E Bay Postage - what is reasonable?

Taadaa

When I sell on eBay I get the kitchen scales out, weigh the item and use the postage estimation tool eBay provide. It would seem there are plenty of sellers that don't, however.

I have bought three items in the past week, and all of them have overestimated postage. The first item was by 80p; I remarked on it in the fb and p&p DSR but decided to let it slide.

Today I have received two items where I was over charged on each item by nearly 2 quid. I'm inclined to contact the sellers do I have any official backing from eBay here, or is it at seller's discretion? Obviously I can reflect my dissatisfaction in the p&p DSRs but I want to do a bit more than this. Any thoughts?

mazza111

It's not just the postage costs you are charged for, but the packing too. Sorry, but I find this a bit pointless, you knew what you were going to pay for postage before you bid. Price + p&p = what your happy to pay. You are quite within your rights to mark them low on DSR of course

Taadaa

The packaging in both cases was not 2 pounds' worth - carrier bags taped up. Yes I looked at the postage costs but not knowing the weight of the item I could not tell what was reasonable.

I'm sorry you find my post pointless, perhaps you should go and find a non-pointless post to respond to and leave someone else to actually answer my question.

RFW

It's always worth contacting the seller and politely asking if they may have made a mistake. I've never been happy with anyone attempting to avoid fees or bumping up profits on postage, as a seller it's a false economy anyway (unless it's a one off sale and even then it puts customers off).

Any customer has a right to be annoyed about anything they like, can't say they're always right though, but can see why you'd be annoyed in being overcharged.

sam.4000

Taadaa wrote: »

The packaging in both cases was not 2 pounds' worth - carrier bags taped up. Yes I looked at the postage costs but not knowing the weight of the item I could not tell what was reasonable.

It annoys me too, probably because I only charge actual postage cost and I package my items well (and pay for it). As a buyer I can accept a reasonable amount added to cover packaging but hate it when I'm charged way over the odds for packaging, their petrol costs and labour and anything else they add. I understand that I have agreed to the packaging charges when I buy an item but how am I to know what it is going to cost them till I receive it.

macfly

"I want to do a bit more than this"? What, thrash them within an inch of their lives?

mazza111

Taadaa wrote: »

The packaging in both cases was not 2 pounds' worth - carrier bags taped up. Yes I looked at the postage costs but not knowing the weight of the item I could not tell what was reasonable.

I'm sorry you find my post pointless, perhaps you should go and find a non-pointless post to respond to and leave someone else to actually answer my question.

Don't post on a public forum then. Just because I don't agree with you doesn't make you right and me wrong or vice versa. When you look at an item on ebay or any other auction site, you look at the whole price and decide if it's a good buy or not.

Personally, I only charge for postage (occasional seller) and still people mark you down on DSRs for postage. Which I THINK is pointless, if you're selling a few things you can't address what you're being marked down on. You're the one who agreed the price before bidding on the items. Whether it's over the odds or not is beside the point, YOU agreed to the postage.

soolin

mazza111 wrote: »

Don't post on a public forum then. Just because I don't agree with you doesn't make you right and me wrong or vice versa. When you look at an item on ebay or any other auction site, you look at the whole price and decide if it's a good buy or not.

Personally, I only charge for postage (occasional seller) and still people mark you down on DSRs for postage. Which I THINK is pointless, if you're selling a few things you can't address what you're being marked down on. You're the one who agreed the price before bidding on the items. Whether it's over the odds or not is beside the point, YOU agreed to the postage.

This is an argument that we often have on here and unless eBay uk go the same way as eBay com and show packed weights on items in some categories buyers can not know in advance whether postage is good or not.

I don't have much issue with a bit extra and tend to leave 5* as a default. However when sellers start taking the mickey I do hit the stars .

Obviously_the_best

May I just point out that complaining about being overcharged by 80p is quite frankly pathetic. Business sellers have a right to charge for the time it takes to wrap your item, it's clearly stated on eBay that you may add a modest handling charge, I'd say 80p or even £2 was modest, they might have had to make a 2 hour trip to the Post Office for all you know, and if you don't believe me I've copy and pasted eBay's policy below:

durham_girl

What a lot of people also forget is that paypal fees are also charged on the P&P costs too. Fair enough it's only 3.4% IIRC but there are buyers who complain of they get charged 10p over the actual stamp cost. If the P&P is quite hefty it can make a difference though.

RFW

As Soolin says this comes up quite often, just because Ebay 'allow' extra to be charged doesn't meant a customer has to be pleased to pay it.

A seller will incur costs, they should be passed on to the buyer in such a way that they will not be hacked off about it. It isn't the buyer's fault if they pick a seller who lives 20 miles from the nearest post office and have a car that does 2 miles to the gallon or prefer to be chauffeur driven to a post box.

If a buyer looks as though they are ripping people off or just taking the mick then they shouldn't be surprised if they get hammered with low DSRs and don't get any repeat customers. Treat buyers with respect, or at least make it look like you do!