Buyer being a pain over P&P

fatboyonadiet

Had 3 items on sale on ebay all starting at 1p, one buyer bid for all but ended up only getting 2, one of this only went for about 30p. Firstly he's being a pain over not paying (said he wasn't getting my invoices) and now wants me to combine P&P! I never offered this and it wasn't stated in the auction, I would have possibly considered it if he had contacted me first about this but didn't.

One other problem, the other half posted my ebay things but also accidentally posted this too, where do I stand? Will he hold me to ransom now?

Help!

VH

How much is the P&P and how much does he want you to knock off.

You're under no olbigation to combine P&P but if they're being a pain and it won't cost you anything then I'd probably do it just to get rid of them.

campdave

Surely if you combine postage for the items, it is cheaper for yourself?

If I bought two items from a seller, at the same time, I would expect postage to be combined without having to ask for it - where you going to send the two items seperately?

dougk_2

I normally also automatically reduce the postage when someone buys an item. I do this without being asked as I feel it is fair and makes the buyer feel they have got a bargain. It also encourages them to purchase form you again.

After all it is cheaper for you as you use only one jiffy bag, and saves you time in the long run with all the admin involved (and you have saved on two 20p paypal fees!).

To be honest I never list anything starting at under 30p as its not worth the effort (unless you have weighted the postal charges substantially which I strongly disagree with) and the basic fees take up most of this cost.

fatboyonadiet

I did post them together but as one of the items went really cheap will be losing out once I've paid all my fees, charging £2 P&P.

Wouldn't have had an issue normally but just not happy with the way he's coming across - looking at these guess the best bet is to offer him some reduced P&P then.

heathen

i combine postage if a buyer wins more than 1 of my auctions and 9 times out of 10 sellers do the same for me without having to ask them.i guess in your case the items were very cheap so making a bit on postage makes selling them worthwhile.

campdave

fatboyonadiet wrote:

I did post them together but as one of the items went really cheap will be losing out once I've paid all my fees, charging £2 P&P.

That's not the buyer's fault or problem though.

fatboyonadiet

I'm not saying that it is, in the same way it's not the sellers fault is the buyer wants to combine P&P as they've agreed to pay the for the item as specified.

gromituk

fatboyonadiet wrote:

I did post them together but as one of the items went really cheap will be losing out once I've paid all my fees, charging £2 P&P.

It does sound like you are one of the many many annoying people on eBay who put things up for tiny prices in order to attract attention, and then slap an excessive postage charge on them in order to ensure a profit regardless of what price they sell for. How can it possibly be worth you starting at 1p with no reserve otherwise?

Wouldn't have had an issue normally but just not happy with the way he's coming across - looking at these guess the best bet is to offer him some reduced P&P then.

Contrary to what I said above, I wouldn't dream as a buyer to try to get reduced postage by buying more than one item, unless that was stated in the listing. So I don't have much sympathy for the buyer here, either.

Of course, if I wanted more than one item, I'd be more attracted to an auction which offered postage discounts.

fatboyonadiet

This thread is giving me a bad name! I don't stick on excessive P&P as I don't approve of it and what goes around comes around, I start SOME stuff off at a 1p to get interest and because most of the time it's something that has little use to me. I have put stuff on for a 1p and it gone over £12 which ain't too bad in my eyes.

I have sold stuff at a 1p and made a loss but that's life and someone else's gain is my loss.

My issue was with the buyer wanting to combine P&P something that I would have had no issue with except due to the circumstances, you live and learn.

But anyway after all these comments I have contacted the buyer and offered him reduced P&P just to get the sale completed.

Darren21

I support you fatboy! £2 is not that excessive is it! And as for starting at 1p - what's wrong with that, If I was to start a samsung d500 at 99p I wouldn't expect it to go for that - it just creates interest!

I think people are getting a bit over the top about this - I agree that some buy-it-now 2p auctions & then £3 postage is misleading and a bit wrong but..just about every online shop has different p&p rates so why is ebay any different. It's up to the buyer to decide the total they are willing to pay and calculate this. Personally I always charge reasonable postage but slightly above cost to cover some of my costs - why should I have to pay 100% of paypal & ebay costs!

Leave fatboy alone!