Buyer from Spain didn't ask for shipping cost before winning auction - what to do?

annie-c

My full sympathies are with the OP on this - she has come on here to get advice and has taken it graciously in my opinion!

I am also a novice seller and this thread has caused me to re-think my postage options on this weekend's listings, so thanks from me too!

I just wanted to throw in a quick thought - we don't know what exactly the item was, but for all we know it may have some sort of nostalgic value to the buyer or there may be some other reason that they realise full well that postage will be higher than the end price, but they want it anyway...

When I was a new ebayer I won a $1 copy of a tattered old children's book that was out of print and that I really wanted for my niece. I didn't think to ask about postage from the US in advance and was shocked that it came to £10 (this was back in the day when sellers typically did this). However I just paid up because I wanted the book and that was that. (I still have the book. It later came back into print and I could have got a new copy in Smiths for £3.99, but hey ho it is my favourite ebay 'fail' to this day....)

soolin

annie-c wrote: »

My full sympathies are with the OP on this - she has come on here to get advice and has taken it graciously in my opinion!

I am also a novice seller and this thread has caused me to re-think my postage options on this weekend's listings, so thanks from me too!

I just wanted to throw in a quick thought - we don't know what exactly the item was, but for all we know it may have some sort of nostalgic value to the buyer or there may be some other reason that they realise full well that postage will be higher than the end price, but they want it anyway...

When I was a new ebayer I won a $1 copy of a tattered old children's book that was out of print and that I really wanted for my niece. I didn't think to ask about postage from the US in advance and was shocked that it came to £10 (this was back in the day when sellers typically did this). However I just paid up because I wanted the book and that was that. (I still have the book. It later came back into print and I could have got a new copy in Smiths for £3.99, but hey ho it is my favourite ebay 'fail' to this day....)

The OP was selling a pair of mugs and there was no suggestion, as in your example, that the buyer was prepared to pay a large premium to get them.

annie-c

Yes, I know, but still we have no idea why the bidder bought them or that £5 or even £12 p & p would be too much. I gave no suggestion to my seller as to why I wanted it and he admitted he was astonished that a scrappy book warranted overseas delivery - it wasn't a first edition or anything.

I completely agree with all the advice about minimising costs but I was just suggesting that in the buyer's view even £15 for a pair of mugs may still be a reasonable price if they have a special reason for wanting them.

Personally I also get frustrated at people who start threads asking for advice and completely ignore it but I genuinely can't see what the OP has done wrong here. She admits to being a novice, asks for advice, takes on board some of it, and updates to let us know the end of the story. In the meantime, she gives food for thought to other novices like me, inadvertently starts a mini discussion on cube packaging for you and enables us all to have a laugh at the German ebayer who flies to the UK to use the Royal Mail service that we all love to hate! Bonus!

If the OP is anything like me she will probably go on being a novice and making mistakes for some time to come, but if she enjoys ebay and keeps her customers happy then so be it.

soolin

annie-c wrote: »

Yes, I know, but still we have no idea why the bidder bought them or that £5 or even £12 p & p would be too much. I gave no suggestion to my seller as to why I wanted it and he admitted he was astonished that a scrappy book warranted overseas delivery - it wasn't a first edition or anything.

I completely agree with all the advice about minimising costs but in the buyer's view even £15 for a pair of mugs may still be a reasonable price if they have a special reason for wanting them.

OP though wasnot intending to scam the buyer so the postage method doesn't matter surely? He wa sprepared to send them and sending tracked merely protects against a claim nothing more.

Morty_007

Threads like these fascinate me. If the OP had been the buyer they would have been told "you should have read the listing" "you should have emailed the seller before bidding as requested". Pleased it all worked out OP.

soolin

Morty_007 wrote: »

Threads like these fascinate me. If the OP had been the buyer they would have been told "you should have read the listing" "you should have emailed the seller before bidding as requested". Pleased it all worked out OP.

We might have told a bidder they should have read the listing, but we would also have suggested that hitting the stars or feedback for excessive postage would not be amiss. That is basically what the OP was told here, he could charge what he liked but he may well suffer from very low stars or poor feedback if buyer thought it was unreasonable.

jap200

annie-c wrote: »

If the OP is anything like me she will probably go on being a novice and making mistakes for some time to come, but if she enjoys ebay and keeps her customers happy then so be it.

Thanks for your post and your support - it made me smile this morning.

Ebay is there for anyone to use whether they are the selling a few bits and bobs from around the house every now and then to make a little bit of extra cash towards holidays (like me) or power sellers, business sellers and ebay shop owners who use it as their main income. I found it odd that a couple of those responding to my question seemed to assume that I was a business seller (and therefore foolish and wasting my time), rather than a Mum trying to make a few extra pounds in her spare time and trying hard to get it right by following MSE's own golden rules for Ebay!

Personally I'm pleased when I list something for 99p and it sells for £3.50 - some people might laugh at that, but it all adds up and it makes a difference to me and my family. My goal is to pay for our family summer holiday (a modest £925 for all 5 of us) with my profits from Ebay. I started in November and am just about half way there now and will keep plodding on.