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. 

[fmil6108]

Hi, I have saw similar to that on here saying they charge also for time taking parcel to PO . Unbelievable!.

[g4zj4mes]

Why are you moaning about the price of the postage? 

just don't buy it if you don't agree with it. 

the total price = item cost + postage

buy it if it's worth it. Don't buy it if it isn't. 

why are you even concerned with the sellers justification for p&p. It's up to them. 

[fmil6108]

That is exactly what I do

[7640paula]

cos they are ripping people off-but according to you thats ok?!

makes a bigger joke to people who don't like ebay cos its full off rip offs

and ebay do nothing about it making a real joke of the company

[g4zj4mes]

But they are not ripping people off because the people decide whether it's worth buying the item based upon the total cost of it. 

the proportion assigned to postage and the proportion to item cost doesn't matter. 

the sum of the two does. 

it's hardly a rip off if the item is only costing 60-70% of the amount it does in a retail shop is it? Even if the postage cost is more than you feel it should be? The overall cost isn't???

[kath3735_wxmjn]

Honestly i never understand people like you who come on here moaning about 'rip offs', 'joke company' and other similar remarks.  So e bay is not perfect but we all have a CHOICE of whether to use it or not.  You are still selling so something about it suits you!

[kath3735_wxmjn]

the only time i would agree with anyone about the postage being a rip off is when they charge for a small parcel, stick it in a small envelope and it gets damaged.  If the item gets to me in good condition then i do not actually care how much is postage and how much the item.  Of course if it is damaged then you file for a refund which is a bit of a time waster for both seller and buyer.   As a private seller i tend to guess at the postage (cannot be bothered weighing, measuring etc) and some i win some i lose but i always try to ensure that the item is securely packed in the package.  Costs me a fortune in bubble wrap and tape.....

[*devils.advocate*]

If a buyer were to purchase a Buy it Now (BIN) item, would they honestly care how much the seller has included for postage and packaging - excessive or otherwise?

Would anyone ever dream of contacting the seller to ask?

Surely all any buyer is interested in is what it’s going to cost - well, at least, that’s all I’m interested in.

So, if the same item were to be listed as an auction or as a BIN at the same combined price, but with separate P&P showing, and the seller sends it using less postage than advertised ………….

As g4zj4mes infers, the items have the same end price but one is a rip-off and the other isn’t?

The only thing I object to is a seller sending the item by a different carrier than the one advertised.

[g4zj4mes]

Yes I would agree with you that if the seller has stated they will send it using a certain service, then as part of the sale you have bought that service. 

so I totally agree that if you buy courier next day fully insured, and they send it via non tracked second class then that is not on at all. 

however, if they have listed it as a parcel but then when packing manage to pack it safely and it falls into a large letter package, sometimes that may not have been pre planned. I have before given a postage refund for this reason.  But once again my point stands. 

The buyer accepted the price for the item and speed/ style of delivery system as part of the sale. 

if the seller spends extra time packing carefully to make a large letter to make the extra £1.50 profit. Provided it arrives in the condition expected in the time frame promised. What is the issue? 

[1889double]

So you might pay out £20 in postage for several transactions and receive £20 for those postage payments.  This is of no help to the person who has paid twice as much as he/she needs to and thereby paying for someone else's postage.

[1889double]

My irritation is when I have bought several items from the same seller and therefore there is no set postage cost.  Many sellers would appear to guess at a figure which is often quite inappropriately exorbitant.  Some sellers seem to think that over-charging on postage is a way to increase their profit.

[once_loved_treasures]

With the amount of complaining about sellers and how they do things, it's a surprise that the 'buyers' on this thread still use eBay if we're all that bad!

As I said before, I can understand the frustration if someone has paid for a certain service but the seller has sent it out at a cheaper, lower service. That's just not right.

However it is increasingly frustrating when you get feedback saying something like 'Grest item. Well packaged and very fast delivery. Postage is expensive'. So you've done everything right, sent it out ahead of schedule using the service advertised. You charged the buyer for that service, but you actually lose money because you paid for boxes, bubble wrap/void fill, eBay charges you fees on the postage, etc. But because the buyer doesn't realize just how much it costs to send the parcel, they think you can magically make it cheaper. 

[7640paula]

thanks for getting my drift unlike these others who say
'if you don't like it don't buy it'

my reply to them would be two words the 2nd being off!

[papso22]

That poster was posting about a completely different issue.   They meant combined postage,  you are complaining about advertised postage.

I am sure many sellers who knew your attitude would use the same two word response to you!

[voxmagna]

I've had a few of these and get really annoyed getting the grey card from Royal Mail. Royal Mail don't identify the sender or attach a photo and you don't know what the item is until you either pay their 'Fee' online, or go to your sorting office. Royal Mail work on the principle the recipient is more likely to pay and take a chance that what they receive may be junk mail, when it's the senders responsibility to pay the correct amount.

Now I go to the sorting office, ask to see the item and take a photo with my phone.  I send it with a scan of the grey form via Ebay messaging to the sender to pay online and reply with a copy of the Royal Mail receipt and expected re-delivery date. If the seller won't pay, I file an 'Item not Received' on Ebay.

What some sellers don't realise is they may put small items in a standard size letter but during transit they bunch together and then exceed Royal Mails 5mm thickness. Put the responsibility back to the sender and they may learn!

[7640paula]

there is too much postage being charged-end of, whether its for 1 item or
several its all the same people charging silly amounts

[1889double]

This is the crux of the 'over-pricing for postage' matter.  Sellers know what the cost will be to them, but increase it to add to their profit or to offset their fees.   

[once_loved_treasures]

To the buyers that are commenting on this thread...

Are you aware that in some categories, eBay limits what the maximum postage a seller can charge? Sometimes that's not even enough to cover Royal Mail postage (for example, if you're selling a console game that comes in an oversized box, or if You're selling a box set of something). So right off the bat, the seller is making a loss. 

Then, when a buyer comes along and buys multiple items from that category they naturally want combined postage. So the seller is then forced to take a large hit on postage costs, or leave the buyer annoyed that they won't combine postage. 

Obviously this doesn't apply to every item or category, but it's not always as simple as it might seem.

Sometimes the total value of the combined items might be higher than the insurance that postage provides. 

The vast majority of sellers are not out there to scam buyers or trying to make more profit, but actually just trying to follow the rules

[7640paula]

Exactly-people here seem to think this is fine and say then don't buy but I
think they are missing the point. I always charge the lowest price, I even
avoid the post-office and use Evri because then I am offering the buyer a
half price much fairer postage deal.

[voxmagna]

I don't sell much but I feel you are forced into using carriers in the Ebay list. I can understand why because their transaction processing and returns then picks up the tracking details. Ebay postage pricing doesn't include packing and taking it to the post, which is why postage always used to be called 'Post and Packing'.  Therefore as a seller with packing costs, you have to include them in your item selling price?

I think I've gone round and round with some Ebay screens if I listed as free post only to find I'm choosing a postal service and paying Ebay?  There is no option for 'Other' but in the past I've found ways of using 'Other' and uploading tracking via Ebay message. I prefer to use my own carrier who I have an account with to be certain of the cost, get full tracking and have shipping details saved to my account.  If anything goes wrong with shipping, my contract is with the courier service I paid and not via Ebay.  I notice Ebay removed the option to upload tracking information so it seems they want to lock their business to shipping.

Is Ebay an auction selling/buying website or is it now moving towards including a courier and shipping service you pay for, eventually  following Amazon prime subscription business model which I've never subscribed to?