Seller says they can't refund for combined postage and I have to contact ebay? True or not?

[treebearded]

I'm in the UK. I bought multiple items from a seller in the US (6 listings, totalling 9 miniatures each one inch tall). Before I paid they sent a message saying "I do combine shipping costs... You can pay, and I will refund the difference back to you." 

After I paid he sent a message the next day , after having already posted the miniatures (he says in a 5x3x2 box), saying he hadn't realised I wasn't in the US and that he couldn't refund all the shipping. He refunded less than $5 per additional  listing after the first, coming to under refund. Total cost of figures plus postage after the refund was $149, of which the figures themselves, just $32.50. So that means there's $116.50 postage on this one small box with just 9 once inch tall figures in it. I've bought from the US before and postage is nothing like that for a package that size and weight.

Seller says I have to contact ebay for a refund as supposedly all of this additional postage cost has gone to ebay and not him.

Can anyone tell me if this is true or not, as I need to know whether the seller is ripping me off and not telling me the truth here, or whether ebay's policies on international postage costs are a rip off now and I just shouldn't buy multiple items from sellers outside the UK any more ever again?

[marco@ebay]

Hi treebearded, thanks for your post.

The seller should be able to issue a refund no problem, if they are having issues trying to refund the extra cost of shipping, they'd need to contact us themselves, so we can see what's happening and help them get it resolved. If you contact us as buyer, we won't be able to trigger a refund on the seller's behalf as that is not possible at all. If you want, you can let the seller know about this, so they can contact us to get that resolved as soon as possible.

Thank you,

Marco

[papso22]

This sounds like GSP, in which case how can the seller refund the international postage when they didn't receive it in the first place?

[treebearded]

Trouble being they messaged me before I paid saying they could combine postage costs through a refund. ( I usually ask, bit they'd messages me first). Then next day told me they couldn't combine postage, but had already posted the package without giving me a chance to cancel. So told me one thing before payment, then left me paying 3 to 4 times actual postage cost due to GSP after I'd paid.

[marco@ebay]

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@papso22 wrote:

This sounds like GSP, in which case how can the seller refund the international postage when they didn't receive it in the first place?

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Thanks for your reply, papso22.

Yep, it could be, but without looking at the transaction, it'd be hard to know, it could be a small technical issue as well. However, this would be the seller's responsibility, not the buyer's. Best thing to do here is to tell the seller to contact us, so we can take a further look for them.

Thank you,

Marco