Rant about ebay..

Strapped

suited-aces wrote: »

A) You don't actually need any qualifications to be an accountant, only to perform certain elements of the job. You do however need a sound knowledge of what you are talking about, which crowqueen has, from what I've read.
I'm with CIPFA, and I have colleagues who are CIPFA, ICAI, ICAS, AAT and ACCA. They are all equally competent.

That was a stupid and petty comment, from someone who is coming across as a stupid and petty person.

:rotfl::beer:

The intention was to make a comment with about as much bearing on the OP as Crowqueen's. But thanks anyway for the lecture. :beer:

fedupwiththeworry

So out of interest, should a seller charge the exact postage price and exclude any packing costs (even though it's postage AND packing), bubble wrap/box/envelope etc ?
I'm not trying to stir up any trouble but would really like to know. Also does packing time, fuel costs etc come into the postage costs or should that be added to the goods ?
I've been having a clear out and sold some delicate things recently which have involved very careful (and time consuming) packing, I've been 0.25 to 0.50p over on the p/p on occasion and being paranoid have been not displaying the cost on the label (via paypal). I've seen my p/p stars slip down a bit so buyers must be checking the cost and deciding 25>50p is too much extra even though they love the packing according to their comments.
Having said all that my despatch time stars have dropped a bit too, even though items are ALWAYS the day after payment is rec'd (if paid in the eve) or same day sometimes if paid early enough on the day.
Shame you can't leave the buyers star ratings for payment times lol

Crowqueen

Strapped wrote: »

:rotfl::beer:

The intention was to make a comment with about as much bearing on the OP as Crowqueen's. But thanks anyway for the lecture. :beer:

On the contrary, the comment was about as relevant to the discussion at hand as anything else was.

I get sick of people telling us all that since they don't mind postage overcharging, then no-one should. Plus the only person to suffer in the long run is the seller with feedback issues. If you get off your high horse and actually look at what buyers want, it's not to be screwed over on postage. A lot of sites are moving to inclusive delivery anyway - it's a race to the bottom, not to the top. So people who willfully ignore what their customers want will end up on the forums whining about being kicked off eBay, while we who don't overcharge, who actually listen to their customers, and pay what's due to eBay, don't get kicked off.

Most of the people complaining are sticking their heads in the sand about this and the people who end up paying their share of the fees are we people who do things by the rules. It's not fair, so why shouldn't we comment and/or get cross and exasperated about it?

Crowqueen

fedupwiththeworry wrote: »

So out of interest, should a seller charge the exact postage price and exclude any packing costs (even though it's postage AND packing), bubble wrap/box/envelope etc ?

That tends to be what is most attractive to buyers. Packaging materials aren't that expensive if bought from the right places, and buying in relative bulk means that you can get a better deal than buying individual jiffy bags.

fedupwiththeworry wrote: »

I'm not trying to stir up any trouble but would really like to know. Also does packing time, fuel costs etc come into the postage costs or should that be added to the goods ?

That tends to vary a lot between sellers and that is the sort of thing that will end up pricing you out of a very competitive market. Plus if you are a private seller then charging for your time is paying yourself a wage, which is technically speaking taxable income. It's better if you are not a business not to charge for these things, or to pay for them out of the item price. If I charged transport costs for items, I would add an extra £5 onto postage, which would mean that I was making everything I sold that bit more expensive than my competitors. If you want people to buy from you rather than anyone else, these costs really shouldn't be factored in at all, and if you are a business selling in bulk, they form most of your overheads, which are used to calculate the overall price your items are.

In short - no, it will make you look more expensive than your competitors.

fedupwiththeworry wrote: »

I've been having a clear out and sold some delicate things recently which have involved very careful (and time consuming) packing, I've been 0.25 to 0.50p over on the p/p on occasion and being paranoid have been not displaying the cost on the label (via paypal). I've seen my p/p stars slip down a bit so buyers must be checking the cost and deciding 25>50p is too much extra even though they love the packing according to their comments.

I think getting the balance is right. If selling anything nowadays, I only list things I know are going to get bids and go for more than 99p (otherwise it's not worth it and it goes to Oxfam or in the bin). I charge postage at stamp price, and buy cheap jiffy bags from Poundland for £1 for four or five. The worst thing you can do is sell something that is not economic to sell when you factor in time and effort plus packaging costs. Unfortunately you can do nothing without your buyers backing you up. If it's uneconomical to pack and post for the amount you are getting for it, then it's uneconomical to sell. You don't have an automatic right to charge what you want for something - it's more to do with how well you compete with other sellers and what service you can give your buyers.

fedupwiththeworry wrote: »

Having said all that my despatch time stars have dropped a bit too, even though items are ALWAYS the day after payment is rec'd (if paid in the eve) or same day sometimes if paid early enough on the day.
Shame you can't leave the buyers star ratings for payment times lol

Try messaging buyers just after you post the item. Say something like "Hello there, thank you for buying from me, just posted your item using XXX delivery service, please let me know if there are any delays or problems, thanks again, FedUp" [obviously take your time to compose a standard message that doesn't sound rushed like that one does] and not only will people know that you've posted their item and to expect it, but I also found an email like that improved my comms score too.

i_love_freestuff

i have been an ebay seller for years and sell vintage jewellery. as ebay and paypal advise i send everything recorded delivery and if its going abroad then send it internationally signed for (the prices the royal mail charge are outragous but thats another story).

i send all my items bubble wraped and then packed in a bubble lined envelope. these items are not free yet ebay now basically expect their sellers to send there items at a loss. i charge the minimum i can for p+p and still i am marked down for my p+p charges. i offer great discounts for multi wins as it s really the inital posting price that costs the most after that it is pennies. i am not yet on the danger list but what else can i do to keep myself of it?

i too would never question a seller about their p+p price i would just not bid

fedupwiththeworry

Crowqueen wrote: »

That tends to be what is most attractive to buyers. Packaging materials aren't that expensive if bought from the right places, and buying in relative bulk means that you can get a better deal than buying individual jiffy bags.



That tends to vary a lot between sellers and that is the sort of thing that will end up pricing you out of a very competitive market. Plus if you are a private seller then charging for your time is paying yourself a wage, which is technically speaking taxable income. It's better if you are not a business not to charge for these things, or to pay for them out of the item price. If I charged transport costs for items, I would add an extra £5 onto postage, which would mean that I was making everything I sold that bit more expensive than my competitors. If you want people to buy from you rather than anyone else, these costs really shouldn't be factored in at all, and if you are a business selling in bulk, they form most of your overheads, which are used to calculate the overall price your items are.

In short - no, it will make you look more expensive than your competitors.



I think getting the balance is right. If selling anything nowadays, I only list things I know are going to get bids and go for more than 99p (otherwise it's not worth it and it goes to Oxfam or in the bin). I charge postage at stamp price, and buy cheap jiffy bags from Poundland for £1 for four or five. The worst thing you can do is sell something that is not economic to sell when you factor in time and effort plus packaging costs. Unfortunately you can do nothing without your buyers backing you up. If it's uneconomical to pack and post for the amount you are getting for it, then it's uneconomical to sell. You don't have an automatic right to charge what you want for something - it's more to do with how well you compete with other sellers and what service you can give your buyers.



Try messaging buyers just after you post the item. Say something like "Hello there, thank you for buying from me, just posted your item using XXX delivery service, please let me know if there are any delays or problems, thanks again, FedUp" [obviously take your time to compose a standard message that doesn't sound rushed like that one does] and not only will people know that you've posted their item and to expect it, but I also found an email like that improved my comms score too.

Hi,
Many thanks for your comprehensive response, all makes sense.

I always message the buyers saying I've despatched yet comms is still only 4.91 or so.

fedupwiththeworry

i_love_freestuff wrote: »

i have been an ebay seller for years and sell vintage jewellery. as ebay and paypal advise i send everything recorded delivery and if its going abroad then send it internationally signed for (the prices the royal mail charge are outragous but thats another story).

i send all my items bubble wraped and then packed in a bubble lined envelope. these items are not free yet ebay now basically expect their sellers to send there items at a loss. i charge the minimum i can for p+p and still i am marked down for my p+p charges. i offer great discounts for multi wins as it s really the inital posting price that costs the most after that it is pennies. i am not yet on the danger list but what else can i do to keep myself of it?

i too would never question a seller about their p+p price i would just not bid

I too would not bid if I thought the p/p price too high, not worry afterwards.
That said I've had delicate items sent to me in a jiffy bag that have arrived crushed when there's been over £2.00 profit in the p/p charge so they could have packaged much better and still not out of pocket.
That's what annoys me, and the fact that a lovely item has been ruined.

gethro

Lifeisbutadream wrote: »

????

I have no idea what the actual postage will be until I post it.

I have not overcharged by anything - even if it is 85p, the fact that I will probably wrap it within something inside has not been taken into acount, and neither has the time taken taking it apart and packing it up.

I cannot imagine the buyer would be happy if the postage was 85p more and I asked them for that?

I don't give two hoots about my 'feedback'! I will bar this sad buyer now that I know how!

I had no idea there were people like this around! I would never dream of questioning someone price - if I felt it was too high for me, then I just wouldnt bid..

Get your hard hat on i agree with you,i check out several of the same items add up the postage and the cost of the item and most of the time go for the cheapest,if thats you selling it for .99p with £6 postage rather than the next seller selling it for 3.99 with £4 postage it's a saving to me of £1 ,ebay/paypal charge enouth and if you end up paying ebay less and making an extra 50p good.
If i look at an item and its for sale for .99p with postage of £19.99 thats what i call avoiding fees and i wouldn't bid on it.
I had one buyer ask me to send an item second class just in a plain envelope which would cost me something like 50p cheaper,i said no as it could get damaged and simply blocked him from bidding.

conradmum

Crowqueen wrote: »

Most of the people complaining are sticking their heads in the sand about this and the people who end up paying their share of the fees are we people who do things by the rules. It's not fair, so why shouldn't we comment and/or get cross and exasperated about it?

This is a misconception. The people who charge only for the postage aren't paying the share of fees of people who charge more. EBay doesn't have a committee deciding what's a 'fair' percentage to charge for listing and selling items. Like any good business, they charge whatever they think the market will bear; i.e. they charge the absolute maximum they think the majority of people will pay for the use of the site. If all the people who charge extra for postage stopped doing so tomorrow, eBay wouldn't reduce their fees, they would just cream off the extra profit.

The same lie is put about by supermarkets: that the cost of shoplifting is born by paying customers. BS. Supermarkets charge whatever they think they can get away with. (I'm NOT advocating shoplifting by the way :eek:)

conradmum

Crowqueen wrote: »

Most of the people complaining are sticking their heads in the sand about this and the people who end up paying their share of the fees are we people who do things by the rules. It's not fair, so why shouldn't we comment and/or get cross and exasperated about it?

This is a misconception. The people who charge only for the postage aren't paying the share of fees of people who charge more. EBay doesn't have a committee deciding what's a 'fair' percentage to charge for listing and selling items. Like any good business, they charge whatever they think the market will bear; i.e. they charge the absolute maximum they think the majority of people will pay for the use of the site. If all the people who charge extra for postage stopped doing so tomorrow, eBay wouldn't reduce their fees, they would just cream off the extra profit.

The same lie is put about by supermarkets: that the cost of shoplifting is born by paying customers. BS. Supermarkets charge whatever they think they can get away with. They would not reduce their prices if shoplifting were stamped out. (I'm NOT advocating shoplifting by the way :eek:)