Over charged on postage

[belindabargainhunter]

I am someone who use to think that people shouldn't complain about postage once they buy an item as they know how much they are charging.
The problem is sometimes I think the sellers are trying it on.
I purchased a dress and postage was $18 ok I thought because its mostly lace I expected it box and well packed.
It came scrunched in a eBay 500g parcel with no so much as a shopping bag to stop the lace from sticking to the seal.
So I emailed the seller who said that they were going to express it until they found out it would fit into the 500g parcel. Is it to much for me to expect them to refund the difference.
Normally I would not fuss but its a big difference for little care taken.

[zelly888]

You can't be 'ripped off' on postage if it's listed as free.We all know that free postage is not what it says as all sellers that give free postage do incorporate a certain price into their listings to make up for the free postage.As to how much a seller adds onto the price is anyones guess.What I am saying is that not all sellers intend to rip any one off but there are sellers that do and that's why I don't agree that there should be free postage as there is no such thing.

[jameshouseofstyle]

That aside, if this dress had been listed as free post, as far as I'm concerned the poor packaging would still be a legitimate complaint.

Absolutely, but only if damaged.

What would you say to the seller - like, 

"Exsuse moi, but that was a pathetic effort on your part,  even though my dress arrived in a perfect condition - no thanks to you!"

[digital*ghost]

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@jameshouseofstyle wrote:

That aside, if this dress had been listed as free post, as far as I'm concerned the poor packaging would still be a legitimate complaint.

Absolutely, but only if damaged.

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I disagree.

As I said before, a seller's general practices may not affect the item, or the item condition, but they reflect on the seller. Poor packaging indicates a disregard for the item, and by virtue the customer who has purchased it. 

[*crikey*mate*]

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@jameshouseofstyle wrote:

Bravo hawker!

Of course it's a right thing to do - we are here discussing business practices however.

And please please please - forward your above message to any legal office - they 'd probably die laughing!

They charge for every single photo copy, every letter they send you, every email, every fax message - without even finding it necessary to inform the client beforehand that the charges are at least 10 - 20 more than the actual cost of any of the mentioned above.

It somehow just appears on the invoice.

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and they give you incorrect advice as well!

[*crikey*mate*]

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@hawker1967 wrote:

I understand what you are saying,But that makes these businesses unethical as well.

And we all all know that most businesses will rip you off in any way,But we dont like it though.

But remember that overcharging on postage is an Ebay violation as well.

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May I ask, exactly what is the "unethical part" of the law firm scenario mentioned above?

[*crikey*mate*]

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@jameshouseofstyle wrote:

Now, for the postage overcarging rule, that's a grey one (to me at least). What actually constitues overcharging - is there an ammount or percentage on that?

Who decides what is overcharging anyway?

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Excessive Postage and Handling Policy

[*crikey*mate*]

Crikey!

I kind of expect an experienced seller to at least know the basic rules and policies of the site/medium on which they sell!

[digital*ghost]

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@zelly888 wrote:

As to how much a seller adds onto the price is anyones guess.

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The point I was trying to make is that (in the case of free post items) they have added in exactly how much postage will cost, and no more. It can never be any more that what postage actually costs. Additional amounts above costs are profit on the item, and if the item is provided exactly as described, sent with the postage service as detailed, no one has been ripped off. 

[jameshouseofstyle]

digital, I get you, and the point you made with that.

My point is - HOW would you know what part of postage was included on a say $100 item.

I know you'd see the postage cost, maybe - maybe you wouldn't even see that, depends how they post it I suppose, when the parcel arrives - but that will not tell you weather the seller loaded only that amount or 3 times more into the total price.

But in the mean time, Ebay collects the FVF on the lot! - So sellers most likely would know that - so there will be a portion - almost certainly in there somewhere to cover that as well!

Whichever way I can see it - customers are worse of doing it like that,  almost guaranteed they'll pay more for everything down the line, suspicion will fall fare and square on the sellers - there will always be that niggling doubt in the eyes of the customers, and the real winner is....... you guessed it!

[digital*ghost]

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@jameshouseofstyle wrote:

I know you'd see the postage cost, maybe - maybe you wouldn't even see that, depends how they post it I suppose, when the parcel arrives - but that will not tell you weather the seller loaded only that amount or 3 times more into the total price.

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It doesn't matter if they effectively loaded 1 x the postage cost or 3 x the postage cost into the final asking price. There is only 1 x the postage cost incorporated into the asking price and the rest is either accounting for other costs or profit - to my mind there is just no other way of looking at it. Postage is only paid once and has an exact cost, so the exact cost is only subtracted from the total once. Suggesting sellers are perhaps disguising being able to charge more for postage when listing as free post just doesn't make sense to me, in any way. 

"Ebay collects the FVF on the lot! - So sellers most likely would know that - so there will be a portion - almost certainly in there somewhere to cover that as well!"

Yes, that is an added cost to listing with free postage, so that is likely to be a cost added on to the asking price, and the consumer pays more than they might otherwise had paid if the seller listed postage separately. But it is still a matter of the seller objectively going these are my costs, this is the profit I want or need to make, resulting in this final asking price.