Do you expect combined postage if buying more than one item?

mrs_sparrow

I will often buy 3-4 items from the same seller. A couple of reasons - one being that usually if someone is selling something in x size that you like, chances are they will have something else that you like, the other being that with postage minimum being 750g for a small packet you can usually get 3-4 items in the one parcel (more if it is kids stuff) and it *should* not cost any more. I always do this anyway as it is an incentive to sell more to people.

This week I bought 2 items and got a 'final notice' type message from the seller (it was just 3 days) so I replied saying 'I was waiting for the invoice to be combined as it's only going to cost you £2.20 to send but I can see it's not coming so I will pay now' and did.

I then got a reply that said

'Hi..am really sorry as didn't realise you would have wanted a reduced postage due to the items being won for such a small amount. I know I said I would reduce it if purchasing 3 items not 2..
I will post your parcel first thing in the morning.'

Bit miffed to be honest, I bid, I won them at the start price and I did send 2 requests for combined postage but I never got anything back. I've been back through my messages as I thought I might have missed something and she never told me this as my question was different and no postage was mentioned.

Is it unreasonable to expect combined postage these days? I can understand if going from LL to SP it may cost more but this was 2 package rates quoted so now I have to pay double the postage. What would you do about stars for postage price? I personally, expect it - but should I?

PS. too late but I wish I had paid separately so she got charged 2 lots of PP fees!!

kev225

I'd expect a reduction, for exactly the reasons you've highlighted.

You've done them a favour in buying several items and bidding higher than other buyers, they should not then make a tidy profit by combining postage but not passing on the benefits.

I bought 4 items yesterday where on the listing it said 'will reduce postage when buying more than one item'. I sent him an email asking for a revised invoice, no reply as yet. I had sent him two emails the week previous to enquire about these reductions, no reply to those either despite him being online listing more items.

If the reduction doesn't materialise then:
1. Pay for each item separately to maximise the Paypal fees.
2. Different delivery address for each item.
3. One star for delivery costs and negative feedback.

Some people may say I'm being harsh but I really have no time for shamelessly dishonest sellers.

Strapped

kev225 wrote: »

I'd expect a reduction, for exactly the reasons you've highlighted.

You've done them a favour in buying several items and bidding higher than other buyers, they should not then make a tidy profit by combining postage but not passing on the benefits.

I bought 4 items yesterday where on the listing it said 'will reduce postage when buying more than one item'. I sent him an email asking for a revised invoice, no reply as yet. I had sent him two emails the week previous to enquire about these reductions, no reply to those either despite him being online listing more items.

If the reduction doesn't materialise then:
1. Pay for each item separately to maximise the Paypal fees.
2. Different delivery address for each item.
3. One star for delivery costs and negative feedback.

Some people may say I'm being harsh but I really have no time for shamelessly dishonest sellers.

I would not have bought from them then, tbh.

Mindless_Clone

To be fair to a seller, unless they specify combined costs, I would not automatically expect them and, while I might ask, I would not dream of marking them down for refusing.

But I would expect all business sellers to offer combined costs.

Private sellers like me are a bit different. Morally, when I sell stuff, I don't expect to profit on the P&P, so charge what it costs me to post. If it's +/- up to 50p then I'll keep it to cover packaging costs as well (although I recycle stuff I do still have to tape and label it) but if it's more than that - or the buyer has bought more than one item and it costs the same to post as if they bought just one - I'd feel morally obliged to refund them the difference.

I just had a seller refund me £2 for overpaid postage (I didn't realise she combined and I didn't wait for the invoice). Very honest of them as they could easily have kept it, particularly when the postage almost certainly cost what they charged anyway. I've already left feedback but will add a note to it now to thank them publicly.

Crowqueen

I've marked people down - by one star, to 4 - for not combining postage.

I didn't ask, but I was surprised not to get a combined invoice. The item arrived in an ordinary envelope with no stiffening, costing 79p when I paid £2.25. It was such a trivial amount that I left a 4 - that is why there is a 5-point scale, to show mild displeasure while still allowing the seller to notice a slight downward trend and raise their game. A low would be inappropriate in those circumstances because although it's more than double, it still doesn't come into the range of extortionate postage.

But I don't want to waste my time chasing them up for that sort of money. It's in their hands. Mild displeasure won't send anyone out of business, but it may make them think about what they are doing a little bit more. That's what DSRs are for.

The seller later got stroppy on their listings claiming that postage was more expensive because they lived in the Channel Islands - but they definitely overcharged, and by double too - it wasn't just postage costs which I wouldn't mark down for.

I'd usually make contact if there was a significant issue, and I usually look for combined postage rates. Sellers who sell stamps though usually combine as it is pretty bad to charge buyers a pound for each separate item they are selling and I therefore always look for people who have definite policies and definitely use the way eBay allow to automate it. I've been burned once by waiting on a combined invoice, even when it was advertised, so I look before I leap most times.

I wouldn't go around assuming sellers should combine. I have a right to mark down slightly for postage costs which I think are problematic, but if they were totally ridiculous or didn't combine as a rule I would ask before and I wouldn't bid. I wouldn't savage someone for anything other than a really egregious overcharge on a single item.

I always do combine myself though. No point in annoying the people who pay for my items.

Crowqueen

If it's +/- up to 50p then I'll keep it to cover packaging costs as well (although I recycle stuff I do still have to tape and label it)

Tape and label doesn't cost 50p per item. If you recycle packaging, I think it's better to charge stamp cost only.

the-mango

I woud like combined postage if I'm buying more than 1 item but I always ask, I don't expect. If i don't like it I don't buy.

Mindless_Clone

Crowqueen wrote: »

If it's +/- up to 50p then I'll keep it to cover packaging costs as well (although I recycle stuff I do still have to tape and label it)

Tape and label doesn't cost 50p per item. If you recycle packaging, I think it's better to charge stamp cost only.

No but you're being literal and I was using them as examples of other costs... there's a lot other things I use that I have bought - brown paper, tissue paper, bubble wrap etc. etc.
The point is, I may use recyclable packaging where possible, but I do still have an expense to lay out when parcelling up an item. As a general rule, I will do my research, weigh the item as best as possible on my crappy home kitchen scales, and try and ensure I charge for postage only and absorb any cost of the packaging... but I'm not a business, I am a private person who occasionally sells. I don't get it right all the time and I consider if I am out by +/- up to 50p, that's a good guess. Rightly or wrongly, I assume most buyers will have the sense to realise I'm not a business and that P&P includes packaging as well as a stamp.
If someone wants to make my stars down for perceived "ripping them off" to the tune of 30p to 50p, they can carry right on AFAIC.

scotgirl2

just to point out P & P on ebay, usually isnt just the actual postage on the stamp, you have cost of the packaging itself, like the parcel paper/jiffy bag etc, and going to the post office to arrange it to be sent... just saying...

prowla

It depends.

Some things may be packaged to a certain size and it won't be any cheaper to combine them.

Others (eg. CDs) can easily be combined.

chancesare_2

scotgirl2 wrote: »

just to point out P & P on ebay, usually isnt just the actual postage on the stamp, you have cost of the packaging itself, like the parcel paper/jiffy bag etc, and going to the post office to arrange it to be sent... just saying...

And the latte on the way. Perhaps too the parking fine because they "just nipped in and didn't buy a ticket"?

Postage and packaging is just that. Not the shoe leather, car tyre wear or anything else.