ebay excessive postage

dickiebird

Hello ebayers out there!

I would like some honest feedback here, and some advice on what I should do...here goes...

I won an item on Ebay and was a little shocked at the price of the postage. :eek: The seller had the item listed as recorded delivery at over £7. I took a trip to the post office and found out that what he was charging me was actually more than what special delivery would be! (£5.70 for items up to 1kg). A few days later the parcel arrived and it had been sent first class only - nearly £5 less that what I had paid him for! So, he had made an extra fiver out of me through the royal mail.

I am tempted to say that the parcel didnt arrive, as the seller hasn't sent it the way he stated, and it could easily have got lost in the post. Also, the Post office staff ask if it the item is over the value of £30 - which it is! And usually recommend recorded/special delivery for security/insurance.

Or, I am wondering to contact Ebay themselves. I have looked at the dispute section but cannot find a lot on people not sending the item as stated in their advert.

I am so annoyed as the items I sell on Ebay go at the correct price ( I weigh them on an electric scale).

What do you think??

Many thanks everyone!

black-saturn

I'm afraid the second you bid on that item you were agreeing to the postage costs. The seller could argue that it cost him that much just to get to the post office and then theres the packageing to think about.

I dont agree with it any more than you do but I'm afraid ebay wont enter into a despute about postage. You could try asking the seller why they charged so much for postage and then didnt spend it and ask for a refund of the price difference but they are not oblidged to give you one.

motorguy

dickiebird wrote:

Hello ebayers out there!

I would like some honest feedback here, and some advice on what I should do...here goes...

I won an item on Ebay and was a little shocked at the price of the postage. :eek: The seller had the item listed as recorded delivery at over £7. I took a trip to the post office and found out that what he was charging me was actually more than what special delivery would be! (£5.70 for items up to 1kg). A few days later the parcel arrived and it had been sent first class only - nearly £5 less that what I had paid him for! So, he had made an extra fiver out of me through the royal mail.

I am tempted to say that the parcel didnt arrive, as the seller hasn't sent it the way he stated, and it could easily have got lost in the post. Also, the Post office staff ask if it the item is over the value of £30 - which it is! And usually recommend recorded/special delivery for security/insurance.

Or, I am wondering to contact Ebay themselves. I have looked at the dispute section but cannot find a lot on people not sending the item as stated in their advert.

I am so annoyed as the items I sell on Ebay go at the correct price ( I weigh them on an electric scale).

What do you think??

Many thanks everyone!

Was it not clear in the listing how much postage was going to be?

zappahey

You knew the postage before you bid, so no grounds for complaint there, and the overall price may have matched what you would have paid elsewhere.

You're only real gripe is that, according to the listing, you paid for recorded and didn't get it, so he owes you 65p.

~cleo~

when buying something on ebay you should consider the whole price including postage then decide whether to bid or not

some people do exploit the system, for me as i live 5 mins drive from the PO and get free packaging only charge the actual cost of the postage but the charge you pay is a postage and packing charge

davery83

I think the poster probably knows that they agree the postage costs as soon as you make a bid, I think the thread is more about not sending it via the service they have been charged for?
If thats the case, I would ask the seller to reimburse the difference in postage from what they used and what was stated in the auction. For example if I won an item that weiged 800g and was charged £4 postage via Royal Mail First Class Recorded and yet they sent it by Second Class only, I would ask for at least £1.50 of that back (to make up for the recorded costing 60p and the difference in 1st & 2nd).

~cleo~

but the difference between first class and first class recorded is 68p

hjb123

I must admit that I have just sold something with an overstated postage amount. I stated in my listing that it would be £10 postage and it cost me around the £5 mark, but it was wrapped in two big jiffy bags which were almost £1 each then I live 10 minutes drive from the local post office and there is also my time. I didnt intend to overprice when I listed the item as I genuinely thought it was quite heavy and would need about that! I did upgrade and send it special delivery as it wasnt costing as much as I thought.

What I am trying to say is there are hidden costs involved in postage costs though I think the ones mentioned in the OP is quite a bit over.

zurox

My view would be that if you are happy with the item, it has arrived safely and you feel you got the right overall price then you should leave it at that. The seller will not send you any refund, so I wouldnt waste your time and energy.

miaxmia

I think like the others above that you know how much the postage is and what the overall cost of the item is before you put a bid on, if you are unhappy with the overall cost then don't bid. I would be miffed though if it wasn't sent recorded delivery if that's what you paid for - however, you may as well forget about it because ebay won't be interested and, if you leave negative feedback, you are likely to get it in return.

davery83

~cleo~ wrote:

but the difference between first class and first class recorded is 68p

Sorry, I didn't do any research on that, just knew recorded was 60p (ish). I still figure they are making £1.20 more out of you by offering a service then using a lower standard and cheaper service and pocketing the extra.