Asked to pay P&P on collection item as price was too low...

bluejake

It is quite simple if you don't want to pay the price including postage then don't bid. Ebay helpfully lists items with price + postage so there is no excuse. If you want to collect an item in person ensure the seller offers this option before you buy.

In my experience 99 out of 100 buyers on eBay understand these simple rules of online commerce. The OP clearly belongs to the 1% who go straight onto my blocked list at the first stupid e-mail.

I have on occasion in the past been persuaded to allow for a collection in person. I soon saw the error in this. Endless emails and phone calls, waiting in sometimes for hours, people not turning up or waiting weeks to collect their item, dodgy characters checking out my home, those one percenters whose bloated sense of entitlement goes even further and who want me to meet them at a particular junction of the motorway or a particular railway station, the potential for fraudulant paypal claims - all for an item which may not even be making me any profit at all.

I wouldn't even let my next door neighbour avoid postage charges by collecting in person if they thought it was a given right. The more sellers on ebay who are giving into these people the worst they get. A negative feedback isn't the end of the world to me. I am fair and reasonable and my feedback reflects that, I don't have any problems selling stuff. Those sellers giving into these people are creating monsters on ebay.

I buy more stuff than I sell and I do always give 5 stars for all categories if the items arrives as described for the price I chose to pay. I even allow for postage delays if it is reasonable and it does occasionally happen. Personally I don't like people using second hand packaging - that is more a rip off than so called "excessive postage charges" and it is really off putting when it arrives. Buyers can decide if a postage charges are too high and not buy but they have no way of distinguishing which sellers will pocket the packaging part of the "postage and packaging" fee instead of actually spending it on the packaging you have paid for. Of course "excessive postage charges" and "fee avoidance" is all about ebay profits not the buyers experience. A seller pocketing the fee a buyer has paid for packaging doesn't affect Ebay profits so they don't give a monkeys.

To the original poster. Why not just pay the £0.99 + £4.99 postage which you agreed to pay. Why not allow this seller to make a small profit?

Strapped

This is why I list my no-collection items with the location as "No collection, UK" as it avoids any confusion. Even then, buyers will sometimes contact and say, "can I collect?" as they see the address to send payment to if not paying by PayPal.

Happy_bunny

Whilst it is against the rules to overcharge postage to avoid fees the vast majority of people seem to think that the item is packaged by midnight elves using free packaging materials then whisked off to the post office! The costs do build, Packaging, Petrol & parking at the post office plus your time. My friend recently had a neg for an item she sent, with 18p over the postal cost as 'excessive packaging costs'! Despite the fact she had to travel through 2 miles of snow just to post the item. :eek:

toffe

people moan about sellers "overcharging" on p+p on here all the time.

they try and justify it by claiming that it is against ebay policy, aww.....isn't that nice to see, buyers more concerned that a multibillion pound company doesn't loose 50p in fees than they are about getting a better deal for themselves......what bulls1t

buyers complain about this because they think they have been "robbed" on the postage and they should get the item cheaper, because they are too dim to contemplate that if the extra was not in the postage it would be in the BIN/BID price, plus extra to cover fees.

the reality of the matter is that it is none of your business as a buyer what the seller pays in postage and you are not entitled to pay only what the seller pays, if he wants to make a profit on his postage he can, nothing in uk trading legislation to stop him.

of course if the thought of ebay losing that few pence in fees is going to keep you awake at night you could always NOT BID!!

but no you'd rather demand the money overcharged by the seller was refunded, but hang on a minute....isn't that then you as a buyer profiting from an ebay rule being broken as the extra charged on the postage, which is against ebay policy, is now in your back pocket.....

and here was me thinking for a second that there were some genuine [STRIKE]law[/STRIKE] ebay rule abiding people out there and that the human race wasn't just full of self centered greedy people out to milk what they can from whoever they can using what ever potential barganing tool they can find.

it's not about ebay rules being broken, it's about getting something back for yourself, either don't bid if you object or pay up if you agree, it's not rocket sceince.

Uncertain

toffe wrote: »

people moan about sellers "overcharging" on p+p on here all the time.

they try and justify it by claiming that it is against ebay policy, aww.....isn't that nice to see, buyers more concerned that a multibillion pound company doesn't loose 50p in fees than they are about getting a better deal for themselves......what bulls1t

buyers complain about this because they think they have been "robbed" on the postage and they should get the item cheaper, because they are too dim to contemplate that if the extra was not in the postage it would be in the BIN/BID price, plus extra to cover fees.

the reality of the matter is that it is none of your business as a buyer what the seller pays in postage and you are not entitled to pay only what the seller pays, if he wants to make a profit on his postage he can, nothing in uk trading legislation to stop him.

of course if the thought of ebay losing that few pence in fees is going to keep you awake at night you could always NOT BID!!

but no you'd rather demand the money overcharged by the seller was refunded, but hang on a minute....isn't that then you as a buyer profiting from an ebay rule being broken as the extra charged on the postage, which is against ebay policy, is now in your back pocket.....

and here was me thinking for a second that there were some genuine [STRIKE]law[/STRIKE] ebay rule abiding people out there and that the human race wasn't just full of self centered greedy people out to milk what they can from whoever they can using what ever potential barganing tool they can find.

it's not about ebay rules being broken, it's about getting something back for yourself, either don't bid if you object or pay up if you agree, it's not rocket sceince.

So, a quick summary of your views......

It is quite OK to ignore the rules of the market place in which you choose to operate?

Or, to apply your own argument, if you don't like eBay's rules sell your goods somewhere else!

harveybobbles

toffe wrote: »

but no you'd rather demand the money overcharged by the seller was refunded

At what point did I say that, knobhead...

macfly

It does seem that this seller would have been better off lying and saying he doesn't allow collection.
Lovely world we are making for ourselves.

mikey72

mikey72 wrote: »

So you always leave 5 stars regardless?

toffe wrote: »

people moan about sellers "overcharging" on p+p on here all the time.

they try and justify it by claiming that it is against ebay policy, aww.....isn't that nice to see, buyers more concerned that a multibillion pound company doesn't loose 50p in fees than they are about getting a better deal for themselves......what bulls1t

buyers complain about this because they think they have been "robbed" on the postage and they should get the item cheaper, because they are too dim to contemplate that if the extra was not in the postage it would be in the BIN/BID price, plus extra to cover fees.

the reality of the matter is that it is none of your business as a buyer what the seller pays in postage and you are not entitled to pay only what the seller pays, if he wants to make a profit on his postage he can, nothing in uk trading legislation to stop him.

of course if the thought of ebay losing that few pence in fees is going to keep you awake at night you could always NOT BID!!

but no you'd rather demand the money overcharged by the seller was refunded, but hang on a minute....isn't that then you as a buyer profiting from an ebay rule being broken as the extra charged on the postage, which is against ebay policy, is now in your back pocket.....

and here was me thinking for a second that there were some genuine [STRIKE]law[/STRIKE] ebay rule abiding people out there and that the human race wasn't just full of self centered greedy people out to milk what they can from whoever they can using what ever potential barganing tool they can find.

it's not about ebay rules being broken, it's about getting something back for yourself, either don't bid if you object or pay up if you agree, it's not rocket sceince.

So is that a "yes" or a "no"?

marcowil

My OH sold something on EBay a while ago and it turned out the person lived locally so they arranged to meet.
A charming little old lady turned up at the appointed time and place and the goods were handed over. It was only later that evening that my OH realised on checking PayPal that she hadnt actually paid for the goods. Emails were dispatched asking for payment and the response was that they had already paid via Paypal. Since no payment was received OH asked for proof of payment being sent. Still waiting! No point in filing a claim with EBay as there was no proof of delivery.

macfly

Easy one that though? Lives locally, I'd be knocking on the door.