Asking for Combination Postage after Purchase

lovinituk

greeneye wrote: »

if not I pay and then they get positive feedback and 1 star on their postage DSR's.

That's a very severe reaction and I certainly don't agree with that. What's wrong with asking them? A 1 star rating can really damage a sellers account - is it really worth it for the sake of a couple of quid when you havent even asked for combined postage?

If you ask them first and they say no and then send in one package, then fair enough.

shaun_from_Africa

Originally Posted by CelticStar
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.

Originally Posted by Lovinituk
Its P&P... not P&P&D/P!!

Not quite. It's postage, packing and handling. Ebay allow sellers to add a reasonable fee to cover their handling of the item. They don't specify what handling consists of so if a seller wishes to include the actual cost of getting the package to the post office and this is a reasonable charge then they aren't breaking any ebay policies.

Postage and packing - Sellers may add a reasonable postage and packing fee to the final price of their item. A postage and packing fee can cover the seller's reasonable costs for mailing, packaging and handling the item. Postage and packing fees cannot be listed as a percentage of the final sale price.

steveE2

Originally Posted by greeneye
if not I pay and then they get positive feedback and 1 star on their postage DSR's.

lovinituk wrote: »

That's a very severe reaction and I certainly don't agree with that. What's wrong with asking them? A 1 star rating can really damage a sellers account - is it really worth it for the sake of a couple of quid when you havent even asked for combined postage?

If you ask them first and they say no and then send in one package, then fair enough.

Totally agree with lovinituk,DSR's are damaging enough without a buyer knocking right down without even asking.The seller is fulfilling the deal exactly as advertised.

lovinituk

shaun_from_Africa wrote: »

Not quite. It's postage, packing and handling. Ebay allow sellers to add a reasonable fee to cover their handling of the item. They don't specify what handling consists of so if a seller wishes to include the actual cost of getting the package to the post office and this is a reasonable charge then they aren't breaking any ebay policies.

Fair enough. Try explaining that to a buyer who has just left low stars for P&P(&H)

Valli

In my listings (random items I'm clearing out because I am trying to raise the wherewithall to fund home improvements) I specify that I WILL combine postage IF I can post together.
Mind you I just had a sale and have now listed an almost identical item and have offered to hang onto the sold item in case the buyer also wins the second item, which he/she has already bid on. This has been accepted. It actually won't cost me any more to post both together so I won't charge THAT buyer P&P if he/she wins item 2! Hopefully this will get me some very good feedback, which I need having had 3 negs this year!

MyOnlyPost

shaun_from_Africa wrote: »

Not quite. It's postage, packing and handling. Ebay allow sellers to add a reasonable fee to cover their handling of the item. They don't specify what handling consists of so if a seller wishes to include the actual cost of getting the package to the post office and this is a reasonable charge then they aren't breaking any ebay policies.

I agree with Shaun that this isn't breaking any eBay policy. A large company may employ someone specifically to pack and arrange courier collections etc, this job only exists because of eBay sales, so in theory this seller can add a small proportion of the employees wages to each parcel he sends out to cover the cost of employing them.

However I know as do most sellers, and I suspect Shaun knows too that this simply isn't viable in the real world. A buyer looks at the price of the postage and expects to be charged that, or very close to that. There was even a post on here last week from someone saying sellers shouldn't charge postage at all as you know you will have to post it before you list it for sale, so factor it in to your selling price.

Everyone has different opinions on what is a fair and reasonable charge for p&p, personally I charge no more than 20p over the actual cost (even if the mailer cost me 40p) with the exception of large postage costs where there is a substantial paypal commission to factor in (Overseas or very bulky items) where I charge 50p max over cost. If I come back from the post office to find I have been charged less than estimated (sometimes my items go as a large letter when I've quoted small packet price) I refund the buyer the difference, even if it's only 50p. This is the difference between 3 and 5 stars sometimes.

an9i77

I have an 'if you don't ask you don't get' policy - if someone wins two or more items, I will combine postage if they ask me. if they don't ask me, I assume they're not bothered or perhaps have not even realised they've bought two things of the same seller and I will send together but not automatically discount the postage without them asking. if they only realised when they received the goods together and then asked for a discount then I would probably give it, in order to save my stars, but I'm not going to discount automatically if the buyer isn't bothered.

MyOnlyPost

an9i77 wrote: »

I have an 'if you don't ask you don't get' policy - if someone wins two or more items, I will combine postage if they ask me. if they don't ask me, I assume they're not bothered or perhaps have not even realised they've bought two things of the same seller and I will send together but not automatically discount the postage without them asking. if they only realised when they received the goods together and then asked for a discount then I would probably give it, in order to save my stars, but I'm not going to discount automatically if the buyer isn't bothered.

As I mentioned above, every seller has a different opinion as to what is right or wrong, and I won't question yours.

I just wanted to make sure you are aware it only takes 3 low stars in any category (p&p charges) before eBay may start placing restrictions on your account. Sometimes the overcharge can be £2-3 when not combining and there are many on this forum who would mark you down for that, with no warning.

lovinituk

MyOnlyPost wrote: »

I just wanted to make sure you are aware it only takes 3 low stars in any category (p&p charges) before eBay may start placing restrictions on your account

It's not as cut and dry as that, it depends on volume of sales. Higher volume sellers can absorb more than 3 low stars whilst still being well within the acceptable percentage and not even risk losing TRS, let alone be anywhere near restrictions.

CelticStar

Thanks everyone for your input and for all the interesting ideas and opinions - particularly those which are practically helpful. I am primarily a buyer - I haven't sold enough yet to merit DSRs so this is all new to me.

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!!!

Firstly, you have just assumed that I was asked 'politely', this is not always the case I can assure you! Secondly, as I mentioned in my listing, I bought specific packaging materials and it was actually really inconvenient for me to bundle the items together - which is why I never offered this in my listing, it has nothing whatsoever to do with making huge profits on P&P. I would honestly rather have sold to separate buyers. As a buyer I always read listings to see whether a seller combines postage since the option is there for them to do so, so if they haven't then I mainly assume they choose not to, for whatever reason. Listing details are there for a reason after all! Sometimes I will ask about combining before bidding just to make sure but I wouldn't just buy something and assume they will combine because it suits me, I don't have that great a sense of entitlement.

From a seller's point of view I feel that when somebody requests combined postage after they have bid on your item then you feel obligated to provide them with that request because they are already a buyer and if you refuse they will leave you neutral or negative feedback and/or mark down your DSRs, in effect, your right to refuse to combine has already been taken away by the fact they have bought your item.

Anyway, I rarely sell (though I buy a lot) so all of this is mainly academic to me but I was surprised by this as I have never come across it before and it is interesting to get other people's points of view on it.