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Original poster

Any ebay experts please

16 replies

jenkel · 03/04/2006 15:34

I purchased two items from a seller on ebay, items were fine, took a while to come but not too much of a problem. But what was the problem is the postage charge they charged me. It cost £9 to post the items and they charged me £15, no packaging as both items were clearly in the original boxes sellotaped together. I also sell on ebay and generally only charge about £1 more than the actual postage cost for the packaging. But this seller charged £5 extra. I emailed them to query it, all very polite, because somebody left neg feedback on me once without giving me the chance to put it right. And I just got a curt email back saying I got them cheap and they lost money on them. Which, is true, I did get them cheap but think its wrong to make the postage so high, £5 over the actual postage cost. What do you others think.

OP posts:

oops · 03/04/2006 15:43

well, did they publish how much the p an p wiuld be?
if they did and were upfront about it, then it is a shame you missed it.
if they didn't and are now chrging more than was on the auction details, i would report them..
that's e bay for you, postage is the deal; breaker for me sometimes
sorry you got caught out

Original poster

jenkel · 03/04/2006 15:49

Yes, they did indicate how much postage would be. I guess some people are more truthfull and honest than others. I actually thought that it was in the ebay rules/guidelines that you should charge reasonable amount for postage, probably one of the reasons is that ebay looses out too. Guess I'm too honest for my own good.

OP posts:

BadHair · 03/04/2006 16:11

Sellers can charge what they like for postage, as long as they advertise the cost. They often use it as a means to screw more money out of you. Yes, it's a scam, but I'm afraid there's nothing you can do as they did state the postage costs upfront.

Last week I was charged £4 for postage on a dress that came wrapped in a bin bag with a 64p postage label on it.

expatinscotland · 03/04/2006 16:16

i've HAD it w/ebay. posted a recent, VERY disturbing thing that has happened to me.

Original poster

jenkel · 03/04/2006 16:16

Mmmm, I'll leave neutral, warning people about the postage costs, just looked and somebody has just left them negative about postage costs.

I feel guilty charging £1 extra on top of the postage but I always use new jiffy bags. And depending on the size of the item its not always £1.

OP posts:

JoolsToo · 03/04/2006 16:31

I always add on for postage to cover materials. Most people seem to do it but some really take the 'p' - I ALWAYS check postage costs before bidding on an item or add it to the total I'm prepared to pay.

expat - do you have alink?

expatinscotland · 03/04/2006 16:36

jt, let's just say it's easy to find me on ebay

expatinscotland · 03/04/2006 16:36

i don't think it's fair to leave someone neutral feedback b/c of postage costs if they were clearly stated.

Original poster

jenkel · 03/04/2006 16:45

I think its fair, not fair to leave negative, but neutral doesnt affect the rating at all. I did query the amount of postage before I bid on the item but I was just told it was very heavy, but not quite as heavy as I imagined it to be. The item was fine, just the service not the best. I think its a bit of a scam to charge a lot of postage and people need to be warned, thats the whole point of the feedback system. If I had known how much the person was making on the postage I would not have bid on the item. If they wanted to make more money on the item they should have put on a reserve or put the initial amount highter. But of course they wouldnt do that as they then have higher ebay charges.

OP posts:

expatinscotland · 03/04/2006 16:47

k, i see, jenkel. i thought the seller had clearly stated the postage costs and not been all vague about it.

i see where you are coming from.

sorry, i've just been ripped off by a buyer and by paypal - whom i've reported to a contact at the FSA like thousands of others, hence the lovely feature on them by 'watchdog' last week - and don't trust ebay at all now.

MrsWood · 03/04/2006 22:14

ebay doesn't charge sellers any fees on postage costs - so if they put say a DVD up for BUY IT NOW for a £1 and with £15 P&P - it's not gonna cost £15 to post but they avoid charges - they will only get charged on the £1 :) Lots of pro sellers do it. Unfortunately, nothing much you can do if you agree to pay that amount when purchasing... it wouldn't be fair to leave neg feedback but maybe you could drop them an e-mail (although doubt it would help)...

Squarer · 03/04/2006 22:48

Well, you can actually grass them up to Ebay as it is against stated Ebay policy to charge excessive postage, but I think you can only do this when the listing is active?

I know it's a bit galling Jenkel, but is it that excessive percentage wise though? And you must have considered the total cost before you bid and considered it reasonable?

I would not leave neutral or negative in such an instance as you knew the amount you would have to pay prior to bidding.

Skribble · 04/04/2006 00:58

And I felt guilty adding about 70p to cover trips to PO and paypal charges. I use mostly recycled packaging so felt a bit cheecky charging more than price printed on sticker.

Freckle · 04/04/2006 06:57

I once saw an item which I wanted listed at £10.99, with p&p of £1. I put it on my watch list but missed the end of the auction. The item was later relisted with a start price of £0.99, so I bid on it and won. What I didn't realise was that the seller, as well as decreasing the start price, had increased the p&p to £10! I emailed him about this and got a reply which basically said that he had to cover the costs of obtaining the item and that I was the worst buyer he had ever had to business with .

He had clearly increased the p&p to make up for the fact that he didn't think he was going to make much on the item, which is against ebay rules, so I reported him. Doubt that anything was done though.

Skribble · 04/04/2006 21:48

I just got a message about one of my items saying the postage was a bit much. I've just checked and I had postage at £75 instead of 75p . I thanked them for taking the time to let me know and put it right.

onlyjoking9329 · 04/04/2006 22:04

the other thing to watch with sellers doing cheap selling prices and high postage is that if you need to get a refund you won't get postage refunded so if item is 99p and postage a tenner, you will only be refunded 99p.

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