unfair postage cost.

miss_cheivous

sorry i havent read through all this thread so dont know if this has already been covered...

I sell on ebay. my postage & packaging prices include:
1. The cost of the postage.
2. A small extra to cover for the packaging materials
and 3. A small extra as I have to get either a bus or taxi to my post office to post them.

Postage costs arent just simple the cost of the postage. It does state on ebay that sellers may charge extra to cover packaging costs etc.

appleblossom

I think the whole point of the post was that the OP was stating that the seller has told him the reason the postage was so high was because he was covering his ebay fees which is NOT allowed. I sell a reasonable amount on ebay, all my packaging is new (jiffy bags,boxes,tissue paper,recycle bubble wrap though), I buy document wallets, I print off a packing slip, and it is all securely wrapped in brown tape, but, I place a big order with a packaging company, know how many items I can post ie 50 boxes and 50 jiffys, then divide the cost by eg 100 and thats the packing I charge on each item. I don't charge petrol but I have to drive approx 4 miles to the post office, I go if I have 1 or 10 parcels to post as I specify I will post day after payment is made. I have never touchwood had a complaint about excessive postage, but have recently started selling all on BIN with free p&p so it's all covered. I also don't look anymore to see how much I have been charged when I receive an item!!, yes, I agree as did the OP to a postage charge, but I feel when something is wrapped correctly etc, it's justified paying more then the cost of the stamp, when no effort is made, it's not, and when ebay fees are paid by the buyer, it certainly is not.Thats my 2penneth anyway!.

motorguy

Ok, lets look at it another way. say a seller survives on ebay making £2 profit an item. below which he will go under and its not worth his while. He does that by selling the item at cost price, £2, making £2 profit in the postage, £1 in fees and £1 to post it.

if he charges £2 for the item and £4 for postage and uses the extra in the postage to include his costs, then he can sell the item overall for £6. Great you can buy the item for £6, the seller makes his £2 profit, buyer and seller happy.

Lets say then enough people whinge and the postal pricing system is changed so that people can feel righteous about how much postage they've paid and ebay get all their fees.

Thus he has two choices, sell the item at £6 and £1 postage, so that he gets is £2 cost price for his item, his £2 profit and ebay get their extra £1 in fees totalling £2, and £1 to post it. He is made to list that at £6 for them item and £1 for the postage and thus charge £7 overall. thus buyer pays more.

Therefore buyer loses OR he can try to sell the item at an overall price of £6 - £5 + £1 postage, it not be worth his while, so he stops selling. thus seller goes out of business and buyer cant buy the item at £6 anyway.

motorguy

julieblake wrote:

and when ebay fees are paid by the buyer

QUOTE]

ebay fees are paid by the seller, on item sale price.

Mark7799

SPARKY16 wrote:

i dont think that is the point if you see an item and the postage says £3.99 p&p than it comes with 80p worth of stamps on it and in a plain envelope you have every right to complain you have been overcharged you usually think the seller has worked it out about right

But you have not been overcharged in this example. The listing said £3.99 P&P and that is what you were charged. If you don't want to pay that price then don't bid on the item.

If the listing had said £1 P&P and the buyer e-mailed you afterwards saying the actual P&P was £3 then THAT would be over-charging.

Blacksheep1979

You could say you are being overcharged by the post office as well, as I doubt it costs them £10 to send that big parcel... But you agree to the cost beforehand.

ianfao

Is anyone else getting dizzy going round and round in circles?

weaver

I buy and sell on ebay

When I buy I take p&p charges into account when I place my bid - if they are high I dont bother.
When I sell I try and cover the "post" costs and use recyled jiffy bags etc. Ive found keeping postage reasonable gets more bids as most people calculate the price they want to pay including p&p.

If you dont like the total price including p&P dont bid - end of story.

Just something to consider - if you buy at any normal auction (i.e one you visit,not internet based ) you get charged "buyers fees" these can be anything upto 15% depending on the auction house involved, and type of auction, you also pay VAT on the auctioneers fees.

grayme-m

weaver wrote:

If you dont like the total price including p&P dont bid - end of story.

When I buy I look at the P&P as part of the cost (and when the wife says she has a bargin, I insist that she tells me the total cost of said item rather than just the bid price).

What happens though is that you do tend to look at the item and consider the postage will match the item:

- a second hand t-shirt, postage up to £2.50 - I can see what the seller is doing and expect 1st or 2nd class.

- new bit of technical equipment, (say £20 or more), postage £6.95, that looks like it is Special Delivery?

It is easier when the method of postage is listed, but often the seller just has 'seller's standard rate/method' (or whatever) so you don't know.

I've bought memory cards for pence and paid pounds for delivery but I knew the game and went with it (cheaper price for me as less fees for the seller); it is when they hide it and you build up false expectations you will get issues.

appleblossom

pgilc1 wrote:

julieblake wrote:

and when ebay fees are paid by the buyer

QUOTE]

ebay fees are paid by the seller, on item sale price.

I am well aware that ebay fees SHOULD be paid by the seller, but in this case, the seller has advised the buyer that the reason for the high postage cost is to cover the ebay fees, therefore the buyer has paid for them - this is fee avoidance which is why the OP has been advised to report him, if you re-read my post, you will see the context in which it was written.