Buyer sent me stamps instead of money for postage!

Road_Hog

geri1965 wrote: »

You charged him for postage, he sent stamps.

Not unreasonable in my opinion.

No, he was charged for shipping costs, which include packaging and admin, not the amount of pennies written on the postage label.

Also, so what happens when the seller uses a courier, what good are stamps.

The accepted payments were listed in the auction and stamps certainly weren't one of them. It's down right bloody rude and not a way to do business, at the very, very least, the buyer should have asked if it was okay to pay by this way.

Flower08

Road_Hog wrote: »

No, he was charged for shipping costs, which include packaging and admin, not the amount of pennies written on the postage label.

Also, so what happens when the seller uses a courier, what good are stamps.

The accepted payments were listed in the auction and stamps certainly weren't one of them. It's down right bloody rude and not a way to do business, at the very, very least, the buyer should have asked if it was okay to pay by this way.

Completely agree, i would be so shocked if a buyer did this to me and i wouldnt accept it either. Its not just a case of postage, as many people seem to fail to realise its postage & PACKAGING. Wish more buyers would realise this sometimes!

danny69

What you could do, see how much the item will cost to send in postage costs. Then tell him that the item costs so and so in postage, but seen as the postage AND PACKING cost was stated as £3, you will require the difference between the two amounts to cover the PACKING cost! Ebay states that you can charge for postage and packing as a whole, and that buyers have to realise that it costs more than just the actual postage to send an item. Envelopes arent cheap, and the said item will have to be packed in a jiffy bag costing, what, 50p-£1? Stamps arent currency. You could otherwise tell the buyer that the cheque he sent does not equal the amount stated on the invoice, and that you wont be cashing the cheque and expect a new cheque to be sent out. Keep the stamps!

scbk

IMO just package and send the item as normal

A cheque for £1.11 takes the same amount of effort/time to cash as one for £3.99

Maybe next time put it down as postal order/paypal only and increase the starting price?

kimmoss88

Thanks for all your replies, but I didn't dare send them back or kick up a fuss, as I'm a small time seller and I don't want bad feedback. So I'm willing to let him walk all over me.

Somebody mentioned that for a smaller priced item they wouldn't mind. I think it's the other way round. I'm already p!!!!! off because it only ended for 99p, but then I spend half an hour packing it, 20 mins to the post office and back. For £1.04 (in a week or so when the cheque has cashed) and a 1st class stamp.

Whereas if this was an item that'd made a bit of money for me, I wouldn't mind half as much about someone sending the stamps.

ianpduk

I only allow Paypal - and recently had someone ask me if they could buy by cheque. My response = 'NO' however if a small amount I will accept stamps and have done so. I can use them easily! A cheque as you have now noticed costs money to bank (travel & in some cases Bank fees) and takes a week to clear (I have seen negative feedback on items not received within days when cheque needs clearing).

PAYPAL just seems to keep it neater and easier of course (fees yes but no travel to bank).

The whole selling experience on E-Bay is of course a learning curve and this should be put down to just that!

Brooker_Dave

Road_Hog wrote: »

I think you'll find that that is the buyer's way of telling you he thinks you're overcharging on the postage.

Plenty of people get stamps from work to pay for low value stuff.

OP, stick on the appropriate postage and keep the rest for future use.

I can't see what all the fuss is about...

warwickroadroad23

Maybe the guy did no have enough in his account and had a load of stamps lying around and thought they would come in useful (saving you a trip to the post office)?

warwickroadroad23

kimmoss88 wrote: »

Thanks for all your replies, but I didn't dare send them back or kick up a fuss, as I'm a small time seller and I don't want bad feedback. So I'm willing to let him walk all over me.

Somebody mentioned that for a smaller priced item they wouldn't mind. I think it's the other way round. I'm already p!!!!! off because it only ended for 99p, but then I spend half an hour packing it, 20 mins to the post office and back. For £1.04 (in a week or so when the cheque has cashed) and a 1st class stamp.

Whereas if this was an item that'd made a bit of money for me, I wouldn't mind half as much about someone sending the stamps.

ask the post office to print a postage sticker on you do not have to use stamps at all.

geri1965_2

Hade wrote: »

This would really annoy me. Many buyers fail to realise that P&P covers postage, packing materials and handling charges for taking the package to the post office. Usually, it comes to much, much more that the price of the stamps!

What "handling charges"? You can't charge people for your time.