Buyer demanded postage refund, left neg feedback when not given, what to do?

Road_Hog

steveE2 wrote: »

When you combined postage was it still over stamp price shown?

What does it matter if it was over stamp price? A buyer should look at the combined cost and then make a decision on whether it is a fair (combined price) or not and base their purchase decision on that. People on here (and ebay) seem to think it is okay to buy a widget priced £10 + £5 delivery, as opposed to £17 free P&P and then complain that it only cost £3 to post it.
It is postage and packaging and last time I looked, they weren't giving away Jiffy bags fro free. Plus, most buyers seem to forget that Paypal (it's a few years since I sold anything and the percentage may have changed) take 3.4% of the postage charge and that if you're a VAT registered business, you have to add 20% to the postage. </br> Listen, get real people, ebay aren't trying to do you a service and help you, they're trying to increase their fees. They already take a cut on postage through Paypal, they're trying to get a further 10% by trying to get sellers to include the postage cost in their selling price, and because that hasn't worked, they're now going to charge FVF on postage. This isn't to help buyers, it is to help their profit margins.
I used to be a gold seller, I was turning over £7,000 a month after ebay/paypal fees. I sold mobile phones and the odd laptop. Some months I was doing 180 mobiles a month. I was selling in the low to mid end market, £20 - £100. I would often list at £19.95 + £4.95 delivery. I'd make £2.50 profit out of the delivery cost and about £5.00 out of the phone. The reason I'd do it this way is to keep the price down. The was a listing cost difference between under £20 and over £20. </br>
I was aiming to offer an unlocked, unbranded phone as cheap as possible. Customers liked the cheap price, then ebay brought in the postage scam propaganda and customers started to mark me down. The top and bottom of it is, no one forced them to buy from me, they bought from me because they liked the price and service. But they complained and marked me down (not negs, but on the delivery stars) and ebay and I parted company. </br>
As I've said, nobody forced anyone to buy from me, I must have been doing something right, to have all those people buy from me and become a gold seller. But those same people effectively kicked me off ebay, why do people buy from someone, like the price and service and then kick them in the nuts? So people, you've got your reasonable postage, do you think that the cost has been reduced? You're sadly deluded if you do. And there'll be plenty of happy people now that ebay is going to charge FVF on postage next month. Who do you think is going to pay that - do you think the seller or the buyer is going to pay it? Here's a tip, the buyer pays the bill. </br>
So, buyers, do celebrate, that phone that was £20 + £5 postage is now going to be £30, but that includes free postage, how great is that, don't you feel so much happier that you're not getting ripped off on postage?</br>

prowla

Road_Hog wrote: »

What does it matter if it was over stamp price? A buyer should look at the combined cost and then make a decision on whether it is a fair (combined price) or not and base their purchase decision on that. People on here (and ebay) seem to think it is okay to buy a widget priced £10 + £5 delivery, as opposed to £17 free P&P and then complain that it only cost £3 to post it.
It is postage and packaging and last time I looked, they weren't giving away Jiffy bags fro free. Plus, most buyers seem to forget that Paypal (it's a few years since I sold anything and the percentage may have changed) take 3.4% of the postage charge and that if you're a VAT registered business, you have to add 20% to the postage. </br> Listen, get real people, ebay aren't trying to do you a service and help you, they're trying to increase their fees. They already take a cut on postage through Paypal, they're trying to get a further 10% by trying to get sellers to include the postage cost in their selling price, and because that hasn't worked, they're now going to charge FVF on postage. This isn't to help buyers, it is to help their profit margins.
I used to be a gold seller, I was turning over £7,000 a month after ebay/paypal fees. I sold mobile phones and the odd laptop. Some months I was doing 180 mobiles a month. I was selling in the low to mid end market, £20 - £100. I would often list at £19.95 + £4.95 delivery. I'd make £2.50 profit out of the delivery cost and about £5.00 out of the phone. The reason I'd do it this way is to keep the price down. The was a listing cost difference between under £20 and over £20. </br>
I was aiming to offer an unlocked, unbranded phone as cheap as possible. Customers liked the cheap price, then ebay brought in the postage scam propaganda and customers started to mark me down. The top and bottom of it is, no one forced them to buy from me, they bought from me because they liked the price and service. But they complained and marked me down (not negs, but on the delivery stars) and ebay and I parted company. </br>
As I've said, nobody forced anyone to buy from me, I must have been doing something right, to have all those people buy from me and become a gold seller. But those same people effectively kicked me off ebay, why do people buy from someone, like the price and service and then kick them in the nuts? So people, you've got your reasonable postage, do you think that the cost has been reduced? You're sadly deluded if you do. And there'll be plenty of happy people now that ebay is going to charge FVF on postage next month. Who do you think is going to pay that - do you think the seller or the buyer is going to pay it? Here's a tip, the buyer pays the bill. </br>
So, buyers, do celebrate, that phone that was £20 + £5 postage is now going to be £30, but that includes free postage, how great is that, don't you feel so much happier that you're not getting ripped off on postage?</br>

So, you were avoiding paying ebay commission on the sale by over-charging on postage.

poet123

Road_Hog wrote: »

What does it matter if it was over stamp price? A buyer should look at the combined cost and then make a decision on whether it is a fair (combined price) or not and base their purchase decision on that.

In your opinion, but Ebay facilitates buyers to break down their purchase into areas and mark accordingly. So, I may be happy with the item, but on looking at what you paid to post it as opposed to what you charged me I may feel justified in marking you down. That is how the system works, you can't blame the buyer for that.

Road_Hog

prowla wrote: »

So, you were avoiding paying ebay commission on the sale by over-charging on postage.

I wasn't avoiding anything, I charged one price for the goods and one price for the postage.

Tell me again, would you rather buy a budget phone at £20 + £5 delivery or £27 with 'free' postage? I never forced anybody to buy my products, they all did it of their own free will, and I bet they checked out who had good feedback and who was the cheapest.

I don't see it as a crime to try and keep overheads to a minimum (whilst working within the law) and offer people a competitively priced product and service. I offered cash on collection on all my items, so the delivery could be avoided and I was happy to accept the selling price without postage. Some people (like you) obviously like making ebay more profit and paying higher prices.

Chrysalis

roadhog yeah I paid 99p for 20 light bulbs then nearly £20 to get them delivered. Do I give a damn? no not really. I paid £20 for the lot.

pinkshoes

I think all the bickering has scared the OP off!

Ultimately, the buyer did not threaten negative feedback. They just asked for a refund and were awaiting the answer before leaving feedback. EBay would probably allow this.

mapcr77

Hiya,

I reported the buyer, I do think it was their prerogative whether to bid or not where the postage was advertised. Even after the invoice was sent with the postage discount evidently marked, they decided to go ahead and pay. To me that sounds like they agreed to the purchase on the terms stipulated. To wait till they had the item in their hands to write blackmailing me to refund postage is not something I was willing to put up with. As someone else said, they are free to express their opinion on the postage charge through the star rating, but from that to actually give me two negative marks, I think it was too much. If they were so unhappy, why proceed with the purchase? Road Hog and Chrysallis are spot on. As a buyer, I sometimes buy ridiculously cheap items with a high postage cost, as the overall cost is what matters. I should never dream on getting a bargain and then threaten bad feedback to get a refund on postage.

Anyway, lesson learned, stroppy buyers and non-paying bidders have put me off eBay. I should be more wary in the future should I try it again. Thanks all for your opinions and advice!

spacey2012

wait for them to sell something cheap, one bad turn deserves another.

poet123

mapcr77 wrote: »

Hiya,

I reported the buyer, I do think it was their prerogative whether to bid or not where the postage was advertised. Even after the invoice was sent with the postage discount evidently marked, they decided to go ahead and pay. To me that sounds like they agreed to the purchase on the terms stipulated. To wait till they had the item in their hands to write blackmailing me to refund postage is not something I was willing to put up with. As someone else said, they are free to express their opinion on the postage charge through the star rating, but from that to actually give me two negative marks, I think it was too much. If they were so unhappy, why proceed with the purchase? Road Hog and Chrysallis are spot on. As a buyer, I sometimes buy ridiculously cheap items with a high postage cost, as the overall cost is what matters. I should never dream on getting a bargain and then threaten bad feedback to get a refund on postage.

Anyway, lesson learned, stroppy buyers and non-paying bidders have put me off eBay. I should be more wary in the future should I try it again. Thanks all for your opinions and advice!

I might have missed it but did you say how much postage actually was v what you charged?

theonlywayisup

quidsy wrote: »

"sigh" The dispute is that the buyer has left false negative feedback.

The op can raise a dispute to ebay over the false negative feedback.

No, the op can contact eBay regarding 'policy' breaches, not a dispute.

Why the sigh, are you bored with yourself?