Do you ever avoid tellig seller item is NOT in good condition because you are scared you will get negative feedback?

[BracingAir]

I got a boden skirt that stinks of smoking.

Im nervous to raise it with the seller. Previosely I waited till I recieved feedback. but they seem to be waiting till i do.

I once left negative feedback, and opened a tribunal thing after I bought a bundle of boys clothes- the seller sent 5 pairs of pyjama bottoms, but no tops, and a pair of poo stained pants (which went in the bin needless to say!!). I didn't ask for my money back, as the fewe good items were worth the money (i did get it cheap) but I wanted to make it clear to her that I wasn't impressed. Mind you, if you are the kind of person who can send pooey pants then you are not likely to be shamed easily!!

I bought something a while back and it was in such a grotty state i spent ages cleaning it up before letting DD play with it! but i was to soft to leave negative feedback as i knew the seller was waiting before she left my feedback
I really think sellers should have to leave feedback first as lots of them wait for their feedback from you so they can be negative back!! I left negative feedback for a buyer once as i had left loads of emails and even opened a dispute for non arrival of item and her feedback back for me was really bad even though i had paid immediately and waited 3 weeks!!! thats not fair on a decent buyer surely sorry rant over - a sore subject

I recently left neg feedback for the first time because I bought something, and the colour wasnt as described. When I raised it with the seller, she said simply that it was "sold as seen in the photo" (taken on a background in the colour it was supposed to be), and that the colour was as her supplier sold it to her and left it at that.

Since she seemed unwilling to do anything about it I left neg.

She left neg for me on the basis of poor communication I'm not tooo phased by it, but it is annoying because she fucked up - I didnt.

Sixofone - Nooooo! I hate it when people comment on that. £3 is not that excessive. Please keep consideration to the cost of travel etc. Yes it was only a piece of brown paper but it costs money and for all you know they may well have to get a bus to town. My PO is in the next town and I always include my bus fare in P&P (well unless im selling a lot at one time.) And people would be using petrol etc. I always say you know the P&P charge before you bid, if you're not happy don't buy. So no I wouldn't say anything to them and just be glad you got a good item.

As to feedback, always leave feedback honest as can be. maybe send them a msg first maybe asking for a partial refund (maybe a couple of pounds) towards dry cleaning? If they are not happy to or ignore then I wouldn't leave a neg, a neutral to say item was lovely etc but unfortunatly smells of smoke. Don't be rude or nasty just straight to the point. If you are left neutral/neg then reply explaining. Anyone who sees your feedback will probably look at theirs to see what you left and will see a mature comment. I would never judge anyone if the feedback was left in a mature, polite manner.
However, if someone leaves an immature, rude, nasty comment (esp in CAPITALS aarrgh!!) I think they obviously were guilty of selling something not as described.

£3 is not excesive either IMO. I bought a 2 piece baby outfit and the seller would not reduce the shipping and charged me £8.95!!!! I reported her to Ebay as it against their policy to inflate shipping costs for profit, but they did nothing about it. I still bought it but just factored it into the cost of the outfit which was considerably lower than retail anyway.

£8.95!!!! Now that would def put me right off, how can they justify that? I think £3 is just right for smaller clothing, anything between £5-£6 for jackets etc. And you can tell some people are overcharging a little with couriers for bigger things (prams etc) but I generally don't mind this as it's sometimes a pain in the ass to wait in all day!
Ebay are pants though, I reported someone for very obvious shill bidding (same person with no feedback/bids on other items won twice previously and it was on the third relist, first time they won they left great feedback lol!) and they did feck all about it at all.

Hmm well....I usually don't bid on items with excessive postage for what you're getting. If you want to roll in your bus fare into P&P cost, fine with me but I'll steer clear thanks. Don't see why I should have to pay this as a buyer, it's not my problem if you don't live near a post office surely, so why should I have to pay for it.

When I sell items, I only ever charge actual postage as I figure it is hard to demonstrate where the extra costs come in and reading some of the threads on here I feel justified in doing so. I feel that having to get a bus somewhere is my cost and shouldn't be my buyer's cost.

P&P costs should be just that. The stamp price plus Packaging materials (and ebay allows you to add a little for handling) I add 50p to cover packaging and handling and I reckon this just about covers it.
£1.50 over the stamp cost is just about the limit I'd expect as a buyer. I'd only complain if the packaging was insufficient or was nothing more than an old tescos plastic bag.

You can't start figuring in petrol, bus fares, parking, the chocolate bar you bought in the PO or the pint in the pub on the way home. If it does actually cost a lot to get to the PO then maybe ebay isn't the thing for you or you simply add these costs into the start price.
Why?
example - (I'll use books as an example because books are a major a seller) Average paperback costs 70p or 98p 1st class therefore P&P should be £1.20 - £1.50 - at the moment the majority are.
If a number of sellers think OK I have my petrol/parking etc so I'll charge £2.99. They may make some sales and more than likely people won't mention the high charge in the FB so they continue to be successful.
Sellers who only charge £1.50 (and only need to) notice that others are are charging double and getting away with it, so they start charging £2.99 themselves. Eventually you won't be able to find a book on ebay that doesn't have a high P&P and so buyers will simply stop looking/buying, which means that even if there are still a few genuine p&p chargers left, they will still lose out because of ebay's reputation for extortionate P&P.

If you pay by pay pal & the seller has paypal protection, then open a dispute.

First send an email explaining you are disappointed & ask for their thoughts. Usually people are horrified there is a complaint & will offer some compensation.

No I'm sorry, but if an item sells for say £2 with £1.50 REAL postage then why the hell should I pay for packaging and the bus there? Would you give something away or even worse pay out your own pocket for someone to buy an item. £3 for example is average on ebay for smaller items (clothing which I generally sell.) That is not much compared to what companies sell. As a buyer, you should have to pay all associated costs with a purchase, it should not be left for a seller as this is totally unreasonable. Don't get me wrong, I would never charge silly amount but I think adding £1.50 for my bus fare is not unfair and it's rather selfish to say it's not your problem etc, but good for you not bidding then .
Ebay is a very good way of selling things so I don't think that just because there is no local post office then people shouldn't use. People can generally see who is being excessive on top of this anyway, and I have successfully sold many, many items and everyone has always been happy
But as you say it is everyones own choice, if your not happy then you can chose not to bid, you can't really moan afterwards.

"As a buyer, you should have to pay all associated costs with a purchase, it should not be left for a seller as this is totally unreasonable."

Yes, a buyer should pay all the P&P costs but not extras such as bus fares/parking etc. These extras should be figured into the start price else the high P&P trends will increase and the knock-on effect would be unfavourable

Again though, I will reiterate that £3 for a small purchase is not excessive. Most companies charge equal or more often more. A higher start price is more likely to put a buyer off that a £3 p&p charge.

It's swings and roundabouts really - I've recently discovered that i sell more by lowering the P&P and raising the start price. I think more buyers are looking and comparing P&P prices now - buyers simply do not want to pay much for the postage.

Don't get me wrong, if it became the norm to charge double what I do now I'd be quids in, but in the long run the buyers would disappear from ebay and like you say, pay the same amount of P&P to other companies who sell new goods.

once bought a shirt for dd from ebay. When it arrived it was dirty!!! huge big grease stains even on top of the shoulders!!
I filed a negative feedback and they had a cheek to give me one too. even though i'd paid by paypal within minutes of auction ending.
Don't know if I'd do it again 'cause it doesn't seem worth it.
Quite liked my lovely 100% feedback. Alas it is now no more.

did you contact them first before leaving the feedback jezz?

It was one of my first Ebay purchases and I didn't contact the seller as I was unsure of what to do but I felt I was justified leaving neg feedback as the item was not as described.
I'm an old Ebay hag now and contact the seller if i'm unhappy about something or have a question.

I still don't get why some sellers think it is reasonable to expect buyers to pay their bus fares! I honestly don't. It is not at all selfish for me to say that it isn't my problem, it ISN'T my problem - am I a fecking charity!! Nope.

If you catch a bus into town, do you just go to the post office, or do you wander round the shops a bit, buy a paper, nip into Sainsbury's for a few bits while you're there....well exactly. It isn't a buyer's cost at all!! Likewise, if you are taking 3 items to the post office, I bet you are charging £1.50 x3 on your listings but only paying out £1.50 for the bus fare...am I right? Or have I misunderstood and do you give your buyers a refund if you are 'sharing' the bus journey out?

It is neither a postage cost nor a packaging cost - it is a seller's expense associated with your wish to flog stuff on Ebay and make a few bucks. Any company, including the big ones, will invariably take a hit against profit for excess delivery costs and write it off against tax. You are saying that because you (broad assumption) aren't paying tax on your Ebay earnings, you will profiteer as much as possible and will not accept responsibility for any cost whatsoever.

It is absolutely right and fair to expect buyers to pay full postage and packing, but if you're going to charge me £1.50 extra simply because you don't live near the post office, and that is not made clear in the listing, then I think that could be very deceptive. Do the sellers on here who build this charge in make it clear in the listing?

(I am not having a go btw at anyone specifically, purely a general rant, just interested).

Oh I'm sure it's not meant for anyone in particlar, not at all.......it's a wonder you bloody happily pay for anything on ebay!

Read back on the post lady, EXCEPT when there are quite a few items. I do not charge 3/4 times bus fares. And would you believe it but generally I go to the PO and the PO only as I generally have little money (hence the reason I will not pay out my own pocket to post any item). This does not need to be stated on the listing as generally my items are average with other ebay sellers (so again don't see why what I am doing is wrong). And tbh, the bus fare comes under the 'handling charge' ebay allow sellers to make. If you look here you will see ebays examples of 'excessive shipping costs' and also the handling charge rule. Nowhere near what I charge is classed as excessive.

What a bloody miserable lady to get so uptight about a couple of quid, who gives a toss about postage, you either pay the amount or you don't pay.

A jumper I bought arrived today, wrapped in a black bag and I paid £3.50 postage. It only cost £1.80 to post......maybe I'll ask for my money back or moan, or maybe I'll get a life and worry about the things that really matter in life

Ahhhh, feel better after my rant

from the link

The Matrix Reloaded DVD

BIN: £3.99

Domestic Postage UK £2.00 Royal Mail Second Class

Explanation: The seller is sending the item via Royal Mail First Class parcels and is charging actual postage prices plus a reasonable fee for packaging and handling.

What ebay consider a reasonable fee for packaging and handling certainly doesn't cover bus fares etc here.

I still stick by my reasons (the knock on effect)for disagreeing with adding bus fares/parking etc into the P&P, but honestly, I don't think there is any need to get nasty about it. The get-a-life re P&P moans is no different to reporting shill bidding is it?

i sold my ds2's sleeping bag recently, he used it maybe twice as he was prem and as it was a summer weight so by the time he was heavy enough for it, it was winter. so i just sold it, the buyer then left me neg feedback, saying not in perfect cond as i had washed it and he insisted it was covered in stains!! so i refunded him and when it arrived it had marks all over the fron and stunk of fried food/greasy stuff. i was not happy, i had 100% feedback until then.

and dont get me started on a chap who bidded, claimed it was his sister bidding on baby clothes and never sent any payment, then after i opened a dispute and didnt hear from him for a month i left neg feedback then he had the cheek to leave me neg feedback saying i was a fraud and not sent items.

i know its only 2 people left me neg feedback and i replied to them both but it still P**s you off when you try to do things right.

sorry, my rant over

Dh freqwuently bys things fo his business that aren't working off ebay- he doesn't leave negative feedback. The vast majority of people who sell to him can happily get negs, whilst DH needs the positives for hsi business. Occasionally someone emails him and says why ahven't you left me... and Dh will e-mail and say 'the unit wasnt working when we recieved it, we realise it can be postal damge and was repairable therefore have deicded not to pursure, but feel we cannot leave feedback in thsi case'- seems to sort it

Dee, dh puts the aqctual postage rates on his adverts and charges exactly what they are- he takes the padded envelopes into his start price- he still gets poor postage feedback! If a package costs £3.98 to post, and you charge £3.95, how can that be a cheek? yet he gets complaints......

peachy - maybe your dh could consider setting up a separate buying account so that he can leave appropriate feedback to warn others

Glad you feel better dee...really no need to be insulting though, was there? I didn't insult you but your comments were aimed directly at me.

Who gives a toss about postage? Almost everyone who buys anything anywhere. Who gives a toss about being ripped off by unscrupulous greedy sellers? Almost anyone who buys anything anywhere, oh yeah, so that probably makes, erm, most people.

As for worrying about more important things, sure, don't we all, but this is a thread about a specific topic. If I want to worry about world peace I'll go and do it somewhere else.

And, by the way, your postage charges are NOT average, they are MORE THAN AVERAGE.

Maybe you'll post your Ebay id so I can give your stuff a wide berth....

''Lady''.