What really is FREE POSTAGE ?

[polly.the.cat]

I have been reading the many comments given in the light of ebay's delve, into the "cost" Sellers charge to post a said item. Without bringing up all that has already been mentioned, l am a bit confused now.  What l have been watching was a Video Card for a PC, Seller had it for BIN @ $7.95 with Postage added of $5.95    Same Seller now has same item BIN @ $16.95 FREE POSTAGE.

So looking at that example, l fail to see any FREE POSTAGE there at all.   Is is better to still show the actual cost of postage, along with the actual cost of the said item ?  Do ebay still "profit" no matter what out of the cost of postage to the said Buyer , which the Buyer is paying for.

I myself feel that it is not right to have a Seller claim you are getting FREE POSTAGE, when in reality, that is NOT THE CASE.

Just my thoughts though. Thank you.

[dylan11235813]

there is nothing stoping the restocking fee.....

[amber-eyed-girl]

No. Nothing at all.

and of course, with a Paypal or credit card chargeback, a restocking fee is meaningless.

[dreamworld-au]

Free post is not complete free,no seller are like to sell goods with lost.heihei

[kopenhagen5]

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[amxsuperstores]

This post isn't pointed at digital*ghost, it's merely in reply to many people's issues with 'Free postage'.

The single underlying scenario eBay (and other online selling platforms) are trying to work toward is for there to be ONE price listed, so if an item is $29.95, the customer pays $29.95.

The airline industry got a big chew-up recently for adding all the extra fees afterward, stops them saying 'flights from Melbourne to Brisbane $199 return' but then when you book it through the website there are baggage fees, booking fees, meathead surcharges and everything else.

Car dealers have had the same thing.  If they advertise a car saying '$19,990 drive away' these days the ACCC will enforce that a customer must be able to walk into the store with nineteen thousand, nine hundred and ninety dollars and drive away without having to fork out one cent extra for their 'dealer delivery charges' or 'the apprentice just washed the car so gimme another twenty bucks'.

Personally, I totally embrace the 'one price - that's it' scenario.  So far I've converted 85% of our listings to the oxymoron that is Free Postage, and they will stay this way until eBay change the terminology to 'Total price' or something.

When is the last time you walked into a clothing store and bought a t-shirt, and asked them for a breakdown on the receipt of the cost of the t-shirt, the electricity to power the lights in the store, and the wages of the mouth-breather that sold you the t-shirt?  If you returned the t-shirt due to an issue, would you be ok with the store keeping $1.10 of the sale price to cover the wages of the mouth-breather, seeing as they still had to spend the time to make the sale?

The reason that if you sell something for $29.95 Free Postage and the customer complains that it is not as described and have to refund the whole $29.95, is because that is the price they have paid for the item.  They should never ever have to pay a restocking fee if the seller has made a mistake.  This onus falls back on the seller, same as if I ordered a pizza with no onion and they made it with onion, I'm not forking out one cent for the replacement pizza. I hate onion.

Change of mind, yes, they should definitely have to pay the postage back to you, and also pay any restocking fee you have mentioned in your Returns Policy as that formed part of the contract they agreed with when they made the purchase.

/EndRant

[digital*ghost]

AMX - none of the people who have issues with 'free postage' in fact would not disagree with the 'one price' advantage, or at the very least take no issue with the practice. I certainly don't. It's all about the misleading marketing tactic, as I've tried to exemplify several times now. It can be easily dismissed as arguing semantics, but I would hope for a little more consideration than that, because there is very clear legislation about misleading advertising, and it covers false claims about "free" goods and services. 

Item and postage service are two different things that - due to the nature of online shopping - typically need to be packaged together to arrive at a final price, but it is not now, nor will it ever be, in any way shape or form, "free" if the seller has added the cost of postage on to the item price in order to arrive at a single, all-inclusive price. 

[cmcoins2000]

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@digital*ghost wrote:

Item and postage service are two different things that - due to the nature of online shopping - typically need to be packaged together to arrive at a final price, but it is not now, nor will it ever be, in any way shape or form, "free" if the seller has added the cost of postage on to the item price in order to arrive at a single, all-inclusive price. 

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All sellers have to add 'overheads' to a final selling price.

This not only 'includes' postage but electricity, packaging, posting, etc etc etc.

How many occasions has this supposed 'selling platform' been asked for a more honest option.

Mine states - 'no extra charge' - the only way to call what this lot call 'FREE'.

[digital*ghost]

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@cmcoins2000 wrote:

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All sellers have to add 'overheads' to a final selling price.

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I am aware of that, it isn't really the point I'm trying to make. The point is in how that price is marketed to buyers. 

To use a different example to one previously. Say I was selling shoes for $50 and offered a polishing service for $5.00. Then say I decided to try a new marketing tactic and raised the price of my shoes to $55.00 with a "free" polish.

This is pretty much a clear cut case of false advertising because I'm trying to recover the cost of the polishing service by raising my product price. 

If instead I marketed it as $55.00 including a polish at no extra, then it is no longer false advertisng.

If something is free, it means there has been no cost incurred by the person who receives the advertised goods or services. That's not quite the same as accounting for all overheards to arrive at a final price, even though at a first glance it might seem like it.

My personal interpretation of genuinely free postage, which everyone is obviously welcome to take or leave, or pick apart at will 😄 is that the item will cost the same no matter what (i.e. whether it is posted, picked up, purchased in store etc), and 100% of the item price would be refundable in the event of a return - you can't withhold a portion of the payment for a service if the buyer wasn't charged for that service. Restocking fees are technically an acceptable way to do so, as their intention is to account for otherwise non-recoverable costs incurred by buyer error, but personally if postage is free, it can't be free on the proviso that a buyer decides to keep an item. 

[2106greencat]

Exactly - FREE POST or POST INCLUDED - who the hell cares, if the end price is good, what does it matter??

[digital*ghost]

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@2106greencat wrote:

Exactly - FREE POST or POST INCLUDED - who the hell cares, 

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Even if no one else does, the ACCC. 

"Businesses should be particularly careful of the use of the word ‘free’. The idea of getting goods or services without charge can create keen interest in consumers. Consumers will usually think of ‘free’ as absolutely free - a justifiable expectation."

https://www.accc.gov.au/publications/advertising-selling/advertising-and-selling-guide/avoid-mislead...