Unfair postage costs?

StaffsSW

eyelinerprincess wrote: »

It's fair enough when the P&P is reasonable enough to take in packaging etc, but not when it's way over the actual postage cost (I'd say a couple of pounds at the most is reasonable, but a fiver is taking the pee).

That's the whole point though - it's all completely subjective. What exactly is "reasonable"?

You say you'd be happy to pay a couple of pounds over the stamp price, but what if that was a memory card you bought? Would a couple of pounds be excessive? Or what if it was a three piece suite? Would that same couple of pounds be overly generous from the seller?

As long as the P&P is displayed on the listing, and the buyer is happy to complete the purchase at that price, I really do not see the problem. If the buyer is not happy with the displayed price, then walk away.

The problem I see is that buyers will continue to make these purchases with inflated P&P, giving the sellers a green light to continue the practice. Seller Star ratings may drop, but given the available discount levels awarded for good scores, it is still more profitable to add 5p to P&P, than it is to strive for a FVF discount.

If you do not like the postage rate, then do not buy the item. If nobody buys the item, then the seller will have to change their practices.

pepsi_max2k

>> The P&P charge was £14.95 but when it arrived the postage printed on
>> the envelope was $6 (less than £3)

if it helps, here's an explanation of who and what you chose to pay when you bid. and I don't know how much you paid but I guess it wasn't much.

postage cost: £3.
envelope / packaging cost: £2.
paypal fees (whom ebay are forcing on oz users, and I presume you used quite hapilly?): ~£1
ebay fees: ~£1.5
seller, for the listing: who knows, was it detailed? could take them up to 30 mins to get everything done properly, just take min wage as a guide so ~£1.
seller, for spending more time packaging and taking the thing to the PO. this is austrailia, maybe they live way out in the bush? Say another 15 minutes or so. ~£0.50.
seller, for the item: £6 (plus whatever you bid).

bid: a few £s?

try to remember this for next time, to avoid dissapointment. though yes, in this case the seller seems to have put 40% of the cost in the wrong field. instead he should have increased the amount you paid to ebay for the item even more, passing the cost on to you in the increased starting bid. if you're unhappy he didn't, ebay have implemented repot forms for fee avoidance as others have suggested. personally, i like my money to go to sellers as i'm not a huge fan of ebay's practices myself .

RFW

cheeks wrote: »

Hi, I recieved an item in the post this morning that i won on Ebay last week, it came from Australia. The P&P charge was £14.95 but when it arrived the postage printed on the envelope was $6 (less than £3) and the envelope it was sent in wouldnt have cost any more than a couple of pounds. To me, this seems very unreasonable but as i agreed to pay it when i bid on the item have i got any right to complain about it now? x

I think the main question is do you know for certain that this is all they paid for the postage? The system may be different in Australia (I don't know) and for international they may pay more than the amount on the envelope.

POSSETTE

if i bid on it and was happy to pay £14.95 it would be because i would have "NO FLAMIN IDEA" of how much it would actually cost to post it from Aus..and would like to believe i wasnt being scammed...when you get the parcel and it says £3 i would then be annoyed..whats wrong with that?? You dont know how much its going to cost from abroad.If it did cost £10 i would feel better about it...

martindow

Was it sent tracked or signed for? Is it possible that in Australia the stamp shows the basic delivery cost and then an extra fee is charged for the additional service? If so the actual cost could be much nearer what you paid.

jasmineswhiskers

You have not said what the item was, which is fair enough, but if it only cost £3 to send half way round the world it must be very small and/or light. Did the postage charged not seem excessive at this point??

RFW

Australian postal prices to UK at http://www1.auspost.com.au/pac/int_parcel_type.asp

Time2Go_25

The other annoying thing is that people seem to think the selling price makes a difference:

If I sell an item for £1000 and the post is £10 people don't care, but if I sell an identically sized item for £1 and change £10 they complain (examples not actual items).

Hintza

RFW wrote: »

Australian postal prices to UK at http://www1.auspost.com.au/pac/int_parcel_type.asp

The cheapest cost for a parcel by air is $10.30 ynder 250g or $49.00 for ECI Merchandise.

Better make sure you get your facts right before moaning.

StaffsSW

If I remember correctly, the Australia "letter" is roughly the same as a UK Large Letter, so a light jiffy bag may still go at the cheaper rate than a parcel...?