ebay fees on postage charges

[everton4]

I guess people already have spoken about this but i am not sure ... can ebay or anybody tell me why they make money off postal and shipping charges !!! i get that they have to make money on the product as they are advertising it for me , but why on postal/shipping costs when then do nothing for this ... its really annoying me and other ebay users that i talk to 

[papso22]

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@cheekychippy210 wrote:

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@mrs-trebus16 wrote:

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@cheekychippy210 wrote:

There is nothing to say you have to use their service. Set up a hermes account or if you like the royal mail, walk around to a post office. Hermes, evri, you can print at home or in the drop off shop, never lost a parcel in the years i have used them and quick. Personally I will never use the royal mail again simply because of their policy on used goods and profit. Evri, full tracked.

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You're missing the point

Enquirer is asking why ebay charge fees on postage a seller charges a buyer - not for buying postage through ebay

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"can ebay or anybody tell me why they make money off postal and shipping charges " Read on here much about why return labels are more money than buying label at PO. Please highlight the mention of the word "seller" in OP

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They didn't say 'seller' but they did say 'as they are advertising it for me', which I think proves beyond doubt that the OP is asking as a seller and that the topic concerns ebay's fees for sellers.

This is confirmed by the thread title. 

[andrewlaidlaw1979]

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@awol1968 wrote:

While I agree this does enrich eBay, it wasn't just a small number of sellers, it was all of China!!! Years ago, nearly everything from China was 99p as was already mentioned. The other problem was that eBay wasn't refunding postage costs. So, you paid 99p & 12 quid postage, it goes wrong & you get 99p back!!! I don't think the advice to add postage costs to the price isn't good advice. As a buyer, if I buy 1 item & the postage is included, that's fine. If I want 10, there's no way I'm paying postage 10 times for small items. I will find sellers that combine postage as that reduces the price for me & doesn't increase them for the seller. Including postage does make more money for sellers for small items so maybe it's worth it for them 

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Although not all sellers are willing to combine items into a single package.

For me at least I've had some buyers claim that an item/s didn't arrive when all the ittems were sent out to them in a single package were possible only for them to rather supicially leave a possitive on 1 item and claimed that all the other items that were in the same package as the one they left a positive on didn't arrive.

so in effect the way I'm looking at it, its the actions of the few who ruin things for all by making some sellers not wishing to offer any discounts combined postage or combine items into a single package where possible.

[awol1968]

That does make sense but more often than not, when I have ordered multiple postage included items, they are posted together anyway. In fact, one order delivered today was a 10off & a 2off came together with me paying postage twice. Items together were within a weight or size band for a courier. Like I said, I do see your point but eBay sellers do lose a lot of my orders if I can find other online shops that have what I need. eBay seems to be going downhill in so many areas & that's a shame. Greed made eBay start charging fees for postage costs but the Chinese seller issue above could have been solved by just making refund of postage costs a rule which they did anyway!!!

[insidethe93]

Packaging varies a lot between sellers, which may be why some buyers are confused about what to expect for the p&p charge.

It's usual in the crafting category that crafting sellers routinely recycle or homemake the packaging, as making a box is also quick, easy, and very cheap, though certain-shaped items require some crafty (both senses) initiative. Personally I'm happy with the p&p charge whether the packaging is bought new or recycled or handmade or a mix.

As a result it happens that I find out quite a bit about the shopping and eating habits of sellers I regularly buy from! e.g. which breakfast cereal they prefer, as a cereal packet's thickness and size is ideal for making a mailing box 🙂

[everton4]

Ok 

i understand that ebay would lose out if people did this but surely if you are either a business seller or a seller with say 500 listed feedbacks then u wouldnt be trying it on !!! and they should be rewwarding better genuine sellers, they have the knowledge and the facility to do that but choose not to !!! er i wonder why maybe PROFIT !!! or am i being a wee bit cynical ... i think not !!! Ebay u know u can help good sellers so get off your A**E and sort it . but i doubt they will ha ha

[theelench]

Of course it's about profit and no, ebay has no intention of sorting it.  As growth in sales has declined ebay has become more dependent on growing fees to maintain its profits.  Years ago, when the topic was still relatively new, regular contributors would sometimes give their opinion that if FVF hadn't been extended to P&P, then FVF on the sale price would have been increased instead.

But I think the chickens are coming home to roost.  The advice to add the increased cost to the item price has also been repeated whenever ebay has increased any other cost such as shop fees, listing fees or anything else they can think of, including PL fees.  As buyers tighten their belts and are more careful with their money, they're also more inclined to look elsewhere, compare prices and buy where the item costs less than on ebay.

[elianajvintage]

Calling it 'free postage' really bugs me it should be inclusive of postage

[kath3735_wxmjn]

i am lucky in regard to boxes i need because one of my relatives is a great Amazon buyer and several times a week gets deliveries, often in those nice useful size small and medium sizes.  Only thing that i actually reuse.  One other good one is jigsaw boxes when i have to burn the damaged/missing pieces ones, of course they are only useful for flatter items.  Not against recycling but i really do hate getting items delivered wrapped up in tatty carrier bags or bin liners stuck together with a bit of tape.  Not surprising so many parcels go missing.

[47viken]

This is more about postage fees:

1: Is it better to offer free P&P [ adding to exected cost of item]?

2: Should you use Ebays Parcel service for labels?

While most packaging is free [mostly reuse old boxes and bubble wrap/ paper] Tape still costs money.

Think Ebay only works for sellers who sell in bulk rather than one off items.

Wondering if I would make more money on Vinted 😉

[biggle2021]

It is crazy to charge fees on expenses! Even the tax man doesn't!

Of you sell something for say £1.20 and you get the correct postage quotation of about £3 and charge it. After eBay take their fees you end up with 30p at the best !!!!

I don't think it can be legal for eBay to charge fees on expenses!!!!!!!

[papso22]

Ebay does not 'charge fees on expenses'.  They base their fees on the total the buyer pays the seller.  That means the item plus any postage charged by the seller. 

It's really that simple.

[awol1968]

EEErrrrmmm, the fees are the postage & ebay charges for the total paid.
That is charging fees on the expenses!!!! R U AVIN' A GIGGLE!!!!

[kidmore_kats]

You can add on as many exclamation marks as you like, eBay introduced fees on postage over a decade ago, I would suggest that if it was illegal we would have heard something by now. 

This really is the most tedious, pointless and seemingly endless thread on here, perhaps it's time to get a grip on reality and move on.

[awol1968]

I never said it was illegal. Maybe stop counting exclamation marks &
actually read what's written. If you get the time, try reading what you
write to see if it's really dopey!!!! I counted 4

[kidmore_kats]

I wasn't responding to you.

I was responding to biggle, as you would have known if you had bothered to work out how the discussion forum works

[*devils.advocate*]

Can I ask if you complained when PayPal charged you fees on your "expenses"?

If not, why complain now?

[biggle2021]

<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" />

Can you explain what postage is if it not expenses? 

As said the Tax office allow s people to have expenses not taxed IE postage is an expense 

[biggle2021]

<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" />

Have you tried to complain to eBay ????

[purveyor_of_tat]

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@biggle2021 wrote:
....Can you explain what postage is if it not expenses?....

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Postage is the price the buyer will need to pay have the item delivered to them rather than collect in person for free. The seller can include this element in the price or charge it extra. 

I hope this provides an explanation of what 'postage' is. 

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@biggle2021 wrote:
...As said the Tax office allow s people to have expenses not taxed IE postage is an expense 

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According to your profile, you are not running a business, you are an everyday 'Joe', relieving themselves of some unwanted items. 

Ergo: you don't have "expenses".

[2763barryd]

it's disgusting because you're losing. If you charge the bear postage right then they are taking the percentage out of it so you are losing by them taking this money. It should only be the fee for the article that you've sold not the postage because that's ridiculous that is really stealing off you a disgusting situation I found that the other day it's going to cost me £12 to send something and yet I'm not going receive the £12 that I charged because I have taken a percentage of it so the final fee is not the fee I should receive