Ebay - sellers charged me for `extras`

dazza.mk

stevew8975 wrote: »

This weekend I'm going to be revising my listings, changing keywords etc, but also dumping the "free postage" that I have offered for a long time.

I'm planning on increasing the BIN element of the price, but purposely put a P&P a few pence less than the actual postage cost, and making sure that all prices are displayed on the postage labels!!

I've been watching a few other sellers in various categories do this, and it seems to be working quite well - more buyers seem to be P&P savvy, and there are LOADS of threads about it on various forums.

Rather than ask "would a buyer pay £6+£3 for an item", ask ifthey buy it for £8.50 +£1...? From what I have seen with other sellers, the answer seems to to be yes.

This obviously pleases eBay as they receive more in FVF revenue, but ultimately ends up making things more expensive on eBay. The cynic in my suggests that this is the reason that eBay have put so much emphasis and education to buyers on P&P prices... It seems to have worked very well, and is a great business tactic.

You mean eBay's policies are there to protect/increase their revenue rather than the buyer...... :eek:

:rotfl: :rotfl:

Agree 100%, its strange the number of people who post seem to think that the policies are there to look after the buyer, whereas they always come secondary to eBay themselves.

Lisey_Loo

Thank you so much everyone for your replies and advice.

martindow wrote: »

Sending CDs in pairs probably is cheapest as they can go at large letter rates rather than a packet. You mentioned asking for a discount. Did you negotiate a figure for this?

No, I just thought he would be fair with me. I`d already asked if I could pay for all the CD`s together that I was buying from him, as the auctions had a gap of a few days between ending. From his reply, it seems that he`s charged me for him having to wait for the 2nd auction to end.

My main concerns with both of my sellers is that I`ve paid for suitable packaging for the mascara, as the seller does say that she removes it from all packaging. I would have expected her to send it in a jiffy bag, not an ordinary envelope. The 2nd seller has charged me what seems to be a `waiting time` fee and has also told me that I should be grateful to get his cared for CD`s at such a great rate as he paid £8 -£12 for them brand new. He`s offered me a £1 refund on the P&P, but still says that he has to make some profit on P&P.


PS: Just had `sarky` email saying he`s refunded his £1 profit to me.

Don`t think I`ll bother selling or buying on ebay anymore, too much like hard work to get any honesty...

*Scottish*Lass*

I use Ebay as a seller & buyer. I have no doubt that in the past I have paid more for P&P than I needed too, I know I have sometimes over charged & sometimes undercharged for P&P by weighing things on my kitchen scales (!) and working out what the postage will be, but getting it wrong. I haven't done this on purpose to make money, I've made a genuine error.

At the end of the day I have always been happy with what I have bought, I have always left positive feedback & I have 100% positive feedback myself. I always include postage in what the final amount I am willing to pay for something is. Whether it comes in an envelope with a stamp, or a decorated box by DHL, someone somewhere has spent time & money on making sure an item gets to me as quickly and efficiently as possible.

What I pay for an envelope in the town that I live in, my auntie will pay double for on the island that she lives on. How am I to know what someone has paid for their brown paper or envelopes?

Equally how am I to know if someone lives next door to their local post office or, like me, 5 miles away, can't drive & therefor has to get the bus to the Post Office?

My opinion on this is like many of the quotes above, if you don't want to pay what someone is asking, don't bid.

Marty_J

Just a question that came to mind; if you purchased something with £1.50 P&P charges, and you got it and saw the postage actually cost £2, would you contact the seller to offer them the additional 50p?

Or would you tell yourself that £1.50 is what you had agreed to pay, so you didn't owe the seller anything?

ArmitageShanks

soolin wrote: »

And as I pointed out on that thread it is neither coommon nor acceptable to add more than a small amount to cover extras, and it is certainly not common or acceptable to admit to breaching ebay rules by covering all your fees in the p and p charge. Indeed it is a foolish seller who risks losing money in claims of loss en route, or risks their stars by charging silly amounts.

Ignoring the the rights and wrongs, It's very hard to do successfully anyway.

In a couple of areas we get slightly clever and manage to posts things as large letters rather than packets like our competitors, yet still charge the the small packet price (still obviously lower than anyone else). 78p postage cost, charge £1.95, everyone else is £2+. Unfair, immoral ? No. Just being creative. Worth noting as well it takes longer to pack the item in such away it will fit through the large letter slot.


Larger items it's easier, if you have a good deal with couriers you can use it to your advantage. Especially with the huge difference in courier prices available, it's not uncommon to set £10-20 p&P cost. Although perhaps we don't maximise what we could earn in this area as we only charge £6.80, plus a lot of our things require a lot of packing materials. On our other account we charge £8.80 however, same delivery service, but just make a play of it being next day delivery. Doesn't seem to affect our stars either 4.8 and 4.7. To make matters worse one competitor charges £10 delivery, yet is is on 4.7!!:mad:

Essentially making out that p&p covers significant extra costs is a no go, not because of it's lack of perceived fairness, but because it's fundamentally poor business practice and almost certainly will fail. But if you can be slightly creative and cute at your approach there's money to made, or costs/fees which can be covered- depending on how you look at it.

Lisey_Loo

Marty_J wrote: »

Just a question that came to mind; if you purchased something with £1.50 P&P charges, and you got it and saw the postage actually cost £2, would you contact the seller to offer them the additional 50p?

Or would you tell yourself that £1.50 is what you had agreed to pay, so you didn't owe the seller anything?

I have done that before actually, yes. The seller was so surprised at the offer that they said no.

I`ve also had times where I haven`t charged enough and have made a loss, but not asked the buyer to top up their payment to me.

My OP concerned the sellers using bigger P&P charges to make money, whilst sending my purchases in less than suitable packing.

Marty_J

Lisey_Loo wrote: »

I have done that before actually, yes. The seller was so surprised at the offer that they said no.

I`ve also had times where I haven`t charged enough and have made a loss, but not asked the buyer to top up their payment to me.

Don't those two practices rather contradict one another?

I guess you're just the generous sort.

My OP concerned the sellers using bigger P&P charges to make money, whilst sending my purchases in less than suitable packing.

I know. But these discussions always end the same way. Strangely the honesty and insistence about paying exact postage prices generally only works in one direction.