Ebay postage overcharge

scoopster123

I also forgot to mention cheaper listing fees. Everytime a seller lists an item it pays ebay a fee, irrespective if it is sold. They higher starting price the higher ebay fee!


Just look at the combined price and compare it to another whos advertises the correct buy it now price with competitve postage costs.

Regards

Trev

Katgrit

Now dont all shout at me, i'm just playing devils advocate here. And i think this is a legitimate point of view. Or i will do until someone points out a obvious valid reason why it isn't!!

What about someone who works Mon-Fri 9-6 and Sat mornings too, and simply cant make it to a post office in their lunch hour? If they have to take time off work, even be it just half an hour tagged onto their hour lunch, thats going to cost them. What about people who have to drive miles to a post office, surely they're entitled to add cost on for their time and effort?

I'm not saying either of these scenario's is applicable in this specific instance but i dont think its fair to assume that ALL ebay sellers do it just to save fees (and just to point out i'm NOT someone who sells on ebay!!). Honest sellers in this instance will feel forced to offer £5 partial refunds to sellers who only lost out by £1.50 as they dont want to loose their hard earned 100% rating. (PLEASE dont think this is a dig at anyone in particular, i really am just explaining a possible other side to the story).

scoopster123

Katgrit wrote: »

Now dont all shout at me, i'm just playing devils advocate here. And i think this is a legitimate point of view. Or i will do until someone points out a obvious valid reason why it isn't!!

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Exactly. The main thing to do is always look at the combined price.

What happens if you buy something and instead of a postage price int he postage section it states as per terms and conditions. When you come to pay the postage prices are ridiculas! - Dont pay, Contact ebay and have your bid retracted. Seller will not be able to hit you with a none payment strike or what ever the term is!

if you are unsure how to do this best to contact ebay live support or view their help files..

elf06

Kagrit - I think you are absoutly right! I am a single mum who doesnt have a car, works 3 days a week and lives a couple of miles from my nearest post office. I try to keep postage fair ( usually by weighing items and checking RM website) but sometimes I go ahead and put what I think rather than checking. If I overcharge someone by £1 then I think its fair as It costs me time wise etc but if I somehow overcharged by £5 then you are right I would morally feel obliged to refund.
The situation I was talking about in post 2 was a coat I bought for £1.95 believing it was a heavy winter coat (the description not very acurate either) so high postage costs would have been possible but when the coat arrived it was nowhere near as heavy as I had expected and thats what made me unhappy about the postage costs.
I do sell on ebay but would never try and get out of fees - I try to be one of the honest seller as I would like to think that the sellers I deal with are honest aswell (maybe I should take of the rose tinted specks now)

soolin

You can justify your postage all you want, however no one on here really matters. All that matters is what your buyers will put when they are asked to rate your postage in the star systems.

If they feel they have been overcharged and leave you anything less than a 5* you run real risks of failing to sell anything anyway. It is a foolish seller who doesn't understand the importance of their stars, for instance, the lower the stars the less visibility you get for your auciotns. So start to slip below an average of say 4.8 and you will be outsold consistently by other sellers who get a better viewing status than you. Fall lower, for instance get down to 4.4 and you actually run the risk of a temporary suspension.Also of course post office only pay out item cost and actual postage on losses, so sellers that overcharge on p and p lose out there as well.

Personally I do look at the overall costs when I buy but I use the stars to reflect the costs. I never mind paying stamp cost plus a bit extra for a good envlope and some packing. However, start to get funny, expecting me to pay bus fares and an hourly wage in your postage costs and I'll probably go as low as a 3* neutral.

Nopthing matters, no one here can say what is good and what is not, it is your buyers you need to keep sweet.

I also stick by my original thought that whilst there are some sellers that still get silly with their post (and I agree they tend to be the Far East sellers) I think we run a real risk of ebay forcing the whole site free p and p and I don't suppose any of us want that.

molerat

soolin wrote: »

I think we run a real risk of ebay forcing the whole site free p and p and I don't suppose any of us want that.

eBay are going to do it anyway because it will make them more fees money. They do not give a stuff about buyers or sellers, they are a neccessary inconvenience on the way to making profits.

soolin

molerat wrote: »

eBay are going to do it anyway because it will make them more fees money. They do not give a stuff about buyers or sellers, they are a neccessary inconvenience on the way to making profits.

We get half a dozen threads a week on the ebay board from buyers asking what to do as they have been overcharged on ebay for postage. If only a tiny percent of them complain to ebay I think it will give ebay the excuse they need to use the 'it is what buyers want' to force us into the free postage model.

Postage is very very emotive and I always suggest to new sellers that they tread carefully when setting their own costs and assume all buyers are going to be aggresive about being overcharged.

bb999

soolin wrote: »

If they feel they have been overcharged and leave you anything less than a 5* you run real risks of failing to sell anything anyway. It is a foolish seller who doesn't understand the importance of their stars, for instance, the lower the stars the less visibility you get for your auciotns. So start to slip below an average of say 4.8 and you will be outsold consistently by other sellers who get a better viewing status than you. Fall lower, for instance get down to 4.4 and you actually run the risk of a temporary suspension.Also of course post office only pay out item cost and actual postage on losses, so sellers that overcharge on p and p lose out there as well.

That's interesting.

I never give 5 stars for anything unless it is far beyond expectations.

The way I score is:
3 * Average
4* Just right, service as I would want.
5* Exceeds expectations
2* Below average
1* Terrible

So are you telling me that I should give 5 stars for a service I would expect?

stevenhp1987

Surely by postage and packaging it takes into account:

The postage
The packing
The travel to the post office
The time taken out of the persons schedule to deliver it
etc. etc.?

Maybe that's why? The seller may have a £3 bus ticket to the post office?