Getting a bit sick of this over charged postage.

[gogetafix]

The last few months I've been buying from ebay quite frequenty. On some small items I've bought the postage has been set on the listing at £3.20 (Second Class Small Parcel). When the items arrive they have been sent as a Large Letter for £0.96p. I do know that postage includes packing as well. The latest parcel that I had arrive was just a very cheap jiffy bag. No extra bubble wrap or anything. So not a lot of cost with the packing. 20p at most.
Knowing these boards I know some my cry "Well you were happy to pay the postage price" and yes this is true I was happy to pay the postage price because I presumed it would be sent as a small parcel. The items I buy aren't that flat so I presume they would be over 2.5cms in depth. Perhaps the sellers thinks the item will have to sent as a small parcel hence the £3.20 Second Class postage price. 
When these sellers post their parcels and find out it can be sent as a Large Letter and pay for that service they pocket that difference in cost and don't bother sending their buyer a message and say it was sent as a Large Letter and not a Small Parcel so here's a small refund. These people must think their buyers are stupid. 
I also know these sellers have fees to pay but keeping the cost of postage that wasn't paid is all a bit of a con in my opinion. If it were me I'd partially refund the buyer. 

[bennotbill]

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@nigel_paul_wright7557 wrote:

If p+p looks too much buy elsewhere.

A lot of people probably do that. And when it looks like that's happening I see it as a great opportunity to pick up something at a much lower total price than it usually goes for.

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[mawels_87]

I've spoken to many members of ebay staff and managers over the last year about the constant bugs and other selling issues. They all know my account very well and what I'm buying and selling and why. With the many conversations I've had with them they have said I'm doing nothing wrong. I do have a business in real life that has nothing to do with watches that is doing just fine and is all above board with the government laws and taxes and so on. I don't think i could even use Ebay to run a business as it takes me far to long to be able to list items in adequate numbers to make it worth worthwhile and after all the ebay fees.  And my experience of selling here has been plagued with endless bugs and listings being hinden, unseen in the search results that have lead to sales going up and down like a yoyo. 

The way i see it is that seller's can charge what they like for postage but for me i avoid paying more than what i know postage actually costs in cluding packaging. I see no reason to pay more than it's worth in reality. It's fine by me though if buyers are happy to pay more. Everyone has freedom of choice.

[Anonymous]

Contrary to your alleged discussions with eBay you are clearly 100% breaking UK Consumer Law by failing to display the buyers legal rights including your business name and address.

Is it Coincidence that your listing are watches and you have come here and admitted your business interests.

I hope you realise on of the legal rights any of your buyers may have. 

Because you are breaking UK Consumer Law any buyer can return any purchase within 12 months from the date of purchase for any reason for a full refund.. That is the law of the land.

You can also be reported to trading standards and eBay for fee avoidence and breach of the eBay user agreement.

[papso22]

You buy and sell watches on this account, that makes you a business seller.  The rest is irrelevant,  as is any attempt to rely on eBay to be up to speed with UK consumer law.

[mawels_87]

I'm not going to continue this discussion as I've made my point about postage costs. The other stuff is way off topic anyway. 

[Anonymous]

The response is exactly as expected.

I'm taking my ball home because I've been caught out. 

[gogetafix]

"If you go in a store and buy a large item of furniture and request delivery you will be given a price.

If you agree the price you then conclude the deal."

That is correct.
One is being charged for their delivery service and I guess in this scenrio you've conjured up it is a service provided by the furniture store.

People on ebay are working out their postage costs using Royal Mail or other delivery companies. 
In the case of people using RM as a delivery service most of the listings I look at quote RM Second Class prices. Usually a RM small parcel price which is/was £3.20. I pay the £3.20 and expect my parcel to be a small parcel where £3.20 has been paid.  When the parcel arrives as Large Letter in a small jiffy bag or even worse a paper envelope I know that at least £2.00 hasn't been paid on postage. It has gone into the seller's pocket. They have the money for their item plus this extra £2.00!

I was recently given a quote of £2.90 for postage on a small item. Seller sent it for 96p in a small jiffy bag. I queried it with her. She didn't care. She didn't even mention she had overcharged me and told me she was busy. I didn't follow it up as there was no point and she probably knew that. People like this have no morals. 

I gave up on this thread because I was wasting my time typing but thought I'd give it one more bash.

[whitbyabi]

You are forgetting though that the cost of buying packing materials has
increased, especially for those of us who live in small towns & villages
and buy things locally. I don't drive, to get the bus or train to the next
town along just to buy packaging would be stupid & a waste of my time &
money therefore I buy it locally. Ebay takes a percentage of the postage
cost so if the seller sells something & it only goes to £1 or so and
charges the exact pastage cost then the seller has actually lost money,
this may be ok for big Chinese companies occasionally who can do a
massive container full of things, but not for those of us trying to make a
few extra quid on unwanted things. The cost of postage with RM has now
increased too. If buyers want properly packaged items (and not things
wrapped in carrier bags or cling film which is what I have sometimes had
with items arriving damaged) then it does have to be paid for. It is a
postage & packing charge after all. If you do not agree with paying that
cost then nobody is forcing you to buy. Its not a question of morals its
business! A charity shop in my town charges £10 to deliver furniture, the
managers husband brings it in his estate car, I didn't agree with paying
this to deliver a small table a 10 minute walk from the shop to my home so
we carried it. if you do not agree with something then scroll by its very
easy!

[Anonymous]

The op made this post just about a year ago.

Judging by the feedback he has left sellers in the past year I think we can assume he is now happy and accepted that he is not been overcharged. 

[poppyann2012]

Why are you complaining? The seller put up the price that they charge to package the item then to travel to the post office then they que up to pay for the postage then return home or back to their place of work, I know if it was myself doing this I would charge a lot more than the £3.50 to do all of this I think it would take me over an hour to do this and my basic charge would be £35 per hour plus £1.25 per mile.

Have you ever sat down and worked out what you would charge to do all of this think about the time it would take and multiply the hours it takes by the amount you would charge per hour add the cost of packaging and the cost of postage and I would not believe you if it was lower than the £3.50 they charged, I did ignore the time and cost to go out and buy the packaging and printing the address lable which would most likely double the above estimate.

When people see they have been charged more than the postage cost they never think about the time it takes to carry out all of the work involved in getting your item to you.

In the future before you complain about the cost think about the above.

[purveyor_of_tat]

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@poppyann2012 wrote:

...In the future before you complain about the cost think about the above.

---

I suggest in future you read the thread. You would then see that the OP has had issues with items arriving in ripped envelopes and flimsy jiffy bags.

They are not getting the service that is being paid for. They are happy to pay the advertised price but what drops down on to the door is a poor show.

[gogetafix]

---

@whitbyabi wrote:
You are forgetting though that the cost of buying packing materials has
increased, especially for those of us who live in small towns & villages
and buy things locally. I don't drive, to get the bus or train to the next
town along just to buy packaging would be stupid & a waste of my time &
money therefore I buy it locally. Ebay takes a percentage of the postage
cost so if the seller sells something & it only goes to £1 or so and
charges the exact pastage cost then the seller has actually lost money,
this may be ok for big Chinese companies occasionally who can do a
massive container full of things, but not for those of us trying to make a
few extra quid on unwanted things. The cost of postage with RM has now
increased too. If buyers want properly packaged items (and not things
wrapped in carrier bags or cling film which is what I have sometimes had
with items arriving damaged) then it does have to be paid for. It is a
postage & packing charge after all. If you do not agree with paying that
cost then nobody is forcing you to buy. Its not a question of morals its
business! A charity shop in my town charges £10 to deliver furniture, the
managers husband brings it in his estate car, I didn't agree with paying
this to deliver a small table a 10 minute walk from the shop to my home so
we carried it. if you do not agree with something then scroll by its very
easy!

---

I've just looked at this thread again. So apologies for not seeing further posts earlier. I agree packing has to be paid for as well as the postage cost. In this thread (page 1 or 2) I mentioned I paid £4.25 for P+P.  Postage cost paid by seller was jjst 0.96p. Packing was a thin small paper envelope costing a matter of pennies.  Total cost to the seller probably just over £1.00. So where does that other £3 odd go? I suggest ebay fees paid from it and the rest pocketed by the seller. 

[gogetafix]

---

---

@poppyann2012 wrote:

Why are you complaining? The seller put up the price that they charge to package the item then to travel to the post office then they que up to pay for the postage then return home or back to their place of work, I know if it was myself doing this I would charge a lot more than the £3.50 to do all of this I think it would take me over an hour to do this and my basic charge would be £35 per hour plus £1.25 per mile.

Have you ever sat down and worked out what you would charge to do all of this think about the time it would take and multiply the hours it takes by the amount you would charge per hour add the cost of packaging and the cost of postage and I would not believe you if it was lower than the £3.50 they charged, I did ignore the time and cost to go out and buy the packaging and printing the address lable which would most likely double the above estimate.

When people see they have been charged more than the postage cost they never think about the time it takes to carry out all of the work involved in getting your item to you.

In the future before you complain about the cost think about the above.

---

Well, thank you for asking me to think about the cost of travel etc. So what you effectively saying is sellers have to  charge for their travel expenses and time standing in a queue at the Post Office or drop off point.  Unfortunately you can not add all these things you mention onto P+P.  So I won't be thinking about any of things you mention if I have to complain again on here or to a seller who's P+P , compared to what I've received, is totally unreasonable. ie ripped small thin paper envelope with my item sticking out it after I had paid around triple the cost of the actual P+P cost the seller paid!  

---

[plpmr]

now you have returned after a year, let me reiterate -

there cannot be any overcharging as by buying the buyer agrees to the P&P quoted.

A buyer purchases knowing the sellers charge to get the item to the buyer.

[gogetafix]

---

@purveyor_of_tat wrote:

---

@poppyann2012 wrote:

...In the future before you complain about the cost think about the above.

---

I suggest in future you read the thread. You would then see that the OP has had issues with items arriving in ripped envelopes and flimsy jiffy bags.

They are not getting the service that is being paid for. They are happy to pay the advertised price but what drops down on to the door is a poor show.

---

Thank you for your support.  You are right I happily paid the P+P in the case of the ripped paper envelope. I thought for the P+P I paid the little plastic figure I bought would arrive in a jiffy bag or similar with some protection around it. What I paid for in P+P in that case wasn't justified.  The seller didn't care either when I mentioned it to them. Luckily the figure wasn't damaged. Not sure if it had been damaged I would have bothered to return if asked for. Would have just cost me more money. 

As for other purchases I've made in the last year I wouldn't they have all been great but mostly it's been good. I've managed to avoid people who think it's ok to rip people off. The reason this thread is over a year old is because I wouldn't bother posting anything on the subject of overcharged P+P ever again.  Although I respect all points of view, negative and positive, most people replying on these boards are sellers who thought my complaint wasn't justified at all.  

[Anonymous]

There is a big difference between your original post header which stated overcharging, and a seller not using adequate packaging.

The charge for postage the seller is requesting is clearly displayed and by placing your bid you are agreeing to the sale terms and conditions. 

If a seller uses Inadequate packing which results in damage to the purchase then you have a valid claim for Not As Described and are obliged to receive a refund in full. 

Your argument regarding the amount you paid the seller and the amount the seller paid the carrier is irrelevant.

You agreed to pay the seller.. 

By your argument if a seller charges more than they paid they are over charging.

Better tell every retailer. 

[*knight-rider*]

` The postage charge is for P+P only. I am lucky that I don't live in a rural area and I can either drive into my local town or walk. If I walk I don't take a pedometer with me and charge the buyer for every step I take. Therefore I don't expect to be paying for bus fares or petrol. `

Every business in the country has to cover their costs, if they did`nt, everyone would be broke. i`m not condoning people make extra money on postage, but not everyone lives in walking distance of a town or wherever their post office is like yourself and in fact me as well, with fewer and fewer post offices around today, alot of people now have to drive miles to a post office, so you can`t expect someone to charge 99p for a large letter and then spend £2-3 in petrol to go and post it 🙂

Let me ask this also, if you won an item on Ebay for 99p, that was worth say £20 and the seller charged £4 postage, but used a 99p service, would you still complain?

it`s swings and roundabouts on here i think.

[nigel_paul_wright7557]

On the one hand it is dishonest or maybe PO suggested it was in a different class so seller went for that.

On the other hand if you got the item quickly then there is no problem.

I quite often get people buying 2 items and I send them in one box.

If they want a discount the time to ask is before purchase not after.

Afterwards i have paid ebay fee's on the extra amount.

[convivencia_hembra]

I don't think you're wrong and you can absolutely complain to eBay especially if the seller has marked the particular brand of shipping rather than "standard shipping". I've done that a lot with unethical sellers who saved money by sending my item not in the category they charged me for.

[gogetafix]

Ok. I admit defeat. In my mind if I pay, for example, £4.25 for a small plastic figure to be posted to me I expect the seller to use all of that cash or if not all at least a very good percentage of it on the P+P. I think it's overcharging when a seller charges £4.25 and spends 96p on postage and stuffs the plastic figure I bought in a small paper envelope costing pennies. That's just a rip off.

With most of the items I've bought recently this year it's been Free P+P.  Ok we all know P+P is not free but I've been happy to pay the low amounts for the items I've bought knowing there is P+P in there as well. Everything that has come through the door recently has been well packed and up to standard. I only get angry when I've paid what I've thought is a reasonable amount for P+P and then when it turns up I know not much of the cash I paid the seller for P+P  has been used. One can argue about travel expenses but I don't really care as they are not part of the deal.  If the seller made a decent amount on the item then the seller could use some of the money they received for the item to get petrol, bus fare, taxi fare, train fare  or whatever to get their nearest PO.

OK, I'm done here. I won't be trying to justifiy myself on this topic ever again. Ok I understand the different points of view but I know things won't change around here.