Postage fees on ebay

custardy

ludovico wrote: »

The problem with Royal Mail offering free packaging materials is it would be abused. Look on eBay there are people selling Airmail stickers! If people will do that for just a few pence profit I'm sure there would be those loading up and selling on boxes and jiffy bags in large numbers.

I should also imagine USPS factor the cost of those materials in to their prices, so those who don't use their materials contribute to the costs of those who do. With the way Royal Mail are at the moment, if they started handing out free materials prices were certainly go up to pay for it.

the delivery offices cant even get basic materials like bands just now
the bean counters are in full effect
same with uniform

jasmineswhiskers

shaun_from_Africa wrote: »

Another thing to bear in mind with regards to postage when buying from a large volume seller is VAT.

A seller may have P&P shown at £4.00, but if they are VAT registered they will have to pay 80p of this to the taxman, so if the package was to arrive with the buyer and it showed the actual postage paid as £2.00, the seller would only have added £1.20 for packing and handling and not £2 as many people would have assumed.

As a buyer (and quite rightly so) I have no interest in whether you pay VAT or not - all I see is the price being charged for postage. Factor it into the price of the item.

macfly

NickyBat wrote: »

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.

You have done the right thing by not bidding as you don't like the charges. But the question of whether some sellers are taking the **** is really none of your business. You don't own shares in it.
As for the post above, ebay allows you to include costs and handling for p&p. If you don't like, or understand, don't buy.
You wouldn't take this attitude in a high street shop, as that would take a face to face conversation.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

As a buyer (and quite rightly so) I have no interest in whether you pay VAT or not - all I see is the price being charged for postage. Factor it into the price of the item.

Once again it doesn't matter if it's in the postage or the item price, if a seller is VAT registered the real costs of P&P will have VAT added so you will pay the same, even with free P&P. Including VAT in the P&P is a legitimate business expense (trust me if businesses didn't have to charge VAT and give it all to the tax man we certainly wouldn't!), it's very different to those loading P&P to avoid fees.

ERICS_MUM

Thanks to Custardy for detailing RM's shortcomings. My dear postman is so helpful and conscientious but has such a hard time with his increased round, sometimes he is out until 4pm which is a disgrace considering he starts out at dawn.

custardy

ERICS_MUM wrote: »

Thanks to Custardy for detailing RM's shortcomings. My dear postman is so helpful and conscientious but has such a hard time with his increased round, sometimes he is out until 4pm which is a disgrace considering he starts out at dawn.

I could write pages on whats going on at RM
many folks simply wouldnt believe the daily goings on

Crowqueen

ludovico wrote: »

As a buyer (and quite rightly so) I have no interest in whether you pay VAT or not - all I see is the price being charged for postage. Factor it into the price of the item.

Once again it doesn't matter if it's in the postage or the item price, if a seller is VAT registered the real costs of P&P will have VAT added so you will pay the same, even with free P&P. Including VAT in the P&P is a legitimate business expense (trust me if businesses didn't have to charge VAT and give it all to the tax man we certainly wouldn't!), it's very different to those loading P&P to avoid fees.

VAT is an overhead though, and surely it doesn't increase the price you pay for the service.

Overheads are part of any business selling, it's pretty foolish as a business to even look as if you are ripping customers off. I know that other businesses do so (the World of Warcraft company, Blizzard, charged £7 for posting a game box from their warehouse in Germany, which is a lot of money on a £10 game), but eBay buyers are so conditioned to postage being at-cost that trying to stick it out is going to cause problems. And if I'd had the chance to rate them on postage I would have given them a low star; I bought the copies of the subsequent expansions to WoW from other outlets such as Amazon who didn't charge such ridiculously lavish postage charges (all I can say in my defence is that it was an impulse buy after trying the game for free on their website; if I'd thought about it I would have gone straight to Amazon after seeing what they were actually charging for delivery). Making yourself look attractive is what counts, not being overly pedantic with breaking down costs in the buyer's presence. Blizzard then reduced the price of an authenticator (which is a tool to make sure your account is not accessible except by yourself; hacking is a serious problem because World of Warcraft is so widely played) to below cost simply to get people to buy them to secure their accounts; previous to the change they had been prohibitively expensive at £12 including postage but the company took off the delivery charge, making them less expensive to buy and more attractively priced at £6 even though they lose money on them (they are an expensive piece of kit).

Price-modelling, including prices on eBay, is important in trying to cover your costs yet still draw the consumer in. Consumers don't care about the breakdown. It's your job - or your accountant's job - to find the balance between covering your overheads and people happy.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Crowqueen wrote: »

VAT is an overhead though, and surely it doesn't increase the price you pay for the service.

Overheads are part of any business selling, it's pretty foolish as a business to even look as if you are ripping customers off. I know that other businesses do so (the World of Warcraft company, Blizzard, charged £7 for posting a game box from their warehouse in Germany, which is a lot of money on a £10 game), but eBay buyers are so conditioned to postage being at-cost that trying to stick it out is going to cause problems. And if I'd had the chance to rate them on postage I would have given them a low star; I bought the copies of the subsequent expansions to WoW from other outlets such as Amazon who didn't charge such ridiculously lavish postage charges (all I can say in my defence is that it was an impulse buy after trying the game for free on their website; if I'd thought about it I would have gone straight to Amazon after seeing what they were actually charging for delivery). Making yourself look attractive is what counts, not being overly pedantic with breaking down costs in the buyer's presence. Blizzard then reduced the price of an authenticator (which is a tool to make sure your account is not accessible except by yourself; hacking is a serious problem because World of Warcraft is so widely played) to below cost simply to get people to buy them to secure their accounts; previous to the change they had been prohibitively expensive at £12 including postage but the company took off the delivery charge, making them less expensive to buy and more attractively priced at £6 even though they lose money on them (they are an expensive piece of kit).

Price-modelling, including prices on eBay, is important in trying to cover your costs yet still draw the consumer in. Consumers don't care about the breakdown. It's your job - or your accountant's job - to find the balance between covering your overheads and people happy.

You are completely right from the point of view of a business. From the point of view of a consumer you will have far less negative experiences in general if you accept certain aspects of buying.

All I'm saying is as a consumer you will pay the VAT. If a seller is smart to build this in to their item price to convince the consumer their shipping is cheaper than it actually is, good for them and they will likely be rewarded by way of increased sales.

But those who do put the VAT in their shipping cost are not being dishonest and to make a seller down for this on eBay is pointless as you will be paying the same price regardless of how it's broken up.

Standard Royal Mail services currently do not include VAT, a normal seller charging £2.99 on eBay gets £2.99. A VAT registered seller charging £2.99 gets £2.49.

Next time you pay for shipping on Amazon, look at the receipt when it arrives, their shipping costs include VAT.

m0nkeymrs01

I have left my first ever bad feedback last night about postage :-(

I saw two things I wanted to buy on ebay from the same seller but the auctions were right near the end and I was on a train and didnt have time to send a message to ask about combined postage. So I bid and won both items... I was the only bidder. The auctions had a starting price of £7.50 each & £35 Buy Now. I won both items for £7.50 each. I emailed the seller and asked if he could send me a combined postage invoice. After almost a week he emailed back and said no. So I had to pay £8 postage (agreed I could have asked first) when the parcel arrived it was in reused packaging and the postage cost £3.20. In my eyes this person with their massively unrealistic buy now prices didnt get what they wanted for the items and so punished me by over charging on postage.

The thing is if I hadnt have bid his items would have gone unsold and he would have had to relist. two items starting at £7.50 plus a buy now price must have cost him around 40p to list if he had to do that again..surely he could have reduced even by £1?

Obviously_the_best

a great place to buy dvd/cd size jiffies is poundland, they do 7 for £1