Overcharging postage

I bought a top from a seller who charged $8.50 for postage. It arrived in a yellow A4 paper enveloe with a postage stamp of $1.60. I was disapointed and emailed the seller requestng a refund for the difference. She responded saying it was her policy to charge a flat rate of $8.50 and this was to encourage buyers to puchase more than one item and save on postage as she would combine postage on additional items. I replied saying I think its great you offer to combine postage however its a bit unfair to charge buyers buying only one item such a high rate when it arrived in an envelope with a $1.60 stamp! She responded again saying this was her policy and that I had agreed to the terms when bidding. Im not concerned about the money, its more the principle! As a seller myself I would never do this to another buyer! I always endeavour to do the right thing by paying for items immediately and charging whatever it actually costs to post items. Should I leave negative feedback and report her for overcharging or am I in the wrong due to her stating her 'policy'? I have tried to resolve this with her but am getting the 'its my policy' thing. Thanks!

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Overcharging postage

you agree to the total price once you purchased. There is also more to postage than the price of the stamp. Just wondering if you shop at another website store outside of ebay which has one standard price postage do you complain to them and demand a refund? i think not.

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Overcharging postage

Reporting this to ebay probably won't get you any results.

And yes, you did accept the price in the first place.

 

Leaving appropriate feedback will warn others before purchasing.

However if the item was to your satisfaction and received in a timely manner, I would possibly leave a neutral rather than a neg depending on how polite the seller was in her correspondence.

 

Keep in mind a seller may include handling time and fuel costs to a post office.

Personally if I purchased an item at a great price and the seller made a few extra dollars for sending it to me, I wouldn't be concerned.

Provided it was still packaged well enough so it couldn't be damaged.

 

Leave it a few days and see how you think about it later before leaving feedback.

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Overcharging postage

You bought the item at a total price that included $8.50 postage so if it had cost the seller $16.50 to post it would you offer to make up the difference?.

If you wouldn't make up the difference would you expect the seller to leave you a negative if they could?.

 

 

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Overcharging postage

Must be just me and the OP then.    smiley-girl-thinking_189938955.gif

 

Yes the OP agreed to the postage cost - but -

 

I would expect my item to turn up in a satchel not a $1.60 envelope.

 

$1.60 is a bit rough - I would expect a refund myself

 

Just me again, but I would ding the postage & handling charges stars

 

and warn others in the feedback

 

Having said that,  you would probably end up being blocked    embarrassed.gif

 

And the seller has paid fvf's on that high postage, so,  not so smart

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Overcharging postage


@michaela1162 wrote:

 She responded saying it was her policy to charge a flat rate of $8.50 and this was to encourage buyers to puchase more than one item and save on postage as she would combine postage on additional items.


I have a very similar policy - I charge one flat rate for almost all items, no matter how many are purchased. Granted, there is nowhere near as big a discrepancy as $6+ between the lowest cost (to me) to post and what I charge for P&H, but this is how I have decided to do things, so that's the way I do things - by which I mean it is part of my business model, and it affects more than just the P&H charge displayed on a listing, in much the same way "free" post business models tends to affect the price of items, and/or other things - so, you never know what calculations have gone into something when a seller decides how to price both items and postage.

 

I understand why the discrepancy stands out and annoys, as I said my rates are not that much higher than the minium cost (but at the same time, I'm lucky enough to primarily only have to take letters into account, some sellers need to account for letters and parcels); and I'm willing to bet the alternate scenarios presented in the posts above don't do much to change that, because I'm also willing to bet it's the notion that you could - or should - have paid less for postage, because the seller didn't pay as much as the $8.50 charge implied they would. But the P&H quote on a listing isn't a quote for how much the seller gives Australia Post, it's a service quote to the buyer, and the seller has already confirmed that you couldn't have paid less than $8.50 for that service because they charge $8.50 no matter what.

 

I tend to be a little 50-50 on issues like this, as there is also a limit to what I would personally consider an acceptable handling fee, but at the same time, presumptions based on just a price have shot me in the foot before, and I gotta take responsibility for that. (i.e. I paid $10 P&H for what turned up in an envelope with $1.20 stamps on it. I made the assumption that for $10, the item - releatively rare and not unbreakable - would be sent as a parcel. More fool me for making the assumption and not bothering to make sure, but also, that seller's service was not worth $10 >_> I didn't neg them, just in case you're interested, the seller did exactly what they said they would, which was send me the item, exactly as described, in the promised timeframe, for the price that I paid, I just think they over-valued their service). 

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Overcharging postage

If the OP had gone to purchase these items from the LJ website she would have been charged 10.00 flat rate postage regardless of how it was packed. I don't think she would then be complaining to LJ about the so called postage overcharge. Same applies here, sellers can split their price and postage costs however they wish to. When you are buying you consider the total including postage. No wonder most sellers add in postage and call it free, it certainly cuts down on this behaviour.

If they item was $7.00 dearer with 1.60 postage would she still be complaining?

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Overcharging postage

I charge different rates depending if I can fit the item into an envelope under 2cm thick.

I try to charge just a little more than the stamps/postage would cost.

BUT

There's always someone who doesn't read the listing.

Like

The buyer(who hasn't bought yet) who emailed about combined postage for 12 of an item.

The listing clearly states the amount of postage for one, and then 50c for each additional same quantity.

Why don't people just read the listing????

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Overcharging postage

You clearly new knew the postage cost before buying so why complain? If you dont like the post cost dont buy.Ever heard of P&H charges ? Its short for "postage and handling charges"..

Dont forget ebay also take out seller fees on postage not just the item sold.

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Overcharging postage

Michaela, I purchased a pre-paid A4 envelope today, and it cost me $3.50.
I was shocked at THAT price, and thought it was too dear, but lets say that that is average cost.

so your seller has $5 extra in his pocket so far.....
Then he has to get in his car and drive to the PO, park, post your item, drive home again.
Now, I dont know about you...  but petrol in my acre of the world is $1.47Lt.
So, lets say, it cost your seller another $2 in petrol. (short trip)

So now your seller has $3 in his pocket for his time and trouble.

Do you really want to neg your seller for $3???
After all, you knew the costs prior to bidding, AND, your item actually arrived!

Consider yourself one of the lucky ones.

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