postage and packaging

Contains_Mild_Peril

ballisticbrian wrote: »

When the postage is free, it's just added on to the cost of the item by the seller making it harder to get quantity discounts.

Exactly. This is why I, as a customer, often dislike "free" postage. Ebay seems convinced that it's what customers want, but many of us prefer combined postage discounts.

Iwork2shop

I sell a lot of books and much prefer Amazons way of charging for postage which is automatically £2.80 for each item. That way there can be no arguments or disputes of the postage is actually more or less than that. I always try to be fair with my eBay postage but it's not easy, especially as the postage price for parcels has recently increased!

Strapped

zerog wrote: »

I bet this would go away if ebay UK followed the US site and charged FVF on the postage. Or why not just force all sellers to make their default postage "free", reduce FVF to 9% and buyers can pay extra for better services.

They effectively have done (minus the actually reducing fees bit of course!) - to keep TRS from the autumn, you need to offer a free postage option.

alx2013

Strapped wrote: »

They effectively have done (minus the actually reducing fees bit of course!) - to keep TRS from the autumn, you need to offer a free postage option.

Yes and it's a real pain. I have been listing the more expensive items freepost but I can't do it on the cheaper ones.
If I bump up the price of the items I sell it makes it more expensive for overseas buyers as they will still be paying the same postage, so I risk losing their custom!

Strapped

alx2013 wrote: »

Yes and it's a real pain. I have been listing the more expensive items freepost but I can't do it on the cheaper ones.
If I bump up the price of the items I sell it makes it more expensive for overseas buyers as they will still be paying the same postage, so I risk losing their custom!

Just drop the price of the overseas postage by the amount you put the item price up by, surely?

It's a real pain for me because a lot of my stuff is large/heavy - 9% of my postage costs will soon add up. And I certainly won't be swallowing it all, so it will be the customers who lose out.

alx2013

I have tried dropping the postage price to overseas in the past to reflect the free post but it didn't seem to make a difference - I think buyers are put off by the initial price and move on.

scotty1971

can't believe my opening post would cause so much controversy!!

RainbowDrops

Postage Charges to the Ebay forum are what asking for money instead of gifts is to the Wedding Forum.

soolin

RainbowDrops wrote: »

Postage Charges to the Ebay forum are what asking for money instead of gifts is to the Wedding Forum.

The onl yother thing guaranteed to cause an issue on here is the 'who should leave feedback first' threads.

bubbles0169

so....
i want a skirt for fancy dress,i go to Ebay find a perfect one staying 99p but £4.95 pp, i factor in that cost with the bid i made even though i know its over inflated, its a long bodycon skirt(Jersey material) so not heavy
anyway i bid but immorally get outbid to over my maximum I'm willing to pay, which inc p&p
i message the seller wondering why the p&p's so high for economy delivery from the same country?

they actually reply saying they have never worn the item and want to get their money back plus make a profit

I'm wondering whether to message back saying its against Ebay policy at least but should i bother? theyr quite a new seller