Not sure if I am in the right.

hermum

The OP would no doubt have expected a clutch bag to be a clutch bag & not a wallet. So she agreed a postage cost based on the fact that most women would expect a clutch bag to weigh more due to it being a bag & not a wallet.
I would definitely contact the seller, express your disappointment & ask for a full refund on refund.

Crowqueen

techspec wrote: »

The problem is, buyers are playing into Ebays hands. Ebay are trying to get sellers to charge less than cost for postage or free postage. Thats whay they brought in ratings.

So an item £1 with £4 postage becomes £4 with £1 postage in theory. But Ebay fees are 10p for first one and 40p for second one.
This massive 300% increase as to be added to the price.

So item is now £4.30 with £1 postage. Ebays wins, buyers and sellers lose. Simples.

And quite rightly so in my opinion. This charge wasn't of the egregious sort (the £1 + 8.99 postage deal) but of the "reasonable for the item described but not what it says on the tin" kind. eBay are trying to eliminate the rip-off postage deals in order to keep disgruntled buyers shopping on the site, which I'd rather they did.

I don't bid on things that strike me as a bad deal, but as I don't sell much other than the odd book or DVD now and again I don't know how much a small wallet costs to post. Since the item was not as described, then I would also look at how much it cost to send and whether it was packed properly. If the item was good or as described, then I'd probably be a bit more lenient.

I don't care one way or another what eBay wants. That's for them to decide. All I want is a decent place to shop as a buyer and to know that my money is not being screwed around with. This sort of sale highlights what's wrong with this attitude that a seller can do as they please because eBay and buyers are too stupid to know any better. God forbid I ever buy from you if you take this attitude.

wayne2786

well as i have said, i would mark down on the postage, yes sometime when i have sold something i havent known how much it will cost to post, so i go on royal mail and estimate it, sometimes im a little over and sometimes im a little under and the buyer gets a better deal.

this doesnt bother me, if i bought something for £5 postage and it arrived with a £4.10 sticker on i wouldnt be bothered as its close enough.

if i bought something with £5 postage and it came with a £2.08 sticker on i would be a little annoyed and those stars would take a hammering!

but for a tiny purse thing, the seller should have known its not going to cost £2.50 to post.

like many say on here, start the auction at the minimum your happy to sell for and you will never go wrong!!!

masonic

I'm surprised ebay still separate out P&P for the purposes of calculating their fees. Obviously the next logical step for them to take is to calculate fees on the total price the buyer pays.

Crowqueen

masonic wrote: »

I'm surprised ebay still separate out P&P for the purposes of calculating their fees. Obviously the next logical step for them to take is to calculate fees on the total price the buyer pays.

Which is what apparently happens now in America.

hermum

masonic wrote: »

I'm surprised ebay still separate out P&P for the purposes of calculating their fees. Obviously the next logical step for them to take is to calculate fees on the total price the buyer pays.

I think that there's been mention that's how it is or going to be on USA site.
The annoying thing is that it's sellers like this who caused the p&p restrictions to be brought in, for some items you have to start your auction at a higher price to make up for it, as the postage won't cover it. I still see sellers charging £4 for a thin top which will probably cost less than £1 to post.

macfly

Anyone who thinks ebay is doing this for the buyer's sake, and the increased fees are incidental, needs to buy my magic beans.
A point made frequently on this thread is that a buyer doesn't know what the item costs to post until it arrives. Buy anything on the internet or mail order and the same applies. Only on ebay can you then threaten a seller.
Ebay has encouraged buyers to punish sellers for no other reason than revenue. If postage charges are included in the fee charges, all prices on ebay will go up.

karenb33

hermum wrote: »

The OP would no doubt have expected a clutch bag to be a clutch bag & not a wallet. So she agreed a postage cost based on the fact that most women would expect a clutch bag to weigh more due to it being a bag & not a wallet.
I would definitely contact the seller, express your disappointment & ask for a full refund on refund.

Many thanks for all your posts. The above is exactly what I thought. The P&P for a clutch bag is fully reasonable - it is excessive for a tiny wallet. There was no indication this was a freebie and there were no measurements. I have learned a lesson here.

I will write the polite email to the seller and ask if I can send it back. It actually isn't the money - I just think the only way ebay works is if people are decent and honest.

Let's just see what happens!

masonic

macfly wrote: »

Ebay has encouraged buyers to punish sellers for no other reason than revenue. If postage charges are included in the fee charges, all prices on ebay will go up.

Well clearly not all prices will need to go up - items that get listed with free P&P won't be affected. Those items whose P&P is only a fraction of their value will only need to change by a small amount. Personally, I don't feel too bad about paying a few pennies more per item to create a level playing field.

Edit: I almost don't think I should bother posting this, but ebay could if it wanted to ensure that a change to the fee system was neutral overall. That would allow those with already low P&P to reduce their prices where competition gave them an incentive to do so.

macfly

Free p&p means the price is already inflated to take care of the extra fee.
Paying more to create a level playing field? Anybody can judge a price based on total cost, so there's nothing unfair going on. Paying more to cover increased fees is actually what you are doing.
And no, you shouldn't have. I assume you mean lower the level of fee or insertion fee? They haven't done this in the U.S., so they are not likely to do so here.
I'm not particularly in favour of a seller pumping up the postage price. I just object to the fact that even if the item in this case had been perfect, the OP would have had an axe to grind for the grand total of £3.49.