OTT P&P? Or am I being unreasonable?

Kimberley

Miroslav wrote:

Never took into consideration Petrol.......maybe I should from now on, even though I walk to the Post Office

Hee hee..

purplepatch

Cat72 wrote:

Sorry the postage price seemed fine to me. It was boxed and wrapped.

No, that was my point actually, that it wasn't boxed. It was just folded up into the smallest size possible, then just wrapped in brown paper. Hence it was crumpled beyond belief.

Also, all the other things she sold had what I would consider reasonable postage, ie a top for £2.00 p&p - it was just the suits that she bumped up, almost as if she was envisaging higher costs. In which case, she could have refunded.

To be fair, she is a newbie to ebay, so it was probably just inexperience on her part.

HairyHatMan

Miroslav wrote:

Never took into consideration Petrol.......maybe I should from now on, even though I walk to the Post Office

Don't forget the true cost of using a vehicle to get to the post office. According to the major motoring organisations its around 40p per mile. Rememebr too that the Inland Revenue allow you to claim 40p per mile for the first n,000 miles as a business expense. Just a couple of 2 or 3 mile trips a week will soon add up over a year.

Catseyez

HairyHatMan wrote:

Don't forget the true cost of using a vehicle to get to the post office. According to the major motoring organisations its around 40p per mile. Rememebr too that the Inland Revenue allow you to claim 40p per mile for the first n,000 miles as a business expense. Just a couple of 2 or 3 mile trips a week will soon add up over a year.

At what point does selling on ebay go from "getting rid of a few items in the attic" to "a small business"? Sounds like this could be a very grey area. At what point do you tell the tax man? What about it you've got a lot of personal items for sale that amount to thousands?

I wonder if any of the power sellers who buy the wholesale lists, inform their taxman?

HairyHatMan

I've always taken it as if you buy anything with the intention of selling it on, regardless of its value, then it is trading and should be declared. Hence, anyone who sells more than one or two brand new, unused items would probably, though not definately, be considered to be trading.

However, if you happen to have to sell stuff on ebay to fund your addiction to buying stuff from car boot sales, or anywhere else for that matter, then it's none of the Tax man's business . Although you might have trouble persuading him that that is the case .

danmanchester

Catseyez wrote:

At what point does selling on ebay go from "getting rid of a few items in the attic" to "a small business"? Sounds like this could be a very grey area. At what point do you tell the tax man? What about it you've got a lot of personal items for sale that amount to thousands?

I wonder if any of the power sellers who buy the wholesale lists, inform their taxman?

I think that point comes when you specifically buy items for resale, as opposed to selling your own used goods. I'm sure the Taxman is well aware of Ebay and I think I read somewhere that Ebay was asked to hand over details of Powersellers to the Inland Revenue recently. Agreed it is still a bit of a grey area..when does a money making hobby become a business.... ?

veronarona

QUOTE: ...wrapping, petrol, time and effort do need to be added to the total postage price, even Ebay agree on this...

eBay's stated policy is: "A shipping and handling fee can cover the seller's reasonable costs for mailing, packaging and handling the item."

Too often, sellers, especially those selling third-rate new items, use the packaging and handling elements to boost their selling price whilst circumventing listing fees (this happens a lot with physically small items that cost next-to-nothing to post.)

Shops don't charge extra for carrier bags etc, that's all built into the price of the item and that's the way it should be on eBay.

I reckon that all sellers who add business-associated costs should have to confirm to eBay their status with the tax man before being allowed to add on costs for "handling".

veronarona

Catseyez

veronarona wrote:

QUOTE: ...wrapping, petrol, time and effort do need to be added to the total postage price, even Ebay agree on this...

Shops don't charge extra for carrier bags etc, that's all built into the price of the item and that's the way it should be on eBay.

I reckon that all sellers who add business-associated costs should have to confirm to eBay their status with the tax man before being allowed to add on costs for "handling".

veronarona

Sure, shops don't charge for their run-of-the-mill plastic bags, but they do for their stronger ones.

Mail Order companies and online shops have always charged for p&p fees however. Such p&p fees have always included paper, bubble wrap etc.

Since Ebay is an online company whereby the sellers send out the goods, should it not be compared to a mali-order company rather than an actual shop?!

When you say "all sellers", are you including those individuals who are having a clear out?

Howdie

I think that there is one vital point you guys are missing, postage is normally stated on the auction page. If you think that these costs are too high then dont bid on that item!!

Another point is that EBAY do not charge final fees on the postage which is why sellers bump up their postage fees and reduce the starting price.

I too have been put off bidding for items by high postage costs in the past but you've got to look at the total cost ie winning bid+postage whenever you bid (unless you are picking the item up).

If you leave negative feedback because the postage costs are too high then I think this is a bit unfair on the seller as you know the costs before you bid.

Bargainbabe_2

purplepatch wrote:

Won a bargain suit for 99p. P&P listed as £7.50, which I've paid before for a suit, but on that occasion it was wrapped really carefully and boxed up etc. This one came folded up really small (took an hour of ironing to get creases out) and was wrapped in a sheet of brown paper. The actual postage charge was £4.52 so this seller must buy her brown paper from Harrods!

I know if you disagree with p&p you don't bid, but am I alone in feeling a bit put out by clearly paying more than the seller's costs? Even with cost of petrol and parking etc (she sold half a dozen other things on the same day all posted yesterday) it is OTT.

Should I refer to it in my feedback? Guess I'll look petty as I got a bargain even with this overcharge but I do find it a bit annoying.

Going right back to the OP, I will go against the grain and agree that due to the fact that the packaging was inadequate I would feel exactly the same way as you do. It seems to me that the seller wasn't expecting the item to go for so little, so tried to claw funds back as much as possible :rolleyes:

However, taking into account that you did win the suit for an absolute bargain price and its a newbie seller I *personally* would let this one go.