Postage - Do I refund?

plumface

seashore22 wrote: »

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.

You must be the exception then!;)
Of all the countless 'excess postage refunds' i have done,never 1 thankyou!

markwilkinson

I have refunded excessive postage in the past. I did it twice in my most recent batch of selling personal stuff. I sent both buyers a message after posting to tell them what the item cost to post, what I had overcharged and therefore what I had refunded. Got an appreciative message back from one. Not a word from the other and no feedback left for the transaction. Seems you just can please some people!

seashore22

plumface wrote: »

You must be the exception then!;)
Of all the countless 'excess postage refunds' i have done,never 1 thankyou!

I think you must be right. I don't sell on Ebay, but do sell on a craft website. Estimating combined postage can be tricky and I've sometimes had to refund excess postage. Like you, I've never received a thank you, but makes me feel better.

Takeaway_Addict

I wouldn't refund.

The buyer knows the total they are paying for the item, if they didn't want to pay then they didn't have to. Plus you win some you lose some

I am not a major seller so not bothered about the stars.

booter

I always refund excess postage. I've had some lovely thankyou messages too - but then again, I've also been marked 4 stars on postage by a couple I've refunded! :wall: Oh well

soolin

Takeaway_Addict wrote: »

I wouldn't refund.

The buyer knows the total they are paying for the item, if they didn't want to pay then they didn't have to. Plus you win some you lose some

I am not a major seller so not bothered about the stars.

You are a seller that really needs to watch their stars as small sellers are at a huge risk of suspension with stars as they don't have enough to keep the percentage up. Being a small seller means you should be watching your expanded dashboard like a hawk.

Crowqueen

Win some, lose some may work for you but it doesn't work for the buyer who was overcharged by £6 when they don't get the benefit of that money.

If it wasn't free money - e.g. if you paid fees on it as people do on the US site - I think many people here would feel differently about it, and suggest people kept postage costs to an absolute minimum because eBay get their grubby hands on a % etc. Fleecing buyers who would probably avoid you like the plague next time, not to mention leave you poor feedback, doesn't seem to come into it, but like it or not, those are the people paying for your item, so perhaps they deserve just a little bit more respect than they are often given.

HelenDaveKids

I dont think anyone was talking about fleecing buyers. Thats not what my thread is asking. I clearly state what I expect postage to be, and if it works out as more (and it has done), I just take it on the chin. However sometimes it goes wrong, however clearly the buyer has factored in the postage when they bid (unless they dont read the listing, in which case I have no sympathy) My question was purely what you do then, not rubbing hands in glee cos Ive got another poor poor buyer.
Also think its worth noting that Im a buyer too.

I did refund and the lady sent a lovely thank you email. Thanks everyone for your advice, its extremely helpful when you get such great support in what was unchartered territory.

Crowqueen

I wasn't referring to you - there's a few people here who think it's OK to charge buyers what they want to charge them and forget that to sell successfully they have to actually please the people paying.

You were wanting to do the right thing - but the way this discussion usually develops, people end up trying to justify all kinds of things, where the right way is to be able to get it right for the people footing the bill. It's no longer a case that a seller can do what they please and someone will buy from them and put up with it. To make something attractive you have to actually go out of your way to do the right thing by someone else. If you ask someone to pay you to mow their lawn, for instance, you wouldn't go out there and make a half-assed effort and leave the mower out in the rain and then go and ask for more because you failed to put on your anorak and it was a bit cold. You'd give the best service you could in order to make someone happy. You also do the same at work, where you could get disciplined and/or fired for not making your boss absolutely happy.

So why some people approach eBay thinking that the opinions that matter least are the people who are paying for the items is pretty odd.

Sit down and think about how you buy - you look for the best deal around. So apply that to how you sell - and you will prosper moreso than if you demand that buyers - who pay you, not the other way round - dance to your tune.

However sometimes it goes wrong, however clearly the buyer has factored in the postage when they bid (unless they dont read the listing, in which case I have no sympathy)

They do, but you also have to keep an eye on what they think. In the worst case scenario, people avoid your listings if you try to take the mick with things.

If you want people to pay you, you have to encourage them to do so. You can't just say 'don't like it don't bid'. That is a sure-fire way to put people completely off.

Remember - the more you take advantage of what eBay allow you to do, the less people actually like it. To get bidders/buyers, and ultimately to stay active on eBay at all, people have to actively like what you're doing. There is enough choice out there now that if buyers don't like what is going on, they will go elsewhere. So all this stuff about 'what do I care about buyers' opinions, they do what I say or they can stuff it and I'll have no sympathy for them' is really misplaced - you live or die by them, and it's better to live by them than to die by them.

southerndave

Just my tuppence worth....

Make life easy on yourself, go FREE POST. All my listings now are free postage and I add the cost into the start price. Madly enough, I am selling more and of course as it is free postage, no chance of low DSRs for post and pack as it is not rated. Buyers seem more than happy to do this, they seem more than happy that they are getting an item at a decent price and sent to them for nothing, even though the costs are included really. 99p auctions are dead for me now they just aren't worth the hassle and so far so good.

My costs have risen slightly obviously, but then so have sales, so seems to have evened out and got rid of a problematic area Postage is always a matter of opinion - some folk reckon something is worth £3 to post, other think not, so easier to do away with altogether IMO.

It also forces me into getting the postage costs right before I list as it affects the start price. Any errors are on my plate and not the buyers. Try it and see how you go.