Ebay charging fees including postage

[bric-a-brac-online]

How does Ebay allowed to charge a final fees which include the postage - I would have thought that the postage cost was only the seller and Australia post - how do they get away with it - loophole in the system may be

[i-love-my-sheep]

Most of my items go large letter for $1.40, which is added into the cost of the item. All the parcel rate items go as small parcel rate of $7.20. I have $8 on those and so far have not had any issues.

My husband bid on and won an item the other night. It was a pick up item from interstate, but she had mentioned in the listing that she was happy to post, just email for a quote. He did that and the quote came back as $10.75 including SOD. When he actually won the item and she sent an invoice, I was expecting the postage cost to have increased because I KNOW it would have cost more than that to post even without SOD.

Nope, invoice said the same thing. I sent her a message and said that I don't think she was charging enough postage and I didn't want to see her out of pocket , did she want to send a revised invoice, and never heard back, so I paid for it. The item was won for $10.50. She charged $10.75 for postage including SOD, actual postage was $16.75, plus whatever SOD costs. 

I worked it out that by the time she lost big time on the postage, then paid eBay and PP's fees, she had made nothing from this item and was more than likely in the red for her efforts. I'm just waiting for a buyer to pay for something and as soon as they do, I'll send her the difference in the postage. I know I don't have to, she made the error, but she's far from being an experienced seller (i think it was only the 2nd or 3rd thing she's sold) and I feel bad for her.

[cq_tech]

Are you sure that the postage should have cost more than the $10.75 you were quoted and ultimately paid though? For example, if it weighed less than 500g it would have gone for the standard Australia-wide parcel rate of $7.20 plus $3.50 SOD, which comes to $10.70, but once the weight exceeds 500g, the price skyrockets. Perhaps your seller quoted on a 500g parcel without realising that it weighed more and has decided to wear the extra because she's simply honouring the quote she gave you, in which case I think it's the decent thing to do to send the difference (although most people wouldn't).

Calculating postage can be a real minefield these days, unless you use prepaid satchels, especially with cubing adding huge amounts to parcels weighing in excess of 500g so as you say, it appears that she's definitely an inexperienced seller who has been badly caught out, so good on you for having the decency to cover the additional costs so that she doesn't lose on the transaction.

Like you, most of my items go via large letter for either $1.40, and those which would cost $2.10 or $3.50 I send in prepaid C5 envelopes which only cost $1.70 each in bulk, so I just charge a flat $2.10 for everything regardless of weight, and that covers the cost of the small amount of bubble-wrap or the padded bags for which I only pay 17c as well as ebay's 10% cut, so I lose nothing on my large letters regardless of their weight. I try to avoid selling items weighing more than 500g for obvious reasons.

[i-love-my-sheep]

It was a shade under a KG. The sticker on the box was $16.75, plus she paid for SOD. I just went into my PayPal account after the alert that Kopes just gave us and sent her some extra money to cover it while I was there. I left a note with the transaction explaining that by the time all her fees were paid, she would have lost money on the item. I know it's her fault for not charging correctly, but I was having conscience issues.

Best part for her is, she doesn't pay fees on that extra money I sent! Win-win! She wins because she actually now made a couple of $$ on it, I win because now my conscience has shut up.

[cq_tech]

At that weight, she'd have been better off sending it in a 3kg prepaid satchel, unless its size prevented it from fitting. Annoyingly, I've had to buy 5kg satchels for items weighing just over 1kg because they wouldn't fit in a 3kg satchel but it was still cheaper than sending them via parcel post with cubing.

Anyway, good on you for having the decency to cover her loss by sending extra money as a personal payment, because most people wouldn't bother. I'm much the same as you, and couldn't sleep at night if somebody made such a terrible blunder and ended up losing money on the transaction. Sure, it might be her fault for being careless but that doesn't give us the right to profit from her mistake, and besides, karma has a funny habit of catching up with those people who do.

[i-love-my-sheep]

It wouldn't have fitted in a 3kg satchel. Plus it could have easily got damaged that way.

[egglesdtp]

I sold a set of mugs in late October. Because they weighed between 500g and 1kg, I used the ebay postage calculator as a 3kg satchel would have been more expensive for those in Victoria, and probably not secure enough for breakable items. I had already listed them at $10 but they didn't sell, so I dropped the price to $7.50 (for 4 brand new mugs!!) And someone bought them from in Victoria. The Ebay postage calculator had calculated the postage to be $11.75 and this is what the buyer paid. I didn't have an appropriate box to pack them so had to make a special trip to Bunnings to find one. Packed the mugs carefully (they were already in a sort of box of their own, but with open sides) with air pillows and packing peanuts, took it to the PO and he said the postage cost would be $14.75 because of the cubing rule (why doesn't the ebay calculator take this into account?). I have had this discrepancy in postage cost happen only about a month ago, and that time (postage was going to be $5 more) I took the parcel home and repacked it. And the inevitable happened - the item (a pasta platter) broke in the post and I had to refund in full to the buyer. So this time, I thought bugger it, I'll pay the extra postage. When I got home and added up the FVF on postage ($1.16) and sale price (74c), plus the Paypal fees (76c), I discovered I had made the grand total of $1.84 profit.

[cq_tech]

Actually, I've found the eBay postage calculator to be just as accurate as Australia Post's on-line calculator, provided that you enter the parcel's dimensions correctly. Of course, the problem with calculated postage is that you never know where your buyer will live so because I'm in Brisbane, I simply check the calculated postage to Perth which gives me the highest amount that would be payable, then I compare that with the cost of whichever satchel is most suitable for the item and list accordingly.

You can either add a $2 handling charge to cover eBay's FVF on postage, or if you're charging actual postage cost, you simply add $2 to the price of your item. If, as in your case, the buyer is in the same state, you simply refund the extra postage paid by putting the correct amount of cash in an envelope with the packing slip, so they don't mark you down on your postage DSRs.

Just last week I had 2 separate items which both weighed just over a kilo each but were wildly different sizes, but because of the bloody cubing rule, it was cheaper for me to send one in a 3kg satchel for $13.40 and the other in a 5kg satchel for $16.70. That's why I really hate dealing with anything which weighs more than 500g because regardless of size, a 500g (or less) parcel will go anywhere in Australia for just $7.20, which is crazy when you consider that a 500g satchel costs $8.25 yet its volume is comparatively tiny.

[vijithaa]

Understood that some sellers were charging $1 for the item, and $50 for postage! So, not only were they not paying much in the way of "Final Value Fee", if the item turned out to be dodgy, the buyer only got a refund on the 'sale price' - $1.00!!
HOWEVER, this kind of fraudulent behaviour should NOT impact on the huge majority of honest sellers who only charge the actual postage rate - or TRY to!
If a seller offers postage at "Australia Post's Calculated Rate" and gives a fair estimate of the size and weight of the parcel, it should NOT be 'taxed' by eBay! They're always onto us to "Start your Auction at 99c to attract more buyers", but if it SELLS for little, and costs a lot to post, you lose money every time. Not to menion yor time spent describing, and photographing (now compulsory).
So, we ALL put our prices up.
If a seller adds anything to the Postage, just to cover the eBay fees, the buyer complains when they get the parcel and sees the actual postage charged by Ausralia Post - "You aren't supposed to MAKE money on Postage!"
And you might get a NEGATIVE FEEDBACK for postage charges - or 3 out of 5 stars - when all you did was break even.
YES, there was a problem with pps overcharging. But deal with THEM, not the Vast Majority of honest buyers and sellers. If a buyer uses the Calculated Rate it should NOT be taxed by eBay. Or, let them charge the Post Office - it's their money, not ours.
These charges and fees will drive people away - as it is now actually COSTING buyers and sellers, and eBay is no longer a place to find a bargain. Better off leaving your stuff out on the sidewalk.

[i-love-my-sheep]

Given that we live in Australia, I would much prefer to leave my stuff on the footpath as we don't have sidewalks here.

I'm also not sure what you're directing your rant at me, I don't work for eBay and I don't make the rules. I don't like it any more than you do. I factor the fees into the start price of my auctions, so the buyers pay the fees, not me. I choose to sell here, so I have to accept their rules.

[davewil1964]

Not forgetting that most eBay postage services are at least 10% cheaper than the equivalent AP service, which is why eBay got away with it in the first place.

eg. 500g eBay satchel $7.15 + 15c. AP 500g satchel $8.30(?)