seller charged me postage for two items and then sent together - wrong?

[teporar0]

hope someone can help me here.  last weekend I won two auctions from a seller.  first was for 99 cents + 8.50 shipping.  i sent through payment straight away.  then a half hour later I won a second auction $36.99 + $7 shipping.  I messaged the seller before paying for the second and asked if he could combine postage on the two items. he said sorry it but the first was already packed up and courier called, so no combining.  so I paid the 36.99 + 7 shipping for the second one. each item had a different tracking number, but all the week the first items tracking number just says "shipping info received by australia post" without any updates, while tracking on the second kept updating during the week.

today I received the second item, and it had the first item packed in with it.  the seller obviously decided to combine them to save on postage, and pocket the extra payment I made for postage, after saying he coulntt combine them.  they're both small and light items, and i don't think sending them together would have cost any more - still less than 500g combined in a small box.

can i report this seller to ebay and get my second postage payment back?  thanks for any help.

[padi*0409]

You should firstly message the seller and explain the situation to them and ask what they want to do about it. 

Given that they've lied about the first item being already posted, if they don't give an explanation for that you can mark their postage charges down on feedback and give factual comments in the feedback you leave.

[lyndal1838]

Why did you pay for the first item when you were bidding on a second item.

Technically, the seller was in the right....he should not combine postage in this case.  If you pay for 2 parcels you should get 2 parcels.

Unless the seller agrees to give you a refund of some of the postage there is nothing you can do.   You cannot claim that you did not receive the items because the seller can prove he posted them

[teporar0]

thanks for the replies. after I paid for the first item I saw something like "more from this seller" and noticed something else he had I might be interested in. I wasn't bidding on it and didn't even know he was selling it when I bought the first item, but put a bid on and ended up winning.

but I paid for two parcels, and the seller only sent one parcel - how is he in the right? he only sent the one parcel, so how can he prove he posted two?

[kopenhagen5]

He actually stated the first one was processed n packed, not actually posted going by what you have said.

Given that you paid for them seperately as it's always best to wait for a combined invoice, the seller appears to have been able to catch the first in time to include it with the second.

Possibly he should refund an amount for the combined postage but is not obligated and pack n handling can also be considered in postage costs additional to the stamped AP costs.

In future, best to wait for a combined invoice should a seller offer it.

Edit - Just saw your latest post. As I said the seller may have processed the order seperately. Not only postage costs go into processing an order, not to mention the ebay fees on the postage component that can't seem to be reclaimed as I have experienced.

[lyndal1838]

You have said in the OP that you received 2 tracking numbers....that is all the proof the seller needs to win a dispute.  It doesn't matter that the tracking does not say the item has been delivered.

[teporar0]

interesting. so the seller says they can't combine shipping because they've already packed up the first item, sends an invoice for the second item including separate shipping for that item, i pay it, then the next day they unpack the first item, add it in the with the second, cancel the first shipping label...but technically haven't done anything wrong?

[teporar0]

but according to the first tracking number, the seller never even lodged a parcel with australia post. they've made an ebay shipping label, and then canceled it again for all I know. don't they need a lodgement receipt from australia post to prove they've actually sent something, otherwise how can they win a dispute?

[springyzone]

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teporar0 wrote:
but according to the first tracking number, the seller never even lodged a parcel with australia post. they've made an ebay shipping label, and then canceled it again for all I know. don't they need a lodgement receipt from australia post to prove they've actually sent something, otherwise how can they win a dispute?

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And also

but I paid for two parcels, and the seller only sent one parcel - how is he in the right? he only sent the one parcel, so how can he prove he posted two

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You seem quite keen to know the legalities here and whether the seller can prove postage or win a dispute.

If that is what you are after then yes, I'd say you would have a very good chance of winning a dispute about the first item as it doesn't sound as if it was ever lodged at the Post office and we know the seller sent both items together in the second parcel. So if you claim you never received it, the seller isn't going to be able to prove it was delivered.

There are a few issues going on here and I do 'get' some of your resentment.

But first off-no seller has to offer combined postage and even if they do, that doesn't necessarily mean the postage will be much lower. I know that is what buyers assume but it is not a given.

Secondly, we have no idea how experienced your seller is or for that matter, how experienced with ebay you are as from what I can see, temporar is not your buying nick. Most newbies don't know their way around enough to start a new nick before coming on here so I assume you are a reasonably experienced buyer and may even be familiar with the boards.

Should your seller have combined the two items? Nope. I think you know that. Separate charges, separate packages.

Why did the seller do it? It sounds as if they had already loaded up some shipping details on item 1 but had not posted it. Maybe they weakened and decided to repackage the first & post them together to humour you (but they should have realised that without a discount, you would not be happy) or maybe they did it to save a few dollars.

Were you overcharged on postage? Yes, probably. That would annoy me a bit too & I would definitely ding their postage cost stars.

Were you seriously ripped off? I don't know. The 99c item, was it worth a fair bit more? If so, that doesn't make the postage charge right but softens it a bit if you got a bargain.

Could you open an item not received cost? You certainly could. But should you? You did receive the item so it wouldn't be the right thing to do. Sure, the postage could have been a few dollars less but not so much less the first item was free.

[chameleon54]

The seller hasnt really managed the whole thing very well and you are not being unreasonable feeling a little peeved.

Having said that I advertise that I combine post in my listings. Like this seller I have people who pay for multiple items seperatly and then request combined post. This is a real pain. Often I have packed the first item, so have to go back, open the parcel carefully, find larger packing boxes and re-pack. Often the packing materials for the first item need to be discarded as they are no longer big enough. I use mainly new packing materials so this costs money.  Then I need to go into paypal, find their payment, work out how much to refund, make the refund payment then respond to their message, holding their hand to let them know the refund has been made. Fifteen minutes later I can go back to what I was doing.

I,m supposed to do this all for free as my time is not important and has no value at all. I,m just an ebay seller, sitting around with nothing better to do.

While your seller has handled the postage component of the transaction poorly, there is more goes into packing and mailing of items than buyers realise.