Ebay advert on TV, bikes delivered for "FREE"

forgotmyname

RFW wrote: »

I'm in favour of it saying "postage included". If there's an objection to it though, you then have to object to "buy one get one free" type offers. On a technicality the wording should be "buy two pay half the marked price".


In the case of many of the big stores the postage will be "free" in that the price in store is the same as the online price including delivery.



The store are giving you the cost of the delivery, which makes it free. If you actually think it's misleading complain to the ASA.

Its not the fact i think its misleading, it can give some buyers the idea that postage really is free and the seller pays nothing to post the item to you.
Somebody needs to pay the postage and that someone is the buyer unless you get your figures wrong.

soolin

forgotmyname wrote: »

Its not the fact i think its misleading, it can give some buyers the idea that postage really is free and the seller pays nothing to post the item to you.
Somebody needs to pay the postage and that someone is the buyer unless you get your figures wrong.

Actually if a buyer is daft enough to think postage is free, as in no one pays for it, then I fear sellers are correct in trying to protect themselves against them. That means any seller actually charging postage is likely to get hit with bad feedback and stars for charging postage when they believe it is actually free - so maybe we all ought to use free postage.

I do struggle sometimes with the way buyers perceive their purchases but I'm not sure I've ever come across more than the odd one or two that actually don't understand about paying for postage.

NaughtiusMaximus

Gary123456790 wrote: »

Unfortunately ebay encourage "free" postage as they increase the visibility of listings with "fast anf free" so they encourage sellers to include the cost of postage in the item price. Free postage also protects sellers against low stars for postage cost.

I understand that but not offering discounts on multiple purchases when the true postage cost makes up a significant portion of the selling price falls under the category of taking the ****.

An example last year was when my GF was shopping for cross stitch thread (some colours/brands are harder to find than others apparently), she found one seller who stocked all the threads she needed but offered 'free' postage and refused to offer any sort of discount, despite the fact the threads weigh next to nothing and the total postage cost to the buyer would almost certainly be exactly the same for 5 threads as it would have been for 1.

soolin

NaughtiusMaximus wrote: »

I understand that but not offering discounts on multiple purchases when the true postage cost makes up a significant portion of the selling price falls under the category of taking the ****.

An example last year was when my GF was shopping for cross stitch thread (some colours/brands are harder to find than others apparently), she found one seller who stocked all the threads she needed but offered 'free' postage and refused to offer any sort of discount, despite the fact the threads weigh next to nothing and the total postage cost to the buyer would almost certainly be exactly the same for 5 threads as it would have been for 1.

This has been forced on us by ebay, the way they wish us to work has completely destroyed the buyer experience and customer service that many of us would have had previously.

Just as an example, sellers are strongly encouraged to offer inclusive postage and with a shop a lot of BIN listings are included- and then add to that the sellers like me protecting ourselves against non payers by adding 'immediate payment required' and it means we cannot offer postal discounts. If someone buys 2 from me they have to buy and pay immediately, if I want then to try and return money the ebay FVFs remain payable.

Add to all that the fact that it is not possible to discount an invoice where no postage is showing and you can see the difficulty sellers have.

ballisticbrian

she found one seller who stocked all the threads she needed but offered 'free' postage and refused to offer any sort of discount

Some sellers operate with no profit when they sell an item, and only make some money when they sell multiples. Just to make it clear, profit is what their wages comes out of.

NBLondon

soolin wrote: »

I do struggle sometimes with the way buyers perceive their purchases but I'm not sure I've ever come across more than the odd one or two that actually don't understand about paying for postage.

In all my years as a buyer - I've always sorted the list by "Price including p&p" on the understanding that that was the total of what I had to pay.
Sometime I might look at whether the postage is over the top for the size of the item (which is easy when buying stamps or comics) and take that as a warning to look deeper at that seller's feedback. But by and large - free postage isn't a motivator.

As a seller - for the last couple of years I've only sold items that I can post by using the envelopes and stamps I get from the Royal Mail surveys - so effectively I am only paying for time and the printed copy of the invoice. So I do get free postage I don't think it has made any noticeable difference to the sales and final prices I've been getting.

pulliptears

There is a radio campaign as well, one ad implies that the Mum buys a console controller from eBay as she knows no sticky fingers have been on it before: i.e new.

So as well as expecting free postage they will also be expecting a brand spanking new item.

ballisticbrian

So as well as expecting free postage they will also be expecting a brand spanking new item.

But that's what eBay wants because it is always looking over it's shoulder at Amazon. And eBays shareholders want it to be an all shiny - new Amazon.

soolin

pulliptears wrote: »

There is a radio campaign as well, one ad implies that the Mum buys a console controller from eBay as she knows no sticky fingers have been on it before: i.e new.

So as well as expecting free postage they will also be expecting a brand spanking new item.

I agree with ballisticbrian, I think perhaps that's where ebay is heading. The money is all from new items shipped by big companies in bulk . These big companies can absorb a few losses and tend generally not to waste ebay's time chasing a few pence on a FVF reclaim or suchlike and with return policies requiring the ability of a change of mind return there's even less ebay involvement. . Compare that to a 'private' seller who gets free listings, possibly has no change f mind returns so buyers end up with SNAD claims that waste ebay's time.