over charged on ebay postage. can I please have some good advice?

Manchee

Ok all these posters yelling about how 'you bid, you pay’ and that the buyer already knows the price of the p+p, and to make any complaint after is ripping off the sellers or breaking contracts or whatever - how can the buyer judge if that price is fair or not until the item has arrived and you can see what service has been used, the quality of packaging etc?

Oh and Ralph-y, it isn’t extortion. There was no mention of ‘give me money back or I’ll give you a neg’ in the message that was sent to the seller. Seriously dude, its getting old how much you keep saying that.

TrickyWicky

Manchee wrote: »

how can the buyer judge if that price is fair or not until the item has arrived and you can see what service has been used, the quality of packaging etc?

It doesn't matter. The seller advertised the postage / handling charge and the buyer agreed to pay it.

What the postage / stamp price cost is irrelevant (the seller had to get to the P/O too remember and possibly pay parking on top). The point is the seller said it will cost X to have it sent and the buyer agreed to pay it.

poet123

TrickyWicky wrote: »

It doesn't matter. The seller advertised the postage / handling charge and the buyer agreed to pay it.

What the postage / stamp price cost is irrelevant (the seller had to get to the P/O too remember and possibly pay parking on top). The point is the seller said it will cost X to have it sent and the buyer agreed to pay it.

Those should not be factored into postal charges but into the starting price. The only reason you would do otherwise is to get around Ebay fees.

TrickyWicky

poet123 wrote: »

Those should not be factored into postal charges but into the starting price. The only reason you would do otherwise is to get around Ebay fees.

In your opinion. I don't see any hard fast rule on ebay that says that.

Additionally can you cover fuel and parking on a 99p start price? - How do you factor that in?

If someone wants to include handling in their P&P charge then that is their decision not yours. As long as they advertise the charge so the buyer can see it before purchase then that is all that matters.

As for getting around ebay fees, ebay charge fees on your profit. They don't charge fees on your P&P / expenses however by putting fuel and parking into the main sale price you are being charged on your expenses. Do you actually think thats right? - Thats not how businesses work and even the tax man won't tax you on expenses.

If you think ebay should be doing what even HMRC don't do then your understanding of the world is slightly warped.

ballisticbrian

When we sell outisde the EU, we pay comission on the exchange rate to Paypal, this applies to postage costs as well as the item cost.

This is in addition to the usual paypal charges which are also applied to postage.

baffcat

You know, this whole thread has reminded me why I went to "Freepost" in the first place.

Now, I rarely get asked what the combined postage will be. Nobody complains that I sent two items together without dropping my postage charge. My postage star is 5, as that's all I can be given.

Sure, I must lose a few orders, but I haven't noticed a drop in my sales.

We'd stop all this 'cost of postage' nonsense if ebay finally went ahead and made it "Freepost" for all items. Then everyone would have to start their auctions at at least the cost of postage, unless they were selling loss-leaders. That'd weed out those who currently load the P&P in their favour.

TrickyWicky

In fairness it isn't just paypal that charge to convert money though is it. Your bank or P/O will also charge too so you can't hold paypal entirely responsible for that.

POPPYOSCAR

poet123 wrote: »

Those should not be factored into postal charges but into the starting price. The only reason you would do otherwise is to get around Ebay fees.

This would then make the item more expensive for the buyer as the fees are based on the sale price and therefore must be taken into account when setting the sale price.

Surely it is not beyond someone to calculate the overall price they are prepared to pay including the P&P, regardless of what it actually costs to post.

ballisticbrian

In fairness it isn't just paypal that charge to convert money though is it. Your bank or P/O will also charge too so you can't hold paypal entirely responsible for that

I think you've missed the point. Some people on here say all charges except for the cost of a stamp should be loaded onto the item. If I put the paypal exchange rate commision charges on the item, then the vast majority of people who buy the item in the UK will be paying too much on the item.

poet123

POPPYOSCAR wrote: »

This would then make the item more expensive for the buyer as the fees are based on the sale price and therefore must be taken into account when setting the sale price.

Surely it is not beyond someone to calculate the overall price they are prepared to pay including the P&P, regardless of what it actually costs to post.

No, it is not beyond anyone, that does not make it right. Actual cost plus a reasonable packing charge is what should be charged.

TrickyWicky wrote: »

In your opinion. I don't see any hard fast rule on ebay that says that.

Additionally can you cover fuel and parking on a 99p start price? - How do you factor that in?

If someone wants to include handling in their P&P charge then that is their decision not yours. As long as they advertise the charge so the buyer can see it before purchase then that is all that matters.

As for getting around ebay fees, ebay charge fees on your profit. They don't charge fees on your P&P / expenses however by putting fuel and parking into the main sale price you are being charged on your expenses. Do you actually think thats right? - Thats not how businesses work and even the tax man won't tax you on expenses.

If you think ebay should be doing what even HMRC don't do then your understanding of the world is slightly warped.

So, if you are front loading the p&p and getting those same expenses set against taxes then you are gaining twice.