What happens if...

kiss_me_now9

an item on ebay sells for less than the postage cost of it?

I've got a few TV boxsets up on ebay ending in the next few hours and it's looking like one or two of them will go for their starting price of 99p (I know, probably too low but all the others started for that and are now at about £8 - hit or miss I guess) as they have one bid and one watcher. eBay wouldn't let me put postage over £2 in so if no-one else bids they'll both sell for under £3. I think the cheapest postage I can get for them is at least £3.50.

I'm guessing I just have to stump up the cash, right?

hermum

Yes, you're always better off starting at the least you're happy to sell for, especially in the categories that have capped postage.

starrybee

Yup, pretty much.

Next time you should take advantage of free listing weekends so you can do a higher start price

soolin

kiss_me_now9 wrote: »

an item on ebay sells for less than the postage cost of it?

I've got a few TV boxsets up on ebay ending in the next few hours and it's looking like one or two of them will go for their starting price of 99p (I know, probably too low but all the others started for that and are now at about £8 - hit or miss I guess) as they have one bid and one watcher. eBay wouldn't let me put postage over £2 in so if no-one else bids they'll both sell for under £3. I think the cheapest postage I can get for them is at least £3.50.

I'm guessing I just have to stump up the cash, right?

Yes that's right, you chose to,list at 99p and must sell at that price if the bidding goes no further. You can send up to 750g though 2nd class for £2.20 or if you stated 1st class £2.70

The extra postage should always be incorporAted into start price if the capped postage is insufficient to post the item under no circumstances ask the buyer for more.

It is usual though for people to bid at the last moment, so it is likely that you will get further bids before items end

kiss_me_now9

starrybee wrote: »

Yup, pretty much.

Next time you should take advantage of free listing weekends so you can do a higher start price

I did, hence why so much got put on...

Gah. Looks like I'm going to be sending £60 worth of DVDs out for about £15.

Crowqueen

Most sites cap postage at that sort of level - Amazon and Play both restrict what sellers can charge.

In my experience, though, as both buyer and seller, box sets of even rather elderly series do go for good prices. I've just tried to replace a damaged copy of one of the Drop the Dead Donkey series, and although they come in normal-sized DVD cases (you can get a lot of half-hour episodes on a single disc) they are still selling for £7-£10 on Amazon (bought it for £4 on eBay though).

Most bids come in at the last minute so don't panic right now. Matching the new price is unrealistic but you should get good prices for fairly decent stuff. Sold Bramwell for £20 and Law and Order UK for £5 recently on Amazon.

techspec

Down to you im afraid - thats the risk you take when avoiding the listing fee.

But many bids are made at the last minute - so you may be ok.

kiss_me_now9

Hopefully, I listed them mainly as I haven't watched them in years and they were just cluttering up my room - so to get rid of them is a good thing, right?!

apollard

Been stung with this on a couple of listings today, only have myself to blame really, was a little naive about the whole thing, was the first time I'd ever listed anything on eBay. I'll learn though!

kiss_me_now9

apollard wrote: »

Been stung with this on a couple of listings today, only have myself to blame really, was a little naive about the whole thing, was the first time I'd ever listed anything on eBay. I'll learn though!

In the past everything's either sold for a decent price or not sold at all, so like you it was out of naievity really!

Now one of the bidders is asking for combined postage, what do I do about this? Am I allowed to charge a little more than the £2 that ebay set me? Or do I just charge the same as I would for one item?

hermum

Weigh the 2 together & see if it's cheaper then send them a combined invoice.