Sick of being accused of Postage Rip Off

Tojo_Ralph

PASCALI wrote:

carpbud

You knew the p&p was £6.99, you received the product safely and presumably in a timely manner, whats your problem ?

Personally, I would say that this one would come down to whether or not I felt the packaging was adequate.

carpbud

far from it. I mean, how can you charge someone £3 extra for something taped in a bag?

If it had been boxed, or alot of effort was put into it, then yes, but it def wasnt!!

What annoyed us was the guys attitude. He blamed us, said we knew what the postage was, we shouldnt of bid, but what we were annoyed about was he charged us over double the amount.

patchwork_cat

E bay do put somewhere postage packing and handling fees.
I am also fed up with people going on about the level of p+p.
I am upfront about the cost. if you don't like it don't bid!
If you had seen the queues in our post office and dealt with the stroppy looks from staff and public you wouldn't balk at paying £10 let alone 10p for the hassle.

flea72

i think the prob is people do see ebay as a money making scheme/business, whereas usually auctions are a way of getting rid of stuff you no longer want, for the best price you can achieve

to include associated fees in a sale, isnt what auctions are about - thats what reservce prices are for, to stop the item selling for less, than what you think it is worth - to try and use the p&p as a way to recoup any possible loss, isnt right

i dont mind people rounding up their p&p, but to blatantly add on a £ or 2, to cover petrol, time, shoe leather, parking, electricity, in all affects, business overheads, then i dont agree with it

if i can afford to send parcels at cost, then why cant others - it doesnt really take that much effort to get to a PO, and send something off - and if you are doing it big time, then those extra £s here and there off every customer add up - 100 customers all paying £1 over the odds for postage really mounts up

Hintza

Wow ...well that has certainly sparked a discussion!!


Personally I have set my P+P rate to reflect what the market in general charges less 5p. If many sell for 99p then I lose money so I want to cover myself.


I generally feel that it is the all in price you should look at (a little EBay fee avoidance is no bad thing). Ifeel too many people get too worked up about this (but then I would).

smiler1_1

surely its the total price that counts
if you buy an item for £3.00, does it really matter that you bid £1.00 and paid £2.00 for delivery?
Would it be better if you paid £2.00 for the item and only £1.00 for P&P?
I think its reasonable to include the fees in the P&P cost because ebay take less of a cut that way, the seller makes a little more money and the buyer presumably is happy at the price they paid otherwise they wouldnt have bid that amt in the first place.

Poppy9

If the tax man is looking at Ebay to spot traders he only needs to look at the P&P charges levied. If you are seeking to recover costs in excess of the actual cost of the stamp and envelope then you are trading. When you start adding in a charge for your time, use of your vehicle, printing etc. you are trading as a business. Not only does this mean you are liable to tax on the profit you make you have to fill in a self assessment tax form showing your turnover, cost of sales, overheads and net profit. Also trading and using your car and home for business use affects your car and house insurance. If you have SDP and commuting it does not cover transporting goods you are selling and recovering some/all of those transport costs. If you use your home for business purposes you must tell your home insurer (as any small trader will tell you).

If you are trading (and it sounds like you are as you say you are generating a lot of complaints so must be selling a fair bit) then you should like any business factor in your overheads to your cost price. P&P should reflect just the actual postage cost. Cost of packaging be it an envelope or box and the value of the postage paid.

simonjfisher

I always list my auctions with P&P included to the UK. I also advertise this in the title of the auction. Since commencing this I get loads more bids than previously. It makes it easier for the buyer to know the price they will actually pay. But I do agree with those who say the final price is all that matters!

payless

Poppy9 wrote:

If the tax man is looking at Ebay to spot traders he only needs to look at the P&P charges levied. If you are seeking to recover costs in excess of the actual cost of the stamp and envelope then you are trading. When you start adding in a charge for your time, use of your vehicle, printing etc. you are trading as a business. Not only does this mean you are liable to tax on the profit you make you have to fill in a self assessment tax form showing your turnover, cost of sales, overheads and net profit. Also trading and using your car and home for business use affects your car and house insurance. If you have SDP and commuting it does not cover transporting goods you are selling and recovering some/all of those transport costs. If you use your home for business purposes you must tell your home insurer (as any small trader will tell you).

If you are trading (and it sounds like you are as you say you are generating a lot of complaints so must be selling a fair bit) then you should like any business factor in your overheads to your cost price. P&P should reflect just the actual postage cost. Cost of packaging be it an envelope or box and the value of the postage paid.

first bit - exactly my thoughts- but got lost in the middle of earlier replies
BUT
charge what you like for postage/handling - if you are declaring the profits as a trader

Munki_2

simonjfisher wrote:

I always list my auctions with P&P included to the UK. I also advertise this in the title of the auction. Since commencing this I get loads more bids than previously. It makes it easier for the buyer to know the price they will actually pay. But I do agree with those who say the final price is all that matters!

That's exactly the way I find it... seriously reduce the P&P charges, or even offer free P&P like yourself, and I find it attracts a lot more bidders.