topic Re: Buyer beware free post in Buying

Buyer beware free post

pippasafe — Thu, 29 May 2014 01:01:49 GMT

Buyers need to know when they are buying an item with 'FREE POST' .We are being taken for idiots we know the post is added onto the item .

How we are getting ripped off by the seller for instance a seller is adding the postage to the item price that will cover post to most Aust areas ok it may take $16 plus dollars to post eg if you are in Vic to mail to WA but what happens if you are a buyer in the same state post is a lot lot cheaper with free post this cannot be adjusted we just have to swallow it or only buy items if the seller is offering to charge the post calculated to your area .

For this reason myself and friends will only but items with post seperate no more free post for us .It is such a rort both for the seller and ebay to make more profit

Re: Buyer beware free post

annies_fancy_dress — Thu, 29 May 2014 02:46:38 GMT

W e sellers don't like free post anyomre than buyers do.

It screws up invoicing if there is a mutiple item purchase and such.

It is over seas sellers that caused it with their 99c purchase then like $200 postage.

Buyer beware?????

It's not the sellers fault, ebay penalises sellers by giving free post items better search visibility.

Re: Buyer beware free post

*crikey*mate* — Thu, 29 May 2014 02:57:11 GMT

How do you know how much profit the seller is making and what proportion of the total amount will be sopent on postage and packaging? Many sellers use flat rate postage and packaging so it costs the same tonpost next door as it does across the country. In fact I would say that a lot of the sellers who do offer free postage only do this on the oproducts that they can control and include in flat rate shipping.

Seller A may have bought one of an item and paid $20 for it, seller 2 may be selling off an unwanted gift which cost them nothing and seller 3 may have bought 100 of something and received a much cheaper price than seller A or they may have bought some reduced stock which had been marked down.

Seller A may have a different level store to level B or used promotional listings when another hasn't, each affecting what FVF the seller will be charged when an item sells.

"no more free post for us" - now is no different to "then" well except that eBay are now getting a bit more profit, but the seller may not be.

Re: Buyer beware free post

*crikey*mate* — Thu, 29 May 2014 03:10:33 GMT

@annies_fancy_dress wrote:
W e sellers don't like free post anyomre than buyers do.
It screws up invoicing if there is a mutiple item purchase and such.
It is over seas sellers that caused it with their 99c purchase then like $200 postage.
Buyer beware?????
It's not the sellers fault, ebay penalises sellers by giving free post items better search visibility.

I d9on't look at it as eBay "punishing" thiose that don't provide "free post". I look at it as eBay providing incentive and reward for those sellers who do the extra work (and at times, risks), involved with offering free post.

I LOVE "Free Post" - BUT I only use it for items that meet certain criteria - where it is unlikely a buyer will buy more than 1 of something from me at a time, when the item suits flat rate packaging (I specifically choose stock that fits this, or where something is cheap to replace and can be posted as a large letter.(so again the price is predictable or cheap enough to absorb)

If the customer does buy enough items with the free post component from me to make the delivery charge excessive or worthwhile me going through the motions of refunding postage, then I will do it and happily absorb the usually minimal extra FVF cost as it is easier for me to prepare and post 5 things to one person than those same 5 things to 5 different people.(generally)

(even if postage came in at an extra $40 - if I sold $300 woth of stock to get that kind of post variance, we are really only talking about $4ish)

Re: Buyer beware free post

curraone — Thu, 29 May 2014 03:15:36 GMT

@pippasafe wrote:
Buyers need to know when they are buying an item with 'FREE POST' .We are being taken for idiots we know the post is added onto the item .
How we are getting ripped off by the seller for instance a seller is adding the postage to the item price that will cover post to most Aust areas ok it may take $16 plus dollars to post eg if you are in Vic to mail to WA but what happens if you are a buyer in the same state post is a lot lot cheaper with free post this cannot be adjusted we just have to swallow it or only buy items if the seller is offering to charge the post calculated to your area .
For this reason myself and friends will only but items with post seperate no more free post for us .It is such a rort both for the seller and ebay to make more profit

Don't blame the sellers - they are trying to adjust to the new ebay policy that charges sellers fees on postage as well: in fact, ebay tells us buyers "love free postage"

"We wouldn’t be doing our job in helping you understand what motivates customers and drives sales if we didn’t tell you that buyers do love free postage. Not because they think it’s free, they understand it’s probably been built into the cost of an item, but because they don’t need to consider what other costs there might be" quoted from ebay response 28 March

Most sellers think this idea is very bad. In fact, why don't you write to ebay and tell them what you have posted here?

Re: Buyer beware free post

robinsonmarineparts — Thu, 29 May 2014 09:53:03 GMT

I'd say you need to do some reading!

We sellers are not exactly thrilled by this 'FREE POST', nearly all my items are cheaper with 'FREE POST' than with seperate post, i help by subsiding the shipping costs.

I and most of us use flate rate satchels, so no matter where in Australia it go, it's the same price for all.

So please tell me why you think that we buyer take sellers for/as idiots?

We certainly do noy think that way, we treasure our buyers and give as much help as possible.

Re: Buyer beware free post

bsal6160 — Thu, 29 May 2014 10:02:17 GMT

Maybe a solution would be for ebay to have the price shown with something like includes $XXX postage. The postage rate would be set by the seller. Example

Item WIDGET1 Starting Price $40.00 (includes $6.50 postage)

Re: Buyer beware free post

ajarnjenny — Thu, 29 May 2014 10:40:59 GMT

Holy bleep Crikey, you just did my head in with seller A buys something, seller B, gets something and seller A does something and seller B does something else........................................................................................Jeez

Re: Buyer beware free post

*crikey*mate* — Thu, 29 May 2014 10:49:55 GMT

As long as you know Who"s on first and What's on second

Re: Buyer beware free post

downeyas — Thu, 29 May 2014 11:12:45 GMT

For the record, I am one seller that does NOT factor postage into the price of my items.

If I only sell 1 pkt of seeds, after my costs - packaging postage etc - I make exactly nothing, zilch, nil, not 1 red cent. I do however make money on bulk orders, sort of what you lose on the swings you gain on the roundabout.

I offer free postage because I can and because I honestly believe that everyone has the right to be able to grow what I sell without any fear of being poisoned by the so called 'safe plentiful food' that is sold these days

Re: Buyer beware free post

robinsonmarineparts — Thu, 29 May 2014 11:13:49 GMT

Yes, but that's not what Ebay want, i still have some items as + postage,mainly because i haven't got around to change them.

We don't need buyers punishing sellers for something we don't really have a lot of say in, the Chinese sellers mainly have "free post" so that makes it hard for us not to follow suit.

Re: Buyer beware free post

digital*ghost — Thu, 29 May 2014 12:53:19 GMT

@pippasafe wrote:
Buyers need to know when they are buying an item with 'FREE POST' .We are being taken for idiots we know the post is added onto the item .
How we are getting ripped off by the seller for instance a seller is adding the postage to the item price that will cover post to most Aust areas ok it may take $16 plus dollars to post eg if you are in Vic to mail to WA but what happens if you are a buyer in the same state post is a lot lot cheaper with free post this cannot be adjusted we just have to swallow it or only buy items if the seller is offering to charge the post calculated to your area .
For this reason myself and friends will only but items with post seperate no more free post for us .It is such a rort both for the seller and ebay to make more profit

Some items do not have the maximum or full cost of postage calculated into the 'free postage' price. Some items cost the same to post no matter where in Australia they are sent. That means that sometimes, if the cost of posting to you was calculated and stated separately to the item price, there are some items you'd pay more for, and others you'd pay exactly the same. I'm really not an advocate for "free postage", for a number of different reasons, but at the end of the day, it's better to make purchase decisions based on what something will cost you, not what you assume something will cost the seller. If the cost of something is acceptable, I personally fail to see what eBay / the seller ends up with after you pay that cost as relevant. For example, if you are looking for an item and one is $20 free post, another is $18 with $5 post, all other things being equal, which one will you buy?

Re: Buyer beware free post

thecatspjs — Thu, 29 May 2014 13:21:06 GMT

I would buy from the seller that had the best description, clearest photos (or cloudy if trolling for a major bargain) and was closest to me.

Price is but one of many factors in a purchase.

Re: Buyer beware free post

springyzone — Thu, 29 May 2014 21:14:48 GMT

Can't see that sellers would love the current situation either, not when they are being charged fees on postage costs as well, even if they list them separately.

Part of the trouble is buyer perceptions- I have a friend who routinely mentions how the postage was free and I must admit, even when I look at items, if I see the 'free postage' tag, it is sort of nice, not because I think postage is really free, I know it is not, but simply because I know the bottom line price-I don't have to mentally add postage to the item cost.

It may sound lazy but I think that is how a lot of buyers are-they see a price and like it when that is the total price. I am exactly the same when viewing things on the daily deal sites and it is more attractive if the price includes postage.

If I were ebay, I would not list it as 'free postage' though, I would list it as 'postage included". Or 'No extra postage costs"

That way, if someone needs to return an item, they won't necessarily be expecting 'free postage' back as well.

Yes, if people do buy several items from the same seller, I guess they may end up paying extra postage, but if I were the seller, i would just send every package separately, it would be easy enough and would save hassles.

Re: Buyer beware free post

*crikey*mate* — Thu, 29 May 2014 21:43:47 GMT

on some of the sites - it has the cost of the item on the product page, but you have to go through checkout to see the postage cost - that drives me nuts cos I don't know if I want it until I know the overall price.

At least with the system here, regardless of which format, in general cases, you know the cost of getting the item easily.

Some of the freight calculators are awesome - just input area code and quote comes up, others seem like you have to give everything but your middle child's shoe size and in one case I had to wait two days for the courier company to give me a quote

That is just too much work most of the time.

I just want it quick and easy so I can know if I want the item or want to move on.

Re: Buyer beware free post

chezzy — Thu, 29 May 2014 22:06:44 GMT

@springyzone wrote:

If I were ebay, I would not list it as 'free postage' though, I would list it as 'postage included". Or 'No extra postage costs"

I raised this with eBay yesterday and said I felt the wording 'free postage' can be misleading. Why NOT change it to something like POSTAGE INCLUDED or POSTAGE PAID? (I also mentioned the issue of the Pick up listings that show as Free Postage...)

I also like the suggestion in message/post 7. Would give more transparency too...

Re: Buyer beware free post

digital*ghost — Thu, 29 May 2014 23:40:28 GMT

@chezzy wrote:
@springyzone wrote:

If I were ebay, I would not list it as 'free postage' though, I would list it as 'postage included". Or 'No extra postage costs"

I raised this with eBay yesterday and said I felt the wording 'free postage' can be misleading. Why NOT change it to something like POSTAGE INCLUDED or POSTAGE PAID? (I also mentioned the issue of the Pick up listings that show as Free Postage...)

I also like the suggestion in message/post 7. Would give more transparency too...

Without the ability to provide discounts for multiple "free post" purchases, transparency and less misleading wording would likely cause more issues. That is, to the buyer, something that is free - if it really is free - can't be discounted, whereas a cost that is included in a quote should be able to.

I would personally like to see the price discount function made available (apparently it's being tested, so who knows if / when it'll roll out), as well as the option to choose what kind of jargon is used to advertise an all-inclusive price (eg tick a box for free postage or postage included, etc).

Re: Buyer beware free post

davewil1964 — Fri, 30 May 2014 08:01:29 GMT

Okay, here's one.

Buyer purchased 2 books (not 'free' post), paid for them in one Paypal transaction, but paid both lots of 500g postage. If I send them separately, they can claim INR for one. If I send them together and don't refund the difference, I am ripping them off. If I refund the difference through Paypal I am defective.

Solution?

I know what I did, but I am definitely interested in what others do.

Re: Buyer beware free post

digital*ghost — Fri, 30 May 2014 08:17:31 GMT

@davewil1964 wrote:
Okay, here's one.

Buyer purchased 2 books (not 'free' post), paid for them in one Paypal transaction, but paid both lots of 500g postage. If I send them separately, they can claim INR for one. If I send them together and don't refund the difference, I am ripping them off. If I refund the difference through Paypal I am defective.

Solution?

I know what I did, but I am definitely interested in what others do.

I send separately - that's what the buyer effectively instructed me to do, and I don't care about INR (might have something to do with the fact my items go as large letters so they could claim INR on both if they really wanted to, but considering that I've had to refund / replace a very small percentage of items due to non-delivery, the risk is negligible to me either way).

Occasionally, if they have bought several items or are a repeat customer, I will instead contact them and as well as offering to combine, explain how they can access a better discount in the future automatically by using the cart or not paying until all purchases have been made.

I would message when my items were going as parcels, as well, (noting that the items would be sent separately if not confirmed by a certain day / time) and if the buyer agreed I would refund the difference from the lowest value item and combine, since I would then be able to defend the highest value item from a chargeback, and only risk what was left of the lowest value item.

ETA: I have made a few partial refund in the last couple of weeks for postage overages and a couple of other things, still at 0 defects.

Re: Buyer beware free post

thecatspjs — Fri, 30 May 2014 08:46:36 GMT

Depending on value of purchase / buyer / messages between buyer and myself etc - I would either send separately or send items together with a paypal refund for any post charge overpaid.

Was initially concerned with defects, but now not so

None of the refunds that I have done for post paid or discounts or otherwise show as defects.

IN any case, I am not going to change my business to "cater" for defects - eBay will always be more defective than I.

When eBay lifts their own customer service game to my level then maybe my people can talk to their people