Postage mispriced - what should we do?

MarkyMarkD

Doubtless so that you can locate the correctly sized Jiffy bag, chitty, and insert the correct amount into the petty cash to pay for it.

MarkyMarkD

chrissyw28 wrote:

As selling on ebay incurrs 'listing fee', 'final value fee', and if the buyer pays with paypal, 'paypal charges', and extra charger for photo's etc, i think the seller is entitled to add a bit extra to the actual royal mail cost to cover all these charges.
Selling on ebay is expensive when you have alot of listings and I dont think buyers (especially new ones) appreciate this!

I don't agree at all, chrissy.

The bid price is meant to cover all that stuff. If the seller wants a minimum amount, to cover listing fees etc., they can set a reserve. Inflating postage is defrauding eBay and wrong!

lady_noluck

postage is £1.50 plus standard parcel rate

Hold on, why is it £1.50 plus standard rate. Surely it should just be standard parcel rate. What's the £1.50 for??

whizzkid_3

have you seen the postage charges on hong kong items?
some charge up to 49 pounds and then add compulsory insurance as high as 18 pounds!!!

no matter if the starting price is one pence-its still a con!!

ally :cool:

dougk_2

I guess it won't be long before ebay start charging their fees on the postage too.....

I do also believe you should charge more than the actual cost of a stamp and envelope... if you get paid by paypal you end up paying a % on the p&p charges too so you must cover that somehow.

As someone has already posted - jiffy bags from the PO are not 20p.... so just 'cause I can get them for 20p should I charge the cheap "cost price" or the price I would pay if I was not so much of an MSE!

I think fuel costs are a legitimate expense and should be costed into the price of the &P costs. Its not a case of running abusiness its a case of covering your costs. Why would I sell things on Ebay if it costs me money?

chrissyw4

MarkyMarkD wrote:

I don't agree at all, chrissy.

The bid price is meant to cover all that stuff. If the seller wants a minimum amount, to cover listing fees etc., they can set a reserve. Inflating postage is defrauding eBay and wrong!

If you're selling something for say..£3, you aren't allowed to set a reserve(its £50 minimum!) so if you sold it for £3 and all the charges came off the bid amount then the seller has made next to nothing!
I dont think an extra £1 on the postage cost is defrauding ebay or anyone at all - infact ebay charges are way over the top!

RACHIE77

i've seen this debate before and i'm afraid i've very much on the side of keeping the postage rates higher than cost price... (i'm not talking about ridiculous cost increases here) I pay for ink to print labels and packing slips out, i pay for parking to go into town and buy envelopes, i spend my time in queues (time is money), i have petrol to pay for to buy the envelopes and go to post offices and blah blah blah - if you don't care then don't listen but i think it is warranted to charge a 'fee' to post and package an item. I very rarely make any money on p&p but dont see a problem when people make a pound or two for their shoe leather and time... as far as I can see it is all part of the deal... you pay the total price or you don't bid....

I can hardly see people phoning up Marks and Spencers and saying "excuse me mr Marks and Spencers but i see that your envelope has arrived with a 70p stamp on it and your jiffy bag can only have cost 20p so why are you charging me £3.95"... The answer you get....?? Cos that is the rate they charge and if you don't like it - shop somewhere else! Surely as money savers we should agree with people saving a few pennies on fees (as that is all it would be) and people being properly paid for their time and effort? People selling on ebay aren't usually a charity so why only charge the stamp and jiffy bag???

Saying that, I usually charge free p&p or very low postage but my point is that the price you pay is the TOTAL price including p&p so i don't understand why its a problem??

I know this has deviated from the original post and i'm sorry - i'm glad it all worked out ok for the OP - have you recieved the item yet? If so, make sure you see what the stamp says - lol! I think the £1.50 extra could be for packaging materials etc?? not sure??

happy ebaying all

apprentice_tycoon

I sell mainly fine, sometimes expensive, china and it always gets to the destination in one piece. At the end of the auction the buyer will often tell me that they have had bad experiences in the past with broken goods so they appreciate the reassurance that I will be packing well - but at what cost :eek: - I spend a small fortune on bubblewrap and peanuts and I DO add between 75p to £1.50 to the actual cost of postage depending on the size of the item but the thing is - the buyer actually has use of all the bubblewrap and peanuts for themselves when the parcel arrives, they have a tangible commodity for their own future use. I add a note, in red ink, to all my listings : CHEAP PACKAGING ISN'T GOOD AND GOOD PACKAGING ISN'T CHEAP, I assume that the message is clear to my bidders.

Murtle

apprentice_tycoon wrote:

I sell mainly fine, sometimes expensive, china and it always gets to the destination in one piece. At the end of the auction the buyer will often tell me that they have had bad experiences in the past with broken goods so they appreciate the reassurance that I will be packing well - but at what cost :eek: - I spend a small fortune on bubblewrap and peanuts and I DO add between 75p to £1.50 to the actual cost of postage depending on the size of the item but the thing is - the buyer actually has use of all the bubblewrap and peanuts for themselves when the parcel arrives, they have a tangible commodity for their own future use. I add a note, in red ink, to all my listings : CHEAP PACKAGING ISN'T GOOD AND GOOD PACKAGING ISN'T CHEAP, I assume that the message is clear to my bidders.

Why peanuts

apprentice_tycoon

Perhaps I should have said 'polystyrene packing peanuts' :rotfl: :rotfl: