&p, so, postage (ie, the royal mail cost), and packing (ie the cost of the seller's materials and effort to package it and get it to the post office.

If you collect something in person, you avoid both the royal mail cost, and the effort of posting cost. You still pay the same price for the actual goods.

If someone charges £6 for p&p, and the royal mail charge is only 2.80, then the rest is what they're charging for their time to pack it and get it to the post office. Which seems fair.

[butterflybuttons]

no - private sellers are not allowed to charge for their time, petrol, effort, shoe leather or any other excuse - if they want to charge for that then they need to be registered with HMRC and eBay as a business.

[Sherborne]

Eh? Who's saying is not a business?
And if it's an individual, and they're declaring the income on their personal tax return, they don't need "register as a business" with hmrc.

[Sherborne]

*it's not (typo)