Seller refuses to combine postage - profiteering on postage?

[9647ian]

So I am quite prepared to pay the $80 to a seller on two separate sales. The sales are for some spare parts that would fit into the palm of my hand when combined, but he wants $13.80 postage for each sale. That makes an incredible $27.60 postage on items that he will be able to post for half that cost.

And how much do you want to bet, he will post the two sales together in one envelope?

I have told him that if he intends to charge me two lots of postage then I will expect two separate envelopes.

I almost made the mistake of bidding on a third ad of his for another $40. That would have made a combined postage of $41.40 on small items that could be posted for less than half that amount.

Why are some sellers so unreasonable when it comes to combining postage? Are they profiteering on postage? Seems so.

[9647ian]

"You have been caught out blatantly lying re this issue"

Only in your mind it seems as you have not actually explained how this is so without cherry picking, taking remarks out of context, insinuating and being entirely disingenuous. What actual proof do you have that I am lying. Your intention appears to have been to derail this topic and rile me in order to project a seller bias, which has ultimately backfired on you.

[9647ian]

My only hope is that I at least have pointed out a problem with ebay. Sellers can combine postage at checkout, so buyers send them a request which the seller can choose to ignore, or they will demand you pay the same postage for each sale. My understanding is that if sellers choose not to combine postage, they can change their preferences to reflect this, and at checkout a buyer will get a clear message that they do not combine postage. Also they can (I think "should", though this is clearly not the case) state it clearly on their ads that they do not combine postage so buyers are totally aware from the outset. Otherwise sellers can state or imply that they combine postage in order to attract more bids, but then refuse to answer any questions about combined postage, thus leaving the buyer in the dark. Then they hit them with a nasty surprise that they must pay full postage on all the items they have won, even when the items are small packets that could easily be combined. Also in this case the seller did the wrong thing by requesting I pay by bank deposit instead of PayPal after the auction, just so he can combine postage and avoid PayPal's buyer protection and save a few bucks on fees, while pocketing the difference in postage. $13.95 on every additional sale must really add up for him over time, yet he is the one who is crying poor. That is the crux of the problem which I was highlighting, despite gutterpunkz tactics to derail the thread. I really must wonder why he was so antagonistic towards what is actually a reasonable problem that I wished to highlight and this person subsequently attempted to derail the topic by cherry picking my comments in order to make out of context statements in his attempt to paint me as the guilty party? For his information, not that it is any of his business anyway, I did purchase the items separately and paid for the separate postage by PayPal, which evidently annoyed the seller greatly. This was despite receiving no replies at all from the seller apart from his request that I pay him by bank deposit. And then gutterpunk tries to paint me as the villain. Laughable!!!

However I have been told many time before that nobody from ebay actually reads these forums! So what is the point of trying to highlight problems with ebay on here? Moreover, I find myself asking, what is the point of these community forums if nobody from ebay monitors or reads them??? Yet the forums are a part of their website, aren't they? Yet they have no control over them and do not care what is written? This is very odd and leads me to wonder, does ebay have a dedicated feedback forum, and if they do, does anybody actually monitor or read the suggestions sent in by buyers and sellers?

[springyzone]

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@9647ian

However I have been told many time before that nobody from ebay actually reads these forums! So what is the point of trying to highlight problems with ebay on here? Moreover, I find myself asking, what is the point of these community forums if nobody from ebay monitors or reads them??? Yet the forums are a part of their website, aren't they? Yet they have no control over them and do not care what is written? This is very odd and leads me to wonder, does ebay have a dedicated feedback forum, and if they do, does anybody actually monitor or read the suggestions sent in by buyers and sellers?

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I wouldn't take it as gospel that no one from ebay ever reads the forums. I doubt there is anyone dedicated to reading every post but I know that someone on ebay will occasionally start up a closed discussion about proposed changes and run it past a few people to get opinions.

So, how do they pick the people? Probably on number of posts or something of that nature.

Also there used to be an open board-I haven't looked for a while & forget what it is called-where every now & again they would announce they would be present at a certain time if anyone wanted to discuss particular issues. They picked the topic.

So I don't believe the boards are totally, 100% unmonitored, just that ebay does what it wants to do, regardless, & sometimes that doesn't match what sellers or buyers are necessarily happy with.

As for your problem, I think that if a seller states in his ads that he will combine postage then if he gets a message about it from a buyer, it would be good busienss practice to at least answer the buyer, not just say you're stuck with it, which is a bit rude. There are nicer ways to say no, if that is what he had to do.

[9647ian]

"If you made one payment for both items, there's absolutely nothing that would stop the seller from sending the items in a single package."

Guess what? You were absolutely right. A single padded envlope turned up this morning from the seller containing all of the items from both sales. The packet he sent them in was about 3X too big for the small number of packets inside. If I compare the items I received with the ones in the original photo, they are not identical. In fact mine look very dirty and shoddy by comparison with older more crumpled packaging and several busted packets. Clearly an "under the counter" switch has been done.

Postage cost the seller charged me: $27.90

Actual postage cost on envelope: $15.50

Cost of padded bag: probably a few dollars

Total actually spent by seller: approx. $18.50

Seller lives exactly 3.4 km from the post office where he sent the parcel from. So even if we add on a few bucks for petrol and wear and tear on his vehicle and shoes it is not difficult to see that he is making a tidy profit from those who win multiple items.

The thing is, if I had been stupid enough to bid on and win 4 or 5 of his auctions, I would be adding an additional $13.95 postage to every single sale!

So he doesn't have to combine postage if he doesn't want to... blah, blah, blah. Well I am sure he would get a lot more buyers and be left with happier buyers if he did combine postage. Ironically, he combines postage anyway, but only to his OWN ADVANTAGE!!! Also if he was not so rude in his replies to polite queries. This all goes without saying. Some sellers are their own worst enemy.

[4channel]

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@9647ian wrote:

...........................

Postage cost the seller charged me: $27.90

Actual postage cost on envelope: $15.50

Cost of padded bag: probably a few dollars

Total actually spent by seller: approx. $18.50

Seller lives exactly 3.4 km from the post office where he sent the parcel from. So even if we add on a few bucks for petrol and wear and tear on his vehicle and shoes it is not difficult to see that he is making a tidy profit from those who win multiple items.

The thing is, if I had been stupid enough to bid on and win 4 or 5 of his auctions, I would be adding an additional $13.95 postage to every single sale!

So he doesn't have to combine postage if he doesn't want to... blah, blah, blah. Well I am sure he would get a lot more buyers and be left with happier buyers if he did combine postage. Ironically, he combines postage anyway, but only to his OWN ADVANTAGE!!! Also if he was not so rude in his replies to polite queries. This all goes without saying. Some sellers are their own worst enemy.

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Seller should just add cost of the post bag, postage cost and nothing more. Clever sellers recycle and also find thrown out freebie padded bags.  Making money by adding exras is uncool.

[lyndal1838]

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@9647ian wrote:

So he doesn't have to combine postage if he doesn't want to... blah, blah, blah. Well I am sure he would get a lot more buyers and be left with happier buyers if he did combine postage. Ironically, he combines postage anyway, but only to his OWN ADVANTAGE!!! Also if he was not so rude in his replies to polite queries. This all goes without saying. Some sellers are their own worst enemy.

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You seem to be unable to grasp the fact that sellers can combine postage, which most do, and sellers can give combined postage DISCOUNTS.....which your seller has not done.

You got the combined postage that you wanted....but you did not get the combined postage discounts that you expected.   Did you actually ask the seller if he gave DISCOUNTS??    Sellers are not obliged to give discounts.

[imastawka]

edit : in reply to 9647ian

Postage cost the seller charged me: $27.90

Actual postage cost on envelope: $15.50

Cost of padded bag: probably a few dollars

Total actually spent by seller: approx. $18.50

Seller has also been charged $2.79 fees on that postage  =  $21.29  so not such a large profit.

[4channel · Accepted solution]

edit : in reply to 9647ian

Postage cost the seller charged me: $27.90

Actual postage cost on envelope: $15.50

Cost of padded bag: probably a few dollars

Total actually spent by seller: approx. $18.50

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@imastawka wrote:

Seller has also been charged $2.79 fees on that postage  =  $21.29  so not such a large profit.

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From the perspective of the buyer, namely 9647ian, it is a hassle. Skimming is skimming. And id 9647ian comes across more sellers doing this, it will add up for sure!

[brerrabbit585 · Accepted solution]

The fact is that it's a reasonable expectation that sellers will provide a discount for combined postage these days.  Most of the ones who don't (when they could) have pretty much been forced to change their practices because they never get any sales.

It's interesting that a few people here have stuck up for the seller making a profit on postage, yet they would hate the fact that ebay make a profit from our postage.  My opinion is that only basic costs should be included in the postage component and everything else should be included in the item price. 

I once asked for a quote for postage on three items from an ebay seller.  The postage on one was the price of a 3kg satchel.  All three items EASILY fitted in a 3kg satchel but they added $2 to the postage.  If three people had bought one item each they would have paid fees on three satchels, so I actually saved them the fees on two satchels, as well as 2 x 30c in paypal fees, plus I saved them some packaging work, so why did they charge me more?  Who knows, but I bought the next lot elsewhere.

[gutterpunkz05]

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@9647ian wrote:

Sir, you are cherry picking from my comments in order to make out of context statements.

Secondly you are being disingenuous.

DUH! You are the one who asked why I keep commenting and walk away. So you are the one who wanted it closed. I wonder why.

<Insert ad to SpecSavers here!>

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Good try,   I have only stated the facts,  at least if you get arround to leaving negs for the seller, anyone here who is at all interested will be able to view the said items and sellers account.

By the way, Re your Post 53 Yesterday,  why did you edit it, now let  me see is that the one with the final comment

"Mods Close this Thread"    That was stated in your post or have you conveniently forgotten.  Dont let the truth get in your  way

mate.

You are worse than any scam seller or buyer that I have ever come across.  Now we will see if anyone can resurrect you edit.