Buyer asked for partial postage refund

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

If there was an item in the supermarket for £30 and you look on eBay and decide £20 is the most that would be worth the hassle to making a saving so you bid £17.00 on an action with P&P at £3.00 but lose by 1penny, then see another where P&P is £5.00 how much would you bid?

If the answer is £15 I can't see what difference the breakdown makes other than a psychological affect?

zerog

I sell 2-3 items a week.

Personally I think if the item has got many bids and sold for more than you were expecting, then I would refund the postage if the buyer complained.

I often list at 1p with inflated postage charges, as a result of experimenting with low starts/free or accurate postage, and this is what works best for me. This is because some buyers seem to value the item I'm selling at 5-8% more than I do, and thus nobody will bid if I list properly (i.e. with a higher start) at a price where I break even.

I do have items which get lots of bids and I usually put those as free or low postage.

I've only got 1 low star for P&P which was my error and mainly due to me not having time to go to the post office for a week, (buyer didn't ask for a refund though), so I'll continue doing what works.


As a buyer I don't understand why anyone would pay for postage. I look at the total price, and then I bid or don't bid.

Do you think that shoppers pay VAT too? VAT is (mostly) paid by shopkeepers.

campdave

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head wrote: »

If there was an item in the supermarket for £30 and you look on eBay and decide £20 is the most that would be worth the hassle to making a saving so you bid £17.00 on an action with P&P at £3.00 but lose by 1penny, then see another where P&P is £5.00 how much would you bid?

If the answer is £15 I can't see what difference the breakdown makes other than a psychological affect?

It's a risk the seller must take - if they are happy that overcharging for postage may harm their DSR, that's up to them. I always factor P&P cost into my bid, but when asked when leaving feedback "is P&P cost reasonable" I like what I consider to be an appropriate rating based on what I'm charged vs the cost of the service (bearing in mind packing materials).

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

campdave wrote: »

It's a risk the seller must take - if they are happy that overcharging for postage may harm their DSR, that's up to them. I always factor P&P cost into my bid, but when asked when leaving feedback "is P&P cost reasonable" I like what I consider to be an appropriate rating based on what I'm charged vs the cost of the service (bearing in mind packing materials).

Of course but the question in the OP was about the buyer asking for the difference back.

If you specifically bid the £15 to make the total cost £20, knowing the other guy was doing delivery for £3 would you ask for the difference?

The other poster in the thread implies they know the cost of postage as they too sell and by their own admission are good at getting P&P right to meet buyers needs, based on that all I can see is the opportunity to pip other buyers at the post with a higher bid but then demand a sneaky refund afterwards.

jpsartre

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head wrote: »

If there was an item in the supermarket for £30 and you look on eBay and decide £20 is the most that would be worth the hassle to making a saving so you bid £17.00 on an action with P&P at £3.00 but lose by 1penny, then see another where P&P is £5.00 how much would you bid?

If the answer is £15 I can't see what difference the breakdown makes other than a psychological affect?

For me, the problem has little to do with total price. It's about (i): presenting prices honestly (if a seller says P&P are £5 and they're really only £1 that's dishonest in my book) and (ii): making use of a facility that Ebay offers (namely leaving stars for P&P). As long as the facility is there I will make use of it.

campdave

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head wrote: »

Of course but the question in the OP was about the buyer asking for the difference back.

If you specificity bid the £15 to make the total cost £20, knowing the other guy was doing delivery for £3 would you ask for the difference?

The other poster in the thread implies they know the cost of postage as they too sell and by their own admission are good at getting P&P right to meet buyers needs, based on that all I can see is the opportunity to pip other buyers at the post with a higher bid but then demand a sneaky refund afterwards.

I don't especially the question as relevant. The DSRs evalute fairness of the postage cost charge on a transaction, not the total price of the item including postage in comparison to what other sellers are charging. Sellers are free to set the prices how they like, but sellers who overcharge for postage in this way leave themselves open to low stars and questions about postage refunds.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

campdave wrote: »

IThe DSRs evalute fairness of the postage cost charge on a transaction

The DSRs evaluate the random, non-subjective perspective of "fairness" of P&P charges. Volume sellers are fine, those rated over 12 months only need a few lows to be close to trouble.

Charging a fair price, or even a great price under stamp value, doesn't guarantee you good scores.

(I say this a seller doing free P&P with no trouble at all on DSR scores since they came about).

If we take the above scenario, the seller charging a fiver gets low scores and eventually off the site, hurrah! Only problem now is there's one less of that item, buyers are more concentrated and the average price is now £22 delivered instead of £20.

What is more important to you, saving £2 of the total price or the principle of how 2 amounts are displayed?

campdave

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head wrote: »

What is more important to you, saving £2 of the total price or the principle of how 2 amounts are displayed?

What's important to me is that sellers charge fair P&P rather than load the item cost onto the postage to save on seller fees.

I can see where you're coming from, but I disagree with what you're saying.

chloelesliexo

to be honest, i take into account how much i will pay by incorporating p&p charges
so if i win something for 99p i dont think a 99p shirt, i might think a £3.49 shirt (99p + £2.50 postage)
If i think the postage is too high I simply don't bid

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

campdave wrote: »

What's important to me is that sellers charge fair P&P rather than load the item cost onto the postage to save on seller fees.

I can see where you're coming from, but I disagree with what you're saying.

Out of interest, if a seller charges £2 to post something that costs £3 in stamps are you equally concerned that the item value is, or isn't, fairly displayed?