topic Re: Ridiculous Postage in Buying

Ridiculous Postage

biff_lloyd — Sun, 12 Jan 2014 23:06:11 GMT

I have purchased an item which was quite cheap as noone bid on it. The seller has forwarded an invoice including postage of $296. The postage calculator was not working and I did not follow this up prior to bidding. The seller has identical items listed as buy it now with a postage cost of $86! The seller is obviously trying to make up the difference on postage costs and is also bypassing ebay fees by doing this, is there any way I can report them.

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Re: Ridiculous Postage

digital*ghost — Sun, 12 Jan 2014 23:45:21 GMT

Were you not able to get a price from the postage calculator at all? I'm presuming it's the mattress, and I recall a very similar situation brought to the boards not too long ago (can't remember if it's the same seller or not).

They've selected Freight in the postage section, but the third party postage calculator they've used is currently giving me nearly $260. The other, currently live auction for the same item is giving me the same quote, so I presume that it's not something they did after the sale ended.

The bottom line is, a freight quote should be gotten up front, and one was actually available in the listing, so while it might be a bit of a rude shock, that part of the problem isn't their fault, and having bid with the calculator available means that postage was actually quoted in the listing, so while technically they are breaching eBay's excessive postage policy, they have in the past done little about it after the fact (that is, once a listing with an available quote - one way or another - has ended and the bidder doesn't want to pay the quote). I know you said the calculator wasn't working, but the cost was still provided whether you were able to access it or not.

For future reference, if a seller allows pick-up on their Buy It Now items, but not auction items with low starts, it's pretty much a dead giveaway that the postage charges are going to include at least some 'shortfall'.

Re: Ridiculous Postage

biff_lloyd — Mon, 13 Jan 2014 02:30:58 GMT

Thanks for the response. Yes, I am an idiot for not getting a firm quote prior to bidding. It is the mattress. If you look at the king mattress for auction and the king mattress buy it now listing, the freight costs are vastly different. Apparently, if you auction an item, there is a lot of handling as opposed to a buy it now listing.....$200 worth!

Regardless, I am not paying and I am happy to wear the strike.

Re: Ridiculous Postage

*crikey*mate* — Mon, 13 Jan 2014 02:46:39 GMT

maybe for the BIN the seller is prepared to wear some of the postage costs.

Maybe he isn't on his auctions.

If I have a BIN I may subsidize postage costs in order to compete with other sellers, but if I run an auction, I usually list with actual costs as I am unable to predict the final sale price and be sure that any subsidy I incorpiorate into that sale pricer will be covered.

If you refuse to pay, you are breaking the law.

Re: Ridiculous Postage

biff_lloyd — Mon, 13 Jan 2014 09:11:20 GMT

This seller has most buy it now items listed as free shipping. I do not believe for a second that they would wear the $296 cost of shipping for items that sell for far less than that. The seller is obviously trying to make up for lost money. I can buy the same product from a variety of sellers and pay nowhere near that shipping cost.

I might be breaking the law, but so are they!

Re: Ridiculous Postage

*crikey*mate* — Mon, 13 Jan 2014 09:31:35 GMT

what law are they breaking?

(I am aware what policy they are breaking)

but how does iot allow you to break the law just because somebody else is?

Re: Ridiculous Postage

davewil1964 — Mon, 13 Jan 2014 09:36:05 GMT

Maybe you should be buying from the other sellers then. Instead of trying to get something for little.

Re: Ridiculous Postage

digital*ghost — Mon, 13 Jan 2014 09:42:35 GMT

For me, the BIN version of that item is $209 + $42.48 freight - cheaper than the auction final price of $26 + $258~ freight. (Presumably, they don't expect their auctions to go much above 99c).

crikey is technically correct, but I also can't see the seller lasting much longer given their current FB % and DSRs (87.3% with both postage time and cost sitting on an even 4).

Re: Ridiculous Postage

*crikey*mate* — Mon, 13 Jan 2014 10:07:06 GMT

@digital*ghost wrote:

crikey is technically correct,

That's getting framed and going straight to the Pool Room.

Re: Ridiculous Postage

biff_lloyd — Tue, 14 Jan 2014 00:12:14 GMT

I cannot believe that some of you support this seller! I did look at just paying for the item and having it delivered to someone in Melbourne as I thought that everyone could be happy then....lo and behold, shipping within their own city is $252....it must arrive by limo. I think I will just pay for the item (less shipping) and they can keep it!

I do not believe that I am doing anything illegal as this seller is practiciing outside of ebay regulations making the listing null and void. And for the record, not that I need to justify myself to you, but I have a perfect ebay record and have only ever had great experiences using ebay. I don't go looking for cheap listings and expected the item to increase in price substantially prior to ending.

As there are obviously sellers on here that support this practice and ebay allow it to continue, I will certainly think twice now before shopping on ebay.

Re: Ridiculous Postage

digital*ghost — Tue, 14 Jan 2014 01:21:00 GMT

@biff_lloyd wrote:
I cannot believe that some of you support this seller!

I just want to make it clear that I do not condone the way the seller is listing their auction items, quite the opposite, nor do I think any one else does, but that doesn't change the fact that crikey is technically correct in regards to obligations once a contract has been formed. You might not like and/or agree with the information that has been provided, but it is factual rather than judgemental (at least, it is from me). IMHO, regardless of how you view the responses, at least you can now approach buying on eBay with a little more caution as well as be a little more informed about some of the implications of making a purchase (re: contractual obligations), so if nothing else you can at least use it where necessary to make more informed purchase decisions...and I don't see that as a bad thing.

Re: Ridiculous Postage

*crikey*mate* — Tue, 14 Jan 2014 04:14:27 GMT

No one has said that they support the seller.

I do however support the law.

Additionally, it is you who has asked advice, so it is you who we are trying to help with the intention of making you aware of how things work to assist you in avoiding potential trouble.