Asking for Combination Postage after Purchase

CelticStar

I am a personal seller on Ebay and have recently been selling a few bits of pieces from my craft collection as I have been tidying out my craft room.

Twice now I have had buyers that buy a few small items and then ask for a combined price after the auction has ended. Is this the procedure nowadays? Whenever I have purchased items in the past it has been left up to the buyer as to whether they combine or not and, if so, they put this in the listing.

I don't mind combining but I do find the assumption that you will do so a bit rude as I bought specific packaging for these items and it can be quite awkward to combine more than a few. Allied to this, the people that want you to combine seem obsessed with postage, they seem to think that it only covers the price of the stamp, whereas it was always my understanding that it covers the cost of the packaging as well as the diesel/petrol used to travel to the Post Office.

I want to be fair but don't want to be out of pocket. Any advice gratefully received.

freddysmith

Buyers are only interested in paying a fair price for P&P if buying more than one item.
I always ask IF they will combine the postage for 2 or more items usually before purchasing the second item.
You could have free P&P and add costs to the auction price.
Selling several pieces as a lot maybe.

chezba

It is often good practice to offer combined postage costs for multiple purchases but I do state that I do this in my listings. Of course if, as you say above, you have had to buy specific packaging that cannot hold more than one item then you can always mention this in your listing.

If I am interested in several listings from one seller and there is no mention of combined postage I do ask before bidding.

And re. petrol costs etc, that is a bone of contention on these boards and most think it should be factored into your starting price. I always offer free or below cost postage to 'appear' cheaper yet I have already factored it into a starting price.

Oliver14

P&P should be that the cost of postage and packing according to ebay. As multiple items the majority of times should reduce the overall costs these savings should be passed on to the customer and the majority of good sellers do this. If you dint do this you risk your stars which can effect your selling and overall price.

Any other costs such as petrol should be factored into your item cost the same way fees are.

Juzza12

You don't have to combine postage and you're right it is wrong for buyers to assume that you will. However, if you don't your feedback and DSRs are obviously at risk and i've seen a lot of sellers restricted or banned from selling lately and mostly it is because of the P&P cost star.

I don't see anything wrong with asking a seller if they will combine postage but I think people should ask before bidding/buying.

Even though I only charged P&P at stamp cost and whatever packaging cost, i found my P&P star at 4.6. I started adding the packaging cost to the start price instead and only charging stamp price for the P&P cost, the score soon shot back up.

MyOnlyPost

CelticStar wrote: »

I don't mind combining but I do find the assumption that you will do so a bit rude as I bought specific packaging for these items and it can be quite awkward to combine more than a few.

If you packed all the items as you normally would and then placed them all in a single outer box so it went as a single item this should cost less to post than the individual items.

Ask the buyer to pay the postage as listed and offer to make a refund after posting (once you have price from P.O.) if there is any substantial saving.

lovinituk

CelticStar wrote: »

whereas it was always my understanding that it covers the cost of the packaging as well as the diesel/petrol used to travel to the Post Office.

Its P&P... not P&P&D/P!!

Juzza12 wrote: »

However, if you don't your feedback and DSRs are obviously at risk and i've seen a lot of sellers restricted or banned from selling lately and mostly it is because of the P&P cost star.

Exactly! Ultimately a seller can charge what they like... if they don't care about their feedback/stars.

MyOnlyPost wrote: »

If you packed all the items as you normally would and then placed them all in a single outer box so it went as a single item this should cost less to post than the individual items.

Spot on. They will be cheaper to send as one package so pass on the saving to the customer.

NeverEnough

I don't think its a problem AT ALL if a buyer asks politely about combining postage - sometimes people haven't mentioned this in listings, and why on earth should someone "ask before they bid" - they aren't refusing to pay the postage!!! Just asking the question as to whether it can be combined or not - why on earth is this a problem? No-one is meant to be scoring great profits on P & P any if the buyer can save a few pounds by your combining postage why shouldn't they ask if it's possible? It's a perfectly reasonable question - sometimes it isn't possible to reduce the postage paid, sometimes it is - it certainly engenders goodwill if you bother to make an effort, and that, as an ebay seller (and buyer) is important to me.......but each to their own!!! Its certainly not "a cheek" to ask if there is a reduction in combined postage - its a polite question to which the answer is sometimes yes, and sometimes no!!!

greeneye

I never ask (before or after) and if a seller sends me an invoice with no combined postage I wait a few days (with no contact) to see if they change their mind (I'm not begging - any seller with half a brain automatically combines postage), if not I pay and then they get positive feedback and 1 star on their postage DSR's.
Unless they send each item separately which surprisingly some do - I had a private seller send me five items of clothing in 5 separate parcels last week - I left there stars alone but if there was a DSR for idiocy I would have marked appropriately.

poet123

greeneye wrote: »

I never ask and if a seller sends me an invoice with no combined postage I wait a few days (with no contact) to see if they change their mind (I'm not begging - any seller with half a brain automatically combines postage), if not I pay and then they get positive feedback and 1 star on their postage DSR's.
Unless they send each item separately which surprisingly some do - I had a private seller send me five items of clothing in 5 separate parcels last week - I left their stars alone but if their was a DSR for idiocy I would have marked appropriately.

Maybe they had pre packed the items. Sometimes if an item finishes late Sunday I pre pack to save time, means I can post straight after work Monday.

Juzza12

NeverEnough wrote: »

I don't think its a problem AT ALL if a buyer asks politely about combining postage - sometimes people haven't mentioned this in listings, and why on earth should someone "ask before they bid" - they aren't refusing to pay the postage!!! Just asking the question as to whether it can be combined or not - why on earth is this a problem? No-one is meant to be scoring great profits on P & P any if the buyer can save a few pounds by your combining postage why shouldn't they ask if it's possible? It's a perfectly reasonable question - sometimes it isn't possible to reduce the postage paid, sometimes it is - it certainly engenders goodwill if you bother to make an effort, and that, as an ebay seller (and buyer) is important to me.......but each to their own!!! Its certainly not "a cheek" to ask if there is a reduction in combined postage - its a polite question to which the answer is sometimes yes, and sometimes no!!!

I have seen many buyers refuse to pay the full postage when they haven't asked if the seller will combine before bidding.