Postage - Do I refund?

HelenDaveKids

Relatively new at posting stuff and have been busy weighing and calculating.

Made a few early under estimating errors but live and learn so now round up to the nearest pound, then if I do make an error it equals itself out.

just sold a game, quite heavy so £9.80 postage, put in listing that happy for buyer to collect as postage high, sold and postage has come to £5.30 (yes, In know, seriously rubbish at it). What do I do? Refund all difference? Refund some? Keep? Item sold for 99p and was a used once very nice game.

Thanks

redfragglebiker

I would partially refund the postage myself. Don't forget to add a very SMALL amount to cover the cost of any packaging you used. If the postage came to £5.30 I would charge £6.00 MAX and refund the difference

Crowqueen

If the postage came to £5.30 I would charge £6.00 MAX and refund the difference

70p for packing is pushing it tbh. I used to charge 50p or so but I could not get away with that nowadays. The max I would ever charge would be the cost of the envelope, but that is about 15p for me, and I don't even add that on.

Best thing to do going forward is make sure you know what it costs to post before you list it, charge packaging costs to the start price. NEVER guesstimate. Not only are you having to refund excess, there is a chance the buyer will not know they have been refunded unless they regularly check their Paypal account (which not many people who don't sell do) and they will still rate you on what you put in your listing.

It's really a no-brainer, once you have done it a couple of times, to calculate accurately and only charge a matter of a few pence for postage. If you can source packaging cheaply then so much the better, but people keep a very strict eye on it.

Obviously any significant overcharge of much more than a pound must be refunded.

redfragglebiker

Crowqueen wrote: »

If the postage came to £5.30 I would charge £6.00 MAX and refund the difference

70p for packing is pushing it tbh. I used to charge 50p or so but I could not get away with that nowadays. The max I would ever charge would be the cost of the envelope, but that is about 15p for me, and I don't even add that on.

Best thing to do going forward is make sure you know what it costs to post before you list it, charge packaging costs to the start price. NEVER guesstimate. Not only are you having to refund excess, there is a chance the buyer will not know they have been refunded unless they regularly check their Paypal account (which not many people who don't sell do) and they will still rate you on what you put in your listing.

It's really a no-brainer, once you have done it a couple of times, to calculate accurately and only charge a matter of a few pence for postage. If you can source packaging cheaply then so much the better, but people keep a very strict eye on it.

Obviously any significant overcharge of much more than a pound must be refunded.

Excellent advice - I will admit to not being the hottest on the board at eBay and the £6.00 was supposed to be an absolute extreme maximum amount that I would have thought anyone would have charged for a £5.30 postage.
Sorry if I got it wrong
*hangs head in shame and wombles off in search of rolo biscuits*

soolin

I don't think £6 for a £5.30 stamp price is too bad- it would still warrant a 5* from me. Postage is always a gamble though.

HelenDaveKids

Have refunded, didn't like feeling of cheating buyer, as thats not me.

I do measure so not quite sure why im so bad!

Thanks Everyone - also messaged buyer.

Thanks

repeatoffender

If I overestimate I email the buyer and ask them if they would like me to refund to paypal. Some buyers say yes for a £1 but others have said no that the total price is what they were willing to pay. I do think you should try harder with prices as you may have received more bids with a correct postage estimate as personally I would not bid on an item with unreasonably high postage.

Crowqueen

soolin wrote: »

I don't think £6 for a £5.30 stamp price is too bad- it would still warrant a 5* from me. Postage is always a gamble though.

Unfortunately it's always a bit difficult to rely on what you yourself would do. I agree, I wouldn't quibble over 70p, but if I'm only spending 15p on a padded envelope it seems nonsensical to overcharge.

starrybee

repeatoffender wrote: »

I do think you should try harder with prices as you may have received more bids with a correct postage estimate as personally I would not bid on an item with unreasonably high postage.

Agree with this - if you had put it at 99p with £5 postage you may have had bids up to £5, making the product price exactly the same (£10)...only you wouldn't have to refund £4 of it back! (Obviously my maths isn't entirely accurate, hopefully you see what I mean). It takes no time at all to weigh an item and check the price on the website and it really is worth doing.

seashore22

I've just had my first postage refund from a seller on Ebay and I buy alot on there.

The item sold at the starting price and I thought the postage amount was very reasonable, so a bit surprised really. It was a lovely gesture and I sent an appreciative message back.

Unlike some people I've very rarely had a bad experience on Ebay, but thought that it was a lovely thing for the seller to do.

BargainJunky

I would refund the extra postage. Yesterday I sold two items to the same buyer and they paid postage on both. As both items went under the one payment I refunded the difference and got a lovely email from the buyer. On the other hand I underestimated one parcel (think I put on too much bubble wrap and tape) and took a hit on an additional £1.30.