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

notanewuser

plumface wrote: »

Er, you could have cancelled the transaction.

Not as I wanted the items and nobody else seems to be selling them.

techguy81

poet123 wrote: »

If you cost an item as £7 to post and it actually costs £2.60 should a buyer just accept that or use the system Ebay has put in place to rate how they feel about that? I think the latter.

The trouble is, the buyer sees the postage price stamped on the packaging, they don't see the other extras that went into it, such as packaging costs, time and round trip to post office fuel. For that reason I don't see the harm in charging a few quid extra on top of the actual carrier cost, as long as you're not ripping people off. But your average Joe doesn't see it like that and thinks he's been ripped off big time if the quoted postage charged is any higher than the actual carrier cost. In that respect it's actually an unfair system to the seller. You basically have to offer free postage and build your costs into the sale price, so it ends up the same anyway.

notanewuser

techguy81 wrote: »

The trouble is, the buyer sees the postage price stamped on the packaging, they don't see the other extras that went into it, such as packaging costs, time and round trip to post office fuel. For that reason I don't see the harm in charging a few quid extra on top of the actual carrier cost, as long as you're not ripping people off. But your average Joe doesn't see it like that and thinks he's been ripped off big time if the quoted postage charged is any higher than the actual carrier cost. In that respect it's actually an unfair system to the seller. You basically have to offer free postage and build your costs into the sale price, so it ends up the same anyway.

I don't factor costs of getting to the post office into my postage charges. I charge actual postage + 15p for bag, label and tape.

prowla

I think the cost of going to the Post Office is valid.
But not some fanciful calculation of your time.

Road_Hog

poet123 wrote: »

Stated upfront, so that is what it should cost. Only a mug would pay more than the cost of an itemised part of the transaction.

No, only a mug would fall for ebay's propaganda of demonising sellers in order to get their commission on postage costs. Only a mug would think that ebay were trying to cut postage costs for buyers, when in reality they just want to ear commission on postage.

Only a mug would think that they're getting an item cheaper by the seller paying ebay more to list the item, by paying paypal commission on the postage cost and soon to be paying ebay 10% on the postage cost - only a mug/complete fool would think that this results in a saving for the buyer. In any other world other than ebay, if you said to a buyer, I can offer you an item for £20 + £5 postage (even though the postage only costs me £3) or £27 with free postage, every person would pay the former, in fact even on ebay they'd pay the former, but then report the seller for excessive postage costs. It is some sort of madness that has infected society today.

Answer me this question, would you rather buy an item for £25 with excessive postage or £27 with free postage - I know the answer because I saw what buyers bought - why buy at the cheapest price and then try and put a seller out of business? Pure lunacy.

Here is an abridged version of an article that appeared in 'The Times' in the late '90s. It is titled the death of 'common sense'. Some may do well to read it, as sadly it seems lacking in many people today.

http://rense.com/general92/deathof.htm

techguy81

prowla wrote: »

I think the cost of going to the Post Office is valid.
But not some fanciful calculation of your time.

Last time I checked I was running a business, not a charity.

Road_Hog

plumface wrote: »

I just love you people sticking up for poor old non tax paying ebay.
What will be your excuse about 'overcharging' p&p now that ebay take a FVF from it?

Yes, you have to larf. This is the company that rips of sellers, tells them how much they should charge for postage and then moves it's head office from the UK to Luxembourg to avoid paying tax.

It is also the company that doesn't like UK laws but uses the threat of cancellation of your account to sidestep them. But still people are stupid enough to fall for ebay's lies and hammer sellers over postage, under the guise that ebay are trying to keep postage fees reasonable, when all they are trying to do is get a commission/cut on the postage. And buyers will still complain when postage fees have 3.4% added for paypal and 10% for ebay and if it is a VAT registered business, another 20% for the VAT man.

Still, much better to buy an item for £27 with 'free' postage rather than pay £20 + £5 postage.

Road_Hog

notanewuser wrote: »

Not as I wanted the items and nobody else seems to be selling them.

Nobody forced you to buy the item - nobody else is selling the item - you were glad that this seller was selling the item - you knew the complete price before buying - do you think marking the seller down and thereby helping to kick him off of ebay would help you or others in the future?

Do you realise that this was the only seller of this product and if he gets kicked off, then you'll have nobody to buy from? Can you not see the madness of this?

prowla

techguy81 wrote: »

Last time I checked I was running a business, not a charity.

Sure, and...?

techguy81

prowla wrote: »

Sure, and...?

Like many businesses out there I charge for my time. If it takes me 15 minutes or half an hour even to securely pack a large, expensive, electrical item, I'm sure not doing it for free. If an employee packs it instead, they still need paying.