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

TrickyWicky

ballisticbrian wrote: »

Well I'm just playing Devil's Advocate on here, but eBay are like most corporations that putr out surveys that can get the public to say anything.

What's most important to you as a customer of eBay ... FREE DELIVERY? CHEAP DELIVERY ? EXPENSIVE DELIVERY ? GAURANTEED DELIVERY?

Guaranteed. If I've gone through the hassle of bidding / buying I've done it for a reason and want it to turn up.

RFW

ballisticbrian wrote: »

Well I'm just playing Devil's Advocate on here, but eBay are like most corporations that putr out surveys that can get the public to say anything.

What's most important to you as a customer of eBay ... FREE DELIVERY? CHEAP DELIVERY ? EXPENSIVE DELIVERY ? GAURANTEED DELIVERY?

Well they could put what would be the point? They implemented changes to keep customers and get new ones, from figures I've seen they seem to have done it about right.

Trying to move the debate on, why do other companies offer 'free' postage, it obviously costs them somewhere? Amazon used to have a flat postage rate under a certain amount, it is now all inclusive. They also encourage customers to offer inclusive postage.

Your average customer wants free postage or to clearly see what they have paid for postage and it not be much higher than the stamp price. Shout as much abuse at them as you like, that won't change.

Find me a successful company that sells online and has an inflated postage price.

plumface

RFW wrote: »

or when some people realise that other people may have a different view.
Touche.
The difference is buyers can eliminate sellers with their 'view'.

Have you ever thought that Ebay have done some customer research and that many of their policies reflect that?

They might well have done research, but the way they allow buyers to penalise sellers for doing EXACTLY what they (ebay) allow and what they say is correct.

poet123

plumface wrote: »

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Laugh all you like, but I do know what I am talking about.;)

plumface

RFW wrote: »

Your average customer wants free postage or to clearly see what they have paid for postage and it not be much higher than the stamp price. Shout as much abuse at them as you like, that won't change.
Then can we agree that the average buyer is a bit of a pratt then?
Buyers (ebay) will gladly pay £10 freepost and think they have a good deal YET complain if the same item from the same seller is £8 plus £2 p&p.

Find me a successful company that sells online and has an inflated postage price.

QVC, Amazon marketplace sellers and any online business that sells items 'freepost'.
What is wrong with you? An item costing £10 free p&p is the same as £8 plus £2 p&p is the same as £1 plus £9 p&p the price to you is the same in all cases yet you cannot see it, you still think you are being ripped off.
The only people being ripped off are the people you are taking air from!

plumface

poet123 wrote: »

Laugh all you like, but I do know what I am talking about.;) (glad of the smiley, beacause you obviously do not:p)

Show me how it is 'illegal' and i will eat my hat.

poet123

plumface wrote: »

Show me how it is 'illegal' and i will eat my hat.

It is a category designated "postage and packing" and so that only those costs are included is an implicit term of the contract to buy. If any other component is factored in that term is void, and the contract is invalid.

That is why Ebay have the star system for buyers to rate whether they are satisfied with the transaction overall not just the product bought, and why P&P costs are included in that rating system.

RFW

plumface wrote: »

QVC, Amazon marketplace sellers and any online business that sells items 'freepost'.
What is wrong with you? An item costing £10 free p&p is the same as £8 plus £2 p&p is the same as £1 plus £9 p&p the price to you is the same in all cases yet you cannot see it, you still think you are being ripped off.
The only people being ripped off are the people you are taking air from!

Love the insult, I was explaining human nature, yours seems to be the unpleasant side of it.

plumface wrote: »

Then can we agree that the average buyer is a bit of a pratt then?

I'd already agreed. If you want to sell to the average prat though, it's a good idea to not let on that you think that about them;) It may be irrational but that's life sometimes. If my customers prefer to pay £10 that doesn't show which element of that £10 is postage then that's how I'll sell it to them. I want a happy customer who comes back and spends more, I don't need to tell them they are irrational idiots, even if they are:p

ballisticbrian

A few of the things that I think are wrong with this debate:
No one has really agreed on what are excessive postage charges, so we don't know if you are talking about 2.99 or 10.99 for an item costing 2.40 postage.

"Profiteering" Any money made at all by the seller seems to be viewed in bad light by some people. Do those with this opinion only view eBay as an outlet for your old stuff (recycling to help others), or do they have no concept of a business making profit?

Finally, is it just to do with the itemisation - some people think if something says "P&P" it should be just that, and others see the logic that by loading P&P, they pay less percentage to eBay and this benefits the seller and possibly the buyer to some extent. And in this vein there is a disconnect between the way the two sides of this argument think about the itemisation of costs.

If you guys could agree on these three points first, there could be some progress in the debate.

poet123

ballisticbrian wrote: »

A few of the things that I think are wrong with this debate:
No one has really agreed on what are excessive postage charges, so we don't know if you are talking about 2.99 or 10.99 for an item costing 2.40 postage.

Personally, I would baulk at anything above £1.50/2.00 above the actual postage cost.

ballisticbrian wrote: »

"Profiteering" Any money made at all by the seller seems to be viewed in bad light by some people. Do those with this opinion only view eBay as an outlet for your old stuff (recycling to help others), or do they have no concept of a business making profit?

Profit should come from judicious buying and reselling at an enhanced price, not from inflating quantifiable costs.

ballisticbrian wrote: »

Finally, is it just to do with the itemisation - some people think if something says "P&P" it should be just that, and others see the logic that by loading P&P, they pay less percentage to eBay and this benefits the seller and possibly the buyer to some extent. And in this vein there is a disconnect between the way the two sides of this argument think about the itemisation of costs.

If we are discussing Ebay there is no disconnect. There is a rating system in place which allows buyers who think they have been overcharged to make their feelings known and that will have an effect on the DSR of the seller if it is repeated. The words "possibly the buyer" says it all. Not usually the buyer in reality, but the seller.

ballisticbrian wrote: »

If you guys could agree on these three points first, there could be some progress in the debate.

Others may disagree!!