Unfair postage costs?

Premier_2

Letter post 125g - 250g costs AUS$6.00 to send from Australia to the UK by airmail

meester

pdel61 wrote: »

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).

The first item is clearly more expensive to send because you have to use a tracked delivery method and get insurance. A 750g 'large letter' is going to cost £1.57 to post. A £1000 insured 750g item will cost £7.15. Add in the fact that in the latter case you'll have to drive/walk to the post office, and queue, £10 is about right.

BruceyBonus

Which item would you buy?
£5 + £5 postage or £9 + £1 postage?
There is no difference. I always look at the total price as a whole and never bother thinking about the two as separate charges.

You also have to remember how long it takes the seller to post the item. I have to drive (or walk) to my local Post Office then wait 15-25 minutes in a queue and then travel home. This can easily use up to 45 minutes of my time plus cost money to go to the PO.

LilDevil

You should also remember that some people cannot get to a PO in their lunch break (I only have 30 mins, and nearest PO is a 15 min walk, if there is a huge queue I could easily be 30 mins over that).

Most POs in my area close at 5-5.30pm, which means I can't go after work - one does open at 8.30, but again, often results in being late for work.

These people would therefore have to factor in potential loss of earnings/getting into trouble at work in their costs as lets face it, most buyers probably wouldn't want to wait till the weekend before their item is sent out!

RFW

BruceyBonus wrote: »

Which item would you buy?
£5 + £5 postage or £9 + £1 postage?

If it is the same item I'd buy the second one, the seller of the first item is showing themselves to be dishonest by avoiding fee paying and increasing the postage amount.

soolin

RFW wrote: »

If it is the same item I'd buy the second one, the seller of the first item is showing themselves to be dishonest by avoiding fee paying and increasing the postage amount.

I agree, if a seller is happy to cheat ebay by loading the post and packing they show they are dishonest so I would be unlikely to risk my money with them.

It is probably immaterial anyway as the sellers that load post and packing too much will merely get their stars ruined and eventually get moved further and further down the selling view until they are virtually invisible. I think sellers are really underestimating how important their stars are.

Also don't forget that buyers can now leave negs and neutrals for excessive postage with no fear of retaliation. I therefore think sellers will start to have to watch their p and p if they want to stay trading.

Hintza

RFW wrote: »

If it is the same item I'd buy the second one, the seller of the first item is showing themselves to be dishonest by avoiding fee paying and increasing the postage amount.

It always amazes me that this raises everyones blood pressure so high.

Nobody likes high P+P and since I only sell on Amazon now I lose money on P+P on virtually every sale.

Having said that you can make an argument to to charge for your time to pack item, time to get to PO, printer costs etc and that can soon add up up

RFW

Hintza wrote: »

It always amazes me that this raises everyones blood pressure so high.

Nobody likes high P+P and since I only sell on Amazon now I lose money on P+P on virtually every sale.

Having said that you can make an argument to to charge for your time to pack item, time to get to PO, printer costs etc and that can soon add up up

I've been undercharging on postage on Ebay for the past few months now, its working quite well. My total p&p charges are less than the courier

Sssssss

I offer free delivery on all my items and just include the postage cost in the item price, everyone is happy and the buyer has no cause to complain.
So what if it means ebay get extra in commision, this is all worked out in my profit/lose margin and they're providing me with a service.

GregtheHammer

Sssssss wrote: »

I offer free delivery on all my items and just include the postage cost in the item price, everyone is happy and the buyer has no cause to complain.

Do you not have problems with still being marked down on your star rating for P&P?

I know a lot of people have posted that they still get rated lower even though its free! Just interested to hear your view as it was something I had toyed with doing myself