Postage fees on ebay

NickyBat

is it me or are some sellers just taking the p**s with charges for postage?
I have just seen a nail varnish i was going to buy / bid on but the seller is charging £4 for postage!

i mostly buy from ebay but i have sold many things but would never charge this amount for 1 little bottle.

Sid_Wolf

yea it does my head in, they have lower prices but make up for it in p&p

to me thats just cheeky, and I refuse to buy items listed like that, i would rather they charged more for the actual item (if it was worth that much)

it would only be a large letter for 1 bottle of nail varnish, so less than £1 1st class!

techspec

Its a way to avoid fees - which can be good for the buyer if the price ends up cheaper overall, and they pass on the savings.

But with DSR's - it will soon be a thing of the past - as sellers who overcharge on postage are punished.

I don't care how they price it though - as long as the price + p£p = the cheapest.

If it bothers you though - don't buy it. Simples.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

It isn't really good for buyer, if the seller is happy to avoid fees, basically being dishonest to save a few pence, they aren't likely to go to much effort should a problem occur or more importantly cover your return postage should the goods be not as described.

Sellers charging a little bit extra than normal may have to pay a lot for packing materials (the boxes on sale in the Post Office are very expensive for example) but those clearly overcharging to avoid fees should be avoided.

Buyers should also reward decent, honest sellers by giving their money to them instead of those being 'unfair' in some way and in return you are far more likely to experience better service.

Crowqueen

ludovico wrote: »

It isn't really good for buyer, if the seller is happy to avoid fees, basically being dishonest to save a few pence, they aren't likely to go to much effort should a problem occur or more importantly cover your return postage should the goods be not as described.

Sellers charging a little bit extra than normal may have to pay a lot for packing materials (the boxes on sale in the Post Office are very expensive for example) but those clearly overcharging to avoid fees should be avoided.

Buyers should also reward decent, honest sellers by giving their money to them instead of those being 'unfair' in some way and in return you far more likely to experience better service.

Couldn't agree more.

I don't think any seller who wants to scrimp on fees is likely to pass the savings on to the buyer. More often you see people maximising what they can get for postage so they can get a coffee on the way to the PO or think that buyers care that they live 28 miles from a PO and can charge petrol to the costs (if it's that uneconomical for you to sell on eBay then you shouldn't do it - you're unlikely to compete with people who can walk to a PO in 2 minutes). It doesn't make buyers happy, so it's likely not to pay off in the long run.

Sid_Wolf

i charge £1 postage on all items, and im happy to combine postage for multiple items, sometimes they cost me around 75p to send, other times its £1.50 or more. Thats only for the postage, not the packaging (bubble wrap, paper, tape & labels)

NickyBat

I use my car to go to the P.O. but i dont charge for doing it cos its my choice

soolin

Sid_Wolf wrote: »

yea it does my head in, they have lower prices but make up for it in p&p

to me thats just cheeky, and I refuse to buy items listed like that, i would rather they charged more for the actual item (if it was worth that much)

it would only be a large letter for 1 bottle of nail varnish, so less than £1 1st class!

Actually a standard sized round or square bottle of varnish would have to be sent as a parcel rather than a large letter, but even then 100g is only £1.58 1st class

Obviously_the_best

a lesson for everyone, if you live yonks from a PO then get someone like hermes to collect, they're not much more expensive!!!
It drives me mad when people charge for fuel!

macfly

ludovico wrote: »

It isn't really good for buyer, if the seller is happy to avoid fees, basically being dishonest to save a few pence, they aren't likely to go to much effort should a problem occur or more importantly cover your return postage should the goods be not as described.

Sellers charging a little bit extra than normal may have to pay a lot for packing materials (the boxes on sale in the Post Office are very expensive for example) but those clearly overcharging to avoid fees should be avoided.

Buyers should also reward decent, honest sellers by giving their money to them instead of those being 'unfair' in some way and in return you are far more likely to experience better service.

Has this poor service from a seller who charges high postage ever happened? I've never experienced it.
Or is it just like much of the stuff on here? Along the lines of you don't wanna do that.

RFW

ludovico wrote: »

Sellers charging a little bit extra than normal may have to pay a lot for packing materials (the boxes on sale in the Post Office are very expensive for example) but those clearly overcharging to avoid fees should be avoided.

Anyone buying boxes from the Post Office should be marked down on DSRs for being reckless with money, they're about the most expensive items to buy anywhere. In the US the US postal service give free boxes on request, it actually makes their job easier if items are well packed and manageable, so cost effective, not sure Royal Mail would ever be that proactive.

Anyway back on topic, some overcharge on postage, my sense of fairness generally makes me avoid these sellers. It is usually the case that the fee avoiding sellers charge the same amount as the more honest seller, so I'd rather go for the one who is earning less and in more need of the sale. (eg postage cost for an item is £1.80, seller A sells for £8 with £2 p&p, seller B sells for £2 with £8 p&p, I'd rather buy from seller A who is paying more fees).