Postage Gouging...again!

Strapped

Gleeful wrote: »

When did I say I asked for a refund? You are putting words in my mouth. I said 'I queried this with the seller'

For your reference, this was my message.

What did you hope to achieve with that message, if not a refund then?

At least be honest.

macfly

charlies_mum wrote: »

Yet another thread proving that the only way to keep customers happy is to give free postage. Charging the exact amount, or subsidising still doesn't make some buyers happy. As Ebay will say, it is the buyer's opinion of the postage cost.

Agreed. I don't know why ebay haven't made this compulsary. It would make room for real questions on this forum for a start.
However, I'm sure some buyers would then feel empowered to focus on another area.

RFW

techspec wrote: »

And thats really why Ebay brought this out - to earn more money.

Not really, they charge FVFs on postage too in several countries (USA being the main one) so could have done that here.

In general customers prefer "free" postage or at least clearly defined postage. When HMV first started to compete with Amazon they had (if I remember right) a flat postage charge that was quite hefty and couldn't get the trade so they switched to free post and ended up pretty much giving money away to entice people to start using them.

Amazon themselves have dispensed with any post charge for some time and the majority of big companies don't charge. I once had a quite high value purchase that was subject to a minimal postal surcharge that did more to irritate me as a customer than if it had been built in. A customer's perception is the only thing that matters, not what should or shouldn't be the case.

If you over charge a bit on postage and send an item on time, nicely packed and with no other problems most people won't mind, if you send a bit late and/or in tatty packaging they start to be bothered about it.

RFW

plumface wrote: »

Why has the OP " a reasonable cause for complaint"?
He saw a price for an item,and after taking all research into account (feedback,price etc etc) decided the price was right and would purchase.If he could have got a better deal than the one he paid,no doubt he would have gone to the other seller.
What the hell does it matter about inflated postage,he got the best deal on offer at that time and was happy with it.

"reasonable cause for complaint" = paying a price for a service at almost 3 times its face value.
The other waffle is immaterial.

techspec

RFW wrote: »

Not really, they charge FVFs on postage too in several countries (USA being the main one) so could have done that here.

In general customers prefer "free" postage or at least clearly defined postage. When HMV first started to compete with Amazon they had (if I remember right) a flat postage charge that was quite hefty and couldn't get the trade so they switched to free post and ended up pretty much giving money away to entice people to start using them.

Amazon themselves have dispensed with any post charge for some time and the majority of big companies don't charge. I once had a quite high value purchase that was subject to a minimal postal surcharge that did more to irritate me as a customer than if it had been built in. A customer's perception is the only thing that matters, not what should or shouldn't be the case.

If you over charge a bit on postage and send an item on time, nicely packed and with no other problems most people won't mind, if you send a bit late and/or in tatty packaging they start to be bothered about it.

Unfortunately - thats just not true on Ebay - due to the option to order by price.

I have tried both says - but an item at £10 with £5 postage will sell much quicker than an item at £15 with free p&p.

I think the buyers just feels they have got the item cheaper.

plumface

RFW wrote: »

"reasonable cause for complaint" = paying a price for a service at almost 3 times its face value.
The other waffle is immaterial.

Utter rubbish.
What does it matter what the service actually cost, you agreed to buy it, stop moaning about it.

Why cant buyers see that if the p&p was free the item would cost more in the fist place.
£1 item £10 p&p
£10 item £1 p&p
Spot the difference with the above.

Cornucopia

I suspect that it is not in eBay's interests to do much about this issue - some of which originates in free 99p listings.

Those free listings probably generate huge volume in speculative listings for them, as well as being a relatively easy way for newbie sellers to start.

Inigo_Montoya

I have not read through the entire thread so this point may have already been made :

When a seller charges 'over the odds' for postage then buyers just bid less because they have the total cost (price+postage) in mind

So when a buyer asks for a partial postage refund then they are in effect asking to pay less than everyone else which is just trying to rip off the seller in my book

That said the point about dashboard stars remains i.e. if you intend to have a selling account for an extended period of time you simply can't get away with continually overcharging on P&P

The p&p dashboard stars is merely ebays way of ensuring they maximise revenue so personally as a buyer I never mark P&P down
as like most reasonable people I realise that its the total price thats iimportant

Blackjack_Davy

I have a question... since the OP's package obviously had stamps on it, does that mean the seller put the stamps on themselves or was it the Post Office?

I ask because whenever I take something to the PO they simply put a "1st" or "2nd" sticky label on it.

Does every Post Office do this or do some use stamps instead? Or it simply whatever is most convenient behind the counter at the time?

Contains_Mild_Peril

Cornucopia wrote: »

Our Post Offices NEVER under-charge.

In this case, she was trying to tell me that the package had to pass through the large letter slot fully on its widest side (therefore making the widest side 250mm maximum, rather than the published 353mm maximum).

TBH, I'm beginning to wonder about whether the slot is narrower than 25mm, too.

That happened to me too. I had 2 packages containing small items of clothing carefully flat-packed to fit within Large Letter dimensions. The width of the first was borderline, so I accepted the PO assistant's judgement that it was a Packet and paid the extra postage. The other item was clearly well within Large Letter limits, but she said it was too big because the long edge wouldn't go through the slot. When I explained it to her, she was evidently unwilling to admit she was wrong, so she shook the package and pushed it at an awkward angle to scrunch up the contents and thus prevent it from fitting through the slot. I was so annoyed I asked for it back, re-flattened it and posted it as a Large Letter at a different PO.
Sellers often do not know what we will be charged for such items in advance even if we weigh and measure them at home, so I wouldn't criticise a seller for a millimetre misjudgement, but if a customer complained about an accidental p&p overcharge I'd refund the difference. As a customer, I normally only care about the total price and not the proportion of it attributed to P&P: it would only bother me if I felt the P&P charge gave me a false impression of what I was buying, e.g. once I bought a very thin little book, more of a booklet really, which I had erroneously assumed to be a normal-sized book based on the P&P.