Postage (again)

mah_jong

Ok folks ...be gentle with me!

I am just a little confused.! I got a right roasting from many of you for sending second class, a packet that had been listed at 1st class. The lady got her parcel on day 4, and 100% of the postage charge was spent on the mailing.

The same day some one posted about an awkward customer, the seller posted the item almost a week after the sale (not having a go at anyone just collecting the facts!). This was harldy mentioned in the answers (other issues were responded too).

I mainly buy and when i sell, its clutter etc! I also reuse packaging! Anyway getting this weeks stuff ready I study the most recent purchases and guess what 3 out of the last 4 were sent by 2nd class despite stating 1st class on the listing. Two of them being nearly £2 of a diffferece each !(Extra for the seller) This must happen a lot (not the over charging generally, thats a total diferent issue,) ,but where the item is listed as going 1st but actually posted 2nd.

Perhps my buyer would not have noticed if I had not mentioned it! I certainly didn't, as all the items reached me quickly. I gave good feed back . Are you folk saying I should leave neut or neg when this happens? Perhaps mention it?

Is this worse than my error? .... I didn't 'make' money on the postage! Don't worry I shall check and check again prices before listing. I'll not make that error again!

Also, is leaving it a week more acceptable than sending by incorrect mailing? (I know there will be circumstances that are special/unusual but there again end of the week would have been better for me financially too!)

Sorry to ramble just trying to get my thoughts in order...will go and get
coffee. I just want to understand the 'rules' better.

As I said please be gentle!

ma

mattp_3

I think 50p to a £1.00 is a fair "margin of error" when calculating postage costs, but there are lots of people trying to bump up their profits on EBay by charging £7 for a dvd or game to be delivered which is ridiculous!

The simple solution is to ensure that a fair postage cost is listed, if it looks like they are extracting the urine, then DONT BID!

As for 1st and 2nd Class postage - why not give the buyer the option? You can always list two prices and maybe include Recorded Delivery in the 1st Class price for the customerts piece of mind?

soolin

Every one will have personal views about postage rates and posting times and none of us are necessarily correct, in fact we are quite likely to argue amongst ourselves on this board.

However, quoting a payment method, ie first class and then using an inferior method is not really acceptable whether on ebay or from a shop. Yes I have changed my payment method before but only by necessity. I once quoted 2nd class mail for a large item only to find it exceeded the RM dimensions, so had no choice but to send it parcel rate. I did tell the buyer in that case as it would have delayed the item somewhat. I was lucky though as the buyer was fine about it. Even after I had sent it, with the buyers agreement I still worried that I might get a neg or a neutral for it.

If you are routinely getting items sent by second class when you have paid for 1st then it seems you are quite unlucky, I buy fairly frequently and can only recall being downgraded to a lesser postage method once or twice in my whole buying experience. I would certainly consider mentioning it to the seller to see what they have to say.

Posting items late is another matter entirely. Ebay are bringing in rules about posting, I think this is sometime this year but ever since it got discussed on the ebay boards it went quiet and never got mentioned again. The original suggestion by ebay was within 7 days so although most of us rush around posting next day and such like we really don't need to.

I did once get a neutral from a buyer on a secondary id I was using. He had elected to pay by bank transfer and assured me (as he thought I was a a new seller) that everyone always sent things out as soon as payment was made and didn't wait the 4 days for it to appear in their bank account. I did wait until his payment was received in my account and posted same day and got a neutral for slow posting..he said 'waited 5 days for delivery'. Grrr. Luckily neutrals disappear after a year so it has gone now but it rankled.

As sellers we must treat our buyers as we would expect to be treated. As a buyer I would certainly mention to the seller if I got something second class when I had paid for first, but I would not leave neg or neutral feedback over it.

Soo

oodlenoodle10

When you state postage costs why don't you just put sellers standard rate instead of specifying 1st/2nd class?

Then your buyers can't complain that you haven't sent it the correct way.

I saw your previous post and did think that everyone was being harsh on you, but it is the nature of Ebay I'm afraid to complain about anything that you may do wrong.

I have brought things with postage as first class but not recieved them until a week later, I sell things and always send 2nd class and my buyers always recieve them within three days. This is because I post on the day of the payment clearing where as others leave it a couple of days before posting.

Sorry I am rambling a bit now!
Hope this helps

Tracy

soolin

Actually Tracy that is a cracker of an idea.

I used the 'sellers standard rate' choice when I last sold an akward sized package as I wasn't sure whether it would sell and I didn't want to go to all the bother of trying to wrap it to get it weighed in advance. Having had problems previously with an item to large for standard post I thought I would cover myself with this one. It seemed to work and at the end of the auction I sent it and was able to then tell the buyer how it was sent and roughly how long it would take to arrive.

I had set the price high enough to cover all the possible options and had anticipated refunding some of the charge if I was over the top at the end. As it turned out I was nearly spot on once I bought all the padding and stuff I needed.

Soo

bubbles_2

Do you think sellers put up the p+p charge so much and reduce the listing price so greatly to save on e-bays final sales fee? Im new to selling but dont they take a % of the sale price or is it the whole price inc. p+p.. just a bit confused caus it lists your sale price in the "my e-bay" section without inc the p+p charge

soolin

bubbles wrote:

Do you think sellers put up the p+p charge so much and reduce the listing price so greatly to save on e-bays final sales fee? Im new to selling but dont they take a % of the sale price or is it the whole price inc. p+p.. just a bit confused caus it lists your sale price in the "my e-bay" section without inc the p+p charge

Yes some sellers do inflate the p and p and decrease the opening bid price. This is called fee avoidance and is always worth checking for when buying on ebay.

Ebay charge set amounts for listing so you can save a few pence by reducing your opening bid below a certain level, although it hardly seems worth it. FVFs are also charged on the end price excluding post and packing as well.

Soo

richto

Ebay dont seem to call it fee avoidance under any circumstances unless postage is more than £15. Indeed some of their largest power sellers sell every item at 0.99 and clearly make money on the shipping fee.

iyiarz

I've never had complaints but it is Postage and Packing they are paying for.
Jiffy bags, Sellotape, Boxes, Foam, Brown Paper, Petrol to drive car to the post office and loosing half my lunch time doing so...

Yes you are selling an item but some people don't realise the lenghs you have to go to sometimes to send an item.

I had to send a Server computer case once. I had to drive miles to the main sorting office as no post office would accept it.
It took an hour to pack and was very well done. It arrived the other end with the box ripped to pieces, but luckily the item was unscathed.

It all costs. If your postage is slightly higher than the Stamps, it should not be frowned upon.

£7 for a DVD is a bit steep though.