In some cases 400% inflation.... and you don't have to look very far!!

[ronnybabes]

I will assume that this subject has possibly been mooted before,

but surely it's worth another airing if it has.

If I sell an item on ebay, to someone in England for £2.00, and the postal charge is £2.60 ebay take commission on £4.60.

That is 46p, whereas previously it was 20p. (Talk about inflation) So I have to now put my price up by 30p to cover a charge that is unfair. I should be charged commission on the item's cost, not on my means of getting it to the Customer.

Now... that same item is bought by someone in Australia, or America, and the postal charge is £8.00. so, for the same item ebay will take £1.00 commission. The same item has been sold, but to a different person, yet commission has doubled again. And....... is now 5 times more then the original 20p. Wow!!  Talk about easy money.

Now then add that 88p (yes it's gone up again 80p + 08p) to the Postal Charge,to cover that expense and ebay will downgrade you, if a Customer marks you as charging excess postage.

So I now have a 2 tier price system, which I can't operate, one for the UK, and one for the rest of the world.

(I'm not introducing the Europe factor at this moment in time, because it adds yet another dimension to this discussion)

As regards the UK, I am now correcting (slowly but surely) all my listings to free Postage, and Packing.

(I might as well do.)

As regards the rest of the world, I will eventually co-ordinate a lower P&P then the actual one, as I have incorporated the UK postage price to the item price, because however you label it, it must be paid for. Are you with me so far?

Complex??? you bet.  Unfair??? definitely. Licence to print money??  erm!!!

What to do??? Put up, or shut up!!  or  Like it, or lump it.

No ones forcing us to sell on ebay, but other sites may start to look a bit more attractive now.

Then on top of all that we are paying Paypal !!!

Either way, it seems wrong that commission is charged on how you pay to deliver an item, it should be charged solely on the cost of that item, and let the Customer know and pay the Postal costs. If the Postal Cost is unfair, the Customer should not buy, and should report it to ebay, and ebay should do what is necessary.

Customers certainly should not rate you on what you charge on P&P, they are not really rating you, they are rating the Royal Mail, or your preferred delivery service.

The figures mentioned above are based loosely on what I am selling off - mainly my vinyl collection, as well as other nick nacks that one accumulates through life.

If an extra charge should be levied because we are selling outside the UK, and are therfore reaching a wider audience, then up the commission by all means, but do not include it on the astronomical postal costs.

[charliebird123]

Great post Ronnie,seems to me Ebay are getting far to greedy.Meybe it's time to look on the other sites?

[blackburn_stevie]

Nice one, Ronnie.

Maybe it is getting time to add something like the following on each auction page.......

Dear potential customer,

Please click the link below to be taken to the Royal Mail web site where you can view the actual cost of sending a parcel weighing (provide the weight of the parcel) and please also remember that your rating score on the postage line reflects what I charge YOU for the postage and that I have no control over the costs that Royal Mail charge me. In other words, if RM charge me £2.60 and I charge you £2.60 it seems unfair for you to mark me down for overcharging on postage.

[margaret*e]

There have ben quite a few posts and threads on here about it.

http://community.ebay.co.uk/t5/Seller-Central/bd-p/27

[cee-dee]

Many years back I made a series of predictions to our then Community Manager. He said "We would never do that".

Surprise-surprise, gradually, they've nearly all be implemented.

[bankhaunter]

As regards the UK, I am now correcting (slowly but surely) all my listings to free Postage, and Packing.

(I might as well do.)

Now Ebay have in effect removed one major disentive to do just that, no doubt you won't be the only one and Ebay will have achieved one of their objectives.

[ronnybabes]

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@bankhaunter wrote:

As regards the UK, I am now correcting (slowly but surely) all my listings to free Postage, and Packing.

(I might as well do.)

Now Ebay have in effect removed one major disentive to do just that, no doubt you won't be the only one and Ebay will have achieved one of their objectives.

How very true, eventually, and hopefully something better may emerge somewhere else.

At this moment  in time they have no real competition apart from Amazon, so they can mostly do as they like. This seems like a step too far though, and they may regret it one day.

Until then, I have to do what's best for me, and now there does seem to be very little point in not offering free P&P as I am charged commission on it anyhow, and I won't now get a false rating for postal charges. 

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By the way....

You know you get 100 free listings a month if your items are below  £1.00 in price.

How's that going to work now.

You list for 99p

You sell for 99p

P&P costs a modest £2.60

That's 36p Commission.

Then there's Paypal Charges.

Not to mention your time and money.

It's about time they at least doubled the free listing price to £1.99 now.... Surely??

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