unfair postage cost.

silkyuk9

hi.

i bought a book from a seller on ebay. here is the item number 300085435402.

the book came no problems but the cost was around 80p postage the seller charged me £3-99.

i gave a neutral feedback and the seller put a reply on it, he says that extra cost was for ebay fees. Is that allowed.

my item came in a paper envelope so i was a little miffed at the £3-99 postage cost, but i wouldnt complain as the item came but i did not think it warrented a glowing feedback report, i thought a neutral one was good enough. but his reply as made me a little angry because i thought this was not allowed, inflating prices to cover costs.

What do you folks think?

smashed

Covered 1000 times.
Some people get miffed when the charge was more than the actual cost. Understandable.

However, when you buy, you do a simple equation... postage + price = price you pay. If you are happy with it, you buy it. If you receive it, then transaction complete, and leave positive.

Sellers do it to avoid ebay fees, and to cover cost of petrol to post office , jiffy bag etc.

Put it this way, if he had made postage 80p, the winning bid (or fixed price) would have been £3 more anyway

Moglex

Technically, it's fee avoidance and there is also the problem that if there is a problem with the item you will not get the P&P back.

However, only fleabay can really police this and they seem disinclined to do so with any vigour.

The only thing you can do is avoid sellers who indulge in this practice if it annoys you sufficiently.

silkyuk9

smashed wrote:

Covered 1000 times.
Some people get miffed when the charge was more than the actual cost. Understandable.

However, when you buy, you do a simple equation... postage + price = price you pay. If you are happy with it, you buy it. If you receive it, then transaction complete, and leave positive.

Sellers do it to avoid ebay fees, and to cover cost of petrol to post office , jiffy bag etc.

Put it this way, if he had made postage 80p, the winning bid (or fixed price) would have been £3 more anyway

i am happy with the item i just think its a liberty to state that in a feedback reply.

TokochickUK

when you bid on the item you see the prices you will pay. If you dont like the price. go elsewhere, simple .

frivolous_fay

silkyuk9 wrote:

i am happy with the item i just think its a liberty to state that in a feedback reply.

I agree, that's stupidity of the highest order.

I tend to find ebay are a little less sluggish when investigating fee avoidance reports - after all, they're the ones that actually lose them money.

Seeing as he's put his cards so firmly on the table - I'd report him... but in future, don't pay postage fees if you think they're excessive.

SPARKY16

I have just returned from the post office after posting 2 items the postage was double what i expected it to be so i have sent each person a postal order for the over charge
so i agree with you the charge should cover postage and packing only and i always think i would not like it done to me so wrong or right i feel better :j

smashed

I understand your view, and I used to hate it too. Even now my P&P is fair.

But, you can estimate the true cost before you buy, so you should be aware of the possible overcharge before you buy.

I wouldnt touch real OTT charges. Also worth remembering, that you may lose out if you need a refund , and you only get back the item price 99p, and lose £4 postage.

Baby_J_2

It's annoying, I know and has happened to me on a few occasions but never had a seller do anything about it. I guess it is the old scenerio of you were willing to pay that price. Grrrr...stupid sellers.

eyelinerprincess

If you're willing to pay the price, then that's up to you.

As Smashed said, P&P covers postage, packaging, and any other costs incurred.

HOWEVER, it shouldn't be used to cover Ebay and Paypal fees.

quietheart

I think the seller was a bit daft to say that as it's clearly against the rules. However, the postage cost was clear in advance so I don't think it's too excessive.
If I was unhappy in that situation I wouldn't have left feedback, I personally couldn't justify a neutral as I had accepted the postal charge shown.
What upsets me is people charging £25+ postage on items that would cost less than a fiver. There's the ones Ebay should be stopping.