Are postage charges automatically generated by Ebay.

[kevo351]

On a recent purchase on Ebay after i won the bidding i was told by the seller not to pay for item until i was contacted re postage charge as the one generated by Ebay was incorrect .

The postage charge listed was for $13.00 Aussie dollars but after the seller had found out what it would actually cost  it was only 3.00 dollars total postage .

Normally i would have just blindly paid for my item and the 13 bucks postage charge and not thought to much about it .

I find this a bit daunting as i usually don't question postage as i thought it was what it is supposed to be to mail an item from wherever it is bought from and that was the cost worked out by the seller .

I'm only new to Ebay for a couple of years now but of the 89 odd items ive bought i wonder how much of that i have paid in unnecessary postage fees .

Can anyone please enlighten me on this issue .

Especially on how postage is worked out and possibly after my experience should i be asking for a postage quote every time i purchase something ..

Regards 

Kevo

[gem*addiction · Accepted solution]

Hi Kev, the postage charges generated by ebay, are based on the information that the seller puts into the system.

The seller can choose from flat rate options such as Australia post pre paid satchels or the click and send system, or they can use calculated post, where they have to enter the size and weight of the item, and postage is generated by ebay, to the buyers post code.

There is no way that the system would calculate a postage price of $13 for an item that only costs $3, so the seller must have entered either the wrong postage method, or the wrong weight and size for that to happen.

If the seller is new, they may have just over estimated the cost, based on how much they thought the item would cost to send to the furthest distance from them, instead of using the system correctly, and entering the full details.

At least the seller was honest with you are amended the invoice.