Postage - what's fair?

[Paddlechick666]

Okay not strictly ebay as i missed the end of the auction so bought item at starting price £5.50 via email.

postage was £3.20 as per the ebay listing.

arrived today and the postage was only £1.84.

i think that's a rip off. can't leave neutral feedback as outside of ebay transaction.

am i justified in being miffed?

was it in an evelope, box - its not just posatge its the packaging too, cellotape ect

I've just bought a bundle of girls clothes, and know the postage isn't going to cost the £10 I agreed to pay, but I agreed to it and just hope the packaging is good.

I don't mind paying when adequate packaing has been used as I know how costs mount up, it's when I pay a fiver for P&P, it cost them 92p in stamps and comes wrapped up in a bin liner that annoys me!

You'll have to wait till it comes and see with the packaging as the others have said.

You may not think it is fair, but you agreed to it, and have to put up with it

Postage will include the cost of packaging as well as the cost of postage.

Most sellers also include some extra for "their trouble" - a few pence I don't mind, but when it's a LOT more than it cost to post, then this is just the unscrupulous seller's way of bumping up their profit without paying Ebay their whack of the fee.
Unfortunately, as you bought outside of Ebay (which is also frowned on, btw), you won't be covered by Ebay's "fairplay" rules.

Put it down to experience, and next time, check the postage before entering into a contract to buy.

you agrred to postage when you bid,if it looks high question before bidding.

Also you don't know if they have to drive and pay to park to go to the post office and how much time they have spent buying the packaging. Finding cardboard and bubble wrap cheaply for large items is a nightmare!

Plus if you pay using paypal they don't get the full amount so out of the the £3.20 they probably only got £2.90 and I'd say a £1 for packaging materials and their time is not unreasonable.

thanks for the responses.

the item was in a size 3 jiffy bag with a bit of sellotape. altho it arrived in good condition.

point taken that i did agree to the postage but as it's kids shoes i thought £3.20 would be about right.

tried to do an 2nd chance offer thru ebay but as the item had no bids that wasn't allowed.

also fair point in terms of cost of packaging and possibly cost of getting to PO.

however, don't agree with adding cost onto postage to allow for the paypal comission thing. if sellers aren't prepared to absorb that then they shouldn't accept payment thru paypal. or they should price their item accordingly.

you live n learn tho. next pair i buy will either have to be boxed or have cheaper postage!

I was meaning the paypal commission only on the postage & packaging element. If you courier something for say £8.00 then you are losing a fair bit to commission so if you don't allow for it you end up paying some of the cost yourself!