Too much for postage & packing ?

[HormonalHousewife]

I bought a jacket recently and P&P was £7.00.

OK, I thought its probably quite heavy and I know royal mail have increased their rates so it will probably cost £5.20 so £1.80 additional cost which I was happy to pay.

Arrived in a recycled plastic bag with £2.60 on the postage.

I feel a bit miffed.

[Bluecarrot]

That's a lot of a difference. I would contact the seller first and say you were expecting the postage to be an accurate reflection of the true cost.

If reply is "tough luck" then id leave neutral feedback stating true price and charged price, and then mark down (star rating) for p&p.

I have over estimated postage a few times where I thought it exceeded the depth limit for a medium parcel. If it was posted at the lower price, I refund via PayPal immediately with an apology.

[lljkk]

I shocked a buyer by offering a postage rebate the other day, don't think it's common practice by sellers at all.
To OP: Yes too high, I'd ask for £3 back.

[HormonalHousewife]

lljkk and blue, I have done that recently too - especially with the recent changes re dimensions on a packet. I stated in the listing that if it went large letter I would refund £1.50> Just to be on the safe side as its a lot to be out of pocket these days if you get it wrong.

I contacted the buyer 48 hours ago and not heard anything.

I'll give it a few more days, she might be on holiday and i am a considerate buyer but if she doesnt reply it wont just be theP&P starts that are dinged.

[fergoose]

their excessive p&p is blatant fee avoidance and totally against the rules - I hope you get your refund.

[humptynumptyfall]

I had this where I paid £4 but it cost 1.90 so I sent a very straight to the point message..

Hi, thanks for the lovely item its great as described. I have noticed the postage was a lot less than I paid it is better to over estimate rather than be out of pocket to save you looking for it my paypal email address is...... (insert email)

Will leave positive feedback once refund received.

Thanks again

[lljkk]

ooh, naughty Humpty, mustn't risk accusation of feedback extortion. Better to straightforward ask for the rebate you want.

[Gingefringe]

I also had this recently. A delicate beaded top - charged £4 postage - arrived in almost disintegrated brown paper wrapping which actually cost £1.10 as a 2nd class LL.
I would have been fairly happy to pay the £4 if it was recorded delivery, wrapped in tissue and a strong waterproof wrapper but I feel that I have been ripped off at the £2.90 overcharge and have contacted her asking for a part refund of postage. Yet to hear from her - will be inclined to leave negative feedback if she doesn't respond, and will definitely be leaving low stars for postage.

[Flibbertyjibbet]

I recently bought a swimsuit postage £4.50, thought it must be thick fabric, underwired or shaped cups ett. Stuck in an envelope posted large letter rate £1.20.

Left it a week while I decided what to do the emailed seller saying I was shocked at the markup and would appreciate a part refund of the postage. Jacking up postage is not allowed on eBay rules, as they charge their commission on the final selling price not postage. The higher postage is, the less and item will sell for, so in effect it's a way of cheating fees.

Well it's been 10 days now and the seller never got back to me so I gave zero stars for postage and communication, and left neutral feedback to reflect this. Hasn't left any feedback for me..

When I sell, I weight things on my kitchen scales, measure the thing, put postage as per the royal mail site. IF my scales are borderline I charge the hire rate and refund if the post office lady puts it through at a cheaper rate.

[Gingefringe]

Is it possible to report this kind of thing to eBay as fee avoidance?
Greedy sellers seem to be getting away with this.

[Flibbertyjibbet]

I didn't report them, but if a seller gets several very low marks in any of the stars categories they can have thei account suspended. So eBay will get the repeat offenders in the end.

[PurpleFrog]

BTW there is no point in leaving zero stars - that just means you haven't left detailed feedback in that category. You have to leave 1 or 2 stars for it to count as low.

[lljkk]

I think Ebay alarm bells ring when 2%+ of f/back is low stars (1 or 2). For most private sellers that is a very easy threshold to exceed.

[HormonalHousewife]

OK so a week on and no response from the seller re a refund.

its time to leave feedback (and thanks Purple frog for highlighting the zero star issue letting the seller off the hook so to speak)

negative or neutral. Votes please

[fergoose]

negative

[HormonalHousewife]

I just Knew that you would say that Fergoose.

I love that you are so straightforward with your advice.

I was hedging towards neutral but I'm a bit of a chicken and avoid confrontation and would be worried about retaliation

[fergoose]

well they can't retaliate and leave you a neg, and they ripped you off didn't they - just plain flipping greed in my opinion. If you leave a neg you are warning other buyers and preventing someone else being ripped off too.

[TheFallenNinja]

I just wouldn't leave feedback. Nobody reads it really anyway and it doesn't seem to stop problems when they do.

Also, it's only really fee avoidance on a buy it now.

These are only a couple of the reasons I love and hate eBay at the same time.

[fergoose]

why is it only fee avoidance on a buy it now?

And I totally disagree, you must leave feedback otherwise they will just do it again.

[phantomhairpuller]

Actually ninja I read feedback a lot to judge to kind of person I'm buying from or selling to.

OP- leave negative feedback. Bollocks if they retaliate, they're the one in the wrong so I don't see how they could really come back with neg feedback for you.

Good luck

[PostBellumBugsy]

I always check a sellers feedback, so definitely worth leaving some.

I had a similar incident recently with £6.50 postage for a pair of trousers to be sent registered. I thought fair enough and prefer registered anyway. Turns up in a ripped bin bag, unregistered for £2.60 postage. I queried the postage cost & unregistered bit with the seller and the poor quality packaging & got a really snotty response saying it wasn't her fault if the bin bag was ripped & if I didn't like the postage cost then I shouldn't have bid for the item. So, as the trousers were fine, I left a 'positive' comment as follows:

"Good item. V badly packed in bin bag with £3.00+ post profit."

Also marked the packaging & postage as poor on the star grading.

[Wallace]

I have done the opposite a couple of times rcently.

First time estimated £8.90 and cost me £12 odd!

Second time estimated £5 something and it was £8.90!

I used the postage calculator and weighed and measured the items and everything!

[TheFallenNinja]

Good for you. I'm sure just as many don't, the whole feedback system is pretty flawed anyway.

I have received 2 negs on 1000+ sales, one because the buyer felt there should have been more bubble wrap ( no damage just "felt" there should have been more) the other because the buyer didn't enjoy the movie on the second hand DVD they bought.

Both stupid reasons to leave negative feed back of course after demanding this that or the other.

I've read loads if negative feedbacks. The majority are just chancers.