Postage

[CoffeeAndCaramel]

Just a general question for the eBayers out there! I have recently started both selling and buying on eBay. I have noticed I usually pay around 3-4 pound for a standard small parcel but a couple of times I have noticed on the packaging they send it as a large letter and it's only £1.50. I know this sounds tight but surely that's a piss take they pocket the extra few quid?

It’s not just postage, it’s postage and packing,
So in includes the cost of the envelope/box, any bubble wrap or tissue paper, tape and printing of the label.
It can also cover costs related to time and transport to the post office.

So I’d always expect an actual P&P fee to be £1-2 more than the price charged by Royal Mail.

eBay give sellers an estimated set price for postage, so it’s part of their policy.

Not to mention the fact that both eBay and Paypal take a fair cut of your money now too. I dont bother much selling on eBay anymore for this particular reason.

In fairness, eBay will usually suggest a small parcel as postage when you list an item. if you want to change the option you have to go in and do that manually. A lot of sellers will just assume that it’s correct and not think about changing it.

I sell on ebay quite a bit and have been caught out a number of times when I get to the PO and find that it costs more to send then I thought....there are very few things I could send as a large letter! Also I now nearly always send signed for, as its such a pain when you don't have a proper record if it gets lost en route. It's nearly always about £4.20. I tend to save all the bags and packaging from stuff I buy and repurpose it for eBay. My stuff nearly always gets sent in a Boden or Amazon package!

Yup - occasionally I'll pack a parcel and realise it comes in under the 2.5cm limit for large letters, so yes I keep the extra.

On another day, I'll pack it and realise it creeps OVER a size limit, I can either spend half an hour repacking it, or pay an extra couple of quid. Or the courier prices will have increased since I listed the item. Or in some cases ebay won't actually allow me to charge the actual postage costs because they have a limit in place.