@*tippy*toes* wrote:
@everard6920 wrote:
I do the same. I clearly state on each listing that if they don't wait for an invoice, excess postage paid will be refunded less any eBay fees.
No one has ever complained.
If they pay for items individually, same deal. I take the 30c Paypal fee out for each item they paid for separately, plus the eBay fees for excess postage, and whatever's left is their refund.
I typically send invoices within the hour of items being purchased, so if people are too impatient to wait, then they can cop those fees, imo.
Most of the buyers I have issues doing this are newbie, yellow star buyers. I believe they want to be seen as doing the right thing. Being a good buyer. If I can grab them before they pay I can sometimes stop them, if I can see they are still bidding on other items. Sometimes they either don't get, or they ignore the message requesting them to wait until they are finished buying to pay, so they can save lots of money on postage.
The week before last a buyer bought 2 items and paid for each one as it finished. I sent him a message saying he had overpaid and I would refund the difference, but in future, if you buy more than one thing, wait for the seller to send an invoice with the revised postage cost. I went into PayPal and it was empty. Mr Tippy had been buying. I tried to refund, and it said it would come from my nominated account, but it didn't go through. I figured I'd wait until someone else bought something.
Last week he bid on 2 items on a different account. I sent him a message before the auctions finished, pointing out he'd bought from my other account and had overpaid. I said I'd tried to refund but it didn't go through. I then said not to pay until I send an invoice, which I'll remove the postage from as he'd been overpaid and we'd be even. He replied asking if he was really getting free postage. I said yes and he said he'd rather that than a refund.
That worked out well! Normally if someone overpays I refund minus the fees. I'm sick of buyers not reading the description saying to wait for an invoice and if you pay separately, items will be sent separately (even though I've never enforced that rule).
If it's their first time buying from me, I'll typically send them a full refund along with a message about how to combine postage the next time.
If they do it the next time (and this happens often), then they pay the fees.
I have one buyer who typically buys 10+ items and pays for each one separately. I can't tell you how many times I've asked her not to do it (and explained to her exactly HOW to combine postage). She cops the 30c for each extra payment, plus eBay fees. I guess she doesn't care because she keeps buying from me . . .
Really though, having to send revised invoices could be avoided if eBay provided a more robust system for combined postage. Postage rules are fiddly and restrictive; it only allows you to specify an amount for "each additional item". I'd like to be able to specify, for example, "50c for each additional item up to 5 items, and free for each item after that".
Other online store software usually allows you to enter the weight of the item, the packaging, and have it calculate it that way, but
eBay calculated postage is out because I use large letters (if I'm overlooking a way to do what I've specified in the example, please let me know . . .).
