Charged £150 for shipping for an iPad

[olivier.ottavi]

Recently, I made an offer for a used iPad for £150 and was charged £300 by the seller, including £150 for shipping. Because it was an offer, I got debited immediately the full amount. I am pretty sure that the auction did not have £150 for shipping, although i can't remember for sure. But does that means that the seller can charge any amount for shipping without any upper limit ? In that particular occasion, the seller appologised for the mistake and provided a refund which took 1 business day to process, but this is clearly concerning. Any similar experience ? or exaplanation for this ?

[jckl1957 · Accepted solution]

It is really important that you check the postage price before you make an offer as Ebay are now taking the payment instantly.

What was the item number?

It is easy enough to check the postage shown on the original listing.

[fassiphone]

People should really stop purchaisng second-hand Apple devices online. It's simply not worth the potential headache that accompanies such purchases.

[olivier.ottavi]

Thanks I managed to find the original listing and indeed the postage was wrong on the listing, i just did not pay attention. I find it a bit odd, that eBay does not validate shipping cost based on the value of the item but in that case i do agree this is partly my fault, and will need to be more careful in the future. I suspect I would have been able to escalate it to ebay after payment to get a refund but that would have taken a few days. Thanks for your answer.

[olivier.ottavi]

I also suspect that there are a lot more scams on apple devices than other items because they are so popular, but the issue here was around a mistake the seller made on shipping cost combined with an offer which could have happened on any item.

[myriad*seller]

Sellers think that by using a high postage cost and low item cost that they will save on fees

They will discover eBay put a stop to this years ago, and now fees are charged on full postage cost + item cost 

So the seller did not save any money by listing with a £150 postage cost, as they will discover

ALWAYS read the listing you bid on, sellers are responsible for the listing, eBay do not cap postage (they tried this and it was unsuccessful). It is up to the buyer to check the listing. Caveat emptor 

[myriad*seller]

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@olivier.ottavi wrote:

Thanks I managed to find the original listing and indeed the postage was wrong on the listing, i just did not pay attention. I find it a bit odd, that eBay does not validate shipping cost based on the value of the item but in that case i do agree this is partly my fault, and will need to be more careful in the future. I suspect I would have been able to escalate it to ebay after payment to get a refund but that would have taken a few days. Thanks for your answer.

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No, eBay would not refund you for the postage cost

You agreed to it when you bid on the listing and formed a contract

eBay only refund you if the item does not arrive, or if the item is broken or misdescribed when it arrives. The postage cost was clearly stated on the listing that you bid on, thus forming a contract. So you would have no grounds for a refund. The costs were shown when you made the offer, and before you confirmed your offer. 

[jckl1957]

There is no way Ebay can check shipping costs.

They do dictate the cost on some items, like DVDs, but sellers can charge what they like, or can make a mistake.

For many of my items, the postage is £2.05 but, from time to time, I have not hit the . hard enough and the postage has shown as £205.