More compulsory free postage

whispony

I had a postcard through my door from royal mail stating that I had to pay £1.95 as the sender did not put sufficient postage on the parcel. Went to pick it up this morning and there was just a 90pence stamp attached by sellotape to it. They charged me £1.99 postage so I have emailed them requesting my £1.95 back but also commented that since they only put on 90 pence on the parcel I should technically get an extra £1 as well.

I am a seller as well and I generally buy padded envelopes to send stuff in but still charge just the postage. The parcel I picked up was wrapped in a plastic bag so cant see that they could even claim packaging for it.

jaydeeuk1

emweaver wrote: »

I assume your a buyer only?

Nope, mainly a seller (PC's). Was a powerseller before I took a 6 month break to put fingers in to several other pies.

emweaver

I offered free postage on an item to see if I got more interest, it sold for £21, postage was about £7 standard parcels so got about £13 and it cost me £30. Other sellers sell it for £35 + postage! Learnt my lesson there

debtsolvie

Hi, just wondering if baby clothes fall under category "clothes, shoes & accessories". sounds daft i know but i just checked and it comes up with boys/girls clothing from 2years onwards. was planning to list bundles of baby clothes from 0-12months but i now think it wont be worth it if i have to offer free postage. anyone know if this would fall in a different category

vet8

Free postage is fine for little light items, but I notice in this list that computing books and manuals have to have free postage. Most computer manuals are HUGE and very heavy, it would cost several pounds to post them. This just means that you have to selll them for a higher price and will buyers pay that?

I personally think these moans about high postage prices are nonsense. Anyone with any brains can avoid those who charge rip-off postal prices and buy the same item from someone who charges a reasonable fee.

soolin

vet8 wrote: »

Free postage is fine for little light items, but I notice in this list that computing books and manuals have to have free postage. Most computer manuals are HUGE and very heavy, it would cost several pounds to post them. This just means that you have to selll them for a higher price and will buyers pay that?

.

I understand the argument for and against free postage but suggesting it makes it too expensive for buyers is nonsense surely?

What's the difference from a buyers point of view between buying a computer book for £2 and have to pay £4.41 to have it sent as a standard parcel or paying £6.41 for the book If the total costs are too high then buyers can't afford it full stop.

If you don't want to use ebay for books then try Amazon but you are limited there to a postal credit of £2.24 after fees.

emweaver

debtsolvie wrote: »

Hi, just wondering if baby clothes fall under category "clothes, shoes & accessories". sounds daft i know but i just checked and it comes up with boys/girls clothing from 2years onwards. was planning to list bundles of baby clothes from 0-12months but i now think it wont be worth it if i have to offer free postage. anyone know if this would fall in a different category

No baby clothes doesnt come under clothes, comes under baby

soolin

Why is everyone fussing over clothes? Free postage does not apply to clothes....

Clothes, Shoes & Accessories:
Women’s accessories
Men’s accessories
Boys’ accessories
Girls’ accessories
Clothing & Shoe care

http://pages.ebay.co.uk/sell/april2009/pandp.html

debtsolvie

emweaver wrote: »

No baby clothes doesnt come under clothes, comes under baby

thanks, thats a relief. one more quetion, whats the cheapest way to pack clothes bundles, i normaly use bubble wrap and brown paper for most of my listings but this is because most are fragile. and also clothes would make a large parcel so would consume more packaging material

StaffsSW

vet8 wrote: »

Free postage is fine for little light items, but I notice in this list that computing books and manuals have to have free postage. Most computer manuals are HUGE and very heavy, it would cost several pounds to post them. This just means that you have to selll them for a higher price and will buyers pay that?

The majority of the items I sell with free postage are around 1kg to 2kg, and sell at around £10 to £25 per unit, and I send by standard first class mail, yet still make a 200% margin after all costs. It's not what I'm selling, but how I'm selling it.

I personally think these moans about high postage prices are nonsense. Anyone with any brains can avoid those who charge rip-off postal prices and buy the same item from someone who charges a reasonable fee.

The many threads on MSE don't lie - people do get upset over excessive P&P, despite having the charges clearly laid out at the point they place their bid. Rightly or wrongly, these people are happy to spread the word that "ebay is a rip off" and that benefits nobody.

If every seller in the same category has to offer inclusive/free postage, then everyone is in the same situation - no advanatge nor disadvantage over anyone else in the category.