Postage - RANT

Hermia

eaglesrjh wrote: »

must admit there are times i'm bidding on a lot of items that i might not even notice they are from the same seller until it is on the purchase page.

This happens to me all the time. I often buy large quantities of cheap craft items at once and will have 30 items to pay for. It's not until I look at them all on 'my ebay' that I wll notice there are multiple items from one seller.

MadelinesMum

I just automatically combine postage when a buyer wins multiple items. Buyers are all too quick to leave low stars and possibly neutral/neg if they think they have been overcharged on postage.

punkpink

Avoriaz wrote: »

Life is too short to let the little things worry you.

It will only take a minute or two to revise the invoice and you will save far more minutes than that by only having to prepare one package.


The only downside I can see is the possibility that the buyer will claim, either genuinely or fraudulently, non receipt and you can only prove dispatch or delivery of one package. I’m not sure what happens then.

If there all on one invoice i think paypal take it as one package anyway?!

Obviously_the_best

punkpink wrote: »

But surely posting two or more things together (as long as it doesnt change something from being posted as a large letter to package) means you wont incur any extra charges so its only fair to pass that on to your buyer?
Sometimes people dont get the chance to ask before bidding, if they see the auction last minute.

'But surely' doesn't excuse not even asking. It's only polite asking a seller if they'll offer a service they've never mentioned. Don't just expect.

RFW

Be thankful you have a customer buying a few items. Then think of a future combined postage policy that you can end to your listings, it's one way of getting multiple trade.

If someone asking for a post discount is the worst problem you've encountered from a customer you're doing pretty well.

punkpink

Obviously_the_best wrote: »

'But surely' doesn't excuse not even asking. It's only polite asking a seller if they'll offer a service they've never mentioned. Don't just expect.

But as i said previously, sometimes you just dont get the chance to ask, especially if the auctions ending when you see it.
Id never assume, but if im purchasing an item that was to be sent as a packet, and the seller was charging £2.50, and i spotted another item i know wont make any difference to the postage and the seller refuses to combine and charges me £5 for both id be very annoyed! Especially as most sellers that wont combine the postage will put them in the same packet and pocket the extra!

real1314

chelmsfordgirl1 wrote: »

Just sold a few items to 1 buyer. They then send me a message asking if I can send invoice with combined postage so they can pay.

Just annoyed that they haven't communicated asking if I do combine it and have just assumed.

What does everyone do in this situation. I don't normally mind combining postage but only when asked before people bid.

Obviously_the_best wrote: »

'But surely' doesn't excuse not even asking. It's only polite asking a seller if they'll offer a service they've never mentioned. Don't just expect.

They did ask, once they knew they'd won multiple items. What's the real issuse here?

If postal costs are only true postal costs then the seller charges the true cost and pays less to RM and charges less to the buyer. And has only 1 parcel to worry about, 1 parcel to wrap, less time at the PO counter etc. :cool:

repeatoffender

Why are you annoyed? Is it because you stood to make a lot of profit on postage? If I had 4 items and I had to pack them all seperately and address them to 4 different buyers then I would be happy to pack them all in 1 parcel addressed to 1 buyer so much less hassle.


Sometimes a buyer doesn't have time or realise to ask in advance. I have offered reductions of £1 p&p per extra item and have actually made profit on a multi buy that I would never have made on single items as my p&p in my listings are as accurate as possible.

rockin_plumber

I always put it in my auctions to contact me before they pay to combine postage.
That way I can pack them together and weigh them to give an accurate price for postage and packing, if they contact me.

If they pay before contacting me they get each item packed and sent separately.

You give paypal 20p per transaction so the less transactions, the less 20p's paypal get.

I always find its best to be up-front with the buyer so if you really don't wan't to combine postage add a note in your item description saying.........

NO COMBINED POSTAGE DISCOUNTS.

Its not an ebay requirement to combine postage, and it would be very clear that you aren't going to do it.

Crowqueen

It might not be an eBay requirement, but it is a nice thing to do and will get you more brownie points than being sticky about it.

You're trying to make money here, not wantonly annoy people just for the heck of it. The easiest way to make money is to do what the people paying you want.