Rant about ebay..

Lifeisbutadream

Sorry just a little rant..

Got an email this morning with the following:

Hi
I was just wondering why is the postage so expensive. Is this so you do not have to pay ebay so much or are you going to refund what you save on postage.


Er, no I wont be refunding the postage! would they pay extra if it cost more?

Why do people just not bid if they do not like the price? this person has actually made a bid on the item ! hopefully she will not win it!

12bdebt3

I see a lot of power sellers charge 99p for something that costs £6 or £7 and they make the postage £4. In my opinion I'd rather see more of my money go to the power seller than eBay and PayPal, in return I get a cheaper product.

GregtheHammer

Remove their bid & then block them, might save you hassle in the long run

Lifeisbutadream

arrontdep wrote: »

I see a lot of power sellers charge 99p for something that costs £6 or £7 and they make the postage £4. In my opinion I'd rather see more of my money go to the power seller than eBay and PayPal, in return I get a cheaper product.

Well I am just a person selling my daughters barbie dolls - it is a doll and pushchair - the starting price is 99p and the postage is £5.50 - I figured it will cost around £4 to post, and I usually package in one of those plastic bags, which cost 65p. I dont feel the need to justify this to this stupid annoying woman though!

Is there any way that I can remove her bid? I cant be bothered with the hassle!

Lifeisbutadream

GregtheHammer wrote: »

Remove their bid & then block them, might save you hassle in the long run

How do I do that? I would rather not sell it at all than have someone start complaining about a few pence!

12bdebt3

http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/manage_bidders_ov.html

That should help.

Crowqueen

Lifeisbutadream wrote: »

Well I am just a person selling my daughters barbie dolls - it is a doll and pushchair - the starting price is 99p and the postage is £5.50 - I figured it will cost around £4 to post, and I usually package in one of those plastic bags, which cost 65p. I dont feel the need to justify this to this stupid annoying woman though!

Is there any way that I can remove her bid? I cant be bothered with the hassle!

That's still 85p overcharge. (£4.65 rather than £5.50). If you work out what it will really cost and charge accurately, no-one is going to complain when it actually arrives.

Seriously, buyers don't like overcharging and it will reflect badly in your feedback. I know it seems petty, but it's true.

No point in ranting and raving if you are the one who is doing something which they tend not to like.

Personally I pay eBay everything I owe and charge postage largely at stamp price so I don't like people fee-avoiding.

cyberbob

Lifeisbutadream wrote: »

Why do people just not bid if they do not like the price? this person has actually made a bid on the item ! hopefully she will not win it!

Your treading dangerous ground if you take that attutude. There are many reasons people will bid even if they think the postage is overpriced, They may be unable to get the item elsewhere for example. Also how is a buyer to know how much an item costs to post before they get it? They're not psychic.

Postage is a big issue for ebay buyers anyone who charges more than there cost price. Is risking low DSRs. A few 1s and 2s and your ebay account could be in danger of suspension. Also high postage prices put buyers off.

You can take the attitude that some sellers do that if people don't like the price they shouldn't bid. That's your call, but this is ebay and DSRs are important and can effect your positions in searches as well account suspension.

More fool the seller that takes that attitude, but overall better for me as my prices will be more competitive and I will get higher prices and more sale,

terra_ferma

you are lucky that someone has pointed this out to you BEFORE they purchased.
It's not this seller you need to worry about, is those who go ahead with the sale and either ask afterwards or simply give you neg/low stars.

You won't last long if you don't listen to the buyers, unfortunately on ebay you HAVE to justify yourself to buyers, it's not like a shop or car boot, where you charge as much as you please and customers can just walk out.

Crowqueen

If someone writes on their auction "If you don't like my terms, don't bid", then I just don't.

Not a good way to draw in customers.

piratefairy

I have to say I'd think it was a little expensive for the postage on that kind of item. In which case, if I was able to buy said item elsewhere with better postage costs I would, otherwise I'd have to go for the listing, and would maybe mark down on stars for p+P if it came and was wildly more than the paid cost.
But as a buyer, I would know the cost before I bid - I can't understand people who would bid and then ask.

I once saw a listing for an item with £30 postage, and thought it had been a typo, as £3 would have been plenty..I emailed prior to bidding to ask, and was told "no mistake, that's the price". I didn't bid.