Official ruling on p+p for a book?

cyberbob

There was a post on the eBay community boards that some sellers who are fed up with people trying to get round rules are now buying off sellers who put courier and if they don't use one neg and report them. They are targetting all those who are trying to get around the rules as they don't think eBay are doing enough

kivsy

Just out of interest, at the risk of sounding a bit stupid, does anyone know the reason for this change? I always list my books after reading them, was happy doing so,then all of a sudden I cant charge postage on them, think games and dvds might be the same?? Is this so that you build postage into your starting price and therefore have to pay for the listing with it being over 99p??? I cant think of any other reason? If I'm right, thats a bit naughty!!!!!! :mad:

Zazen999

kivsy wrote: »

Just out of interest, at the risk of sounding a bit stupid, does anyone know the reason for this change? I always list my books after reading them, was happy doing so,then all of a sudden I cant charge postage on them, think games and dvds might be the same?? Is this so that you build postage into your starting price and therefore have to pay for the listing with it being over 99p??? I cant think of any other reason? If I'm right, thats a bit naughty!!!!!! :mad:

That's exactly the problem.

On my higher priced books, I always put 'price includes the £5.50 postage' [or whatever it will be] - so that buyers can see I've calculated the cost and the price reflects that. Otherwise, you may as well give the books to a charity shop as it really isn't worth ebaying them.

phizzimum

I don't think the higher starting prices will put buyers off. After all, everyone's prices will have to go up. I always search for the lowest total price including p and p - so as a buyer it wont make any difference. I agree it will make it more expensive to list, but I guess that's why ebay made the change.

The thing that will put me off as a buyer, is worrying about how much the postage charges will be if sellers insist on adding them after an item has been won. I'm glad that I was within my rights to refuse to complete the transaction.

milliemonster

TurkishDelight wrote: »

That's for couriers- ie, not Royal Mail. If you don't use a courier, but put a charge for one you can face all the above- negs, reporting etc.

Ah, thanks for that, he does use a courier as the books are a volume of 5 so v heavy anyway and cheaper to send by courier (he has recently used couriers for some other stuff he is selling that is v heavy)

soolin

milliemonster wrote: »

Do you know I am glad this has been asked, my oh has put some books on yesterday for a friend of my dad's who was going to throw them out, I told my oh that I thought P&P had to be free on ebay now for books, he's new to selling so when he listed the items he showed me the listing page and it did state that other couriers can be used and charged for which is the option he has selected?, can anyone explain what's going on????

I'm notoriuosly bad at links so this probably won't work but here is my post from the weekend:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.html?p=26893181

In fact there are now several threads running on a similar topic so it looks like book sellers who do misuse the system, even innocently may end up with all sorts of problems.

I listed a set of books on my private account yesterday for which a courier really is needed as they come to over 3kg. I was so nervous that someone might report me for thinking I was breaking the rules that I have gone quite overboard explaining about the courier options and how much they will be and how couriers work!

Ames

So am I right in thinking that if I buy a book and they try to add on postage I can insist that they accept the amount I bid and no more? I've been a bit wary of buying books on ebay since the new rule came in. I'm also being cheeky and thinking that until stubborn sellers change their ways there could be some bargains to be had.

soolin

Ames wrote: »

So am I right in thinking that if I buy a book and they try to add on postage I can insist that they accept the amount I bid and no more? I've been a bit wary of buying books on ebay since the new rule came in. I'm also being cheeky and thinking that until stubborn sellers change their ways there could be some bargains to be had.

Yep, you pay what you see.

The only exception appears to be that some books can legitimately be sold in categories other than books (I have no idea why!) so for instance if you look at I think it is Warhammer they have a book section under toys and postage can be added. However that will show clearly in the auction listing and p and p will be shown in the correct box.

EDIT I don't think it was Warhammer actually, I can't find the thread where I saw the link.

DaveAshton

soolin wrote: »

Yep, you pay what you see.

The only exception appears to be that some books can legitimately be sold in categories other than books (I have no idea why!) so for instance if you look at I think it is Warhammer they have a book section under toys and postage can be added. However that will show clearly in the auction listing and p and p will be shown in the correct box.

EDIT I don't think it was Warhammer actually, I can't find the thread where I saw the link.

Might be Warhammer, it's got rule books and stuff which are essential to the game. I'm guessing computer game guide-books are the same, and have their own bit in Video Games, if you dig down through the sub-categories...

Ames

Can I just check, if it says free p&p in the payment postage methods bit, but in the body of the listing says it will automatically be sent Special Delivery for £x, do I have to pay for SD or can I just pay the end price?

This new thing's so confusing...