Let's get 'Real' about "Postage & Packing"

MDUK

If I have to spend half an hour finding boxes and getting an item double boxed or whatever, why should i be expected to do that for free?

Your not doing it for free, you are making money on the item you are selling. eBay was created to sell things to a wider market. Postage is just a way of delivering it, it was never intended as an additional way of making a profit.

As more people became 'traders' on ebay they thought they should be able to charge the same as established mail order companies but without offeing any guarantees about product or service. They argued they should be paid for their time, their packaging, ignoring the fact that the objective was to sell the item.

That became more widely accepted as other people (some might call greedy) also want a share of the postage money. Now sellers are inflating postage prices to bypass eBay sale charges (that is primarily the reason althought it has the additional benefit of low headline rates) You can report those sellers to ebay.

People in this post argue if you don't agree with it don't bid. The reality is if you don't challenge behaviour it becomes the norm. Ebay is growing at such a rate with thousands of new members each week the accepted rules of behavour can also change as fast.

Don't accept it, challenge it - email the seller saying you would have liked to have bid on their item but the post and package charge is too high so you will not be bidding. If everybody who disagreed with high postage charges risked losing the odd item to tell sellers this 'professional sellers' would start to realise they have to do something about it. Ebay is what you make it.

talksalot81

Postage AND packaging. Postage is a set fee. If a buyer is happy to have an item sent using its original packaging, fine. Then they pay only postage. If they want the item sent fully insured and safely, this required additional time to add a second layer of packaging. All of that described is packaging. How on earth can you tell me that it isnt?!

That all takes time and time is money. For joe nobody, that time costs nothing, but a professional is different. Why should they offer this secure packaging service and not be paid for it? The goodness of their hearts? Well then why dont we see more solicitors (of whom there are plenty browse these boards) providing some legal help in these situations? Why not? Time is money and this is life.

If you dont like postage charges, get a breakdown. If you dont like the breakdown, well dont bid and if anything in the breakdown contravenes the rules, report them. And no, charging for packaging within this does not break the rules. If you dont like it, tough luck! Dont bid!

All that said, that all applies to someone who is ebaying the odd item and it mostly will only apply to the odd few larger or more awkward items. The practice of an ebay power seller selling, for instance, a watch with BIN of £50 with £25 P&P is totally unacceptable since in no way can the time or resources spent on packaging justify this.

I simply mean to say that generalisation is not always fair.

Milky_Mocha

Hermia wrote:

I wouldn't bid on something with a ludicrous postage charge. Generally I'll take the postage charge into account with the item price when deciding which item to bid for. The thing that really bugs me is when you pay high postage and then the packing is really shoddy. I won an auction for a CD where the p&p was £3.00 which is high compared to the price on other CD auctions. The CD was quite hard to get and I thought maybe the seller was buying new packaging so I was happy to bid. When the item arrived it was packaged in a jiffy bag that had been reused to many times it was virtually rotting. The CD was cracked because parts of the jiffy bag were threadbare and there was just a couple of stamps on the parcel. I mean, the guy could have bought a new jiffy bag and still had some money left to pay his fees!

I once had a seller post me a handset in a Sainsburys plastic bag! Wrapped around it, sealed with cellotape with a little square bit of paper to paste the stamps on. I actually found myself being angry with the post office for even agreeing to deliver it in such packaging. The item itself was not in as pristine condition as the ad and so i emailed him demanding a partial refund. I then went on to re-sell the item at a 50% profit as it began to annoy me by just looking at it!

BWZN93

lyniced wrote:

I never whack up the postage costs - I really do try to be fair to the buyer. Infact I occassionally lose money on postage (usually only pence) by trying to be too fair. Most of my p&p costs are within 20-50 pence of the p&p asking costs. I think buyers appreciate realistic costs.

Agreed. One thing I will say to sellers is - if you dont put a P&P charge on there, that means I have to go through the hassle of composing an email etc to send, and waiting for a reply, making sure im watching the item so I dont forget/lost it - when all I really want to do is just bid there and then. I dont bother bidding if there is no p&p charge listed, simple as that. I dont appreciate sellers putting on a low starting price and having a high postage charge because I want postage to be accurate, not to be sitting there working out how much I can bid factoring in the p&p. Keep it simple for the buyers! I appreciate that it is a good way of keeping your ebay fees down, and having a nice low bid to attract attention, but it can be annoying.

When im selling, I set a start price at what I will not let it go for less than, and charge p&p at postage costs only, as it costs me nothing to get cardboard boxes for free when im doing a supermarket shop, cost of sellotape etc is negligable, and walking to the post office isnt that big a bother! At the end of the day, im being given money and im getting rid of an item I dont want/need.

Jo xx

RussLE

jw1096 wrote:

When im selling, I set a start price at what I will not let it go for less than, and charge p&p at postage costs only,
Jo xx

JW...

Just ask yourself this though, when you sell it like you explain, and ten other ebayers sell the same item at £0.99 start price with a inflated price for p&p...

Whos sells????

Sellers can attempt to manage themselves on ebay with these high flung moral standards, however, ebay will never refund you your listing fee because you was trying to be a bit fairer than the 10 that DID SELL their item!

Ebay has no moral standard! It is a money making machine.

The money it makes out of the sellers is scandalous to say the least! thus if ebayers try to reduce their payment to ebay by increasing the postage and package price, as long as this is explained as with our man in '5986252564', there should be no issue to be raised!

Because before any moral standard of a buyer is lent upon, there should be a far greater issue discussed over "NON OBSERVANT" buyers! those who bid first and complain later!

I strongly believe that anyone who bids on an item for £3 p&p, and then moans that it only came in an envelope with a 1st class stamp on it should stand in the box of condemnation just as much! I mean, if the item could be delivered in an envelope with a 1st class stamp on it....WHAT MORE WAS YOU SERIOUSLY EXPECTING!!!!! A long bearded TOM HANKS and his mate WILSON to roll up at your door with a FED EXPRESS parcel!!!!

Don't ever blame the sellers......you press the BID buttons!!!

We_Laugh_Indoors

RussLE wrote:

I strongly believe that anyone who bids on an item for £3 p&p, and then moans that it only came in an envelope with a 1st class stamp on it should stand in the box of condemnation just as much! I mean, if the item could be delivered in an envelope with a 1st class stamp on it....WHAT MORE WAS YOU SERIOUSLY EXPECTING!!!!! A long bearded TOM HANKS and his mate WILSON to roll up at your door with a FED EXPRESS parcel!!!!

Don't ever blame the sellers......you press the BID buttons!!!

if a large amount is paid for postage it is only fair that the buyer should expect quality service.

if i pay £2 for a cd to be posted i expect 1st class recorded.

and a gold plated envelope

marty1888

chem14346777 wrote:

I've bought a couple fo things on eBay now where I couldn't see how people are justifying postal costs, so I just sent an email before hand saying "I won this item, blah blah, However, I have sent a payment of x amount (£x below total price, inc. postage), as I have sent similar items in the past and combined cost of packaging and postage should only add up to this, any problems, let me know.. blah blah..

People rarely complain, and if they do, just amend the payment accordingly.

Not sure how this is in line with the EULA, but it works.

I would defo think you were chancing your arm and request that you pay the cost stioulated in the auction.
And its the seller that decides postage not the buyer and as a Seller I would never be influenced by the buyer, if they arent happy with the costs then buy from someone else.

bluemoon_3

Most of the time I don't worry about it too much - I just add the bid price and p&p together for a total price.

It does bother me, however, when I win multiple items from the same seller and no postage discount is offered - even though they still send the items in the same package! I used to enjoy bidding on an item and browsing the seller's other items to see if there was anything else I fancied that could combine on the postage. Nowadays I'm reluctant to do so unless it is implicitely stated in the description that the seller will combine postage on multiple wins, because I'm just as likely to be told that the p&p charges can't be reduced because they constitute part of the total item price.

It does annoy me though when sellers overcharge on postage and have low starting bids - I don't feel it's fair on the more honest sellers. Last week I needed a computer component. Most people were selling it at 99p with £10 p&p. I ignored those listings (for no other reason than it gets my back up to see it) and bought it from a seller for £7.99, who was charging £3 p&p - a far more realistic price for exactly the same item.

And if a seller doesn't state a postage price? The vast majority of times I won't even put the item in my watch list, let alone bid.

Jackie

If p&p isn't stipulated I'll either email the seller for costs or not bid. If I want to bid on multiple items I email the seller and ask if they'll combine p&p before bidding. Either way I have the info I need before committing to bidding. :wave:

bluemoon_3

Jackie wrote:

If p&p isn't stipulated I'll either email the seller for costs or not bid. If I want to bid on multiple items I email the seller and ask if they'll combine p&p before bidding. Either way I have the info I need before committing to bidding. :wave:

That makes sense, but it does take a lot of the spontaneity and fun out of ebay . . . but maybe that's a good thing for money-saving.